The following is a Revolution controller design idea created by N-Sider reader K. Johnston. Again to make this perfectly clear, it is just a fun idea for what the artist would like and how he envisions the Revolution controller looking and functioning. If you would like to submit your own ideas with pictures, please send them this way. If enough are received, we'll send the most impressive submission a Nintendo DS Mario Kart stylus.
K. Johnston's idea:
It is very small, in fact it is similar in size to the GB Micro or an iPod, and is very easy to take with you wherever you go (could even be put in a wee pouch), which would be good if the Rev is also portable. The design is kept very simple for a few reasons.
1) It means it wont scare people away because it is just like holding an old school controller (for older gamers), a remote control (for mums and dads), or a gun (for crazy people), depending on how you hold it.
2) When you hold it like a normal pad it feels comfy (like the SNES pad), and it is shaped very similarly to the handle of a gun so that when you hold it that way it also feels very natural, like you have a gun in your hand (all the Americans will appreciate that). When you use it as a remote you can simply hold it like a pad, or because it is Wi-Fi and tilt control enabled you can actually just hold it and point it long ways like a standard remote and push the play/forward buttons, etc.
3) It is obviously designed to look similar to the black Revolution prototype but could also come in other colours.
The analogue pads work like the iPods touch wheel...You rub your finger over it to get full analogue control, similar to how the DS touch screen is used in Mario 64 DS, and you click down the areas where the buttons are marked to activate the buttons...unlike the iPod, the buttons are not separate from the surface of the pad, the plastic is just raised a little so you can feel where they are. It has built in tilt and rumble support and this works no matter which way you are holding it, so you could combine the control pad method with tilt for aiming in an FPS game. Because it is wireless, and when you hold it like a gun it only requires one hand, it means for some games you could actually hold 2 pads at the same time (boxing games, Samba De Amigo type stuff, or even advanced FPS titles), much like the way Rare lets you use 2 N64 pads at one time to play Goldeneye if you wanted.