It's no secret that Nintendo has been very hush-hush about its next-gen offering. And this opens the door for
a lot—scratch that, a ton!—of speculation. Tipster, Matt Morales, believes he has his finger on the pulse of the
Revolution. Is Mr. Morales really onto something? Or are these just the wee morning ramblings (posted at
2:55:47 am EST) of a guy eager to get his name in the books—or, at least on Joystiq… He writes:
As far as the Revolution goes, I'm going to put my official guess in. It's going to have a system of monitoring
your body systems such as pulse and perspiration. Nintendo is stressing more and more about getting emotional responses
from players and with the title of Iwata's keynote, that just sealed it for me. This will use the technology such as
that used on a treadmill at the gym and will be right on the controllers. I'm calling gyroscopes and completely
wireless as well. Nintendo is going to target a more active game experience with this technology so the emotional
reactions also increase and become more prominant.
This is also why there is talk of not having traditional face buttons. They will be aranged like triggers
instead because you will have to keep the palms of your hands on the controller at all times for the reading to be
continuous. Think about it, it?s pre-existing technology that hasn?t been used in games before. It?s ?feeling? but not
physically but emotionally. It just all falls into place! It just goes hand in hand to what Nintendo encourages. As a
company they have encouraged more and more interactivity. I think that yes guys, we are gonna be swinging a controller
like a sword, shooting it like a gun, and tilting it like a steering wheel. Nintendo likes physical stuff. That?s why
they like the I-toy.
Miyamoto is sick of playing games with just buttons and sitting down. They?ve also said they don?t release many games
in summer because they think children should be outdoors doing physical activity. They loved a game like Boktai that
made you go out in the heat of the afternoon just to get some good sunlight. The DS is just the beginning. The person
who said ?Touching is good, but feeling is better? was telling the truth. Except feeling is emotional feeling (perhaps
they?ll use some technology like in those mice for physical feeling as well but that?s besides the point). Games like
Resident Evil 4 (fear), Warioware (humor and franticness), Starfox (adrenaline pumping action), Donkey Konga (the pure
joy of music), and Eternal Darkness (extreme paranoia), and Metroid Prime (loneliness) all promote strong emotional
responses.
Now, Nintendo will be able to show this by using a good quality video camera. Remember the patent for the camera with
the guy and his crazy face? The face of the character will change as yours does and the game will recognize signs of
sadness, joy, fear, and anger. A mic will also be able to use your voice to check for emotional signs (how many of us
have shouted at a game before?) All of this also explains why Nintendo is targetting non-gamers. They are less hardened
than us! They will jump more, scream more, freak out more! Since that guy who said that feeling is better line, I
believe, is the same guy who showed that pic of a makeshift revolution development system, let?s believe it?s real for
a second.
What is that blue light? It is a projector or laser that will project onto the floor a space that will correllate to
the space on screen. The camera will pick up where you are standing. Imagine being able to strafe with this! The
necessary room for this also expains why Nintendo is going for wireless monitor connection and internet play. The
camera will not be infrared and cannot detect depth. Remember the other patent for a camera ( think about it - as in
in-game or perhaps a physical camera) system that eliminates moving focus points (ie, shifting the screen as you run
forward in a soccer game)? This is why they need it. Your perspective changing all the time will throw everything
off.
Also, remember the diagram where the screen had x,y,z coordinates and something that looked like it was on the floor
only had x,y? This is why!!! The camera is taking the reading of your 2d movement and interpretting it to 3d in the
game! This is all radical stuff and explains the big N?s worries of 3rd support if it doesn?t catch on. It really is a
true ?paradigm shift? in the way we play games.
[Thanks Matt!]
