Introducing the new Xbox controller.. I mean Wii U controller

[DaytonaUSA]

 

 

 

 

 

Oh damn, I'm so sorry, wrong image:

 

 

 

Theeere we go. Now I'll be the first to admit everyone has copied off each other. Sony took the triggers of the SNES controller and mimicked them on the PS controller. Nintendo took the dual analog sticks of the Playstation controller. Playstation took the Wii controller idea with their Move design. Microsoft took the ABXY color jewel buttons from Nintendo. Microsoft and now Nintendo took clickable triggers from Nintendo. I could go on...

 

But I mean... come on. When the damned look of the shell is nearly identical, as are the triggers and bumpers, we have a problem. Nintendo is known to innovate. Surely there was a design, ANY design (cough Gamecube cough) they could have chose as their "pro" controller than what looks like a Chinese knockoff of a 360 pad. And I'm not even touching base on the fact the face buttons are going to be murder to use.

 

Heck, I could excuse this if they did just one thing. Had one main controller for their system. Wii Balance board, Wii controllers, Wii Pro controller and the Wiipad controller. Not only is this going to be confusing to consumers, but this HAS to be frustrating to developers. Three control schemes to focus on for each game, as you don't know which the consumer will own.

 

Iwata opened up his conference video with a speech about Nintendo being unique, and that what you'll be seeing this week will make you say "wow, that's certainly unique". Did they run out of creative juice by the time they got to the Pro controller?

 

I hope my rant isn't seen as trolling. I think the reason why I'm so passionate about this is because of how much I loved Nintendo. I really miss the company who made the NES, SNES, N64 and GC. I appreciate their half effort in trying to get back regular gamers, but it's still so frustrating to see a whole new slew of missteps.

Edited June 4, 2012 by DaytonaUSA

[BillyHW]

Everything on that controller is a Nintendo invention. D-pad. Analog thumbstick. 4 main buttons in diamond formation labelled b, a, y, x. L, R & Trigger buttons. Select and Start. And the whole thing is shaped like an NES Max.

 

Stop the hate.

 

Edited June 4, 2012 by BillyHW

[onlysublime]

with game controllers, it's usually evolution. if you try to reinvent the wheel, gamers (who tend to be creatures of habit) will pounce on you. look what happened with the PS3 boomerang. now the PS3 controller is just basically the PS2 controller.

[DaytonaUSA]

Everything on that controller is a Nintendo invention. D-pad. Analog thumbstick. 4 main buttons in diamond formation labelled b, a, y, x. L, R & Trigger buttons. Select and Start. And the whole thing is shaped like an NES Max.

 

Stop the hate.

 

 

 

If that's an NES Max controller evolution and not the EXACT SAME SHELL as a Microsoft 360 pad, then my name is Daffy Duck. And it isn't hate. If you read my post it's disappointment. And this is a gaming forum, and I'm entitled to my opinion, so don't tell me to stop. If this post bothered you so much, don't reply. Were you forced to?

 

All three companies have copied off each other, but my point is this.. it's never been to THIS EXTENT. And no, not all those innovations are Nintendo's. How blind are you? Did Nintendo come up with those types of Triggers? No, Sega did. Did Nintendo come up with a dual bumper/trigger layout like that? No Microsoft did. Did Nintendo create dual analog sticks? No , Sony did.

 

Did Nintendo design that shell...something that screams a companies image far more than any button layout or joystick placement? For fucks sake, no Microsoft did.

 

And you proved my point. I find it highly ironic that when a company takes something small from Nintendo, people come out with pitchforks and torches. But when Nintendo literally steals Microsoft's controller molds, it's oh whatever, it's Nintendo.. they're faultless. Why is there such a skewed perspective of accountability here? Pitchforks and torches for letters on buttons. A big "meh" for a copyrighted design of a shell. If this were made by a cheap Chinese company and put on eBay, people would call it a knockoff.

Edited June 4, 2012 by DaytonaUSA

[DaytonaUSA]

with game controllers, it's usually evolution. if you try to reinvent the wheel, gamers (who tend to be creatures of habit) will pounce on you. look what happened with the PS3 boomerang. now the PS3 controller is just basically the PS2 controller.

