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)

 

[LightyKD]

Dear Nintendo,

Just give us JoyCons with the GameCube button setup and you will have the greatest controller of all time! Ok? Thank you.

Sincerely,
Every sensible gamer on Earth

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

I can't believe some people actually thought the N64 controller is for 3-handed creatures.
If I correctly recaall, Mario 64 does not use the directional pad, nor L.

 

[FAST6191]

I can't believe some people actually thought the N64 controller is for 3-handed creatures.

In every general purpose game controller, and many game specific controllers too*, before and since then all the major buttons on the device are available if not immediately then with minimal movement. There is no reason why you would would not have such an option if you could, much less something as useful as a dpad is for lots of games. Even with something like a keyboard you are trained to have your "home" keys. To that end if one assumes they designed it for people to cover all the major control functions/areas at once then it was presumably designed for someone with 3 dextrous appendages capable of fine movement. Despite the normal location of a controller during play then given the lack of control most people have over their penis I doubt that counts as the third dexterous appendage... though I guess Microsoft failed to screen for gigantism in their controller testing sessions a few years later so anything can happen.

*one does not typically make the all the time controls of a car, plane, boat or similar scattered all over the shop.

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

There is a reason for the N64 design. The Z trigger feels much better in this position. It is closer to a gun trigger or the B button of the Wii remote. Also, your thumb is less diagonal which is more comfortable (on the Dual Shock the thumb is almost horizontal, on the N64 almost vertical) for some people.

 

[Imatra]

Well. I love the Joy-Cons but still, Nintendo needs to fix them asap. Not only their size is a fucking joke for people with big hands, I feel like they are not attached to the console well - shit goes down especially when HD Rumble features activate - however this problem only occurs while in portable mode, neither the individual Joy-Con grips (the ones with the straps) nor the big grip have this problem. It may be because my Switch is from one of the earliest batches as I only notice this problem with my console. Oh well...

 

[JRoad]

Steam controller + HD Rumble from the joycons would be the perfect controller for me. The haptic vibration on the steam controller is more of an early concept while Nintendo's haptic vibration is really good.
Either way the joycon controllers have a great concept though size is a limitation. Also arguibly the lack of a d-pad is an issue but it's presence would break the concept since they're meant to be shared.

 

[DBlaze]

control by using the mind when?
Obviously including full body suit with haptic feedback. Everywhere.

 

[FAST6191]

control by using the mind when?
Obviously including full body suit with haptic feedback. Everywhere.

?

 

[The Frenchman]

we'd like the controllers which allows players to have ALL BUTTONS within reachable distance. if you have to hold middle stick with left hand, while playing Mario N64, how do you press directional buttons and LB??

The question isn't how but why?

these buttons have little to no use in Mario 64...

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

I have used it for Cap vs SNK 2 and I had no problems executing 720° moves. In fact, it was even quicker than with other pads due to the small size. The GC controller is bad for Street Fighter (and similar) fighting games because of the button layout of the face buttons. Also, even your adapter did not recreate the L2 button, I take it.

I can't imagine playing Street Fighter-like games with a Dual Shock. It's not even D-Pad but 4 separate buttons.

actually it is a D-Pad, it's got the look of four different buttons but it's a whole pivoting d-pad just like any Nintendo D-Pad, only a small part of the shell covers the middle part. It's very similar playing fighting games on PS than it was on SNES.

 

[LightyKD]

I take it that those of you that are bitching about the N64 controller never read your damn game instruction booklets, LMAO! In all of the booklets, they show you how to hold the controller. Its not hard to just ignore the part of the controller you dont use.

 

[FAST6191]

I take it that those of you that are bitching about the N64 controller never read your damn game instruction booklets, LMAO! In all of the booklets, they show you how to hold the controller. Its not hard to just ignore the part of the controller you dont use.

Poor boy me often paid £1 less to get the ones without instructions.

Anyway it is not that games could not be played but that it was a batshit insane decision that did not provide any benefit to the games that managed it anyway, and troubled a few of them too. I have been playing N64 games with twin sticks since emulation appeared or games started being remade on later systems. Other than the perfect dark/goldeneye aim and do a sidestep thing being marginally more annoying to do on the 360 controller every one of them has worked fine, and a few that did map something minor to L or the dpad could have it selected with far more efficiency.

 

[LightyKD]

Poor boy me often paid £1 less to get the ones without instructions.

Anyway it is not that games could not be played but that it was a batshit insane decision that did not provide any benefit to the games that managed it anyway, and troubled a few of them too. I have been playing N64 games with twin sticks since emulation appeared or games started being remade on later systems. Other than the perfect dark/goldeneye aim and do a sidestep thing being marginally more annoying to do on the 360 controller every one of them has worked fine, and a few that did map something minor to L or the dpad could have it selected with far more efficiency.

