Those crazy Nintendo guys are at it again...
Nintendo's next generation controller is going to be in a league all its own. I'm not sure whether I like it or not... Part of their stated intent is to make it friendlier for first time users. Friendlier is fewer buttons and simpler design, like the original Nintendo controller. Friendlier is not, non-intuitive and clunky...
The other thing I noticed is that if you look at the picture (and read the article) it appears that the 2nd hand add on piece is supposed to go in the left hand. Try simulating that in mid air right now... Shooting a gun or thumbing complex commands with your left hand while mashing buttons with your right. Maybe it's just me but if feels very odd to do that... Much more natural to do it the other way. I guess it probably doesn't matter though since you could easily switch them between hands.
1 Comments:
I think it's a bad interim design but might have a future with more innovation. It appears to me you can use either piece in either hand; Nintendo probably thinks that's a marketing advantage, for left-handed people or others that want the option. My problem is the wire in between: it's not long enough to let you really spread your hands apart and get comfortable, like laying back in an overstuffed chair with your arms on the rests. I imagine in the heat of battle quite a few controllers will be ruined by breaking an internal wire. I either want my two hands hard-linked together or completely autonomous; this wire creates an untenable compromise.
So I'd say a future design would have two pieces, completely separate, with radio communication between them (maybe a small radio from one to the other, and a bigger radio from the main piece to the console). As gamers become parents, this separation will have marketing advantages to get uncoordinated young kids hooked and brand-loyal at an early age (dad drives, 3-year old son presses the buttons). Make the button piece more ergonomic, and also create a plastic "bridge" (or encasement) which ties them together in a comfortable way for people who prefer one unit; the bridge might even vary in size and shape for different hand types.
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