Nintendo touchscreen controller patent offers clues about upcoming NX

Nintendo tries solving problems inherent in using touchscreen controllers.

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[adipose]

I'm not sure I love the concept, but I do know I hate using touchscreens as controllers. With the joysticks embedded, and buttons as triggers, this could go a long way to solving that.

 

[Uxorious]

It is great to see innovation in the area of game controllers, but having been frustrated by touchscreen game controls I wonder how well this combination will work for console games. The physical joysticks are great, but my guess is that people will end up hitting the wrong peripheral buttons due to lack of physical reference provided by actual buttons on a normal controller.

 

[ShunShinKun]

Aelinsaar[/url]":1yijskgv]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Right, because Nintendo never produced the power glove nor Rob as gimmicks...
edit: Well what can I say, I stand corrected on the power glove as it really was Mattel who did it.

Now on a serious note, Nintendo has always been at the forefront when it comes to controllers, it didn't start with the Wii, it just brought more attention to it. Even the gamepad that we know and use now a days was such a foreign concept back when it was introduced ( people were holding as if it were a remote for the TV.)

They also were the first to introduce rumble if I remember correctly as well, so it's no surprise that they always try to change the way their game systems change so drastically.

 

[zerocommazero]

Aelinsaar[/url]":171xphl0]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Nintendo has always been innovative with their hardware, especially the controls.

 

[Nitestorm]

ShunShinKun[/url]":3q9pm75c]

Aelinsaar[/url]":3q9pm75c]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Right because Nintendo never produced the power glove nor Rob as gimmicks...

Well Nintendo didn't produce the Power Glove, it was Mattel.

 

[MGM]

Whether this idea succeeds or fails, the game industry benefits from Nintendo's constant innovating in the market.

However, wouldn't the fact that one's thumbs are always in view (and in motion) subtract from the immersion? To me, that's one of the biggest problems with touchscreen gaming.

 

[Z1ggy]

Aelinsaar[/url]":2wqn0hp9]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

you realize you probably wouldn't have the xbox controller or PS controller if it wasn't for Nintendo?
spoiled for size

Spoiler

EDIT:
heres the one I was looking for

Spoiler

 

[THE R3SE4RCH3R]

ShunShinKun[/url]":25cnlugi]

Aelinsaar[/url]":25cnlugi]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Right because Nintendo never produced the power glove nor Rob as gimmicks...

Don't forget the Zapper (Light Gun), the Super Scope (Bazooka), and the Miracle Piano (I think it was just licensed by Nintendo, I might be wrong). Pretty sure there are other ones I can't remember...

 

[adipose]

Aelinsaar[/url]":x1gs0k6a]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Nintendo has never been just about games. They have had some missteps, but they are legendary in both controls and games.

 

[Nerdgoggles]

Not gonna happen ... Nice idea & one that Nintendo wouldn't want other people using, but that is going to make the controllers outrageously expensive to produce.

 

[MHStrawn]

HIgh points for innovation. I never underestimate Nintendo when it comes to handhelds as they have consistently shown that horsepower & graphics don't match them in terms of making consumers happy.

Not sure this will work but it's interesting and I wish them well.

 

[BigDragon]

That poor iguana monster. =(

I like how close the touchscreen and thumbsticks are. One of the things I hate about the Wii U is how annoying it is to get to touchscreen controls on the large gamepad. I have to take my whole hand off the side of the controller to do it most of the time. Putting them close to the fingertips is a smart idea. I can see how this would help enhance Zelda or Pokemon games in particular. I'm not sure how it could help games like Smash Bros or Mario World, however. I think Nintendo's software support will make the difference. The more software they pump out, the better. Third parties are likely to be scared away by these new controllers.

 

[BoxFox]

I don't know about any of you, but I have to play this game in the patent. I can use a Mace, Bombs, arrows, AND a pistol, against a giant lizard.

Sold!

 

[KGFish]

Has anyone actually figured out good uses for touch screen controls? The smartphone games all have pretty sucky control schemes, and I don't have a PS4, so I don't know how useful they are there... Though Nintendo has always managed to figure out control schemes That Work (TM), so much so that pretty much every controller out there today can be traced back to Nintendo controllers (all the way back to Game&Watch controls). I may be interested in a Nintendo NX after all....

 

[BigDragon]

THE R3SE4RCH3R[/url]":2b3j19b7]

ShunShinKun[/url]":2b3j19b7]

Aelinsaar[/url]":2b3j19b7]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Right because Nintendo never produced the power glove nor Rob as gimmicks...

Don't forget the Zapper (Light Gun), the Super Scope (Bazooka), and the Miracle Piano (I think it was just licensed by Nintendo, I might be wrong). Pretty sure there are other ones I can't remember...

I think you can lump the Mario Paint ball mouse in there too! I also recall that the Virtual Boy had the first dual directional pads on a controller.

 

[Resolute]

Aelinsaar[/url]":2vt93b41]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

The majority of the components that make up modern controllers were once gimmicks utilized by Nintendo. Nintendo used touch screen gaming three years before the iPhone was released and long before the age of tablet gaming. Nintendo's gimmicks of yesterday are gaming's standards of today.

