The many faces of the Revolution controller

Like most products, the controller for Nintendo's Revolution console went through tons of designs before the final one was chosen. Now Nintendo has treated us to a retrospective of those designs, with a splashy spread that's apparently in a Japanese brochure put out by the company. There are also rumors that if you squint just right at these pics you can make out some details of the Revolution console itself, but we're still trying to decide which controller we like best.

[Via Joystiq]

[Psychotron @ Feb 8th 2006 6:42PM]

Good thing they did not go with some of those designs. Some of them kind of look like sex toys from the side angles. Imagine your mom catching you with one of the those in your hands?

[Nicol@s @ Feb 8th 2006 6:42PM]

Viva la Revolution !
I don't like the red and green revo, I will get a black one.

[Stu L Tissimus @ Feb 8th 2006 6:50PM]

Before people dismiss this as a rumor, I have to point out something: Nintendo has not released any photos of the Nunchaku attachment on its' side. Also, the controller doesn't have the glossiness that is in all the stock images. So this may actually be true (for once).

[Jabari @ Feb 8th 2006 6:54PM]

Im feeling nintendo's new design ethic its really shaping up nicely.......

[joejoe @ Feb 8th 2006 7:07PM]

Well lets just hope that Nintendo can keep up with the xbox360 and the soon to be released Playstation 3.

[Pal @ Feb 8th 2006 7:09PM]

"Good thing they did not go with some of those designs. Some of them kind of look like sex toys from the side angles."

Too bad, since that is the Nunchaku controller add-n prototypes. It's actually coming out, so get your excuses ready, or better yet, rush into higher education or an apartment!

[Matthew Rader @ Feb 8th 2006 7:10PM]

Props to Nintendo for the best designed console. :up:

[Ro Ley @ Feb 8th 2006 7:16PM]

Did Norelco help with the design of the ones top right?

[Josh Glaser @ Feb 8th 2006 7:29PM]

I think the Revolution "remote" is pure genius. I really think Nintendo should call the Revolution the NES2 (or Famicom 2 in Japan) - even ignoring the "virtual console," the Revolution controller pays homage to the NES controller - it has just a D-pad and A and B buttons, but it's the most innovative controller in years. It's so familiar, but so new. Props to Nintendo.

I hope the "NES2" comes in the lime green color that they showed. I'd buy it just to be different. You can keep your white and black and red Revolutions, a lime green console is truly revolutionary. :)

[zverg @ Feb 8th 2006 7:37PM]

me thinks the people bitching about nintendo on here are just jealous that their PSPs still don't have any good games. :) It isn't who is most powerful who wins, it is who has the best games.

[netboolie @ Feb 8th 2006 7:41PM]

Let's just hope Nintendo is not digging their own grave here with this one.... I've always been a Nintendo fan since the NES. But if they really want to stay in the game with Microsoft and Sony, they really need to step up. It will be sad to see them go down like the Dreamcast did.

[jamil @ Feb 8th 2006 7:50PM]

thats hot. i am anticipating some cool integration of the controller.

[Tenken @ Feb 8th 2006 8:16PM]

I can't believe people still think Nintendo is trying to be a major player in this next console generation. I'm an unabashed Nintendo fanboy, and it's obvious that they don't care about the lead spot anymore. They've stopped fighting with the MS and Sony because those guys are just trying to give us more of the same. Nintendo has always prided itself on being different, even if it makes them last in the market.

I don't think it will end up like the Nintendo 64 or Gamecube this time around. Those systems tried to compete on the same level as their major competitors, and while they had their advantages over the competition they ultimately died due to poor marketing and lack of third party support. So here comes the Revolution, which, from the little that we know, is going to actually change the gaming experience. They're not competing against MS and Sony anymore--they're playing their own game.

The controller is just the starting point; I think the Revolution may be unique enough that many people, gamers in particular, would want one ALONG with their choice of PS3 or 360. Nintendo is playing a completely different game than their competitors this time around.

[XGM @ Feb 8th 2006 8:21PM]

# 14 so true, they were awsome but now i dont like em anymore. I still play NES at time but never will use 64 or gamecube. The new revolution makes me a nintendo hater

[Kojiro @ Feb 8th 2006 9:55PM]

Nintendo makes the most of their money off of the handheld market. Nintendo will keep their games the way they have been because people still buy them for the nintendo characters (the heart and soul of the company).

[Tallon @ Feb 8th 2006 10:04PM]

To all you people who keep insulting Nintendo: the reason it survives is cause it's a different market. different people. The Xbox stuff is for different people than the Nintendo products. The Xbox crap takes what seems to be first place with sheer power (I would say numbers too, but owing to its fiasco of a release...) along with PS3, But Nintendo systems are based on finesse, which gives it something the other competitors don't use. Every Nintendo console we've seen something new and almost always better. So all you who dismiss Nintendo stuff as "Kids systems" and "Not worth playing," I'm not saying you're stupid because you don't like the console, I'm saying you need to give it a chance. It could be a major flop, but most precedents have been good.Either way, I'm gonna reserve my judgement until the final product is here

[Tallon @ Feb 8th 2006 10:06PM]

Oh, and kudos to #5, #10, #13, and #16, I couldn't agree more.

[keii @ Feb 8th 2006 10:35PM]

i whole heartedly agree with #16. i bought a gamecube just for super smash bros melee. when my friends are around, we ramp it up and play it exclusively. for hours.

otherwise, it's me and the ps2.

it would hurt the wallet to do the same with a ps3 and revolution, but if the revolution will have a good smash bros. variant, nintendogs, or the rumored online console service... i'm game.

[JCRogers @ Feb 8th 2006 10:43PM]

"Like I said before: "People still buy Nintendo products??""

It's nice to be able to read these articles and find your twatly comments on every one of them. Leave the conversation to the grown-ups.

[gezepi @ Feb 9th 2006 12:12AM]

The last console I bought was the SNES and that was from a friend. I think I will buy this one.

[Kizul Emeraldfire @ Feb 9th 2006 12:38AM]

�"Good thing they did not go with some of those designs. Some of them kind of look like sex toys from the side angles."

Too bad, since that is the Nunchaku controller add-n prototypes. It's actually coming out, so get your excuses ready, or better yet, rush into higher education or an apartment!�

Are you saying what I think you're saying? O.o

[Kizul Emeraldfire @ Feb 9th 2006 2:03AM]

�"Good thing they did not go with some of those designs. Some of them kind of look like sex toys from the side angles."

Too bad, since that is the Nunchaku controller add-n prototypes. It's actually coming out, so get your excuses ready, or better yet, rush into higher education or an apartment!�

Are you saying what I think you're saying? O.o

[VAStateOfMind @ Feb 9th 2006 8:11AM]

#22 so eloquently said:

"It's nice to be able to read these articles and find your twatly comments on every one of them. Leave the conversation to the grown-ups."

Are you referring to grown-ups like yourself who apparently blow perfectly good waking hours on activities like "Barracks Adventures?" Twatly, indeed. Pot...kettle...black, #22?

[enigma7 @ Feb 9th 2006 9:59AM]

I'm surprised by how many people on this site really seem to know nothing about the Revolution except for the fact that it's not as powerful as Xbox360 and PS3 and that it's "for kids".

Developers love the Revolution... many third parties already have games in the works (Ubi, EA, Activision, Midway, Sega, Capcom, Konami just to name a few).

People that played it at the Tokyo Game Show have even commented that using like the Xbox360 controller after demoing the Revolution felt "archaic".

This is some serious tech folks. Don't cheat yourself by letting your inability to update your way of thinking stand in the way of what promises to be on of the most intuitive gameplay experiences ever.

[xB @ Feb 9th 2006 1:34PM]

http://onNintendo.com has a pretty cool article about this.

[JCRogers @ Feb 9th 2006 7:37PM]

"Are you referring to grown-ups like yourself who apparently blow perfectly good waking hours on activities like "Barracks Adventures?" Twatly, indeed. Pot...kettle...black, #22?"

Funny, I don't see how the two are related. Me making a shitty comic isn't the same as jumping into every single article and bitching about some company or other with very little grounds.

[VAStateOfMind @ Feb 10th 2006 9:08AM]

Oh, they're related, especially given the unstated implication that you're more enlightened than the rest of us mere, uninformed fanboys. You could have commented constructively but you chose to contribute NOTHING to the debate and instead labelled readers of this article. This story has more to do with visceral reader reactions to the LOOK of Rev controllers that might have been, rather than a philosophical or technical discussion of the woulda/coulda/shoulda on the hardware. Don't want to read the fanboy fodder? Don't. But keep the throwaway references to reader maturity levels to yourself...

[JCRogers @ Feb 10th 2006 5:22PM]

I only refered to one reader in particular. Not "the rest of us" -- a reader who, in several of the last articles has only commented to say how much [so-and-so-company] sucks (without giving any particular reasons, or even speaking in regards to the current topic). But you're right, I'm no better, as I didn't contribute to the actual discussion any more than he did.

Actually, I think Nintendo's going to far with the Revolution controller. I know they like to innovate, but I think it's this innovation that's slowly killing them. If they'd just make a more-powerful version of the gamecube, call it the "GameCube 2" just like everyone else, they'd probably make money. Innovate next time.

[VAStateOfMind @ Feb 10th 2006 5:54PM]

Forgive my brusque tone. So do you think the Rev controller will be the console of Nintendo's undoing? I've read both sides of that argument and...I just don't know what to think yet. I have never been a fanboy of any of any of the consoles and never had a Nintendo product before the GameCube and GBA SP. We also have a PS2, but I find myself (and my sons) MOSTLY enjoying games on the GC, GBA and DS. I think I need to hold/try the Rev controller to truly judge. Of course, it won't matter what you, I or any other critic thinks if the developers aren't getting on board (though it appears that they are for the Rev). Guess we need to wait and see....

[Perrey Z. @ Feb 10th 2006 7:40PM]

#8: Not Norelco, but rather Philips which had a remote control for one of their speech dictation devices a few years back and yes, it's very similar to the {from left to right} second and last one.

#12: Do not worry, their friends at Matsushita Electric will not let that happen.

The Revolution will be a good contender if they can produce a good selection of games to pleased everyone out there mot just the traditional football, racing or RPG/violence fan. And most important; Manufacture a trouble-free product instead of rushing it out of the assembly lines with quality issues just to make it in time for Christmas.

They have something Microsoft and Sony don't or atleast haven't develop yet which are propietary characters which are profit savers. If something goes wrong or not as planned, {except backorder issues} Nintendo can always use Mario Bros., Zelda, Pokemon or Donkey Kong on a number of games and reclaim at least a piece of the pie from loyal fans of these. Stay tuned to the upcoming months, you'll see some more interesting things.

[JCRogers @ Feb 12th 2006 2:40AM]

Well, it may undo them in the home console arena. Judging by the sales of the DS, they should always have a good market in handhelds. I really don't want to see them go, because their first-party games are always top-quality.

[mmorpg screenshots @ Feb 14th 2006 3:06AM]

I can see why most of those designs were rejected. They look very similiar to "alternate lifestyle" toys.