You've seen the controller. You know it is different. Now discover the first uses of the controller in potential gameplay situations...

So the wraps have come off Nintendo's revolutionary new controller. However, with all the new features and unorthodox design, just how will the controller translate to gameplay in next generation titles? Here is a summary of various hands-on tech demos that illustrate its functionality. Note that the graphics used in most of these demos were extremely simple representations, as the express purpose was to highlight the ways the controller could be used.

1. Aim and Fire: This demo allowed the user to see how the device can work as an accurate pointing device. Simply using the controller to locate an on-screen cursor, the player could fire at blocks for points. Two players competed on one screen for the high score.

2. Fishing: This demo showed off just how sensitive the controller gyroscopic-like detection will be in 3-D space. Not just left, right, up and down...but forward and back as well. Essentially, the player is engaged to utilize the controller to "pick up a fishing rod" and "cast" it into the water using simple intuituive movements. When the player feels a "bite" on the end of the line (represented by force feedback which will be present in the final controller), simply pulling back on the controller would reel the unlucky fish in. You can bet the next NEXT Zelda will be building off of this.

3. Irritating Stick: In this demo, the controller was used again to guide a cursor onscreen, this time represented as a rotating stick, through a 2D maze of obstacles. The player does not want to hit the walls for fear of "shock" and thus must keep a steady hand. Very reminescent of the (once?) popular japanese game Irritating Stick. If anything, this demo made me imagine how shmups (shoot-em-ups like Gradius) would play on the Revolution.

4. Air Hockey: Air Hockey is just like you would imagine...with a twist. Literally. This demo allowed the player guide their "paddle" onscreen as with previous demos, but the puck's direction could be altered by simply twisting the wrist in the desired direction. Needless to say, sports games like tennis may suddenly have a very compelling reason to reside on the Revolution.

5. Basketball: The Basketball demo was actually multi-player. Predictably, two players face off on a basketball court trying to guide the ball into their opponent's hoop. The catch is that the player moves the ball by using the B-trigger on back of the controller to create indentations in the court that the ball could be dragged toward, and then using the A button to reverse the recession into a bump that could launch the ball toward the hoop. Strange as it may seem, maneuvering despite the two players was apparently very easy to the point that blocks and steals could be pulled off.

6. Toy Plane: Pilotwings, anyone? Essentially this demo manifested one of the most common ideas for a controller that could sense actual movement. And the results are predictably very natural. The "pilot" holds the controller as he would a toy plane, raising and lowering the controller to make the on-screen plane dip and rise. Turning is achieved by twisting the controller in the appropriate direction. On a side note, Miyamoto wondered aloud how amusing it might be if a special plane-shaped controller was made for just such a game. Anyway, hopefully this is compelling evidence that Pilotwings will be making its anticipated return. Dogfighting could be very cool as well...

7. Where's Waldo?: Displaying a flat board populated by many various pokemon, the player is engaged to pick the wanted monster out of the bustling crowd. The idea is essentially the same as the mini-game "Wanted" in Mario 64 DS. The catch, as each of these demos possess, is that the camera could be panned and zoomed in unique ways. To look left or right the player would need only point to that direction on the board, whereas zooming in or out requires moving the controller closer and further from the board. The demo served as a compelling glimpse into next-generation dynamic user-controlled cameras...as well as teasing with thoughts of sniping in a first-person-shooter.

8. First Person Shooting: Speaking of first-person-shooters, the FPS demo represented the most cohesive and graphically complex of the otherwise simple game demos. In fact, it was basically Metroid Prime 2: Echoes rewired for Revolution-style control. Quickly scratched together by the folks at Retro Studios, the analog control attachment is held in one hand to allow player standard and strafing movements. The main controller base meanwhile could be utilized similarly to how a mouse is used in FPS games to aim and fire...all working very intuitively as FPS fans can imagine. No doubt the possiblities are very provocative for a FPS game...and it will be interesting to see just what Retro will have in store for Metroid Prime fans come launch time...or if in fact they are hard at work on another brand new FPS as well.

That does it for the demos...very exciting and compelling stuff. No doubt you can imagine the myriad possiblities this truly revolutionary controller can offer for your gaming experience. Rest assured more updates are to come as we get them.