Issue 39: Casual Friday - A New Way To Play

[The Escapist Staff]

Shannon DrakeNo matter what game you play, one what platform, you always have to consider the interface. For consoles, the gamepad has become the standard. Shannon Drake discusses the driving force Nintendo has been on game controller design, and the upcoming Revolution.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Big J Money

First of all, let me state that I am in love with the concept of the gaming system and the controller that the "Revoution" will bring. I haven't bought a console since Genesis, and I am already drooling over this one. The point I'd like to make, though, is that I don't believe that this controller will make any kind of revolutionary changes in the console gaming industry. I hope I'm wrong. You compared the NES's controller to the Atari's, and others', and made the case that it was the NES that set a new standard. I agree. However, the video gaming market today is literally in another plane of existence. As an example, you've got two major markets -- PC and Console -- who have radically different design and control schemes, yet both are large players and have been, side by side, for years. If there is a mini-revolution (does such a thing exist?) created by the "Revolution", it would be the birth of a new video game market, apart from the current ones; although I don't believe even that will happen. The NES didn't just beat out Atari and Friends because of a control innovation, it had a host of other things going for it as well. An example of this is the fact that, since the days of Commodore, we're still playing games on PC keyboards. Anyway, I have a hard time seeing the "Revolution" beat out Sony or Microsoft at anything. Again, I'd love to witness it -- heck, I'm buying the system -- but I'm afraid American console industry is at the point where big bucks and predictable marketing strategies rule the field. At the most, Sony and Microsoft will make lightsaber controllers of their own for expanded profit, but it won't be required for them to keep up. "Revolution" in Japan? No clue. I can only speak from the history of American video gaming. Now let's hope I have no idea what I'm talking about.

 

[The Escapist Staff]

Original Comment by: Patrick Dugan
http://www.kingludic.blogspot.com
Thats bullshit, Mr. Money, and if Shannon hit it home with an otherwise good article and talked about how the Revolution controller will change how people play, instead of just suggest that is can, you wouldn't be so uncertain.

Besides the obvious applications to shooting and sword-slinging, the controller is ideal for gestural and verbal input schemes. Two of the first generation drama engines (Storytron and Utopia) use verbal interfaces that are mouse-based, to which the Revolution would be compatable, but it won't be until the second generation of drama platforms that gestural input becomes tantamount (only 20% of our communicative content is the words we speak, tone of voice, demeanor and facial expressons account for the vast majority). When this happens, people will bite en masse, able to play their stories and express themselves with just the right twist of the wrist. At this point, you'll see numbers rivaling The Sims franchise, and combined with procedural representations that are artistically powerful and culturally relevant, the Revolution may be host to more than just a mini-revolution.

I'm talking about the turing point in the history of this medium.