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VendettaRed07 · Dec 10, 2015

Nanashrew said:
Ya'll are reading that there are buttons right?

Even if there are buttons present its hard to imagine this controller being even remotely as practical as the WiiU gamepad. I would absolutely hate going backwards in control schemes yet again. Mapping extra buttons to touch and motion is an awful awful idea. People don't want that anymore and all it does is make development more of a hassle and turn traditional gamers off.

We can't really be sure though, because if I remember correctly patents for the WiiU gamepad originally didn't really resemble what we got. But still, this looks questionable even from a broad concept standpoint.

madstarr12 · Dec 10, 2015

Well, this is interesting. Though, is it a controller for a Console, or a Handheld console? It has a cart slot, but that shape would make it a weird Handheld console. Maybe it's the controller for the home Console, and it can accept media from the Handheld, and streams it to the TV, aside from the console's own media.

Tal Shiar Agent · Dec 10, 2015

DownGrader said:
So, "if it works, don't change it"? Sounds awfully stale.

I like Nintendo having balls to innovate and to think of something new and exciting. People who are not shackled by prejudices and who are willing to try new things are grateful for it.

Is innovation really worth it when it alienates core gamers? But who knows, the NX may strike magic again with casual consumers. But I do know that at least personally I won't be participating in it, which is a shame because I was a dedicated Nintendo fan up until the Wii.

jhmtehgamr20xx said:
People say this all the time but do they realize that at one point, things like analog sticks, d-pads and shoulder buttons were also "gimmicky", or that stuff like switching the d-pad and LAS position was also a complete gimmick?

Nothing starts off without being a gimmick first; it's that those things prove themselves to work over time do they stop being labeled as a gimmick. So at least give these new control methods a chance to prove themselves like you have w/ prior ones. Any real gamer would do so.

Analog sticks are an evolution of joysticks, of which the first popular home consoles (Atari 2600) was based around. D-Pads are also functionally similar to early joysticks. Shoulder buttons were also a natural evolution based on how controllers were held. Point is these advancements all have one thing in common, they are physical buttons. There is a reason why the touchpad and sixaxis in the DS4 are rarely used.

Stuff like that and this controller is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Neoxon · Dec 10, 2015

SG-17 said:
Well they've worked for ~35 years with minimal changes. Until the way games are presented is fundamentally changed (like VR) there is no reason than just trying to be different to change the way games controls.

This is typical out of touch Nintendo. The NX is their last shot and if they blow it, they become another Sega. They should just stick to the tried and true to bring back lapsed Nintendo fans and third party developers or else I'll be playing Smash on my PS6 soon enough.

Western third parties aren't gonna come back for a good long while regardless of what Nintendo does. The audience just isn't there, & said third parties won't support Nintendo unless there's an audience. It's an endless cycle that Nintendo created that will take years to break.

cw_sasuke · Dec 10, 2015

Shit that really sounds interesting.... Getting more edited for the NX unveiling.

Griss · Dec 10, 2015

I've been saying for years that Nintendo needs to get modern with their industrial design and stop making things that look like children's toys.

A sleek edge-to-edge screen with the buttons built-in? Now we're cooking with gas.

Frodo · Dec 10, 2015

Ninja Scooter said:
It seems like the whole point of this is to not have physical traditional button layouts though, and have game/context specific touch controls to supplement the two analog sticks. If they were just going to throw a bunch of buttons and sticks on it like a 3ds why have the screen?

In general this idea always seemed like a waste of screen real estate and probably battery to have a screen that will be covered by your hands.

My point is that it doesn't need to completely abandon buttons just because the patent application only shows two buttons, or that the buttons would necessarily cover parts of the screen you need access to. Also, it doesn't mean that if it had more buttons there needs to be a screen around them. It is just an application.

Silent_Ocarina · Dec 10, 2015

I'm surprised how much the diagrams resemble he mockups that were made. I didn't like the mockups either. I didn't think that was anywhere close to a real product, but looks like I might be wrong. Really curious to see how it all works.

lingpanda · Dec 10, 2015

Don't like it. It's almost like a always on HUD.

