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| Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - General Gaming - Slay's Predictions; For now and the future. |
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Slay Level: 25 Posts: 79/339 EXP: 85592 For next: 4028 Since: 04-28-05 From: Threshold Between Heaven and Hell Since last post: 1 day Last activity: 1 day |
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| Alright, E3 is over, or today is the last day. I heard that Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft showed off their new systems, but that Nintendo didn't give specs, show games or announce their revolutionary controller. I saw some pics, all three consoles look pretty spiffy. I'm liking the Revolution's self-loading media drive; I have one in my CD player, they're really neat looking and they have virtually no way of breaking, unlike trays. So anyway, I was thinking to myself. What in the world could Nintendo possibly be hiding that's so unique, so creative and spectacular that they have to hide it so fiercely? So, keeping in mind what sort of technology is available at present day, I've decided to make a prediction as to what kind of controller they might release. Or rather, I'm going to tell you what kind of controller I would make, if I was in their position. First of all, I was playing Ocarina of Time the other day and came to quite the revelation. I'm not playing a videogame with my hands. I'm playing with my thumbs. Eight, yes eight of my ten fingers go completely ignored, save for the occasional shoulder button. And yet, people complain that certain button setups are uncomfortable or badly arranged, because of the ways you have to stretch your thumb around the face of the controller. My 'DG' controller design, as I call it (you'll see why in a minute) has no face buttons. Imagine you're holding a spherical object about the size of a large grapefruit. At each of your fingertips, save for your thumbs, there would be a button. So that's eight buttons you have simultaneous access to, and each of those buttons has a dedicated finger, so no more problems of whether your thumb is big enough to press two buttons simultaneously. At each of your thumbs is a directional pad. But not just any type of directional pad. A floating directional pad; floating as if a contact lens floating on top of water. It is as precise and responsive as an analog stick, but it doesn't stick out. Also, these directional pads serve as two more buttons. So that's ten buttons you have absolute access to at all times. I could stop here and this would increase the quality of many games (particularly button-heavy types, such as fighters, shooters and adventure games) several times over, if only due to the sheer freedom of input. But this is far from done. Now, with your hands still in the position of holding that orb, pull them apart so it is as if you are holding two half-spheres. Why? In each half would be a gyroscope. The game system would be able to detect when you move each individual half upward, downward, forward, backward, and side to side. Even one gyroscope would be an amazing addition to a controller, because as it stands, having an analog stick only lets you control one axis - the X/Y axis - and a gyroscope could add an X/Y/Z axis, which is thus-far unheard of in gaming. But you have two X/Y/Z axises, as well as your two directional pads and a veritable ten buttons. Such a controller, of course, would have to be completely wireless. I call it the DG controller, an acronym for Dual Gyroscopic controller. Imagine the possibilities... You're playing an FPS game, but you've played them before. In previous shooters, if you dual wield guns, that simply means you double up your firing power and rate, or get to shoot two different guns simultaneously. With the DG controller, you have two seperate targeting reticles on screen; each gyroscope directing one of them. With the two directional pads you're able to move forward, backward, turn left and right as well as strafe left and right, and you've got ten buttons to boot. You're playing an adventure game. One major flaw in this genre is that you use the same stick to move as you do to aim your attacks. Not anymore. With the directional pads you navigate your environment, but with the gyroscopes, you physically direct the motion in which you swing your sword. Perhaps you're taken to a first-person perspective and are put in the shoes of a swordsman dueling another swordsman. You don't just press a button to activate an uppercut, you control your sword's motion on the fly, and still have another gyroscope to maneuver a shield, and buttons to activate special items and abilities. You're playing a space shooter. Rather than being taken along a pre-set path in first person, or maneuvering back and forth at the bottom of the screen, you can move your craft or mecha in three dimensions. With one gyroscope you control the direction your craft is facing, and with the corresponding directional pad, you control jet boosters to shove yourself in any given direction. With the other gyroscope, you aim your weaponry, direct targets which you place on enemies for homing missiles to follow and otherwise orchestrate your offense. You're playing a puzzler...well, do I really need to elaborate on this one? I think you get the point. The DG controller is my dream controller. If Nintendo would include something remotely similar with their Revolution system, I would be overjoyed. I would truly be like a kid again, in terms of gaming. And yes, this is more than possible with currently-existing technology. Comments on my idea? Ideas of your own? Let's hear them. |
