Changing the way we play games

Nintendo wants to change the way you play games. We are all bored with our games and want to interact with our consoles in ways never seen before. Developers want to make games that have never been seen before - games that they can't make on the current flock of consoles. Nintendo is going to reinvigorate the videogame industry, rebuild our concept of videogames and, hopefully, replenish their bank account.

Of all the videogame companies in the world, Nintendo is best placed to make this change. They have been at the forefront of game control innovation for decades. Arcade game Sheriff ignored the usual joystick and button approach, providing the player with two dials: one for movement and one for gun aiming. This allowed the player to move in one direction while shooting in another. At the time this wasn't considered an innovative move, as a number of arcade manufacturers adapted their control methods depending on what the game required.

Early home videogame systems that could play multiple games didn't have this luxury. They either had to provide multiple control systems (at considerable expense to both publisher and consumer) or provide a single control system that all games would have to adapt to. No surprises, then, that Atari and others simply adapted the most popular arcade control method - joystick and one or two buttons.

In 1980 Nintendo had started manufacturing the Game & Watch systems. Like the arcades, these played a single game, and so each one had a unique control method. It was when Nintendo adapted their arcade classic Donkey Kong to the Game & Watch that they had to provide a substitute for the joystick that was pocket-friendly. Enter the + shaped directional pad. This became the foundation of Nintendo's design for the Famicom and NES Control Pads. Nintendo continued the tradition laid out before them by taking a single control method and forcing games to use that layout.

The NES featured several other control methods as well. The Zapper light gun was adapted from the toys Nintendo invented in the late 1960's (no other toy company had used electronic components before Nintendo). ROB the Robot was a failed experiment in producing three tiers of gameplay - no longer were you simply controlling the action, but you were controlling the character who in turn controlled the action. The Famicom controller also came with a microphone built in, which could be used in certain games - no voice recognition or recording functionality, but by making noise you could kill Pols Voices (large-eared enemies) in The Legend of Zelda, or make a heart appear in one of the built-in Family BASIC games. The Power Pad mat, developed by Bandai, gave players nine foot-pads to be used in various fitness simulators, but it was also adapted for a couple of conventional games.

The SNES controller was simply a beefed up (and more comfortable) version of the NES controller. Shoulder buttons arrived, and two more face buttons were added giving developers even more options when building their games. For most games this level of control was unnecessary - the fact many SNES games have been ported to the Game Boy Advance with two fewer face buttons is proof of that - but it meant that fighting games and others like it could advance to a new level. Aside from the unwieldy Super Scope (simply another version of the light gun), the SNES was all about the button combinations.

Experiments with 3D gaming on the SNES produced wonderful results, such as StarFox and Stunt Race FX, but it must have been the limitations of the console that led Nintendo to produce its next groundbreaking control method - the analogue stick. Positioned in the centre prong of the Nintendo 64's control pad with a trigger opposite, the once-laughable design gave way to some of the most desirable 3D control ever produced. The Rumble Pak addition provided physical feedback directly from events on screen. Both of these are now industry standard, and it's looking like the N64's other, less successful peripheral - the microphone with voice recognition - is also finally catching on.

The Gamecube controller (like the SNES) didn't bring with it a huge change from what came before, offering only tweaks and changes, but something else was taking place. WarioWare had arrived. Whether the game changed Nintendo's entire philosophy, or whether it simply clarified certain things within the company, the importance of this one game cannot be overstated. The videogame market was no longer a race to produce an affordable super computer, but to produce new ways to entertain. By finding new ways to control games, developers would once again be free to experiment with all-new ideas.

The Gamecube and Game Boy Advance have become a testing ground for new ways of playing games. Nintendo is trying to break the cycle of reusing the same control methods time and time again. Rhythm Action games are nothing new, but forming a game like Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat around a peripheral controller is a rewarding experience. DK: King of Swing uses just two buttons, but crafts an elaborate world around this simple idea.

The Nintendo DS is at the forefront of this change. You can continue to play games as you have always done, but a developer may want to craft a game around its unique features - something they wouldn't be able to do on any other system. Like the Gamecube bongos, the Nintendo DS was dismissed as a gimmick when it was first shown, but as more possibilities are unveiled, and more unique games hit the shelves, those fears give way to unique entertainment.

The Revolution is on the way, promising even more unique ways to make and play games. When we see what it can do it will be dismissed as a gimmick. No doubt in my mind. But if Nintendo can prove that they want to continue the legacy of game control that they created and developed (as we must assume is the case if the Revolution controller can play any NES, SNES and N64 game) while giving us completely new experiences, then Nintendo fans (and hopefully many more) will be in for some of the best gaming in the console generation ahead.

Mark 'fryguy64' Kelly