 

But Sony created the "wheel" that is the PS controller design. And no, I'm not talking dpads and buttons here people, I'm simply talking about the shell. When they changed the PS3 pad to look like a PS2 dualshock, it was their design to begin with. If they changed it to look like a Gamecube pad, Nintendo fanboys would be out looking for blood.

 

Nintendo did not take their GC pad (which is glorious btw) and "evolve" it to make a Wii U pad. They also did not make something terribly new, like Sony's boomerang controller (for better or worse). They simply took a mold of the 360 pad, changed the buttons and joystick placement, and called it a damned day.

 

But it's ok. It's Nintendo.

[Mord]

To be honest, there's quite a bit of difference between the two controllers. Button layout is quite important, as are the shapes they're given. For instance I FAR preferred the feel of the directional controls on the NES pad compared to the SMS, and I can only imagine the uncomfortable feeling I'd have trying to use a Propad on the 7800 due to the location of the buttons almost on top of the controller.)

 

On the other hand, I remember back when I saw the original xbox controller. You know, the original original controller intended for giants. My first thought was it looked like an inferior, black dreamcast controller with a few extra poorly placed buttons. Funcationally that's what it was, regardless of their attempt at making a more geometrically rounded controller. And I still never really cared enough to rage about it. The same with this. You'd have to be blind to think they simply "copied the mold and moved some buttons around." It's got the same -basic- shape. Big deal.

[Reaperman]

I'm just glad that it looks like a game controller and that nintendo didn't try to 'reinvent' gaming again.

Does this mean that I can buy a wiiu without that silly handheld tv thing?

 

Thank you for this, nintendo. Now maybe put out a handheld with just one screen next time too.

[HatefulGravey]

A controller like that means I can play Nintendo games again. The Wii stuff was just terrible to me.

[Austin]

I'm just glad Nintendo seems to be catering to the more "serious" gamers right off the bat.

[KrazyKaiju]

The shape of the 360 controller is pretty comfortable so why not use it? It looks like it also has the traditional Nintendo D-pad (my favorite d-pad) and Gamecube style analog sticks, both of which are an improvement over what's on the 360 controller. It's also got rumble and motion control like the Dualshock 3. Nintendo didn't have to reinvent the wheel here, just combine the most useful features of modern controllers while refining some of the rough edges. I'd actually prefer a system with this as the primary controller instead of the tablet gimmick.

[NE146]

Yep.. agreed. The 360 controller shape is one of the best these days, so I think it's smart of them to ape it. After all, the 360 has all of Nintendo's innovations on it. I see nothing wrong with them taking something someone else did for them, and that's the tried and tested shape of the great 360 controller.

 

And heck the 360 D-Pad sucks balls. Who better to fix it then the ones who created the modern iteration of it copied universally throughout the video game world.

 

[Mendon]

It really doesn't bother me what the controller looks like. Hell, I do a triple take every time a Toyota Prius/Honda Insight drives by trying to tell which car it is.

 

 

Mendon

[Rex Dart]

I don't see a reason to complain about the controller. I just think it's hilarious that Nintendo, who has for years forced other companies to re-think d-pad implementation in order to avoid being sued, has straight-up stolen the 360 controller design.

 

But hey, I like the 360 controller, and this one looks like it has functioning d-pad for once.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Controller is fine, what I really want from Nintendo this time around is for the hardware to at least be on par power/hardware specification so they can get genuine versions of 3rd party titles (many 360 / PS3 titles did not appear or where radically changed to accommodate the Wii's lesser power capability) then if their hardware can add a new twist of feature then great! We can always expect new titles form Nintendo's first party and usual suspects of characters but I hope as they have been hinting and promising that they really have strong 3rd party support from the start.

 

I hope to see a lot less shovelware and just plain crap titles (puzzle / gameshow / boardgame / tv show licenses) hey I like those genres but the majority of such titles on the Wii and DS were just bad. I get that they cater to moms, kids and "casual" gamers but if they must do such titles then at least make them good and put some effort into them. Lastly, I just want the Wii-U or whatever the final name of the console is to maybe deleiver some real true innovative and must have titles that are exclusive or can only be done on the on the new hardware using the features not found elsewhere. I want Nintendo to come back big and I want to be able to know some titles can only be experienced in a certain way on it. I really want to have a strong compelling reason to own Nintendos's next console or I just might pass.

