I was going to ramble on about some general gaming guff this week, but what with the new name and new look for Gamecube... err... Revolution-Europe, perhaps a more relevant topic will have to take the spotlight this week. Now, what has happened in the past week worth talking about...

Ah yes, of course...

The Revolution controller was revealed to the amassed crowds of the Tokyo Game Show last Friday (Europe time). Nintendo promised that the controller would be unexpected, and would surprise us all. In that they weren't wrong. However, I have spent the last couple of days gauging the response by mooching and snooping around on forums. You see, for me it is the response to the controller, rather than the controller itself, that has been the most unexpected surprise of all.

I have long known how I would react to the controller. I would take one look at it and be puzzled, but would be excited at the promise of more information to come. I would read through the information and my heart would skip a beat as I came to terms with what Nintendo had achieved. I predicted this response based on my response to nearly everything else Nintendo has done in the past. It's not a normal feeling, knowing you are going to be surprised, and still actually being surprised when the moment comes... but Nintendo manages it time and time again.

In the same vein, I expected the usual response from the amassed gaming public. Confused and closed-minded 'traditionalists' bemoaning it for not being exactly like what has come before it and having a good laugh at Nintendo's expense. All the while the Nintendo fans go into defensive mode until the system is finally released to a short-lived booming applause. The cycle has been the same for every console generation so far. I did not expect it to change, especially for something that promised to be as controversial as the Revolution.

But something strange has happened. Nintendo, it seems, has struck a chord. I recommend you visit any number of forums and have a read. Sure enough, people take one look at it and dislike the idea of playing games with a one-handed remote control. Who wouldn't, right? After all, there's nothing revolutionary about that - mobile phone games and digital TV games are played with one-handed control inputs, and they are usually ghastly to play. I have seen this complaint dozens and dozens of times so far, followed up nearly every time with a second post that goes something like as follows:

"I just finished reading IGN/1Up/Gamespot's description of the motion sensing and the demos that were shown, and all I can say is wow! I'm sold!"

Time and time again, on every forum I could find, this has been the response from gamers. And before you think I've been loitering at Nintendo exclusive forums, I can guarantee that the reaction is much the same on multiformat and competitor forums as well. Sometimes the reaction is slightly more negative, but the pattern seems to be the same: those who have actually read into what it can do, rather than just look at the pictures, have been positive about it.

Why do I find this so surprising? It's true that I had utmost faith that Nintendo really would create a form of game control unlike any other, but I did not have faith that they could translate this information to appeal to a wide-ranging audience so quickly. After all, even though the Nintendo DS has been an unbridled worldwide success story, its early days were met with repeated cries of "gimmick" and "ugly" right up until some time after the system was released. This year's E3 was similarly faith-shaking, as Nintendo managed to reveal details of their new home console and yet still have one of their most disappointing E3 performances ever.

Also don't forget, the much loved N64 controller was initially mocked for its trident design, despite being one of the most inspired ideas in 3D gaming. Gamecube's controller, similarly, received a lot of badmouthing when it was unveiled, but people have fallen in love with its comfortable grip and ergonomic design (I am not one of those people, but that is a complaint for another day).

Maybe Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, has got us all worked out. Despite the critics, the DS has gone on to do everything he said it would. Despite the Revolution's unveiling, people have been discussing the fine details of it at great length. Rumours alone led us to believe the controller would be unveiled at the TGS, and after a lengthy discussion about how Nintendo's business plan is working, it was.

The unveiling was accompanied by third party support from companies such as Square Enix and Hideo Kojima of Konami, neither of which are renowned for projects on Nintendo consoles. A series of simple demos were shown to selected gaming press and have been the most influential factor in translating Nintendo's ideas. Sure, there's some block shooting thing and some simple fishing game, but mention the biplane game to someone and they start thinking of SNES and N64 technology pioneer, Pilotwings. Mention that one of the demos was Metroid Prime 2 reconfigured for the technology and, reports claim, was even better for it, people start to imagine a game experience like that of the PC, but with a mouse capable of traveling in full 3D rather than on a flat surface.

Nintendo may not be the most forthcoming of the console manufacturers, nor the most articulate, but they have been consistently interesting and innovative, just as they said they would be. Nintendo has been laying the groundwork for something like the Revolution's unveiling for the past few years, and now that work is bearing fruit. People are getting excited and imaginative, rather than confused and irritable. That's some achievement given the company's history in this area.

Of course, there are still concerns, the main one being that it won't be able to competently support multiformat gaming, thus scaring away third party publishers. We will just have to wait for the day Nintendo shows us some games running on the machine before those questions will be answered. In the meantime, we just have to put up with imagining how games, and the game market, will be changed forever. It's what Iwata-san expects of us, after all!

~Fryguy64~
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