The Nintendo 64 gamepad. The Wiimote. The Joy-Cons. When it comes to controllers, Nintendo has never shied away from devising wild and unique ideas for their devices. That's why it got rather interesting during the latest shareholder's meeting, where Nintendo was asked about their thoughts for the future of gaming controllers.

Looking at this year's E3, it seems like the mainstream for video games is the same as it has been for the past 30 years, namely, looking at the screen and playing with controller in hand. How do developers regard this, and do they think it will continue?

Nintendo's supervisor of business development, Shinya Takahashi, responded by saying Nintendo has been innovating how people play games, with titles like 1-2-Switch, and the Nintendo Labo VR kits.

We are always dreaming up new things. For example, for 1-2-Switch, the first game released for Nintendo Switch, we suggested that people play by looking at each other and not at the screen. And for VR, we thought about how we could change not just the controller but also the gameplay itself, and came up with the Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit. The software exhibited at this year's E3 just happened to be mostly the type that is played with controller in hand, looking at the screen. However, I think you can see from the software we've created that we are always trying out new ideas.

Shigeru Miyamoto then took the opportunity to reply, stating that Nintendo has set industry trends for decades, with the advent of the original D-pad and analog stick for the NES and N64 respectively. He also says that Nintendo is in the process of creating a controller that surpasses the current design of the Joy-Cons, and can be used with ease, making for something to set the standard for the next generation of systems.

Nintendo was the first to create the style of playing video games with a plus-shaped directional pad and additional buttons, which has now become the industry standard. It was also Nintendo that changed the original plus-shaped directional pad, which operated digitally in eight directions, into the first analog input device that moves freely in all directions for Nintendo 64. This, too, is now common. We are proud to have created a variety of user interfaces that have now become industry standards.

And, as of now, in terms of accuracy and reliability, I believe this style is the clear winner. At the same time, I also believe that we should quickly graduate from the current controller, and we are attempting all kinds of things. Our objective is to achieve an interface that surpasses the current controller, where what the player does is directly reflected on the screen, and the user can clearly feel the result. This has not been achieved yet. We have tried all kinds of motion controllers, but none seem to work for all people. As the company that knows the most about controllers, we have been striving to create a controller that can be used with ease, and that will become the standard for the next generation.

Source (Q13)

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Joycon button d-pad is like playing with a keyboard.

 

[DinohScene]

Only good Nintendo controller is the GCN.

NES and SNES are good for their time.

 

[leon315]

HONESTLY excluding GC controller, all others are mheeee, especially the N64 one, terrible idea to put analog stick in the middle far from left thumb.

 

[Jiehfeng]

I hope one of the new "standard" features is excellent battery life. Almost all the new Nintendo controllers have the best battery life among controllers, especially the Pro controllers.

 

[Deleted User]

The pro controller but split it in half like the joycons and boom. Joycons with a nice grip

 

[Spider_Man]

Nintendo suck when it comes to controllers.

N64: Crap analogue that youd be afraid to even touch it without it getting slacker than a hookers minge.
CUBE; Actually good controller to hold, but having the octagon shape around your analogues never gave it that smooth 360 control and feel
WIIMOTE: Worse controller ever, old inferior tech, failed to do what nintendo promised (tho one game i knew of did)
WIIU PAD: Another shit controller, too big, bulky
SWITCH: cheap crap, ive gone through 3 pairs of these already because they dont attach to the tablet properly and the control goes haywire.

yes nintendo are known for always changing shit, but rule is, if its not broke then dont fucking fix it.

nintendo should look at setting standards for its next gen console not some bullshit gimmick controller.

 

[Frankbel]

HONESTLY excluding GC controller, all others are mheeee, especially the N64 one, terrible idea to put analog stick in the middle far from left thumb.

In that case there is a central handle.. lol
N64 controller introduced analogue sticks and rumble. The tri-handle design was also fine for both digital cross and analogue sticks.

 

[kuwanger]

Only good Nintendo controller is the GCN.

NES and SNES are good for their time.

The funny thing about the GCN is as much as we all praise it (me included), it still sucks in placement for the d-pad/c-stick. Honestly, I've yet to see any controller that does it perfectly, although the XBox 360+ controllers (and variants like Logitech's that swap the dpad/analog stick) come pretty close.

 

[Ericzander]

Honestly, I don't see why. The reason why Sony and Microsoft only make minor controller improvements with each update without completely starting from scratch is because there's no reason to fix a problem that isn't there.

A kid who grew up only playing PS4 needs probably 2 minutes to adjust to playing a PS1. But a kid who only played on the Switch or Wii U would have to take some time to figure out how to play GameCube or Wii or N64 (anything earlier doesn't count for the comparison because that's pre PS1.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Nintendo is innovating. But I don't think they're going to set a new industry standard any time soon.

 

[wiewiec]

2017 -> worst idea to delete d-pad

 

[Sakitoshi]

like everyone else here.
if isn't broken, don't fix it. if you really want to change something just stick with the dualshock/360 as a base and make only minor adjustments.

 

[ken28]

SWITCH: cheap crap, ive gone through 3 pairs of these already because they dont attach to the tablet properly and the control goes haywire.

No idea what you do to them, still with my first pairs.

 

[yadspi]

People complaining about the N64 controller and analog stick without remembering that there was no precedent for a layout with analog sticks and nintendo wanted a SNES style grip is it failed to catch on, that's why it's very comfortable to use it for 2D games. Of course NOW it seems dumb because you have been playing with modern controllers.

 

[IC_]

I hope the new controller won’t be as shitty as the joycons

 

[SkittleDash]

Nintendo suck when it comes to controllers.

N64: Crap analogue that youd be afraid to even touch it without it getting slacker than a hookers minge.
CUBE; Actually good controller to hold, but having the octagon shape around your analogues never gave it that smooth 360 control and feel
WIIMOTE: Worse controller ever, old inferior tech, failed to do what nintendo promised (tho one game i knew of did)
WIIU PAD: Another shit controller, too big, bulky
SWITCH: cheap crap, ive gone through 3 pairs of these already because they dont attach to the tablet properly and the control goes haywire.

yes nintendo are known for always changing shit, but rule is, if its not broke then dont fucking fix it.

nintendo should look at setting standards for its next gen console not some bullshit gimmick controller.

Woah, someone's salty... Well first of all, the GCN controller. The octagon shape was actually pretty nice. You always knew which direction you were going. It was very handy on some games. The Wiimote. I don't see why you're calling it bad when it was designed for motion in mind. That's why there's the classic controller or using the GCN controllers for games that didn't require the Wiimote. The Wii U Gamepad. Yeah, that was... Meh. Didn't mind it much but they could've done better. The Switch Joycons. Nothing is wrong with them. Are you looking after them properly? I always put them in my Switch once I'm done with them. You could've saved a lot of money just by getting the parts that are faulty. (Analog sticks mostly being the culprit.) I'm still using the joy-cons that came with the console. Which was on launch day. March 3rd 2017 and I've only had to replace my analog sticks once. Never had a problem with attaching them.

 

[guisadop]

Honestly, as long as the Dualshock is the only controller with symmetric joysticks it's going to be the standard for me.

 

[eriol33]

wiimote is the worst controller they ever released. It's the biggest obstacle when I was trying to enjoy super mario galaxy and most of wii games. casual gamers may like it, but I totally hate it.

 

[Rabbid4240]

What kind of drugs were the on when they thought of the 64 controller

 

[Bimmel]

Joy Cons are bad for people with big hands. Nintendo knows how to tell you who their products are for.