Tom Nook Sawyer · Dec 10, 2015

Air said:
Yeah. I'm starting to think the virtual buttons are akin to a digital keyboard (think of what Apple said about physical keyboards when they unveiled the iPhone). By allowing the stick to move, be pressed in and whatever else, you can map actions from the touch screen to it to play. In theory, you wouldn't need anything more than that stick to play a game. The bonus would be if the stick were a 4 way directional pad and an analog stick somehow.

I'm not sure I follow. Why is the stick all you need? And what do you mean by mapping actions from the touchscreen to it?

DownGrader · Dec 10, 2015

LizardKing said:
Pro controller is godly. Point is Nintendo made something uncomfortable to play in the gamepad. Something he implied Nintendo has never done. Of course opinions yadda yadda but a sizable amount of people find it uncomfortable.

People said that about pretty much every controller since the N64 one. Even the GameCube controller got a lot of flak over its unusual face buttons.

UnemployedVillain · Dec 10, 2015

VendettaRed07 said:
Even if there are buttons present its hard to imagine this controller being even remotely as practical as the WiiU gamepad. I would absolutely hate going backwards in control schemes yet again. Mapping extra buttons to touch and motion is an awful awful idea. People don't want that anymore and all it does is make development more of a hassle and turn traditional gamers off.

We can't really be sure though, because if I remember correctly patents for the WiiU gamepad originally didn't really resemble what we got. But still, this looks questionable even from a broad concept standpoint.

I don't see the problem. If it has physical buttons than BC is as easy as restricting the screen space to what it's always been, in between the controls, right?

emb · Dec 10, 2015

I expected something like this for the Wii U, when all the screen/controller rumors were first starting.

Would be interesting to try out, but the diagrams definitely make it look less than ideal.

Neoxon · Dec 10, 2015

I could see this being incorporated into the NX Handheld, but how they would add this to the NX Console is beyond me. Perhaps it could mirror what's on screen & act as the NX Console's counterpart for the NX Handheld's probable touch-screen (assuming they go for a single touch-screen). This would also allow for Wii U games to be on the eShop as you could emulate the GamePad with such a controller.

Nanashrew · Dec 10, 2015

Vena said:
Thats not what this patent is about. The proposed inputs can be either physical or digital, but the patent isn't about the input control but how the haptic screen is incorporated in/around buttons and its integration with play.

Talking about buttons with regards to this patent is to not read or understand the patent.

Quoting for new page.

--

Each of these patents are only discussing certain parts of a controller and how they work and how they could be utilized. not the whole controller and a finalized design. Again, remember there was a patent from Nintendo for scroll wheels in controllers and how they would work and be utilized too.

T.E.D · Dec 10, 2015

Neoxon said:
Western third parties aren't gonna come back for a good long while regardless of what Nintendo does. The audience just isn't there, & said third parties won't support Nintendo unless there's an audience. It's an endless cycle that Nintendo created that will take years to break.

If Nintendo creates projects with content that is attractive to mature audiences then they'll come back. But that may equate Miyomoto having a stroke if everything isn't cute and cuddly.

gai_shain · Dec 10, 2015

SG-17 said:
Is innovation really worth it when it alienates core gamers? But who knows, the NX may strike magic again with casual consumers. But I do know that at least personally I won't be participating in it, which is a shame because I was a dedicated Nintendo fan up until the Wii.

we dont even know what it is yet jesus

Griss · Dec 10, 2015

Tom Nook Sawyer said:
I'm not sure I follow. Why is the stick all you need? And what do you mean by mapping actions from the touchscreen to it?

Here's what I think he means. Let's say you map 'jump' to pushing the right stick up. Then that becomes a 'button press' in a way. And you could have 8 directional 'button presses' per stick if you include diagonals.

Sounds tricky, but maybe doable.

AyaisMUsikWhore · Dec 10, 2015

I'll pass. I don't like the way this looks at all.

Neoxon · Dec 10, 2015

T.E.D said:
If Nintendo creates projects with content that is attractive to mature audiences then they'll come back. But that may equate Miyomoto having a stroke if everything isn't cute and cuddly.

That would be the solution in theory. But in practice, they'd have to continually put out such projects for years until Nintendo fans acquire a taste for such games.

