I don't know what to think now. I can't read the text of the .pdf document so it makes it difficult to analyze...but I'm going to anyways.
Before that, it seems very Nintendo-ish, and if the unveiling is happenning "soon" as we keep hearing then this would fit with the Nintendo memo about the NDS's features before it was unveiled. To those who haven't seen it I'm gonna break it down (asuming it's anything real):
Design Study
It shows the controller in a variety of dirrectional control layouts. One has a GCN layout of the sticks & D-PAD (which would fit with the guy here who said that the controller was basically a modified WaveBird). Another layout has 2 D-PAD's in the secondary possition and the main stick in the left main possition. Another is layout like the PlayStation set-up where the D-PAD is in the main left possition and the sticks are in secondary possitions. I am guessing that Nintendo hasn't decided which layout to use, that's why they're showing them all in this document. This sorta fits with Miyamoto's comments about the stick vs the D-PAD in the sense that they don't know which should be possitioned where. I don't like this aspect of the controller 'cos there's NO trackball (something I would want in place of the C-Stick) and there are still 4 thumb possitions instead of 2...which means it's really not going to look or feel simpler to non-gamers.
Provisional Design
There's no on/off button or power light or anything to change wireless channels. No other options button or caliberation (for some of the features) either. There are speakers though, so maybe player identification can be done this way, but what about the other things like calibration & power...to add, where's the battery cover & recharge link??? Again, this may just be an early design, but surely they can't leave out such things. There is something called a "load connection" though, which I have no explaination for since the text won't show up? Maybe that's the recharge port?
Magnetic Touch Panel
Okay, touch panels are cheap and nice, but again, with 4 face thumb possitions and a touch panel to mess with I don't think non-gamers are gonna find this simple. Especially taking into account that there's no real point of reference (screen) as to where/what you're doing with the touch panel. Plus, it speaks of activating the features of the touch panel with one's finger, a metal disc or stick??? Um, I'd have no clue what that means and there's no picture of a stylus, let alone a place to store one on the controller. To me, the controller already seems functional without a touch panel...I see the main use for a touch panel being to type in online games and such, but again...there's no screen as a point of reference to what you're typing. I also don't know what is meant by it being magnetic and then to say a metal disc or stick...yet you could also use your (non-metalic) finger???
Tilt Sensor
Totally doable & believable. Much moreso than a magical gyro. They wanted one in the NDS afterall...so I think this is a give-in.
Scroll Wheel
This is self-explainitory, yet they still somehow manage to confuse me with a few things. First, they say it swivels & rolls...to me that's the same thing. Then it shows arrows that show it spinning as well as being moved from side to side...that to me screams durability issues. I just don't think they described this well. If they wanted scroll wheels that can be used to move back & forth as well as side to side, I think a better technology would've been a jogball (like on Apple's Mighty Mouse). Much better would've been a clickable scroll wheel as well, but the picture makes it look quite ergonomic with the analog triggers 'cos the meat of your index fingers would rest on the triggers and the tip of your index would be on the wheel...and they even have the side/bottom of the wheel exposed for use in case you're pushing the trigger completly down...very forward thinking there.
Joystick Operations
Think a clickable analog stick, only one that you could push in and pull out in verying degrees of pressure. Good in theory, but how does one "pull" from the top of a thumbstick? Again, without the text I don't know what is meant, but maybe it has to do with the controller itself pushing out and pulling in the top of the stick against ones thumb for resistance...but I never thought that was very practical due to durability & power consuption issues that would come with "fighting" with the player?
Sensitive Pad
I would imagine these are grip sensitive pads in the handles...something I think alot of non-gamers could grasp & understand. Plus I think it would be very welcome for new gameplay elemnts and not too complex or expensive to impliment. However, by the drawing the "pads" don't look very large which I think kills it's potential function, but maybe this isn't what I'm thinking it is? That or it's merely a conceptual design at this point and they haven't thought of how big it needs to be?
Rumble System
Another welcomed and believable feature. It's not too exciting in the sense it's just rumble, but the way it's arranged makes it more than current force feedback is. Also, I never believed in force resistance feedback...fighting with a controller in the middle of playing a game isn't going to attract new gamers, plus it's not going to be good for price, power consumption or durability.
