REvolution Controller, what it can and cannot do

Ok, seems people are interested and concerned about what the damn thing can and cannot do. Let' s keep this thread open for discussions like this. If you think it can' t do something, post it here, maybe it can' t, but maybe somebody else knows how it can or has an idea.

Here' s a good article to start, a good read over at ign

Revolution controller possibilities.

this is what the other thread was for.

XBL Gamertag: Rampage99

" Basically, pollute the air all you want, your just speeding up the inevitable. Our future generations are f*cked as it is and there' s really nothing we can do about it. Have a nice day "

No the other thread turned into a flame war, and was more of like it or not. You of all people I though would like this opportunity to rationaly explain what it can' t do in your opinion. You must have something you are sure it can' t do, or you wouldn' t be so against it. Come on, I' m willing to listen perhaps you can prove it' s shortcomings in a certain area, that' d be great, being informed is always the winning answer, and since I know I can' t possibly think up all the shortcomings/advantages of the thing I was hoping for some thought out responses.

Rumble pack?

Even if you break 2 legs from a crab it still runs!
What you gotta do is find its weak spot and do massive damage at it.

Apparently it has one built in. i' m not sure if just the remote half does or both halfs. the biggest problem I see there is draining battery life.

Based on the controller' s *current* design.. Just from imagining one of those things in my hands:

---IMPORTANT STUFF---

1. Looks adequate for platformers: CHECK
2. 2D styled shooters can still be played well with it: CHECK

Now that the ultra important stuff is out of the way.. Other important stuff.

3. Arcade styled racers can be controlled well: CHECK

4. 3rd person action-adventure games: CHECK

5. 3D fighting games: CHECK

6. Puzzle games: CHECK

7. Surviva Horror games: CHECK

8. 2D fighting games: UNKNOWN

2D fighting games remain the only question mark in my mind. Especially those that utilize Capcom' s 6-button control scheme.

Terry Bogard - currently the most Unhelpful member of the Kikizo forums.

Likes:
-Sleek
-Innovative
-Allows add ons
-Can be turned sideways to be used as an old school pad.

Dislikes:
-Not enough buttons on base controller forcing you to buy the extra pieces.
-It' s a remote, not a controller. (personal opinion)
-I like holding my controller in two hands and I like a solid feel. Having two pieces a by a wire for something like a FPS will feel really wierd. I grip my controller fairly hard and having two seperate pieces will be very akward. I will most likely rip the cord right out.
-Most likely will not be used by most developers simply because even though the core concept is nice, it doesn' t offer enough functionality without having to make extra add ons (add ons generally aren' t a good thing). That also forces software developers to become hardware developers.
-Mulitplatform games will most likely not function right with this controller due to the extreme change.
-I' m scared of playing a fighter with this thing.
-Imo, it didn' t come anywhere close to the hype that Nintendo had around it. It was a huge let down.
-Again, it just isn' t a controller in my eyes. It' s remote. Using one hand just seems wrong. Even on my cell phone games I use both hands. I don' t like this one hand thing.
-Certain gamers like to flail around during games and this will screw with the gyro chips in it. I presonally do start bouncing arpound during certain games, especially fighting games.
-Sorry, but again... it' s a f-ing remote.

XBL Gamertag: Rampage99

" Basically, pollute the air all you want, your just speeding up the inevitable. Our future generations are f*cked as it is and there' s really nothing we can do about it. Have a nice day "

That' s easily been my biggest unknown too Terry. I' m not taking into the idea of the whole wave up to kick down to punch thing though, mostly cause I don' t like that idea.

Most likely will not be used by most developers simply because even though the core concept is nice, it doesn' t offer enough functionality without having to make extra addons (add ons generally aren' t a good thing). That also forces software developers to become hardware developers.

This is what I mean, get these ideas out, but say why!!!!!! Why doesn' t it have the functionality! Just saying it doesn' t is the easiest way out ever. I imagine most games playing with the analog attachment, not without it. Rampage, instead of just saying it doesn' t do it, say why you don' t think it doesn' t and then we actually discuss that.

I' m not a fan of flight simulators but can you imagine how friggin cool that thing could be to use with one? You' re leaning (or tilting) ever so slightly to the right or left during turns (could work great with motorcycle racers to) and leaning (tilting) forward or backwards to dip or climb?

Terry Bogard - currently the most Unhelpful member of the Kikizo forums.

