Nintendo Revolution: new details revealed!

What on earth are they planning?

You knew the D-Pad was being evolved out. It went from the primary position in the old controllers to secondary status on recent controllers; Dreamcast, Xbox and GameCube. Most games only use it as a means of selecting weapons or menu items these days.

Only the PS2 keeps the D-Pad (or D buttons) in the primary gaming position and that is simply because it is more important to Sony that the controller "look good" rather than arranging the elements based on frequency of use and usability. It is a carryover from the PS1 controller, with the analog sticks slapped on as an afterthought. Even more impressive news would be is Sony decides to bring the PS3 controller into the modern age by putting the analog stick in the primary thumb position. After looking at the analog nub on the PSP, I highly doubt it will happen.

Yeah! Sony is a sucky company stuck in the past. Old, tired, conformist.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4110283.stm

Sony's overall television division posted a loss of 6.1bn yen ($58.64m: £30.2m) in the three months to 30 September.

PSP will likely lose SCE for quite some time. Is there any division of sony that does make any profit (beside PS2)?

Well, this is still in rumor status. Nothing concrete. We won't find out anything until either January or E3. I wouldn't mind a touchpad, remember, it doesn't necessairly mean touchscreen. After all, we were promised something totally new in relation to console gaming and Nintendo.

Does Nintendo ever make a fuss about the Mario flash games appearing all over the web? You can find a bunch @ http://www.gamesofgondor.com.

The D-pad in the article photo isn't from a gaming controller, it's from a Nostromo N50 or N52.

the nostromo N50 or N52 ARE gaming controllers. They are not CONSOLE gaming controllers.

No *digital* D-pad. Anybody think that maybe it will have an analog D-pad (like they use for mice on some low-end wireless PC keyboards) instead? That would be my guess, anyway...

Well it absolutely must have buttons, and if they try to skip them it is going to suck even if Nintendo is behind it. To think they are going to remove them is just silly. Personally I think they'll just adjust the configuration of the buttons the same way they did for the Gamecube (which is a great button design by the way). I think the d-pad removal shouldn't be that shocking. I'm sure what they are going to do is make an analog pad that works better as a d-pad, essentially combining the two inputs into one and reducing clutter. Now one thing I really wouldn't be surprised to see is a touch surface (maybe with one DS screen underneath). This is, essentially, an answer for all those games that are begging to be controlled by a mouse. If you've had the opportunity to play much of the DS Metroid demo you've surely seen that the touchpad control is as close to a handheld mouse as anyone has come. It works great for Metroid and I would expect it to work great for Revolution games as well.

Jason: You are right. The touch screen is an awesome idea for mouse-like control. Metroid Prime: First Hunt has the best controls of any console-FPS ever made, even better than the latest crop of Halo 2 and Metroid Prime 2 games. It would be a welcome addition to the console controller.

Not sure if some of you guys remember the old MS Dual Strike controller for the PC. It had a unique twisting body that was very handy for FPS and racing games. With the emphaisis on shooter style games of late I wouldnt be surprised if something similar was being prototyped.

Im not expecting to buy a psp. It was going to be my first choice then it changed cause I didnt want the same old 1 screen layed out design. Something new like DS might not have as much processing power but I think its the better choice for games.

Too many times I've read posts about people who think removing buttons is a bad idea. And y'all need to get over the idea that improving the d-pad will "revolutionize" gaming. Even using a twist-style joystick won't revolutionize anything.. it'll just make some games different. So.. has anyone ever heard about those computer mouses that you can move around in the air?? Quite handy for presentations when a desk isn't accessible. Or how about GPS? I'm sure everyone has heard about that.. inexpesive technology in which satelites farther away than i can really even conceive can tell me where i'm at within a 2-foot distance. even though i know nothing of the technology, i think it's a good guess to say that a console sitting right in from of me could figure out exactly where i'm at. think of a 3-dimentionally capable tracking system combined with combat and sports games. it would sure make football, golf, hockey, and tennis games more interesting. martial-arts video games would finally require skill, and would stop involving 100% super-human moves that don't ever change and just keep getting faster and harder to decypher. i want to see a fencing video game where you actually have to be able to USE a sword.

I disagree with Jason and kamalot over the idea that having a touch screen included in the controller would be a good idea. I despise nothing more than point and click games and that is all a first person shooter is reduced too once you add a mouse or mouse like device into an FPS's control elements. Include in this that to have a touch screen on a controller, which would indeed emulate a mouse, would bring nothing you could class as 'revolutionary' to the table.

The only way I see Nintendo as being confidently able to class their product as revolutionary is to have gyroscopic control. Along with a smartly laid out set of controller pad buttons and analogue sticks you would have the single most intuitive tool to control a video game ever created. Anything less cannot be deemed revolutionary- removing buttons? Hardly revolutionary. As Jon Kelling stated it would need to be something truly innovative to be able to brand it revolutionary. While his ideas would be nice in a console I doubt such technology would make it into the next generation.

Asides from control I can't think of much else that could be technically changed to bring revolution to the video game format. What I would like to see is specifically upgradeable components that were industry endorsed, much like the mods available to Xbox owners. But graphics or power alone will not provide what most of the masses are slathering for- if a game has ultra realistic graphics and poor gameplay nothing will save it. That is why I find the hype surrounding Sony's Cell chip a little tired. I can appreciate that better graphics improve a games experience, but can games get that much better than they already are without a radical change within the industry? I don't have the answer but I'm sceptical.

that would be friggen awsome to have a gyroscopic controller but more than likely Nintendo didn't think of that. Still you never know Nintendoi is just like that. Oh by the way people, I feel your frustration over useing a stylus sto play games. However, you don't have to use a stylus. the DS comes with a thumbpad wriststrap that makes gameing a heck of a lot easier. Still, i think it bwest if the Revolution didn't have a touch screen unless you could just use your fingers. I'm am very interested in seeing what the controllers going to be like.