If this is the patent for the Revolution's controller, then I'm baffled as to why Nintendo feared that a rival would
mimic it if it was revealed at E3. After all, it doesn't feature anything that we haven't been speculating about for
months now. And to top it all off,
the patent's wording is just vague enough to make me wonder if they weren't referring to the next iteration of the
Game Boy (the buttons certainly match up, after all). But, if you believe gamesradar, then here's the gist of the
Revolution's revolutionary control interface: gyroscopic motion-sensors, a touch screen, a d-pad, two face buttons, two
shoulder buttons, and the ever-ubiquitous start and select buttons. Simply speaking, think of it as a GBA with a touch
screen and a built-in copy of Kirby's Tilt 'n Tumble.
As usual, the gyroscopes are the most intriguing feature of the unit. gamesradar hints that the gyroscopic technology
will be used for analog control in the absence of an analog joystick, though mewonders if the controller would feature
weights to aid in recentering the unit. Once again, this could be a very cool control scheme if well-implemented into
the game.
However, the touch screen is what worries me. As many, many people have already pointed out, current touch screens
lack any kind of force feedback, and cannot be touched at more than one point without becoming confused. And, judging
by my own experience with Metroid Prime Hunters, reaching your thumb across half the controller to use the touch screen
is more than a little uncomfortable. Of course, clever design on Nintendo's part could potentially lessen my worries.
And, as usual, no prototypes of the controller have been leaked to the public yet. But don't fret; at the current rate
of Revolution leakage, we'll be seeing something about it within the next week.
[thanks, Ruari]
