New DS coming, what will be different?

Agreed on the tilt sensor. The wario ware game with tilt on the GBA was lot's of fun. I think multi-touch screen would be the next big thing, like on the iphone. They already patented a method of controlling a space ship (starfox?) using two fingers on a touch screen.

What I think could be interesting is seeing how they manage backwards compatibility on the next DS, if it does have two bigger screens.

 

I m skeptical about a tilt function when it comes to a wide, two-screen device when considering spin motions etc.
Of course it could easily work for tilting and other less extreme actions.

The wii remote seems to attract a lot of criticism and some of it may be fair. The rest is horse-shit.

You must all appreciate the fact that although conventional controllers are alright, and have been proven to work with games for the past 20 years or more, introducing yet another method of control is always welcome.

I m personally not much impressed by the Wii remote's motion sensing capabilities. Nevertheless, I find its inclusion of an infrared pointer an oustanding choice like no other.

There is no subsitute of such a pointing device when you're on the couch and want to aim at objects. Many will argue for mice, as on computers, but the point is moot if one considers the flat area needed to operate it properly.

The pointer allows games such as resident evil, menu selections, and strategy games to feel much more complete and competitive compared to their PC bretherin.

Additionally, games like Wii Sports have a proven record that they can be fun, albeit basic in their technical functions, and attract people that previously didn't play games.

I was surprised to find out that even my own parents, who are not subject to the marketing of the Wii since they don't watch anything but the news on their TV, are interested in having a game or two on the Wii. They even asked me if I could bring it over for xmas!


Yes, I will agree that many game designs are better left to buttons and standard controllers, such as most fighting games.

however, there is surely space for the Wii remote and its accessories to cover, where standard controllers just felt insufficient and formulaic.

Having a wii controller for a fighting game, for example, is as bad as using a conventional controller for a first person shooter.

Yes, after playing metroid prime 3 I have a really hard time justifying the fact that I have to use dual analogues in order to shoot stuff on my 360 games.

The conclusion is that gamers need as many options as possible. A true gamer will have a taste for everything game, as long as its addictive.

Categorizing consoles and gamers based on the prefered controller is a step backwards towards the early days of the console-wars. And we all know by now that even the shittiest console had something to offer else we wouldn't be collecting them

 

Thats not the point dude! the activator was, as most, a cheap experiment on motion controllers. Even the Menacer had a bigger ad capaign to back it up!

The Wii is nothing but a repackaged GC, is the Wiimote what it makes it worth anything at all, basically becos the entire console is built around this controller, and the only thing it can give you that the last gen couldnt is great motion controllers.

The DS with its simple touchscreen is limited by the same constrains that other touchscreens devices like the Palm had, yet with clever coding and good game developers is just amazing what they were able to archieve.

Now think for a second what could be done if the DS2 has the screen of an iPod and higher specs than a PSP. I'm not talking about dual screens, but a single big one with multitouch, where just like in psy phi you had to touch the actual graphics to control the game, not just a layout full of buttons...

I agree:nod:

 

I really dont like touch screens unless its puzzle games. As for the arcade unit with a touch screen, well for me I would be stood too close to the screen - it would hurt my eyes.

 

You're the one that made the allusion to the Wii's motion controls. I was just pointing out that you cannot compare the two, even though they both use "motion".

I was mainly talking about general use controllers for consoles, but a portable would have an easier time with touchscreens since they are direct interaction. However, especially with multitouch, you still have to worry about obscurring the action on the screen. For a multitouch system to be viable (and I believe that the iphone only uses multitouch for zooming), you need it to have a fairly large screen. You have to account for control placement, if there are specialized regions and not just "point and shoot" style interactions, as well as larger fingers. I think that something like this can be done for a portable, but I think that it would require a screen larger than Nintendo may be willing to use. The reason, as I see it, is that Nintendo favors the (in my opinion) unreasonably small form factor of the DS Lite. I can't even hold the thing comfortably, let alone play it. I have playd around with several multitouch systems and I can say that some of them work great with a large space. Start using fingers in a very small space and you start to see crosstalk, a lot of it.

Now, if we start talking about a next-next-gen console that comes in the form of an 15" touchscreen tablet... h:

 

Yeah I was thinking the same, but I wonder if such a system wouldnt be considered too big for a portable and too impractical/cumbersome for a home console, much like what happened with the VirtuaBoy.

Let alone the fact that a 15" multitouch screen isnt cheap at all...

 

Would be nice, but more likely is they'll sell it for standard price and lower the price for the Lite (i.e. what they did for the Micro).

right