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)

 

[KingVamp]

Some people are hating, but Wiimote (nunchuck, motion+, etc) was one of the best controllers. Quite frankly, the other consoles should have had motion controllers by default at this point. Anyway...

- "Ain't broke, don't fix it."
Also - "Why aren't companies doing anything new?"

 

[cots]

Sounds cool and all, but I'm more interested in what Nintendo plans to do with the current generation, you know, the one that my Switch belongs to. I don't like hearing about the next "next-gen" a couple of years into the "current gen". I would rather get more for my money I already invested than give two shits about the next console. If this new controller is for the current gen, cool, but I don't really care about the next gen. Nintendo should focus on NOW and customers should demand they do.

 

[Jayro]

Once you fix the hyper-sensitivity of the D-pad with some tape, the Pro Controller is already flawless. It fits my large hands, the buttons feel amazing, and it's very ergonomic. Best controller I've ever used.

 

[momin]

The Next standard will be a connection port and a good mapping API for third parties and users to allow produce as many different types of controllers as possible!

Not only for buttons, but for sensor inputs, positions, rotations, etc. Any VR controller or VR device should be able to send all its type of sensor read outs.

 

[YOUCANTSTOPME]

Some of y'all are pessimists. Nintendo has a solid lineup of controllers. Even the 64 wasn't that bad. It just unneccesarily had 3 poles.

 

[Silent_Gunner]

An idea I've always had in my mind, which is admittedly very niche, but still an idea was to create a controller that took the idea of a base controller, like it starts with just a swappable d-pad/analog stick (with different setups for the analog stick, like if you want a balltop or a battop, or for concave or convex sticks)/trackpad/trackball/any other form of basic movement and a swappable gate to control whether the movement method was square or circle gated and 6-8 buttons on the right side, with the Start, Select, and Home buttons being in the center. Motion controls would be built-in, but toggleable either in software or hardware and all of the haptic options that come with the Steam Controller. Like, imagine the Steam Controller if it was just the analog stick and there were about as many face buttons like on a Sega Genesis/Sega Saturn controller...

...as the base model. The whole idea is that, much like that of a dedicated PC gamer who builds their own PC and can do whatever they want to make it special if they got the talent and skill, you, the customer, can customize your controller with whatever features you want to put into it, be it your standard controller with shoulder buttons, but with 6-8 face buttons for fighting games, grips being oriented forward, backward, or neutral (with all having compatibility, any mix of d-pad, analog stick, trackpad, trackball, of any amount in the standard places that people would place them, all up to the individual and their use cases for the controller, be it something designed with the N64 in mind (for when you want to emulate the c-buttons and not have to necessarily be creative with the Hori Fighting Commander Pro and the like), have the button arrangement for every arcade game imagineable, or a separate expansion that'd turn your standard controller into a steering wheel when combined with the motion control usage. All of these features and more with the modularity and snappiness of the Xbox Elite controller and none of the problems with that controller!

The base model would not be a full $60 given how much functionality the controller would be lacking compared to the standard controller. Now, if one wanted to make a standard controller, it would be at max that price or at a competitive pricing point. The cost is about as much as the customer wants it to be!

IDK, it was a thought experiment I had once while on my way back home one afternoon with yours truly thinking about how to make the Steam Controller my absolute favorite controller if some things about it were changed, and the biggest problem I had was that, for a controller that's mainly supposed to be used while playing games on a computer that, if you're wanting to have absolute control over the hardware and software on your PC build that you're paying a lot of money to have customized without any of the bloat of pre-builts or the overcharging BS of Best Buy and other retailers, why not extend that philosophy of building your own PC to get the most out of it to the controllers, but with the snappiness of the Xbox Elite controller without charging $150 for a controller with notorious stick drift issues that apparently the regular controllers also have. I always thought it'd make for a good Steam Controller 2 if it had to use the wireless receiver and skip past any BS with the inconsistent input lag of BT, especially when we're talking about using mobo's mix of BT hardware with supporting software.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I for one find as bulky as it was the 3D controller the saturn made way better for 3D + 2D games. The original xbox controller was more based on the 3D controller sega did as it's almost entirely the same layout and shape and size as the duke.
View attachment 172391

That's because the OG Xbox controllers were based off of the DC controller which itself was based on the Sega Saturn 3D Controller which itself was based on the Sega Saturn controller which was based on the Sega Genesis controller which was based off of the NES controller if you removed the select button and made it a face button when the NES d-pad and button layout was based on Gunpei Yokoi's designs which were based on...



--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

You guys are thinking way too small time. Nintendo is obviously going to go with haptic feedback suits.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

saying it now, it's gonna be a glove with accessories to hold (basically shells with no electronics in them) for different playstyles

every finger has a potential function changing depending on whatever you hold for normal play and it'll be vr compatible.

screenshot this and give me a like in 2021.

 

[Silent_Gunner]

At least Nintendo tries. The only controller of theirs I don't care for is the SNES controller. It was alright for the time, but it just didn't age well. The N64 controller I grew up on, so I guess that's why I'm used to it. Sonys controllers are awkwardly wide and the sticks never feel right. Microsoft I feel perfected it with the One controllers.

Nintendo wants to shake things up, and did for a little bit with the Wii. Sony and Microsoft threw their proverbial hats in to the ring and could not compete. That says something. Anybody bashing Nintendo is a bit short sighted in my honest opinion.

