Six Reasons Why You Need a Revolution
Forget PS3 and Xbox 360. This is 2006's essential launch
6) The games industry is excited
This is not to say that developers are sitting out there frowning about the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360's graphical prowess. But many developers are even more excited about what the Revolution's totally new controller can do. Rob Kay, lead designer Guitar Hero, sums it up best:
"A controller's physical form and appearance talks directly to any onlookers present. When custom designed for their game, they can tell the player exactly what they have to do. The guitar says 'I'm a guitar, pick me up and be a rock star.' The microphone says 'I'm a microphone, pick me up and sing."
"Nintendo faced a distinct challenge when designing the Revolution controller", Rob continues. "Its form and appearance needs to fit with any type of game in any genre. The TV remote analogy they went with is a brilliant solution. What does a TV remote controller say? It says 'Pick me up, point me at the TV and press buttons.' Perfect!"
Above: E3: where Nintendo will make a splash with Revolution this May.
As we move toward the unveiling of the first games for the system, we'll find more and more developers rushing to bring new ideas to it. As with the Nintendo DS, we expect to see things that you just don't quite see anywhere else, and plenty of 'em.
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For all these reasons and more, it's clear that there's no reason to count Nintendo out of this race just because the Revolution won't support HD (nope - even480p is not an HD resolution, according to our in-office tech-heads)or utilize tried and true methods of gameplay. Even the most enthusiastic gamers are finding themselves increasingly jaded by the same-old same-old in shiny new wrappers. We expect the Revolution to instill some real, long lasting creativity in the next generation, and that's probably the best reason of all to be excited.
A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE.