Revo-fucking-lutionary

(only read this if you give a shit about videogames)

I have seen videos and pictures of Nintendo's new controller, and I am excited to say that I have never been more impressed.

For those who can't google try here "Joystiq", and for those who are too lazy to follow that link, then I'll give you a run down. Essentially, the controller is a television remote control. Instead of just using beams of light to control simple functions of the television, the controller can be used to manipulate an on-screen action in full 360 degree space. Full use of the X, Y and Z axis, giving the player complete "tactile" control.

(the next portion will mostly be intelligent ranting)
Where once a directional Pad and a few buttons ruled the gaming world, a new way to play games has been invented. While companies like Microsoft and Sony jerking off over whose processors can do more gigaflops, Nintendo just really wants to make videogames people can play. People like your little sister, who didn't start gaming until Dance Dance Revolution started showing up in your local arcades. People like your girlfriend, who feels a little neglected when you invite her over to play videogames, when she just doesn't really get it. People who want to goof around with a video game, rather than spend 40 hours obsessively building up their character's skill points.

Gaming really has not come all that far. In the past, Nintendo, Sony and Sega were just adding buttons and adding more powerful chips into their systems. The race was for polygons, and crisp 2D sprites. However, Nintendo put a little joystick on their N64 controller, mimmicking the arcade systems that are endlessly popular in gaming. Everyone else followed, and now an analog stick on a controller is a standard thing. Sega put a modem in it's Dreamcast, and now all of the "next-generation" machines are going to have built in networking.

There are some nay-sayers to the revolution, even Lenin had some problems. People that think such a radical shift is foolish, no doubt the same people who thought 2 gameboy screens would be foolish. The same people that thought, "Who would want to play a dancing game?". The same people who think the Nintendo is only for kids.

There is some value to the argument "Nintendo products (gamecube, gameboy) are only for kids". After all, titles like Pokemon (in all it's forms) and Mario are geared towards children with their simple game mechanics and cartoon-esque graphics. However, is being childish not why we play most video games? To distant one's self from the real world of school, your job and simply take yourself to a time when all you did was play? When you ran around in circles pretending you were a race car or a plane? When you accidentally kicked your brother/sister beacause you thought you were a ninja? That is what Nintendo is doing, but they are taking it one step further.

Nintendo realizes a lot of people are alienated by videogames. There is enough fury in the media for almost everyone to realize that some people are a little pissed about mature games like "Grand Theft Auto". Hell, I won't even add more examples, since GTA is the shining-fucking-star of why old people hate video games. Rockstar, like companies like ID software before them, added to the stigma that video games are all about walking around and killing people. This can scare people away from gaming, either they hate the idea of so much ultra-violence, or they are just uninterested in gunning people down for hours, only strung together by a weak story line.

I personally find this, a long with the possibly confusing aspect of the controller to be hindering video games from being a more widespread medium. The controller's role in alienating new gamers is really easy to see if you can look back on where gaming has been. Look at the first PCs, they had games, although they were very expensive, and hardly anyone knew how to use them. Installing and running files, then playing the game on your keyboard. This actually sounds great to some gamers, however this can easily scare off a lot of new people into gaming. Computer compatibility, the endless combination of keyboard buttons.

This alienates people as some new gamers would just like to pick up and play. In a game were you would need a "reference guide" for commands, versus Nintendogs, were almost all the commands are displayed on screen, and I began petting the dog and blowing him bubbles within 5 seconds of picking it up. Most people don't have the time to devote on video games and this should not stop them from enjoying them.

Picking up a 2 button controller and playing Mario Brothers: Easy. Installing, and playing King's Quest: a little bit harder. Using one joystick to look around, one to move back and forth, then a trigger to shoot: requires some practice. Using a stylus to pick something up and move it across the screen, or to scratch someone's back: almost human nature.

Ok, so that was complete ranting, however I truly think that the Nintendo Revolution is going to be a really good time that is going to change the face of gaming for the most part. Also, I'm kind of being a fan boy, but no matter, GOOD TIMES.