And for once it isnt PSP or DS related but its from the Nintendo Revolution Console, the controller has been released to the public and its very different to say the least, heres a looksy:



Check out all the Revolution News at our sister site the top source of pure Nintendo Revolution news ---> The Revolution --> http://revolution.dcemu.co.uk/

Normal Service has now been resumed ...

Nintendo may have introduced the gaming world to the Revolution at its pre-E3 press conference earlier this year, but it seemed every answer it gave about the system only led to more questions. Where's the controller? How will the backwards compatibility work? When will it launch? Where are the games?



Revolution Now

Witness the unveiling and first demonstration of the unique controller for the Revolution.



When word came that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was delivering a keynote address at the Tokyo Game Show this year, a show Nintendo traditionally doesn't participate in, conventional wisdom suggested that more answers would be forthcoming.

But perhaps the answers were not as forthcoming as eager gamers would have liked. Iwata took to the stage and delivered his presentation in basically two sections, the first dealing with Nintendo's present and recent past, the second looking toward the future. He began with dry figures, talk of sales, and the success of the Game Boy Micro's Japanese launch.

Then Iwata said Nintendo sees a crisis happening in the industry. He said that making games more complex and photo-realistic has helped the industry grow to the point where it's at today, but such thinking won't keep it growing indefinitely.

"Will anyone invent a new framework that allows for further expansion of the industry or will video game players become bored and cause the industry to shrink," Iwata asked. "We are at this crossroads I believe. For the future of the video game business, we need to expand the market."

Iwata said Nintendo hopes to help the industry through by getting back to the basics and attracting new users. He asserted that if the industry wants to grow, the best way for it to achieve that is through innovation, attracting former gamers back to the fold and finding ways to appeal to the casual and non-gaming crowds.

Iwata specifically pointed out the success of the Famicom Mini Series of classic NES titles on the Game Boy Advance as one initiative that retailers said drew dormant gamers to the cash register. By the same token, the strong sales of the Game Boy Micro and the instant sell-out of the Famicom-styled limited edition of the handheld pointed to the company's ongoing efforts to appeal to that crowd.

As for the casual gaming crowd, Iwata talked about the success of Nintendo's "touch series" games like Nintendogs and "brain exercises" titles, which have been designed to appeal outside the core gamer demographic. He also said the success of such efforts should be taken as a sign that Nintendo knows what it is doing.

After the prelude, Iwata turned his attention to the future, saying it was time to rethink everything about games to make them more accessible for players.

"Since the days of Famicom, the game control mechanism has become more and more sophisticated," Iwata said. "Perhaps those who have quit gaming or who have never played with games looked at the controller and felt it may be too difficult to play, even before they dared to touch the controller."

Following those remarks, Iwata introduced a demo video and the Revolution controller, which sought to rethink the traditional controller concept from the ground up.

The direct pointing device on the front of the controller is intended to make control intuitive for novice players while giving veteran gamers new ways to control their games. Iwata specifically mentioned how the controller could be used for squash, music, or fishing games. He went on to point out that adding the analog controller expansion to the basic controller could drastically change first-person shooters, or perhaps could be used to let someone move their character in a game while the main controller acts as a flashlight the player can shine on the screen.

The controller bears more than a passing resemblance to a TV remote, and that's something Iwata said was definitely intentional.

"To expand the gaming population, it was necessary for us to design the controller so that any family member would like to place it on the living room table and think it was something relevant for them and actually pick it up, just like they do with a TV remote controller."

Not wanting everyone to take his own word for it, Iwata then introduced clips of game developers giving their takes on the Revolution controller, with the concept and execution earning high marks from Final Fantasy XII producer Akitoshi Kawazu, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, and Metal Gear Solid director Hideo Kojima.

"'You've done it!' was my impression," Kojima said. "This was totally unexpected. I was pleasantly surprised because the controller is quite comfortable yet provides something brand new."

Iwata addressed concerns people might have about playing retro games on the Revolution's new controller through its virtual console backwards compatibility, saying that classic-styled expansion controllers would be available so people could enjoy the games as they originally remembered them.
...

Though the Nintendo Revolution was partially unveiled at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, its controller is the final piece of the venerable hardware manufacturer's next-generation puzzle. Speculation about the device has run rampant, because its manufacturer has made a point of keeping it well hidden. Nintendo has chosen only to drop hints that it would be an integral part of the Revolution's unique gameplay experience.

Today, in his keynote address at this year's Tokyo Game Show, Satoru Iwata touched on those themes again, giving further clues about Nintendo's vision for the future, and how the Revolution's controller plays into that future.

Thankfully, GameSpot had the chance to gain a better understanding of what Nintendo is going for with the benefit of a visual and tactile aid--a working prototype of the Revolution controller. Yes, we touched it. Yes, we used it. But is it a "revolution"? It just might be.

