September 17, 2005

• That's great, VertexOfLife. Now just write a song and you can be on oflinkey's new mix tape.
• All that waggin' in the air... obviously those guys never used a light pen on a vertical video screen. Sore wrists and heavy arm, let me tell you. Of course, this is a product for younger users, so guess they'll be all right. I still cringe when seeing pictures of the anti-ergonomic controllers from my gaming youth.
• Where the hell are the VR goggles and gloves ?
• This controller is nothing but the original famicom controller sideways-on.
• Hoax.
• Looks to me like a cross between a sex toy and a cheap remote control. That said, the reviewers are loving the preliminary tests, and I've long been convinced that 3D motion capture was a key element in the future of gaming.
• There have been a lot of Nintendo controller hoaxes, but I don't think this is one. Sony and Microsoft are having the usual mine-is-bigger competition, and Nintendo is trying to do something different. I bet it'll be cool.
• This isn't a hoax http://www.irwebcasting.com/050916/03/ff3672f7df/main/index_hi.htm (its revealed at about 30 minutes into the presentation) Also, this sounds like it should genuinely be the best thing ever. True 3D movement detection, with rotation and angle sensing, too.
• Unless it is the best hoax ever and they got everyone in Japan, including Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario and Zelda, to go along with it! It is an intersting idea. I think the real issue will be games ported from other platforms. How well will a game that is also on the PS3 and Xbox360 play on the Revolution? The word is that gamecube onctrolers will fit into the ports ont eh revolution, so I imatine a lot of folks will use those.
• No, not a hoax, it's real. Odd, but real.
• How well will a game that is also on the PS3 and Xbox360 play on the Revolution? Word is that games will have to be re-tooled to take advantage of the new Revolution controllers, but Nintendo is claiming that the developer commitment needed is surprisingly small, and showing off a Metroid Prime level that was quickly thrown together to prove it. Supposedly all the Gamecube accessories will work in the Revolution, including memory cards, which is a decided advantage over Sony and Xbox, who seem to be throwing out all previous compatibility with their new systems.
• If they get some decent content to go along with the awesome-o controller (i.e. please for the love of the flying spaghetti monster, no more Mario games or spinoffs!), then the Revolution will be a huge success—so much so that I'd easily buy one over a PS3 or XBox360.
• Chy, It is supposed to function like the original NES controler too, according to an article I read. Thin enough that you can just turn it sideways and use it normally. What we need, though, is the Sabre/Joystick controler of the Colecovision.
• this link from the mefi thread sold me on it. Sold me as in convinced me it could be extremely cool.
• I for one am not too good for more Mario games. If they can vampirically extract another round of Mario/Yoshi/Zelda/Metroid out of Miyamoto before he's finally reduced to a shrivelled husk, it'll be worth the price of the hardware.
• Interestingly, Nintendo's recent financial results, while not blowing the doors off, are holding reasonably steady. Innovation like this is exactly the sort of move they need to keep them there. It would certainly be an interesting result if a few years from now Nintendo is the relatively unscathed third place 'winner', while MS and Sony have pummelled each other half to death with the PS3 and Xbox360. I wonder, assuming the PS3 wins in Japan, Xbox wins in the States, and Nintendo holds steady, do you think the market will still support 3 consoles? Or will someone fade before the next gen after this one?
• It seemed like Nintendo was on the fade, but they seem to be coming back hard. Sony has held the market steadily for awhile, and I think Nintendo and Microsoft are fighting against that...(master of the obvious!) I think it would be interesting if Sony lost the led to Nintendo or Microsoft. See them struggling to get it back.
• dang, this is like talking about baseball or something
• I think things for this new generation of consoles are going to be pretty much where they were with the current generation, the PS3 way, way ahead in sales while Microsoft and Nintendo compete neck and neck for second place, but each still with their necks well above water. I've enjoyed the Gamecube far more than than the PS2 or Xbox, and this controller seems damn interesting, but I don't think Nintendo will take the lead from Sony unless Sony really, really screws up the PS3.
• I think Sony will slip a bit in its lead, maybe lose it to Microsoft. But, yeah, I think the next generation will be much like the current one. I think I (and my wallet) will sit it out for a while, at any rate. One of my biggest complaints, as it happens, is the insistence on new accessories when console makers could just as easily let people use the old ones. I hadn't seen anything that, to me, justified the waste, epecially with controllers. With this, though, I might change my mind about that.
• >the insistence on new accessories The Revolution will work with GameCube controllers and memcards. Also, apparently the plan is that their *entire* back catalog of games, from the NES through the N64, will be downloadable and playable on this thing. Sony and Microsoft seem to be trying to beat each other out and 'win the race'; Nintendo, I think, is hoping to hold a whole other event. They'll have a few games that will be really innovative and memorable, and hopefully they'll continue to demonstrate that it's possible to take the high road and survive.
• Everyone thought the DS was kind of weird when it came out, and now it's pretty widely accepted that, as a gaming platform, it pretty much kicks the shit out of the PSP. And I liked the old nintendo controllers. Bring them back, I say, along with the games.
• Hmmm...since it's (virtually) the same design, do you think it'll give the same cramp and blisters as the original NES controller?