The Revolution will be Wireless

There has been much speculation over the past several months regarding the form and function of Nintendo's next-gen console, the Revolution. The big N finally gave the world a glimpse of the controller, and it has gotten a mixed response to say the least. Some see it as a gimicky toy, others see some welcome innovation. I'm of the latter mindset; I'm tired of being promised the same games but with prettier, shinier graphics. There will always be RPGs, shooters, platformers, etc but I like to see games that take a chance and do some unique things (Thank you Katamari Damacy!) As the video game business has gotten bigger, innovation has become more and more scarce. Companies investing big money in a game want to make sure they'll be getting a return on their investment. That means playing it safe.



Nintendo's unusual offerings haven't always been successful (Virtual Boy, anyone?) but they're always welcome in my book. I'm not a handheld gamer, but I like what they did with the DS. But back to the topic at hand. The controller is long and rectangular like a remote control. It will be completely wireless and it will have an analog stick which can be attatched with a cable and held in the left hand (think of a bomb detonator.) There are button on the underside as well as the top, and if turned sideways the controller will resemble a classic NES controller. This makes since as Nintendo has mentioned making NES games downloadable and playable on the new Revolution console. Did I mention that it will have online capability? The big feature will be motion capture with the controller. There will be games where you flick the controller upwards to jump, swing it to engage in a swordfight or aim it at the screen like a flashlight to light up a dark room. Risky? Definitely. Intriguing? Hell yes. This idea has a lot of potential.

I'm sure the Revolution will catch on in Japan, but will gamers in the states embrace it? I have my doubts. It'll go through some rough spots and have some crappy games early on, but I think as it gets further along its life cycle, we'll see some fascinating things. I think it'll be a nuts machine and it'll change things, but it will have a stigma of being a kids toy. Many gamers just want their Madden or their Halo. Nintendo has never been about dick-waving hardware specs (see Gamecube.) The Gamecube has some unique games (Animal Crossing and Pikmin come to mind) but Sony's software library is huge. Nintendo lost a lot of its 3rd party support back the the Sony PS1 was born and they're still reeling from it. I'm sorry to say I think Nintendo will once again be relegated to 3rd place behind Sony and Microsoft. Oh how the mighty have fallen...