JB-the-Hunter · Dec 10, 2015

Some of you guys are being irrational and overdramatic about this. Firstly, like has been speculated for a while, this will most likely serve as the NX handheld moreso than the NX home console's primary controller. Meaning it can work as a "3DS" and it can work as a "Wii U Gamepad," but most people will by it for handheld gaming. If you think of it that way, as a mobile console and as a secondary controller for the home console, it probably works very well. Secondly, I doubt the end result will look like the drawings in these patents. The point is to give you the most clear and basic idea of what the product is. It seems safe to assume that Nintendo will go through a lot of testing before reaching a final design that satisfies their audience. Lastly, these are just patents, there is no way of knowing what Nintendo is doing with the NX. We can speculate all we want based on the little hints we get from things like patents, interview snippets and industry insiders, but it means nothing until this thing is unveiled.

Side note, I hope you can use at least four of these at once on the home console, unlike the Wii U. That would be a godsend for Splatoon.

RAWi · Dec 10, 2015

Guys, the buttons aren't digital. Those pentagons are sticks/buttons, what is around those buttones are digital displays of what the button or stick could do if moved to one side or the other.

I find this really neat. Now you can have button description on the gamepad.

Although I would totally dislike if everything happened under my fingers, now that would be horrible. And this is obviously not the final form, I am so hyped!

-Horizon- · Dec 10, 2015

T.E.D said:
If Nintendo creates projects with content that is attractive to mature audiences then they'll come back. But that may equate Miyomoto having a stroke if everything isn't cute and cuddly.

No, then you'll get back into the cycle of "only Nintendo games sell" because now 3rd parties will have to once again compete directly with Nintendo if they're in the same genre and appeal.

EloquentM · Dec 10, 2015

Lol at half the thread making purchase decisions over patent drawings.

ZarKryn7 · Dec 10, 2015

I love reading patents man. As a guy trying to major in engineering design. Its always cool to see an ideal tech device and see what it's trying to do.

So to all my GAF buddies who *read* the text, correct if I'm wrong but here's what I got out from this patent.

-free form screen
-Physical sticks and buttons
-controller handles (maybe detachable?)
- guide images that will help novice players or rather novice console gamers that will help them adapt and learn the game better
- motion sensors
- on screen buttons
- some kind of card slot

peakish · Dec 10, 2015

I still won't believe it until I see it.

And I sure as hell don't want my ugly grubbers to cover up a large part of a screen. All concepts posted in this thread are insta-turnoffs for me.

Vital Tundra · Dec 10, 2015

For a company that prides themselves on game feel, I doubt there will only be 2 face buttons. I fully expect 2 analogs, a dpad, 4 face buttons, and 4 shoulder buttons.

cw_sasuke · Dec 10, 2015

Oh people acting again as if the patent means it will be incorporated 1:1 as I the example? You should know better at this point. Let's wait for the reveal before jumping to conclusions.

XenodudeX · Dec 10, 2015

SG-17 said:
Is innovation really worth it when it alienates core gamers? But who knows, the NX may strike magic again with casual consumers. But I do know that at least personally I won't be participating in it, which is a shame because I was a dedicated Nintendo fan up until the Wii.

Not participating in a certain device without even knowing what said device is. Fucking amazing post.

Air · Dec 10, 2015

Tom Nook Sawyer said:
I'm not sure I follow. Why is the stick all you need? And what do you mean by mapping actions from the touchscreen to it?

Let's say you play an action rpg. You can map commands to the stick. Not just binary ones (like attack or defend), but other commands having to do with moving the stick around (aiming, running etc).

Essentially you can map a different action depending on the direction of the stick. So you get the tactileness of the stick, but the versatility of something like a digital keyboard. Meaning that Nintendo wouldn't have to add extra buttons because the sticks can do them all.

That's my basic reading and imagination of it. I still have to read it all, but that was my first impression.

Jobbs · Dec 10, 2015

Can someone TLDR me on what the advantages of an oval screen are compared to a rectangle? I'm not sure why I need that, but I also didn't read through everything.

Gsnap · Dec 10, 2015

I think this would be interesting if the entire screen was wrapped around the buttons and took up all the space on the front of the controller under certain circumstances.