 

[psarhjinian]

KGFish[/url]":13sejcj0]Has anyone actually figured out good uses for touch screen controls?

Depends on the game. For Angry Birds and the like, where the control inputs can be slow, deliberate and enriched by on-screen feedback, yes, they work well.

Nintendo might be going after just that kind of market---that casual demographic that made the Wii a hit---but the issue is that this time there's billions of iOS and Android devices that are doing the same just as well

 

[thereddaikon]

ShunShinKun[/url]":2ultzjwm]

Aelinsaar[/url]":2ultzjwm]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Right, because Nintendo never produced the power glove nor Rob as gimmicks...
edit: Well what can I say, I stand corrected on the power glove as it really was Mattel who did it.

Now on a serious note, Nintendo has always been at the forefront when it comes to controllers, it didn't start with the Wii, it just brought more attention to it. Even the gamepad that we know and use now a days was such a foreign concept back when it was introduced ( people were holding as if it were a remote for the TV.)

They also were the first to introduce rumble if I remember correctly as well, so it's no surprise that they always try to change the way their game systems change so drastically.

There's nothing wrong with trying to innovate on controllers. What is frustrating about Nintendo is that at some point along the line they decided that they should experiment with the default controller. This is incredibly obnoxious because experiments are just that, experimental and not a guarantee for success. The Wiimote is obnoxious and while the Wii U tablet is kind of cool it adds too much to the base cost and also forces asymmetric controller setups when doing local multiplayer. Nintendo should have a simple and conventional controller as the default one and it should work with all games. If they want to experiment that's fine but they should be strictly optional. They used to do it like that, hell everyone did but Nintendo got carried away.

 

[IntergalacticWalrus]

Aelinsaar[/url]":32olx5s8]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Nice revisionist history there, or just ignorant? Nintendo has always been about innovating control methods. The Famicom (NES) controller brought us the contemporary concept of the d-pad (which was in turn based on the button layout of some Game & Watch games). The SNES controller brought us the now standard cross layout for face buttons, and bumper buttons. The N64 brought back the analog stick from the dead, after its unsuccessful use on older consoles, and also rumble. And so on.

 

[foreignreign]

KGFish[/url]":1dpmchdw]Has anyone actually figured out good uses for touch screen controls? The smartphone games all have pretty sucky control schemes, and I don't have a PS4, so I don't know how useful they are there... Though Nintendo has always managed to figure out control schemes That Work (TM), so much so that pretty much every controller out there today can be traced back to Nintendo controllers (all the way back to Game&Watch controls). I may be interested in a Nintendo NX after all....

The best use of the dual/touch screen setup as a whole is easily Hotel Dusk, of all the games I've played on the DS family.

Hotel Dusk requires you to hold the system in portrait mode, with the top screen being a first person view of the world (and sometimes your character during conversation moments) and the touch/bottom screen being how you move (screen displays a top-down map), access various menus and submenus, and also how you interact with people and the world around you.

Trauma Center is also a good example of both motion control + touch screen for the most part. Quirky games are typically the ones that make the most out of these types of control schemes because the games end up being built around those exact quirks.

 

[greatn]

This looks like it is basically halfway between the gamepad and the Dual Shock 4. The DS4 has the touch pad and the weird light thingie, this kind of combined them and stretches it out to encompass the screen. I saw another concept somewhere and I thought it was a patent drawing of this same thing from Nintendo but there were transparent physical buttons on top as well.

I love these sketches because it's always funny to see this stuff as drawn by an engineer instead of what an actual product looks like. The gameplay concept image is hilarious. "The Legend of Stick Figure Zelda. Link pores through his items... sword, shield, bow, bomb, mace... gun. Yeah, Link just pulls out a gun and shoots dodongo. Coming in 2019: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Handgun Training".

This would certainly make backwards compatibility a possibility as well. The gamepad is only 480p, so if this is higher resolution they could just put the gamepad display in the middle with whatever buttons they needed on the outside.

 

[EHowardHidell63]

*NX being the system that Wii U users will be betrayed over, the next Zelda very likely being pushed to it rather then current gen.

 

[greatn]

Nerdgoggles[/url]":2vxey9hr]Not gonna happen ... Nice idea & one that Nintendo wouldn't want other people using, but that is going to make the controllers outrageously expensive to produce.

That could be a handheld gaming unit.

 

[ReaderBot]

I really hope this is just a patent application, and doesn't get approved, because "make the screen bigger and put the controls on top" doesn't seem like it should be patentable.

 

[Katana314]

The Playstation Vita solved the "thumb blocks button" issue, although it's situational. It has a touchpad on the rear, through which you can do relativistic positioning, but not aim and tap right at a thing. It's actually great for positioning an object in a level editor. And, since it's an entirely different surface, there won't be selection confusion that you get from tapping something you meant to drag, or vice versa.

That console has actually shown me that all these gimmicky features like motion controls and touchscreens can be good when they're simply "available" and not thrown into games as a gimmick (as I worry this controller would be). I've played a number of Vita games already where touch was kind of "nice to have for a particular game aspect" (especially navigating menus) but where they were nice enough not to hammer the feature, as though the console had just come out and needed to differentiate itself.

