A Revolutionary Idea

The internet is full of talk on what the Nintendo Revolution will be like and just like everybody else I have my own ideas on what it could be. Although I feel mine are more valid. Yep, I say it now but you will wonder how on earth I could think that when you read it, at least initially. So G’day, thanks for taking the time to begin reading this rant.

Firstly I’ll cover what I think the Revolution will not be. This list pretty much consists of every common suggestion made on the internet. It is this quote I use to dismiss most other ideas:

Ok so what’s the Revolutionary part? That’s what you all want to know. Well my source wouldn’t tell me. He said it would get him into too much trouble, and could give Sony and Microsoft an advantage at this stage in the game. But he did say this; “”if you think too hard you’ll never guess what it is. It’s nothing “”new”” technically speaking. It’s just something that hasn’t really been applied to video games yet.””

Look carefully at the full post. I have also read, but couldn’t find for the sake of this rant, other sources stating the Revolution will use current technology yet to be applied to games. If you read that link you will notice the source who made that quote is unverified. However look at the what was written that have come to bare as truth. The Nintendo DS will go online before the Revolution and the machine is backwards compatible (as mentioned in Iwata’s GDC 2005 Keynote). It has also been stated that the Nintendo DS is currently not going to be connected with the Revolution, however that could change later in the machines life. I’m sick of finding sources so please accept the fact Nintendo have no plans to connect the NDS with the Revolution.

So the Revolution has something “”that hasn’t really been applied to video games yet””. Thats pretty much the universal rule I’ll apply to most of peoples theories, which by the way most people who suggest them don’t truly believe. A lot of suggestions are made for the sake of saying the author has no earthly idea. I might as well note now that my idea also doesn’t follow that forum post stricktly. However I would fight to the bitter end that it’s a better and more likely idea than what follows:

The fact that Nintendo is so paranoid people will steal their idea simply goes to show how feasible the concept is, that the revolution is nothing more than current technology with a new application to video games. Stunting the idea that the Revolution will have new-age technology like virtual reality head caps. The fact that the Nintendo DS even exists is contrary to the popular belief that the Revolution will use touch screens. Neither of these popular ideas, Nintendo need to fear being stolen.

As far as I know Nintendo were the first to put a joystick onto a game pad. Prior to the N64 the comprehension of a joystick was it’s a completely separate input mechanise to a game pad. They gave us the Nintendo DS (which I personally believe has forced Sony to consider strongly a touch-enabled PSP). If they have given us these without a care in the world, to be so worried of a ‘revolutionary’ idea as a company as Nintendo is, the Revolution definitely is what it claims to be: a revolution. What could possibly be that revolutionary?

It’s extremely important to think outside the box here, the problem most people have. Nintendo is filled with unchallenged minds; they once made a Gameboy sewing game that actually sewed. So without further a-do, my idea: augmented reality. The initial inspiration for my idea is certainly not mine alone. Lots of sites and forums posted similar articles and explained the possible link between it and the Revolution. It fits the only criteria I’ve put forth; that being it’s never been used for gaming before. However my idea doesn’t stop here. The best way to think of it would be by picturing how you would play it your first time.

After purchasing you Revolution you take it home. Place it in your room and sit a camera on top of your TV then place a couple of sensors around the room and wire up the machine to power and your TV. You then hold up a completely plastic gun that is, I dunno, let’s say pure red. No electronics what so ever. Then power up the next version of Time Crisis. The camera and sensors, using technology that can easily detect the gun and its situation in the world as well as the movements of your fingers will input into the game and accurately portray your shooting on the game screen.

It’s not very far-fetched at all. Look at the link provided above and take that technology only one small step further. You could consider it an eye-toy with a 3D capability. By that I mean it’s able to naturally detect the incline of a tabletop and allow you to drive a virtual car on the top of it. Now imagine that table top is a piece of red plastic the shape of a gun which a game has been told how to recognise. All of a sudden it isn’t just plausible, but it’s a current technology already used in several of other industries.

The applications of such an input system are truly revolutionary. I used the gun as an example for familiarity, but imagine those virtual golf games with real clubs all of a sudden affordable and in your bedroom! Imagine boxing with a guy on the screen with your real fists. Imagine extremely cheap steering wheels for your driving simulation needs (plastic with no electronics what-so-ever). How about a yoga ball? A game simply based around yoga moves with no point at all. Not unlike Electro Planktons pointlessness. Perhaps even some kind of music game based around how you use that yoga ball! Imagine an all-new way to play chess online. Or the next Wario Ware that has you balancing a plastic cup filled with virtual water on your head! Or play your drum kit silently but with perfect audio through your headphones. The potential is hardly limiting at all, provided you are within the view of the sensors camera. If you wanted to play it eye-toy style, the camera is right there. Want to play it like you’re using a normal light gun, thats a possibility. As foreign an idea is there is nothing stopping conventional uses of such a machine either.

Since Nintendo have announced backwards compatibility it is possible that the new machine will allow you to control using traditional controls and hence the strange factor is helped with this traditional method of control. Given that option this new input method is all the more plausible. If this isn’t a part of the Revolution then someone out there certainly should invent such a gaming machine. It’s applications go well into the arcade arena and bring it’s inventor large sums of cash.

I have certainly let my imagination get the better of me during this article. From the beginning I knew I was stretching it and the more I researched to push my view the more I found that weakened it. The information we have definately points away from augmented reality, however like I said from the start I will fight for my idea over the likes of a touch screen. There is only one technology that I can think of yet to be applied to video games and that’s augmented reality. Whether I’m right or not I feel as though my idea is more creditable than most others on the internet, at least it’s outside the box. Not only that but is a completely feasible idea that is most definitely an applicable technology in today’s world. It’s also much more interesting than your typical touch screen theory.

Written by Anthony