I think anyone who assumes that companies know what people want 100% is short-sighted. With my one idea, I doubt parents would get it for kids who can't even look at Tide Pods and think of it as something to eat/mix in with a drink (a level of stupid I just can't even...*facepalms*), but for most people who have money they can spend and who are passionate about gaming/working within the comforts of their bed and TV, and who don't mind paying to be in control of the options and choices they have for interacting with whatever device they want to use with my idea of a controller, it'd be quite the accomplishment if you ask me considering the kinds of games people play, how many retro gamers complain about broken controllers or parts of controllers being broken and requiring some soldering or some other very precision-based skills to fix, and a lot of other things that can sound very first world problems-esque, but there's been an entire decade and a half of technology making life more convenient to different people, be it Smart devices that are controlled via a phone or proprietary remote, or, in a very Orwellian/Mark of the Beast (in certain interpretations of Revelations in certain fundamentalist Christian circles) fashion, microchips that can be injected into people's hands that unlock doors automatically based on biometrics that I find to be going a step too far IMHO. This would take the precision needed per se and make it easier for people to build a controller to their preferences for whatever use case they want to use the controller with on whatever device they or someone else wrote software to make the controllers compatible on a practical level.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Just make the Wii U Pro controller again and give it analog triggers.

Eh, not a huge fan of the analog stick placement on that one. Switch Pro Controller, d-pad lacking a pivot aside...

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Once you fix the hyper-sensitivity of the D-pad with some tape, the Pro Controller is already flawless. It fits my large hands, the buttons feel amazing, and it's very ergonomic. Best controller I've ever used.

That fixes the pivot issue? Because I heard there's this...stick in the center of the SPro Controller design that apparently doesn't go deep enough (yeah, there's some...NSFW imagery right there! XD) that the XB2 Switch Pro controller apparently has fixed, which, outside of the controller being discontinued because the game is no longer new, is part of the reason why there's some people that still want the controller and will pay about 2/3 of the price of the XB1 Elite Controller over the regular one.

 

[Bladexdsl]

Some people are hating, but Wiimote (nunchuck, motion+, etc) was one of the best controllers

yeah but it only worked good for metroid primes it was never really used properly for anything else. there were some games on the wii were the controls were absolutely atrocious

 

[XDel]

VR

 

[DarthDub]

Just make the Wii U Pro controller again and give it analog triggers.

I use that controller on my PC all the time, favorite controller.

 

[Lucifer666]

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.

But if you're using the analogue stick you're meant to hold the middle prong with your left hand so it is in fact very reachable from the left thumb.

Are you holding it from the far left the entire time? I almost never use that part of the controller.

 

[leon315]

But if you're using the analogue stick you're meant to hold the middle prong with your left hand so it is in fact very reachable from the left thumb.

Are you holding it from the far left the entire time? I almost never use that part of the controller.

i USED TO play a lot on Dualshock, that means the symmetry aspect was vital for me, and it was so hard that i had to hold the middle stick whole the time, IF you understand what i mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

[Deleted member 42501]

Split control via the wiimote and nunchuk was something else when implemented correctly. Easily the best way to play games so I'm interested to see what they innovate with this time as they're one of the few that keep it fresh.

 

[Jayro]

That fixes the pivot issue? Because I heard there's this...stick in the center of the SPro Controller design that apparently doesn't go deep enough (yeah, there's some...NSFW imagery right there! XD) that the XB2 Switch Pro controller apparently has fixed, which, outside of the controller being discontinued because the game is no longer new, is part of the reason why there's some people that still want the controller and will pay about 2/3 of the price of the XB1 Elite Controller over the regular one.

I just stuffed some paper in there, and it works amazingly well. Even through the Splatoon 2 abuse I put it through daily.

 

[Virtual-Wii-noob]

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.

then you're holding it wrong you hold it differently depending on the game sometimes your hand is on the left and right sometimes in the middle and right and sometimes in the middle and left

 

[leon315]

then you're holding it wrong you hold it differently depending on the game sometimes your hand is on the left and right sometimes in the middle and right and sometimes in the middle and left

DUDE, all right handed people use left thumb in videogames, and that not very symmetric considering the people who own N64 were kid and could never reach the analogue, meanwhile Dualshock1 was far more comfortable with superior design

 

[FAST6191]

This thing for symmetrical sticks has me curious, not least of all because it is only fairly recently that I have heard the term escape into wider usage -- the stiffness of the stick was the previous talking point for most, that or the impracticality of the N64 effort for many game types. I am not especially bothered one way or the other here -- the default PS3/PS2 layout does not do my hands any good over an 8 hour session where I can sit with a 360 one all night but that is more the lack of comfortable places to hold my middle, ring and little fingers on the older playstation designs. PS4 does better but is still far from good, not to mention I have not played as many 8 hour plus sessions of PS4 games. I have played with some symmetrical custom PC controllers that I could go all day on and wake up and do it all again.

Quite frankly, the other consoles should have had motion controllers by default at this point.

Motion controls. Maybe.
Shit resolution and laggy motion controls. Definitely not. Given that is all people seem content to provide me...

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

Some of y'all are pessimists. Nintendo has a solid lineup of controllers. Even the 64 wasn't that bad. It just unneccesarily had 3 poles.

then you're holding it wrong you hold it differently depending on the game sometimes your hand is on the left and right sometimes in the middle and right and sometimes in the middle and left

If N64 design is amazing. The only problem was the stick quality. If it had another pair of A and B buttons next to the D pad, it would have been the perfect controller for left-handed people (I'm not). A N64 controller with a pointer would have been a dream come true. I always wanted to know what the pointer would feel like on a two-handed controller. There actually is a two-handed controller with a pointer for Wii but I haven't tried because it is said to have low quality and you can't use it as a Wiimote+Nunchuk setup (only as just as a CC or just a Wiimote held sideways).

 

[Concas_]

I hope they will be inspired just a liiitle bit from their past, since they did a great job with their gamecube controllers

 

[raxadian]

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

I have big hands and they work okay... in portable mode.

Get a Gamecube controler and the Pdobq adapter for Nintendo Switch and Wii U to use on TV mode.