Revolution Realized

Console Tablet
Feasibility: "moderately plausible"

If the Nintendo DS has taught us anything, even at this early stage, it's that a simple idea can create a potential seachange in video games. When Nintendo first discussed the concept of introducing two video screens - with one being touch-sensitive - it was an approach that didn't convince everybody. And yet, if you read the impressions provided by those who have actually played DS themselves, you'll come away having read almost nothing but positive comments.

If we look specifically at the touch screen technology in DS, we can see something that essentially amounts to a completely new style of interaction for video games. Although touch screen technology has been around for many years (and has been widely used in everything from public information kiosks to gambling machines to PDAs), it has never been seriously introduced into the world of video games.

Enter Nintendo's "Revolution" - a home video game system that promises to fundamentally change the way that we play games. The question here is simple; how can touch screen technology be applied to a new home game console?

To answer that question, we have to step back momentarily and look at Nintendo's current game console: GameCube. When GameCube was unveiled, Shigeru Miyamoto made a point of talking about the little plastic handle on the rear face of the unit. Specifically, he expressed the view that game consoles are getting to be too much like home electronics devices, which sit there amongst your other equipment and never move. GameCube, on the other hand, would be something that you could pick up at any time and move around the house with great ease. The inclusion of the handle is almost like a psychological tool, to encourage the owner to pick it up and shift it around.

This very basic idea of portability also relates to two other key points; requirement of the TV and family-oriented design.

Unless you were to use one of the small LCD monitor peripherals that have been released over recent years, you'd require a television set to play your games. By default, this significantly limits the mobility of a home game console; it always needs to be hooked up to a TV to play and therefore, it has very little mobility.

In addition, GameCube has somewhat followed the N64's tradition of being a "party machine". The inclusion of four controller ports, as well as the arrival of games like Super Smash Bros. Melee has helped to further establish this image. At the same time, Nintendo's introduction of connectivity-based games (such as The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures) has further underlined Nintendo's desire to push the traditional home game console in new directions.

Based on these considerations, a "tablet console" with a touch-sensitive screen could provide some solutions to traditional problems, as well as opening up entirely new game design possibilities.

To get a stronger idea of what this console could look like, it might be a good idea to take a look at Sony's Airboard, which is essentially a Tablet PC combined with a television set. In terms of size and dimensions, the Sony Airboard could be quite similar to the Nintendo GameTablet (a very cool and innovative code name for the new system...ahem). The key difference, of course, would be that the GameTablet is entirely focused on gaming. You could also expect the GameTablet hardware to contain a number of important game-related features, including "traditional" game controls (ie: a control stick mounted to the left of the screen and a button cluster mounted to the right), a stylus for the touch-sensitive screen, built-in Wi-Fi capabilities, a built-in microphone and various other features.

The best way to describe this new type of game console would be to provide you with several examples of how you'd use it, depending on the game you're playing.

For example, imagine Animal Crossing on GameTablet. You could use the stylus to actually write letters in your own handwriting. Or, if you wanted to make your own clothing, you could use the control stick to rotate the clothes around in 3D and the stylus could be used to slice pieces of fabric away. Another alternative might be that you could use the stylus to take a wooden chair in your house and carve patterns into it. Or perhaps you could sketch a design for your own custom wallpaper. Additionally, it would be quite possible to visit other towns easily, by utilising the console's on-board Wi-Fi capabilities (you could visit towns on other "in range" GameTablets, or you could even potentially visit a town on someone's Nintendo DS version of the game).

Another example might be a music game, where you could sit the GameTablet flat on a table and have four people sitting around it. One person could use the stylus to hit musical notes in sequence, while the other three sing together in tune (a built-in microphone would be responsible for monitoring that). Alternatively, two to four people could sit around the unit and mix music in real time together, either by using their own stylus or by using an additional controller (one person with the konga controller and one scratching a virtual record with a stylus, perhaps?)

In addition to these specific examples, the GameTablet would be ideal for connectivity-based games by default (as two screens are automatically involved, should the player connect their console to the TV). But with GameTablet's next generation specifications, it would be possible to play a version of Four Swords Adventures in full 3D. The possibilities on that front are endless, especially with the addition of touch screen capabilities.

At the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves how feasible this type of technology really is. Although various products that utilise this technology do exist, there simply isn't anything out there that would compare to a true next generation game console with this type of design. In truth, such a design would be far too expensive for Nintendo to produce, especially considering all of the additions that would be necessary (the addition of Wi-Fi and microphone, the relatively large touch screen panel and the need to compress the console's parts into a relatively small space). Nonetheless, the DS is an example that this type of technology is being pushed by Nintendo, as an alternative to traditional methods of game interaction.