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Sokarhacd Ball and Chain Trooper Resistance is Futile You Will Be Assimilated Hab SoSlI' Quch Level: 61  Posts: 1264/1757 EXP: 1799888 For next: 76708 Since: 03-15-04 Since last post: 6 days Last activity: 4 hours |
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| I was watching the g4tv E3 '05 special...and they talked to reggie, he was saying that the console is a prototype, but he didnt say if it was staying like that or changing, but he did hint at the controller, he said it was gonna be something that allowed you to play the nes, snes, n64 and cube/revolution games with ease, but thats all he really said. | |||
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Slay Level: 25 Posts: 85/339 EXP: 85592 For next: 4028 Since: 04-28-05 From: Threshold Between Heaven and Hell Since last post: 1 day Last activity: 1 day |
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| At last year's E3, Nintendo said that the DS was a code name, and that the hardware they showed off was a prototype. Months later, the DS came out, kept the name, and the design was barely changed. Just cleaned up, really. I'm going to take this to mean that the Revolution will be it's final name, and that the design will barely change from now until release. Frankly, I don't think it needs to change. It looks quite good, I like the flaps for the GameCube controllers and ports, and the lack of "junkiness." It seems clean and sleek. I don't like the glossy finish, though. Not at all. It looks good on black, in prototype, but it easily collects fingerprints, and completely ruins the other colors. Who wants shiny peach or lime colored consoles? Powder-finish red, that's what I'll keep my eye out for. But of course, this thread is about the controller more than the console. Went off topic a bit, there. |
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FireOcean Rat Level: 15 Posts: 29/86 EXP: 14666 For next: 1718 Since: 11-29-04 Since last post: 71 days Last activity: 3 days |
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| IMHO, you could probably earn a lot of money from that idea no matter who you pitched it to...although, since Nintendo hasn't played their hand yet, you could do something like that if you build a prototype. | |||
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Slay Level: 25 Posts: 88/339 EXP: 85592 For next: 4028 Since: 04-28-05 From: Threshold Between Heaven and Hell Since last post: 1 day Last activity: 1 day |
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| People online constantly tell me I should be a videogame designer. I aspire towards it, but most people who end up in the industry end up there by pure chance. No amount of pleading, bribing or even connections can get you in. Making videogames is the most exclusive nightclub in the city that is electronics. Also, Nintendo has a policy stated on their site. They do not accept unsolicited ideas. It's too risky, it's a good move on their part. I design videogames for fun, I've been doing it for a long time, I have an impressive portfolio, I must say. In both length and quality. I plan to make it into E3 some year and plop the giant stack of paper in front of Shigeru Miyamoto or Iwata-san. Granted, they probably can't read English very well (though you never know), but it's worth a try. It's doomed to fail, but it's best to try something which has only a slim chance of success than to never have tried at all. And I don't design in specific genres, or with the limitations of current consoles or controllers in mind. I'd like to reveal all on a website, but again, going with the slim chance that my ideas ever spawn actual videogames, it's best not to allow the opportunity for any of my ideas to be stolen. I'll be copyrighting a gigantic volume of my ideas some time soon. Then, I can show it off to industry members without fear of them stealing my ideas, and if someone accepts one of them and wants to work with me, I'll give them partial copyrights (after signing a contract to gaurentee I'm not swindled, of course). I try not to let my sense of pride swell, but rest assured that if I'm ever responsible for the creation of a videogame, I'll brag all over the internet in a blind fury. |
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HyperLamer <||bass> and this was the soloution i thought of that was guarinteed to piss off the greatest amount of people Sesshomaru Tamaranian Level: 118 Posts: 4553/8210 EXP: 18171887 For next: 211027 Since: 03-15-04 From: Canada, w00t! LOL FAD Since last post: 2 hours Last activity: 2 hours |
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| OK, that's a frickin awesome idea for a controller but I can see some issues: 1) Some fingers are just not that good at button-pressing. It'd probably be a pain trying to press a button with that one finger next to the pinky, whatever it's called. 2) The whole two-half thing is confusing... Do you mean to say like you can twist each half of the controller? That would be pretty cool, and would basically let you control 3 axes with one hand. (A common problem of the joystick and d-pad, they can only do 2 dimensions at a time.) 3) The controller would need to be just the right size for your hands. Too big or too small and it would be very uncomfortable and may even prevent you from reaching the buttons. Nintendo has some very young customers, and it'd really piss people off to buy their kid an expensive new game system only to find their fingers are too short to reach the buttons.  4) Wouldn't holding a ball like that for a long time be kinda akward? Especially if it was anything other than really really light. 5) People'd kick them around.  |