Edited June 4, 2012 by OldSchoolRetroGamer

[FireStar]

What I wanna know is if those back triggers are analog. I mean, sure, that would make it more of an XBOX rip-off, but the 360 got the idea for analog triggers from the GC pad anyways, though nintendo completely forgot about their own "innovation" for the wii's classic controller.

 

I think the fact Nintendo's now the one ripping off instead of the one being ripped-off says somethings changing in gaming.

[goldenegg]

I see this as Nintendo re-designing their Classic Controller Pro (which is an excellent controller) rather than copying from the 360.

[Rex Dart]

I see this as Nintendo re-designing their Classic Controller Pro (which is an excellent controller) rather than copying from the 360.

 

You don't see so well.

[goldenegg]

I see this as Nintendo re-designing their Classic Controller Pro (which is an excellent controller) rather than copying from the 360.

 

You don't see so well.

 

If you want to provide some meaningful criticism to my statement, please do so. Throwing around insults is just childish.

[Rex Dart]

It's an observation, not an insult. The thing's clearly modeled after the 360 controller, with a few Wii-alike designs thrown in. Very few. Look at the trigger/shoulder placement, the -/Home/+ placement, and everything else that's already been touched on in this thread.

[Hyper_Eye]

On the classic controller pro they put the face buttons in the right place. On this thing it looks like they were scratching their heads deciding what they could change to point to as different from the 360 controller. Don't worry about the criticism! MS got the button placement right. Put the right analog stick back in the right place and point at the superior d-pad as the thing that is different. I think the classic controller pro is pretty comfortable as well but the shape is not as good as this one. The classic pro feels a little boxy in the hands. Also, switching to triggers is a plus. I also find it funny that Nintendo gets credit for putting the best d-pad on their controllers but it is their fault other game companies can't use the same d-pad.

 

Whatever, seeing this controller has actually given me a little hope. When I consider what we saw this console generation the next one has been worrying me.

[HatefulGravey]

I see this as Nintendo re-designing their Classic Controller Pro (which is an excellent controller) rather than copying from the 360.

 

You don't see so well.

 

If you want to provide some meaningful criticism to my statement, please do so. Throwing around insults is just childish.

 

Looking at these controllers the only difference is the placement of a very few things. The 4 control buttons on the right and the right stick need to switch places and you have an almost exact rip off. The "home" buttons are in the same place, the the buttons to the side of that are the same, the bumper lay out is the same, the trigger placement is the same.... they are the same controller.

 

You might argue that you see the advancement of the classic pro controller but what you clearly mean is that you see that the xBox 360 controller was the advancement of the classic pro controller and now Nintendo has come to understand that. There is a good chance you are just trying to disagree for the sake of being different. My grandmother could tell you these two controllers have way too much in common for it to be by chance.

[Arkhan]

as long as the things not a pain to hold like the classic controllers, and as long as I don't have to flail around like a jackass while playing games, I am set.

 

Who cares who ripped off who. They're controllers.

 

You don't see anyone suing anyone over steering wheels on cars. Who cares.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Arkhan

[xg4bx]

i foresee a lot of accidental button presses and stick pushes. i don't want anything under my thumb.

[Asaki]

The shell does look a lot like the 360, but the button placements are basically just the Classic Controller inverted. Dreamcast and Gamecube both had analogue triggers, so no big deal there (I was actually surprised that the Wii opted against them).

 

And I'm also wondering if those BA/YX buttons are going to be comfortable.

 

i foresee a lot of accidental button presses and stick pushes. i don't want anything under my thumb.

Ugh, I absolutely hate that the XBox and the 360 use joystick clicks for buttons. Nothing worse than playing some FPS, finding yourself in the middle of an ambush, and getting killed because you started or stopped crouching and/or aiming >_< Or games that don't toggle it, so you have to try to hold the joystick down and carefully move it around at the same time >_<

[JamesD]

The use of directional buttons in the up/down/left/right layout started on handheld games back in the 70's; Nintendo integrated it into the D-Pad but that was just an evolution of what was already out there.

Yeah, the controller looks a lot like the 360 one (ok, blatant ripoff), but Microsoft didn't even have a game machine in the 80's so they borrowed almost everything from everybody else.

I really don't see any problem with it myself.

 

I do think it's a bit of an admission that the Wii controller pretty much sucks for many games. For the right games the Wiimote is great, for the wrong ones... #$%^!