For instance, imagine all of your main screen space being taken up by a traditional 16:9 screen, and although the physical screen itself would extend further beyond that, the rest would, under normal circumstances, always be "off" and you'd only see black. But then, under certain circumstances, that extra space could be used for special functions. Imagine having HUD elements moved to the side, like seeing the ammo in your clip go down, and all it takes is a quick shift of your thumb to tap the screen and reload.

Or imagine a game with time control similar to Majora's Mask, and across the top of the screen there is a timeline that doesn't take up to much space vertically, but extends the entire length horizontally, and at any time you could touch the timeline and scroll back and forth to move forward or backwards in time seamlessly.

Obviously just slapping the entire picture of a game onto this type of screen without any thought wouldn't be so good, but I think there's a lot of good that could come from something like this if implemented well.

Tal Shiar Agent · Dec 10, 2015

XenodudeX said:
Not participating in a certain device without even knowing what said device is. Fucking amazing post.

Maybe if you had the reading comprehension to understand context you'd see I was talking about if this specific patent was the controller for the NX and the primary input was touchscreen buttons.

But no, get outraged.

smashballTaz · Dec 10, 2015

Give me something surprising that will make the next 3D Mario game a must-have, and I'll be more than happy.

DownGrader · Dec 10, 2015

ZarKryn7 said:
- some kind of card slot

I don't know where have you picked this one up. But the strip of plastic on the bottom sure looks strange...

T.E.D · Dec 10, 2015

-Horizon- said:
No, then you'll get back into the cycle of "only Nintendo games sell" because now 3rd parties will have to once again compete directly with Nintendo if they're in the same genre and appeal.

I get where you're coming from but isn't that applicable to all first party devs? Third-party companies have to compete with Sony franchises. They also have to compete with Microsoft franchises. It's like Respawn saying "what? Titanfall on Xbox? No way! They have Halo!". Who the hell is still making 3D platformers today that is going to compete with Mario in any meaningful sense? Games, whether first or third party, need to stand on their own two feet. Sony has put out some real howlers and Microsoft isn't exempt from that.

Herbspiceguy · Dec 10, 2015

I really like the concepts shown in the application. Very curious to see how this turns out.

Tempy · Dec 10, 2015

ZarKryn7 said:
I love reading patents man. As a guy trying to major in engineering design. Its always cool to see an ideal tech device and see what it's trying to do.

So to all my GAF buddies who *read* the text, correct if I'm wrong but here's what I got out from this patent.

-free form screen
-Physical sticks and buttons
-controller handles (maybe detachable?)
- guide images that will help novice players or rather novice console gamers that will help them adapt and learn the game better
- motion sensors
- on screen buttons
- some kind of card slot

Card slot isn't relevant to the patent. Neither are the handles

dancrane212 · Dec 10, 2015

After spending a lot of time with the elite controller I'm OK to ditch face buttons and just move to back bumpers and triggers. Don't have to cover the free-form screen with my hands but also allows touch screen buttons for folk who are used to them from mobile.

If not the system is a bit of a hard sell for me. Depends how much of my hands cover the screen and what alternatives (TV-out?) are available.

shadow2810 · Dec 10, 2015

This thread is like a check to see who actually read OP.
It's right in the first quote

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 10 comprises a first operation stick 18a, a second operation stick 18b, a first operation button 20a and a second operation button 20b. The first operation stick 18a is provided in a position operable by the thumb of the left hand when the player holds the information processing apparatus 10 with one hand or both hands, and similarly, the second operation stick 18b is provided in a position operable by the thumb of the right hand. Furthermore, the first operation button 20a is provided in a position operable by the index finger of the left hand when the player holds the information processing apparatus 10 with both hands, and similarly, the second operation button 20b is provided in a position operable by the index finger of the right hand. In this embodiment, the first operation button 20a and the second operation button 20b are provided on a side surface of the first portion 12a. More specifically, the first operation button 20a is provided in a left end portion of an upper surface of the housing 12, and the second operation button 20b is provided in a right end portion of the upper surface of the housing 12.