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Slay Level: 25 Posts: 95/339 EXP: 85592 For next: 4028 Since: 04-28-05 From: Threshold Between Heaven and Hell Since last post: 1 day Last activity: 1 day |
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| 1) If the buttons are positioned right, it won't be a problem. The main problem is that the pinky and ring finger have much more power focused in the tip of the finger, to aid grasping, while the pointer and middle fingers have all their muscle near the middle joint. Clever and ergonomic layout can avoid problems. Plus, I doubt most games have the gusto to account for all ten buttons, two directional pads and two gyroscopic controllers, so your fingers won't get too worked out. 2) No, I don't. Each half is seperate from each other; you can simply hook them together for easy storage (so you always have them together and never risk losing a single half). 3) How about this? The entire length of each finger grip is the button. So no matter how large or short your fingers, you can press each button just fine. Or, the entire controller could be adjustable in some way. Let R&D guys grapple with this problem for awhile. Though, I have to say, I have a nephew and the GameCube controller is too big for him. He uses two fingers to pinch the analog stick and move it around; his thumbs aren't long enough. He even sets the controller down in front of him and pecks at the face buttons (he can't use the shoulder buttons), and he's really big for his age. But he's five years old, he plays a videogame for ten minutes then goes off and bothers the family cat or goes outside to play. You're not losing a huge demographic. 4) See two; it only stores as a ball, it seperates into two independant halves during use. 5) See four, then subsequently see two. Also, I only used the concept of a sphere to easily demonstrate my idea. The final product would be ergonomic, and thusly, not perfectly spherical, perhaps not spherical in the least. |
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tuna ... Level: 3 Posts: 330/2 EXP: 51 For next: 77 Since: 12-02-04 Since last post: 1 day Last activity: 1 day |
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| One fairly large problem with that design: after a while of playing the same level over and over, you'll eventually get frustrated and could easily end up screwing yourself by jamming all the buttons, not to menton the sphericalness of the controller would permit semieasy rolling down stairs and such things. I've seen a 'gun' controller that had every finger to a button/trigger, and it fit quite nicely. I was thinking something along these lines, possibly with adjustable 'midspace' (space between the two 'halves') for easy adjusting. This would help prevent that "it slipped" problem, as well, which would be almost inevitable for a spherical controller. Then again, having 6 fingers comitted to gripping (occastionally 5) works just as well for me and usually gets the job done quite nicely, so... |
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Slay Level: 25 Posts: 96/339 EXP: 85592 For next: 4028 Since: 04-28-05 From: Threshold Between Heaven and Hell Since last post: 1 day Last activity: 1 day |
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| Alexa, the "fairly large problem" can be solved in numerous ways. Firstly, companies should make games that aren't so frustrating. Alternatively, individuals who have such anger control problems can take up therapy. Mashing all the buttons with any controller will result in no good; it's not a problem unique to the DG (neither was the size issue). Also, if you'll kindly skim over my post again, you'll notice that I said I was using a sphere for an example, not suggesting that it be the final design. The final design would probably be closer to the hand-sized suction cups that spys use in movies to navigate sheer surfaces. The DG controller, of course, wouldn't be indented, or used for climbing or spelunking of any sort. Hmm, here's another possible use of the DG controller. Play a piano. You've got all five fingers primed to peck away, and if they're pressure-sensitive, all the better. Tilt this way or that to move your hand position and play a tune. |
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HyperLamer <||bass> and this was the soloution i thought of that was guarinteed to piss off the greatest amount of people Sesshomaru Tamaranian Level: 118 Posts: 4578/8210 EXP: 18171887 For next: 211027 Since: 03-15-04 From: Canada, w00t! LOL FAD Since last post: 2 hours Last activity: 2 hours |
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It'd be awesome if games were less frustrating and/or anger management therapy wasn't such BS, but don't count on that happening. Also I really like the idea of it being a twistable sphere better. You hold it like a ball and the buttons are on the back. A good grippable texture (think melon  ) would help keep it from slipping. |
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Slay Level: 25 Posts: 98/339 EXP: 85592 For next: 4028 Since: 04-28-05 From: Threshold Between Heaven and Hell Since last post: 1 day Last activity: 1 day |
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| The entire point of my DG controller is that you can control two gyroscopes at once. If you had a single, "twistable melon," you couldn't do that. Though you never know, a twistable melon might be exactly what Nintendo has up their sleeve. Regardeless, the DG controller is my ideal. All games that I've designed since dreaming up the DG have been created with it in mind. |
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