I get that by today's standard the N64 controller is a bit bat shit crazy but in 1995, while dealing with a public that was not using analog sticks before the N64 release, it was a smart decision and one that's fairly similar to the multiple control options we have today on Wii, Wii U and Switch.

 

[FAST6191]

I get that by today's standard the N64 controller is a bit bat shit crazy but in 1995, while dealing with a public that was not using analog sticks before the N64 release, it was a smart decision and one that's fairly similar to the multiple control options we have today on Wii, Wii U and Switch.

The public was plenty used to such things. They had been in arcades for years, been a staple of third party controllers.... I had one for the C64, loads of little devices used them (how many remote control cars?), and joysticks themselves were nothing new either.

 

[LightyKD]

The public was plenty used to such things. They had been in arcades for years, been a staple of third party controllers.... I had one for the C64, loads of little devices used them (how many remote control cars?), and joysticks themselves were nothing new either.

I don't remember ANALOG joysticks being mainstream in homes. Arcades dont count. Nintendo's main concern in 1995 was the home console market. For the average person the D-Pad was the main form of movement control. Just because people like us, that hang out on gaming forums might have been used to early tech like the analog stick, that doesnt translate to tje casual player or the mom and dad that knows nothing about the difference between a PlayStation and a Nintendo 64.

 

[FAST6191]

I don't remember ANALOG joysticks being mainstream in homes. Arcades dont count. Nintendo's main concern in 1995 was the home console market. For the average person the D-Pad was the main form of movement control. Just because people like us, that hang out on gaming forums might have been used to early tech like the analog stick, that doesnt translate to tje casual player or the mom and dad that knows nothing about the difference between a PlayStation and a Nintendo 64.

Analogue or lot is largely irrelevant in this -- same motion, same concept, same results. Arcades were still common enough to have counted -- they might not count today but back then arcades and arcade machines were still common enough everywhere Nintendo cared about.

 

[LightyKD]

Dear Nintendo,

Just give is JoyCons with the GameCube button setup and you will have the greatest controller of all time! Ok? Thank you.

Sincerely,
Every sensible gamer on Earth

Analogue or lot is largely irrelevant in this -- same motion, same concept, same results. Arcades were still common enough to have counted -- they might not count today but back then arcades and arcade machines were still common enough everywhere Nintendo cared about.

NOT the same motion. The average arcade joystick is similar to a D-Pad. You only get a 0 or 100 value. It's either on or off. With analog you get a 1-100 value depending on how far you push the stick. That 0-100 value is something Nintendo had to introduce to the mass audience in 1995. People were not used to Mario simply moving faster or slower based on the amount of pressure you placed on a stick. Before Mario 64, you either pushed left or right to make Mario move and you would push a secondary button to make him run. The level of precision offered by the N64's analog stick was not standard before the N64 release. Again, the design of the N64 controller was made in a way that Nintendo felt they could best introduce using the analog stick to the masses.

 

[FAST6191]

NOT the same motion. The average arcade joystick is similar to a D-Pad. You only get a 0 or 100 value. It's either on or off. With analog you get a 1-100 value depending on how far you push the stick. That 0-100 value is something Nintendo had to introduce to the mass audience in 1995. People were not used to Mario simply moving faster or slower based on the amount of pressure you placed on a stick. Before Mario 64, you either pushed left or right to make Mario move and you would push a secondary button to make him run. The level of precision offered by the N64's analog stick was not standard before the N64 release. Again, the design of the N64 controller was made in a way that Nintendo felt they could best introduce using the analog stick to the masses.

Similar enough for my purposes -- anybody that has done a light gun stand in, first person or proto 3d world thing would be right at home here, and enough dpads has a light press thing going on to be close enough (not to mention the whole remote control car thing). Also watching people use the things then they still did (and actually in many games/systems to this day) the pulse width modulation thing to get the speed they wanted.
I don't disagree that it brought more precision than most home console users might have been used to (there is a reason the PS1 adopted it in short order and everything vaguely relevant since then had one, or in the case of some handhelds notably missed out by lacking one or sought to recreate it by some means) but to say it was completely alien is a strong charge.

I don't doubt Nintendo did what they thought was a good plan (most people tend to aim for that one), they just made a stupid one here.

 

[thekarter104]

make only minor adjustments.

To enhance the player's experience.

 

[RandomUser]

The question isn't how but why?

these buttons have little to no use in Mario 64...

Actually they do if you have used joker commands when using GameSharks or Exploder/Explorer 64 cheat device .

 

[Zeroner]

A game cube controller is the most popular speaking about confortable controller