That indeed sounds cool Terry. So far one of my favorite applications has to be for stealth games.

Move charcter around with analog stick, aproach beam, or narrow walkway with gusting wind, have to balance the character by tilting the remote half as you cross the walkway. As soon as you cross, activate item in item window(in this case a flshlight) and now my dude pulls out his flashlight I point on the screen where I want him to shine it as I' m still moving him with the analog stick. Hear enemy coming, hit item button to quickly put away flashlight, tap remote down to duck and hide.

On a side note, Nintendo said this was a prototype, and I hope they add a second button the front beside the a button. perhaps a long rectangular C button right beside it. Woudln' t make it overly complicated, but could add some functionality especially in fighting games.

Is there a reason you' re picking on me? Ask Terry how each of those aspects are covered that he just went over. All he said was check. I write multiple sentences though and that' s not good enough. Here you go anyway...

Okay... taking the core controller in perspective, as I said, there aren' t anough buttons. It' s got just your regualr D-pad and 4 buttons (other than the 3 buttons in the center that aren' t used for actual gameplay) and the a and b buttons are horridly placed. Just about every game out there uses every button on a controller pad and even uses the d-pad for extra functions because they don' t have enough buttons to work with even when utilizing the 2 analog sticks. Sure the gyro thing could be used for leaning or a strike but in all actuallity it' s limited simply by a few motions. that basically discriminates all multiplatform games and forces developers to make more simplistic controls for games that will only be for Nintendo. While somplistic controls can be nice, with the evolution of 3d in the past years all these newer games rely on those buttons.

Now we add the extra analog piece. That brings up the grand total of buttons to 4plus two triggers. In most cases that' s still not enough. The added analog is a great bonus, but I really don' t want to have to buy an extra piece for every controller if a I want a 4 way FPS game going on. That' s getting expensive. Developers realize people don' t want to go and buy all these add ons especially when it comes to multiplayer and have to buy a ton. Most will still probably make it standadrd to use the analog add on just because they need the required functionality. That still doesn' t take away the akwardness of the a and b button still and lacking two more buttons. No matter what those buttons look like they are going to be a pain in the ass unless you turn the controller sideways which requires two hands which leaves no room for the analog add on.

Again, developers don' t want to have to make add ons specifically for their games to get full functionality because that' s not what they do. This controller will probably be great for several first party Nintendo games but for third party support it just seems like a pain. I' ve been saying all along, something too radical will make it too hard for developers. They much rather make a strong title in gameplay with a normal control and have great graphics then spending a whole bunch of time trying to fiuigure out how to utilize a stripped down remote with gyros.

To end this, I hope to God that developers try anyway. I don' t want to see Nintendo fail. If anyone does they should be kicked in the nuts. Nintendo did make a huge impact on how games turned out today. I just feel like they pressed their luck a little to hard this time. I' m whole heartedly worried.

XBL Gamertag: Rampage99

" Basically, pollute the air all you want, your just speeding up the inevitable. Our future generations are f*cked as it is and there' s really nothing we can do about it. Have a nice day "

sorry Rampage, not trying to pick on you, and you' re right, Terry did just say check, although he came up with a great idea for flight sims later. In the end though you gave a great response, this is what I meant.

As to the buttons, I agree a little, if you read my last post you' ll see I think they could add one more button and it would only benefit. The controller ships with the analog attatchement they' re saying, so I kind of see that as part of the main controller, and thus it won' t be expensive. Other add ons will be for niche games only i agree, but that' s up to them, and at least the options there. Myself, I expect 905 of the games to use the remote and analog in tandem.

I know you' ' re a big splinter cell fan, look at my proposed ideas for a game like that and tell me it doesn' t seem exciting to you??? I know it would sure add a lot for me.

Sure leaning with the thing would be awesome but now think about how many buttons are utilized on the Xbox, PS2, and GC controller. Every single one. Splinter Cell is definately a very deep game in terms of controls. Then I go back to my button placement thing. I honestly have no idea how I could do even half of what I' m able to do on a regular controller with that horid layout.

I understand you guys are trying to be opne minded and I' m trying really hard too. The difference is I' m in school to be a developer. I want to work for Epic. I' m looking at this controller in terms of how a person can actually use it to play a game in the real world and not when thinking outside the box. I want to use this controller for Sega Bass Fishing (I went out and bought the fishing controller for my DC) because it looks perfect for that. On the other hand, I don' t think any of Epic' s games would work well with that controller at all. this controller seems perfect for a very select few games and looks horid for eveything else.