VendettaRed07 · Dec 10, 2015

UnemployedVillain said:
I don't see the problem. If it has physical buttons than BC is as easy as restricting the screen space to what it's always been, in between the controls, right?

My concern really isn't with BC, its whether or not it has a fully functional and complete button lay out that has become pretty much standard. 4 face buttons, twin dual sticks, dpad and four shoulder buttons. Even 3DS has this now (sort of) for a reason. Removing or reducing the number of buttons and relying on developers to put digital buttons on the screen to make of for the lack of physical ones is a bad idea. And if the NX console and NX handheld have different schemes or layouts, that will be even more problematic. Porting between the two shouldn't require developers to fool around with the control schemes and layouts and have to retool the gameplay between the two in order for it to work. Its a needless complication and harms the idea of synergy and shared content that they have been talking about.

Again these are always vague and often not indicitive of the final product so we can't be sure. But I guess I can only react to what this appears to be, and from what I gather I only really see issues with this rather than promise or something that will actually be a step forwards

Josh7289 · Dec 10, 2015

I... really like it.

Allard · Dec 10, 2015

I am in a wait and see, but the freedom from a design standpoint is interesting. I imagine there are going to be a lot of games that follow the traditional aspect ratio with a mix of touch and button configurations that contextually changes based on what is displayed on the screen, it also allows developers to make cool floating UI elements that do not show up on the main screen but exist on the peripheral edge near the buttons on the screen. They can also do non standard ultra wide support to extend the image like a peripheral image where you can size the gameplay without intentionally obscuring it.

For instance with buttons I remember the N64 days where they put the C button and A and B button prompts on the HUD itself which in turn obscured your vision constantly. This new layout would allow not only those displays to focus around the buttons themselves given immediate feedback to what the buttons do, but it would take it out of the main viewing space. As shown in the diagram they could even add a mix of touch based prompts melded with on screen buttons.

What I dont understand are people's complaints about not seeing everything on the screen because of your hands. If these patents are to be believed is that aspect ratio will be a non standard one, and if this device is supposed to work in tandem with the console version of the NX then the aspect ratio on most games will likely never extend the full width of the screen, thus the rest will be there for information purposes and will actually REDUCE on screen HUD elements from obscuring your game. But patents are patents, the final controller overall aspect ratio for the screen might end up 16:9 after all, at that point I would agree your hands will obscure the vision.

Crazyorloco · Dec 10, 2015

very interesting. Can't wait to see what's next

(NX)

I do get a feeling there's going to be a ton of peripherals, I hope there isn't tooooo many though.

T.E.D · Dec 10, 2015

shadow2810 said:
This thread is like a check to see who actually read OP.
It's right in the first quote

Nanashrew · Dec 10, 2015

SG-17 said:
Maybe if you had the reading comprehension to understand context you'd see I was talking about if this specific patent was the controller for the NX and the primary input was touchscreen buttons.

But no, get outraged.

It's really only discussing ways the screen functions, how it could work and be utilized with buttons, sticks and games overall. It likely won't even use everything here like previous patents on older Nintendo systems.

MoogleWizard · Dec 10, 2015

Very interesting. I love my physical buttons and there don't seem to be enough on that controller (or maybe it's even a handheld?) but Nintendo always gets controls right, I'm not worried on that front. I can't wait to see what they come up with this time. I want them to go all crazy. Give me something different, give me something new!

GrandiaX · Dec 10, 2015

MrV4ltor said:
Found the gif. I'd be down for something like this (more buttons and bigger screen)

JoeM86 said:
Yeah.

Considering the below was once a prototyped controller, I'm sure whatever we get will have been thought about. Hell, it's Nintendo.

Nintendo-esque. That controller looks ridiculous.

maxcriden · Dec 10, 2015

Macka said:
Pretty sure it has physical buttons on the drawings.

Hmm. Where do you see physical non-shoulder buttons in the drawings that aren't explained as touch buttons in the narrative? I'm not seeing them. I want you to be right, though.

cocopuffs · Dec 10, 2015

Nintendo with another gimmicky controller thing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJtzxkTGzcI

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Nintendo Patent Application - Handheld (or controller?) featuring a free-form display

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