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http://www1.msn.gamesradar.com/news/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=36392&subsectionid=1587 Full Revolution controller details finally revealed [24/06/05 18:27] Patent office registration blows the lid off top-secret control device The controller for Nintendo's upcoming Revolution console will featuregyroscopic, tilt-sensitive technology, an LCD touch screen, and a greatlyreduced number of face buttons, according to documentation on the US patentwebsite. The patent document - which calls the Revolution "the game device" andrefers to the controller as a "housing held by a player" and "the handheldgame device" - intricately describes key aspects of the controller'sfunctionality. The patent primarily focuses on the controller's gyroscopic ability,describing the function as, "a tilt sensor provided on the housing, aviewpoint coordinates determination mechanism for determining viewpointcoordinates in accordance with an output value of the tilt sensor." Which is a needlessly complicated way of saying that tilting thecontroller affects on-screen action. "The game system allows the player to feel as if the three-dimensionalgame space is tilted in accordance with a tilt of a game device, etc., witha minimal processing burden," the document clarifies. Hidden beneath a wealth of nonsensical technical speak lay furtherdetails of interest, which describe the layout of the controller's facebuttons and confirm the existence of an LCD screen on the device. "The handheld game device includes a rectangular housing. The housinghas the liquid crystal display," the document confirms. The text then describes the number of buttons on the controller facerevealing their position: "A direction instruction switch [d-pad], a start switch, and a selectswitch are placed on the left side of the LCD, movement instruction switches(A button) and (B button) are placed on the right side of the LCD, and, ifnecessary, other movement instruction switches R and L are placed on theright and left ends of the upper side of the housing, respectively." This confirms Nintendo's new controller features just a d-pad, withtwo face buttons, two shoulder buttons and start and select buttons. Itwould appear the tilting mechanism acts as a substitute for an analoguestick, removing the need for it altogether. "The handheld game device includes a control circuit (for example, aCPU chip) having a CPU core," the document continues. "An LCD controller, awork RAM, a video RAM, and an interface circuit are connected to the CPUcore via a bus (an address bus and a data bus." "LCD controller" seemingly confirming the screen will indeed be atouch screen while the rest of the text indicates the controller has enoughprocessing power of its own to run graphical routines and mini games on theLCD screen. The controller will also accommodate a cartridge slot according to thedocument, "The handheld game device has a cartridge insertion slot formed inthe upper side thereof for removably inserting the game cartridge." This most likely a memory card device according to the patentdocument, which says, "A desired cartridge is connected to the connector asa preparation for starting a game. As a result, the player (user) is allowedto play his/her desired game by changing the cartridge." Which sort ofdescribes the ability for different players to boot up their own save gamesfrom their own memory cartridges. So there we have it. A controller with a reduced number of facebuttons and a touch screen that allows gamers to look around, move, andaffect their level of acceleration, by tilting the controller. Now all we need are pictures. Which shouldn't be too long - theintricate descriptions in the patent document should be enough to ensurebedroom designers come up with a multitude of fakes sooner rather thanlater. _____________________________________________________________________________