Sh*t, I' m gonna go play Sega Bass Fishing now.

XBL Gamertag: Rampage99

" Basically, pollute the air all you want, your just speeding up the inevitable. Our future generations are f*cked as it is and there' s really nothing we can do about it. Have a nice day "

I think if they add a button to the front so you have the two main on the front and the 1 on the back it would be good. Then with the two shoulder buttons you have 5 main access buttons that would be easy to access. Still short of what the others have, but a function such as the duck which would normally take up a button is mapped onto the down thrust of the remote. Those last 2 buttons would likely be designated as something in the game, but not used very often, and thus I think coul d be placed on the x and y buttons on the bottmo to only be used when needed? Do you think this type of set up would still be difficult to use? Interstingly I read somedevelopers quotes, and ubisoft, THQ, and EA are three of the companies that are most excited to develope for it. Also of note, Hideo Kojima is apparently very excited about it, and the way he' s always trying to add to the MGS games, I would be very surprised if we didn' t see a new Metal Gear game for the Revolution.

I lost all faith in Nintendo, I don' t think they even care about making video games anymore. The new controller design is completely insane. The hardcore gamers won' t buy it, the casual gamers won' t buy it either. IMO Nintendo is finished and the N5 (or revolution) will be Nintendo' s last console. Oh well Sega is doing extremely well as a game publisher/developer I think Nintendo will do extremely well at this capacity.

Thanks for your pesimism game junkie, but this thread isn' t about if you like it, it' s about what it can or cannot do. I do think that stateing that it' s obvious Nintendo doesn' t care about making video games is ummmm .... crazy?

When I think of the rev controller I think LIMITED,AWKWARD,STUPID AND GIMICKY

Fine, list of things it can' t do:
*It can' t be used without causing strain (imagine twirling this monstrosity for 2+ hours at a time, s*** your arms would fall off!
*it is limited to something like four bottons with the addon as you won' t be able to reach the others, so forget about 3d games as we know and love them.
*You know those crazy fighting games like Soul Caliber and Srteet fighter, well you won' t see them on Revollution.
*I' m just so angry right now that I can' t even complete my thoughts, Revollution my a**, Nintendo is even more full of it then Sony. I used to love the big N but now well at least I still have my NES.

I' ll let someone else figure out what it can do.

Why am I twirling it for 2 hours? Tell me again? All hands on reports talk about keeping the thing on your lap like a regular controller, and flicking your wrists for certain actions. You twirl your arms you' re likely to look like an idiot and let go of the thing by accident.

With the addon it has immediate access buttons, a D-pad half an inch away that could have functions mapped to it, and 2 other buttons just at the bottom. Aside from fighting games I don' t know to many games that use all 8 buttons of a controller equally. Usually 2-4 buttons are the main ones, then special function buttons. I posted earlier about how the buttons could work, check it out, I think for almost all games it' s going to work great, except for....

....fighting games. I' m not sure how this is going to work. for a 3d fighting game like soul callibre you had 4 attack buttons, a guard button, I think that was pretty much it, so it' s going to work for that, but for 2-D oftern 6 attack buttons, and a gaurd, so that' s going to be a little more difficult. Last I checked though 2-D fighters weren' t exactcly at the peak of popularity.

You don' t understand mxpx. Not everyone just rests their hands in their lap when playing agame. I for one am fairly intense when playing a game. All games. My arms are never rested on my legs. I also really grip the controller. Most of my riendsdo the same. This type of controlller doesn' t fit us at all. Sure they may come out with that shell thing but I don' t want to fork over extra money to make my controller feel right.

Also, you' ll probably have to be quite accurate with he remote when using the gyro feature. I currently have a new Wacom tablet used for digital drawing and painting. while it' s not based on gyros it does like to be held at certain angles for different things. If you aren' t precise you get terrible results. That' s not even something near the extent that the remote is for the revolution. If it actually can be swung in all those directions, what' s gonna hppen when you have to keep it level? You' ll have to keep your wrist tight as hell. Adding on, the wrist normally doesn' t want to keep the position they show in their pics for a prolonged period of time. It' s a simple fact. After a while, keeping that thing level will become annoying.

XBL Gamertag: Rampage99

" Basically, pollute the air all you want, your just speeding up the inevitable. Our future generations are f*cked as it is and there' s really nothing we can do about it. Have a nice day "