Our guided tour of the Revolution controller was led by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto, the industry legend whose talent has been one of the driving forces behind Nintendo's success. But, as always, he was his humble self, emphasizing that the day's presentation was about the possibilities of the controller and not his own upcoming projects. With that disclaimer, Miyamoto and the assembled Nintendo Japan reps unveiled the long-awaited controller, a modest-looking device that is low on flash, but big on functionality.

Miyamoto noted that the impetus for the controller design came from Nintendo's desire to do something "different" after hearing user feedback on consoles. The company felt the current generation of machines was coming close to overwhelming players by taking up too much space in their living rooms and creating briar patches of cables that must be navigated. As a result, Nintendo wanted to offer a solution that starts simple but supports expansion and that offers accessible experiences for casual players and more intricate experiences for hardcore gamers.

The form factor on display wasn't the absolute final design for the Revolution controller, and Nintendo reps noted that it is still a work in progress. That said, it was enough to give us an idea of where the company is headed. The controller itself bears no resemblance to the myriad fan-generated renderings purporting to be the real deal. The unit basically looks like a slim, ergonomic television remote that's about as long as your hand.

As can be seen in the images released today, the controller features core elements along with some you wouldn't expect. A power button at the top left of the unit appears to let you power the Revolution console on or off. An old-school digital D pad rests just below the power button. A large GameCube-controller-style A button is prominently placed below the D pad. Its counterpart B button is located on the opposite side of the remote, like the Z button on the Nintendo 64 controller. Directly below the A button is a series of three buttons: select, home, and start. While it's easy to guess what they do, Nintendo reps offered no details on their exact function.

Below the select, home, and start buttons is another set of vertically aligned buttons labeled X and Y. On some of the prototype controllers we looked at, the X button had a small "B" next to it and the Y button had a small "A" next to it, indicating that the controller can be held sideways to approximate a classic NES controller. Directly beneath those buttons is a horizontal row of colored lights that indicate which controller slot the owner is using--1 to 4 are planned at the moment. The plan is for the controllers to include built-in rumble packs and to run off of batteries, à la the Wavebird for the GameCube.

Finally, the base of the controller features a unique plug that lets you make use of a wide variety of peripherals. One such peripheral is an analog stick attachment with two shoulder buttons labeled Z1 and Z2. Though it gives the combined items an odd, nunchaku-like appearance (which is actually Nintendo's tongue-in-cheek nickname for it), the add-on demonstrates the controller's versatility. The analog stick peripheral will come included with the Revolution hardware, with other attachments to follow in the future. While Miyamoto didn't say much else about what other attachments were in the works, he did note that it's theoretically possible to have entirely different configurations plug into the port--which got us thinking about SNES and N64 controller attachments.

One of the most interesting features of the peripheral is tied to its functionality as a "pointing device." A glossy section of the top of the controller houses a transmitter--much like any remote would have--that was used extensively in the demos we saw. The signal from the unit is picked up by sensors you'll place near your television, which will then reflect your actions on the screen. Based on the responsiveness of the demos that we tried, this feature ...

Speaking on the first day of the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has unveiled the innovative new controller design for the Revolution console - a one-handed device which detects its own location relative to the screen.

The controller is similar in size and design to a television remote control, and sports a trigger button and D-Pad along with a number of action buttons - but the key feature is a sensor which Iwata described as the "Direct Pointing Device".

This sensor allows the Revolution to detect exactly where on the screen the device is being pointed, and also detects the controller's distance from and angle relative to the screen.

An expansion port on the bottom of the controller allows the connection of additional devices, with an analogue stick designed to be held in the other hand being shipped as standard. Iwata described this configuration as "nunchuck style".

Another device which will connect to the expansion port is a more traditionally designed controller, which will allow players to control the Nintendo back catalogue titles which the Revolution can play.

Among the uses for the new controller which were demonstrated by Iwata were a fishing game, a sword fighting title, a multiplayer tennis game and party style games where players could do things ranging from swatting flies to cooking and even performing delicate dental surgery.

Interestingly, Iwata also described the controller as providing a "new standard of gameplay for FPS games", pointing out that it allows a fresh degree of control over shooting and movement in such titles, while another demonstration suggested a survival horror game where the player could "intuitively explore in the dark with a flashlight".

However, no actual software for the device was demonstrated - with the entire presentation showing only videos of players using the controller in a variety of game styles.

"Throughout the history of game development, the game control mechanism has become more and more sophisticated," Iwata explained. "Perhaps those who have quit gaming or who have never played games look at the game controller and think it's too difficult to play, even before they dare to touch it."

"In order to expand the gaming population, it is taken for granted that we need to offer games to satisfy veteran gamers. At the same time, I believe that we need to make a new proposal, so that those who do not play games can say, 'I can do it' and, 'I want to touch it.'"

After presenting the controller to the audience, Iwata went on to explain the company's rationalisation behind making such a radical change to the control scheme which it had originally introduced with the Famicom / NES around 22 years ago.

"Firstly, we face the reality that within one family there are people willing to pick up a game controller, and those who would never touch one," he said. "Anyone will pick up a TV remote control, but not necessarily a game controller. Why is this?"

"We thought it was the requirement of moving right and left fingers separately and nimbly that was creating a psychological barrier," Iwata continued. "To expand the gaming population, it was needed for us to design a pad so that any family member would see it on the living room table, think that this was something relevant to them and pick it up."

"For the controller to be placed on the table at all, we had to make it compact - I believe that this will be possible for this controller. Also, just like a TV remote control, it can be manipulated with one hand."

Iwata continued to discuss the challenges of bringing new gamers into the gaming population throughout his speech, having started out by talking through the recent success of the "TOUCH! Generation" games (including Nintendogs and Brain Training) on Nintendo DS in attracting females and older people into games in Japan.

"The hurdle for non-gamers today must be significantly lowered," he said. "Just as the touch pad did for Nintendo DS, the Revolution controller will enable all users to intuitively play from the same starting line. For all family members, it will be something relevant to them which they are willing to use."

Iwata also presented a select number of Japanese developers to discuss their feelings related to the controller - most notably Konami's Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series, who told the audience that his initial reaction to the controller was simply to exclaim, "You've done it!"

"Even though it was a surprise to me at first, I quickly understood how it should be used," he commented. "This is exactly what I was looking for."

Speaking more generally about Revolution, Iwata also touched on Nintendo's pledge to create a platform which will be accessible for smaller developers and those without large budgets.

"On the next generation hardware platforms, the size of the development team is projected to be even bigger, and smaller development studios feel that they can't create games for new platforms," ...

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo's head of European Developer Business, Marko Hein, has called on the videogames industry to work harder at understanding its markets.

In an interview published today, Hein discusses Nintendo's vision of a market-led development model which individually identifies and targets various niche markets and new emerging demographics, rather than simply building developer-led products.

Referring to the music industry as an example, Hein said that in that market, "they try to investigate who the target group is, what does the market want, and then try to design music for the mass market. I rarely see this in videogames. It's very much developer driven, it's not marketing driven."

"So nobody looks at the market to see which group is currently untouched, which group has a certain potential and then look at how to make a game for this market with research and investigation beforehand," he continued. "Normally a developer comes to you and says 'here's a product, take a look at it'. I'm not sure if we can go on like this in the future."

The interview goes on to cover topics including Nintendo's approach to innovation and its willingness to invest in products which may not have wide commercial appeal, but will help to grow the market for games, such as recent DS title Electroplankton.

"Sometimes you bring a product to market not only for financial reasons, but to open new doors," he commented. "What we are selling with the DS is that the gaming experience is completely different, and we've got a lot of respect for that, even from the competitors." ...

Some renders for what should be the next move for RTS genre by using the twin screens of the DS

A call to all Coders for Demo's which bring this idea to life ...

Team Xtender sent me a fantastic email with great screenshots of their new PSP TV accessorie, which means youll be watching and playing PSP Games and UMDs on a TV Soon, heres the scoop:



We are pround to annonce that PSP2TV is in its final stages of
development. This easy to use product feature a docking station for the
SONY PSP so that its image can be displayed on a TV (plasma, LCD and
HDTV). It also allow you to use your Sony PS2 dual shock controller on
your PSP!!! As usual Team X-tender offers the highest quality in our
products. Below are some pictures of the PSP2TV in action. The commerical
launch date will be announced very soon. Interested wholesellers and
retailer; magazine and media companies please contact
[email protected] for more information regarding this product.

Tons more screenshots inside

Thanks to Team Xtender forthe email/release ...

Team Xtender sent me a fantastic email with great screenshots of their new PSP TV accessorie, which means youll be watching and playing PSP Games and UMDs on a TV Soon, heres the scoop:



We are pround to annonce that PSP2TV is in its final stages of
development. This easy to use product feature a docking station for the
SONY PSP so that its image can be displayed on a TV (plasma, LCD and
HDTV). It also allow you to use your Sony PS2 dual shock controller on
your PSP!!! As usual Team X-tender offers the highest quality in our
products. Below are some pictures of the PSP2TV in action. The commerical
launch date will be announced very soon. Interested wholesellers and
retailer; magazine and media companies please contact
[email protected] for more information regarding this product.

Tons more screenshots inside

Thanks to Team Xtender forthe email/release ...

Team Xtender sent me a fantastic email with great screenshots of their new PSP TV accessorie, which means youll be watching and playing PSP Games and UMDs on a TV Soon, heres the scoop:



We are pround to annonce that PSP2TV is in its final stages of
development. This easy to use product feature a docking station for the
SONY PSP so that its image can be displayed on a TV (plasma, LCD and
HDTV). It also allow you to use your Sony PS2 dual shock controller on
your PSP!!! As usual Team X-tender offers the highest quality in our
products. Below are some pictures of the PSP2TV in action. The commerical
launch date will be announced very soon. Interested wholesellers and
retailer; magazine and media companies please contact
[email protected] for more information regarding this product.

Tons more screenshots inside

Thanks to Team Xtender forthe email/release ...