They're ultimately going to discard this patent if they can't solve the button issue. Not only is mashing a flat surface bad on your hands, it's not very tactile and would require frequently looking down.

 

[desenfoque]

I was making an imaginary exercise with my 7" tablet.

Maybe, maybe this thing can solve the touchscreen problems...

Now, the screen (at least the part intended to put button-like elements) must be pressure-sensitive. Also, the gap between the sticks must be big enough to be useful (12~15cm).

and finally WiiU compatible.

 

[Kyle Orland]

Nerdgoggles[/url]":17k3aafq]Not gonna happen ... Nice idea & one that Nintendo wouldn't want other people using, but that is going to make the controllers outrageously expensive to produce.

The Wii U controllers were outrageously expensive to produce... that didn't stop Nintendo. Then again, maybe they learned their lesson...

 

[Pit Spawn]

zerocommazero[/url]":3dgpvp5y]

Aelinsaar[/url]":3dgpvp5y]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Nintendo has always been innovative with their hardware, especially the controls.

I think they are going the wrong route with their touchscreen controllers for the console though, its fine on the DS when you are looking at the controller anyway. But it seems pointless outside of a few niche local multiplayer cases. I would much rather keep looking at my big tv screen than having to keep looking back and forth between it and the controller.

 

[metamatic]

This makes sense to me. Many games benefit from being able to provide software-defined controls and readouts on the lower screen of the 3DS. Clearly that's part of what Nintendo was trying to do with the WiiU. Unfortunately the WiiU controller was far too big.

Of course, there's still the problem of Nintendo being unable to deliver enough software for their platforms. This controller might allow for 3DS ports or emulations...

 

[lewax00]

Aelinsaar[/url]":133bacc8]I remember when Nintendo was just about really fun games, not new iterations of gimmicks to try and recapture that Wii money.

Nice revisionist history there, or just ignorant? Nintendo has always been about innovating control methods. The Famicom (NES) controller brought us the contemporary concept of the d-pad (which was in turn based on the button layout of some Game & Watch games). The SNES controller brought us the now standard cross layout for face buttons, and bumper buttons. The N64 brought back the analog stick from the dead, after its unsuccessful use on older consoles, and also rumble. And so on.

The N64 was also the first controller that allowed proper game control for 3 handed people.

 

[solomonrex]

BoxFox[/url]":kk2llpir]I don't know about any of you, but I have to play this game in the patent. I can use a Mace, Bombs, arrows, AND a pistol, against a giant lizard.

Sold!

After three hours of ads during sports, I usually want to shoot a lizard, too, and I don't care if it can save me 15% on my car insurDIE GECKO DIE!ance.

 

[solomonrex]

KGFish[/url]":3av0o5vd]Has anyone actually figured out good uses for touch screen controls? The smartphone games all have pretty sucky control schemes, and I don't have a PS4, so I don't know how useful they are there... Though Nintendo has always managed to figure out control schemes That Work (TM), so much so that pretty much every controller out there today can be traced back to Nintendo controllers (all the way back to Game&Watch controls). I may be interested in a Nintendo NX after all....

It's not all on touchscreens, but the haptic feedback on 3d touch, appletv remote and Steam controllers were all well reviewed iirc. They could apply that to these, but then they wouldn't need actual sticks.

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

What we really need for touchscreen controllers is something like Disney's Teslatouch.
http://www.disneyresearch.com/project/teslatouch/
It can simulate the feeling of various textures on screen. If you combined it with a pressure-sensitive screen, you could feel around for a button and then trigger it with a higher pressure.

 

[FatherLucifer]

I haven't seen the parallax 3d on a 3DS beyond in-store demos, but wouldn't having your fingers over the screen ruin the effect? Actually, just having the buttons on the screen surface would keep you from focusing "into" the screen. Maybe they'd keep the 3d effects in the middle and have graphics around the buttons that match the depth of the actual screen.

 

[greatn]

FatherLucifer[/url]":kru90qjw]I haven't seen the parallax 3d on a 3DS beyond in-store demos, but wouldn't having your fingers over the screen ruin the effect? Actually, just having the buttons on the screen surface would keep you from focusing "into" the screen. Maybe they'd keep the 3d effects in the middle and have graphics around the buttons that match the depth of the actual screen.

Well I think this one probably wouldn't have a 3D effect. The 3D in the 3DS is neat, especially on the New 3DS, but also unnecessary.

 

[FatherLucifer]

greatn[/url]":c4vyzqab]

Well I think this one probably wouldn't have a 3D effect. The 3D in the 3DS is neat, especially on the New 3DS, but also unnecessary.

I wouldn't think so either, but the article said:

(The patent also suggests the possibility of a 3DS-style parallax barrier display that allows for "stereoscopic view with naked eyes").

Just hedging their bets maybe.

 

[slade24]

Still not sure I see the point. If you're looking at the controller, you aren't looking at the screen. That context switching breaks immersion and slows down your input.

I mean, it might help with the asymmetrical gameplay some WiiU games have, but now you have even more constrained screen space to work in.