Loudspeaker and Microphone
I totally expected a micorophone, and quite possibly a speaker for basic controller/player identification or whatnot...but a loudspeaker suggests walkie-talkie like communication, whether it be from other players or the game itself. That's pretty awesome, but I would hope there was a volume setting and a headset jack, but there isn't. Later in the controller expansion they show a headset, but whatabout volume control. It must be done onscreen as well as calibrating the tilt sensor and rumble features, etc. That must mean that there's a management system for the controller features in the Revolution's OS...but...this sorta goes against what Nintendo said about a simple, quick-starting system for first time gamers?
Direction and Movement
Since the controller features WiFi to communicate with the console, it's somewhat believable that the console (together with a pedometer (like in the Pikachu units), the tilt sensors and a "sonar-like" WiFi signal) can "track" players movement. But again, this is something that's going to require calibration of some kind...something that's not adjustable in the controller.
Screen
Nintendo has obviously been wanting to do this for some time now. There was notches on the top of the N64 controller for mounting something (most likely a GameBoy or screen), then there was a GameBoy cart slot attachment for PokeMon Stadium on the N64 controller, then there was connectivity and the like. With this though, this suggests something more thought out and available from the get-go, which is better for the idea. But what is the idea? The controller already has a touch panel and Nintendo has sorta shunned connectivity since the NDS...so, what is this screen for. Obviously, the screen has a SD card slot & GameBoy cart slot which means it can be used as a (possibly) Play-Yan enabled GameBoy (an explaination as to why the Play-Yan hasn't been brought over yet, is they're planning on using it's features as a selling point for Revolution & this screen instead?) by itself. But this would be bulkier than the more recent GameBoy micro and it's screen would be larger than any current GameBoy Advance screen...so what else could it be used for. Could it be, that this optional screen can be used as a gameplay screen for Revolution games on the go??? This has been a theory of mine for a while...not really connectivity, just more a way to play it on the go! There's been talk of Nintendo outputting A/V wirelessly and this could explain why Nintendo is using a broader technology such as WiFi just for the controller. This also makes sense when applied to Nintendo saying that they wanted to smash through the concept of sitting there tethered by your controller to the console to the TV. I find it hard to believe that Nintendo would just make a screen to use the Revolution controller as a connectivity bridge or a seperate GameBoy when they will have just brought out the much smaller GameBoy micro for such purposes.
Wireless Adaptor
The expansion slot on the top of the controller for the screen, but the buttom expansion slot is for this device. There was sorta confusing talk about the next controller not being wireless or not which I found silly...maybe it's 'cos this lil' do-dad has been misinterpreted behind the scenes. I guess you plug such devices (pictured are a headset, remote, mouse & keyboard) into the bottom of the controller and bam these devices are wireless through it. Then it says that these devices (as I would imagine other peripherals) could be plugged in dirrectly to the Revolution through it's USB ports. I guess they could also use this for recharging, but then I don't know what the "load connection" I mentioned before was too?
Overall, my own opinions/thoughts on this design? The features sound like everything but the kitchen sink without being too too impractical or expensive either. It allows for new gaming as well as conventional gaming & backwords compatibility with everything. Do I think it's real...I dunno, it seems like too much (especially adding a ?magnetic? touch panel on top of an already fully functional controller), and I wonder about where they're placing the power switch & LED and why such a thing was left out...but the clincher to me is the fact that it looks a lil' more complex than the GCN controller...which sorta goes against Nintendo's talk of simplicity and trying to attract the non-gamer. A few changes I would make is reducing the thumb possitions from 4 to 2 to make it look/feel less complex, combing the stick & D-PAD into my 3D-PAD concept, replacing the C-Stick with a trackball, making the toggle wheels clickable, enlarging the grip sensitive pads on the handles and ultimatly replacing the touch panel with a small screen so as to adjust settings and make calibrations for the controller features easier. Do that Nintendo, and you've fulfilled the revolutionary prophesy.