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Revolution

Here it is, courtesy of Alice-the-best-notetaker-at-games-industry-events-in-the-world.
Look at this. [OMFG. It’s long and squarish. You shake it. Touch it. Drum with it. Bat with it. Point with it. Conduct with it. Use it like a pencil. Or a TV remote. Thumbpad add on. It’s like a nunchuk – there’s an extra controller for the other hand, strung by a wire..]
In order to have a controller that anyone can understand, we have come up with a design that doesn’t look like anyone else’s controllers. And we have changed game design too! This controller has a Direct Pointing Device. Revolution can detect precisely which location on the screen the controller is pointing at. With this technology, you can point at a location intuitively, but Revolution can detect your distance from the screen, and the angle of your controller. These controllers are wireless. It is intuitive! At the same time for vet players it is fresh and surprising. We can also use multiple controllers at the same time. Multiple players can be engaged in an intense squash game, or a slow, precise cooking game. You can play musical instruments with two controllers at once! A fishing game with rod-like action! Wave it.. and you can jump. So this is with one hand. But another characteristic is its flexibility for expansion. You can expand the Direct Pointing Device: this connector is the gateway to enormous possibilities for expansion. Today I have just shown what we call the nun-chuk style expansion! [haha]We are planning on including this controller with the basic Revolution hardware package. In the first person shooter genre, very important overseas, we believe the nun-chuk will set a new standard, for instance you can intuitively explore in the dark using it as a flashlight. Just as supermario 64 defined the 3d console standard, I’m looking forward to seeing how this play control can change play for games like Zelda. I hope you are as excited as I am to see the final outcome!

And here is 1UP.COM's report, which comes with pictures.

So why has Nintendo decided to brazenly break with tradition and the conventions of every other modern console in creating the Revolution controller? According to Mr. Miyamoto, it was part of a conscious decision to make something simple and straightforward enough to reach out to a new audience. "We want a system that takes advantage of new technology for something that anyone, regardless of age or gender, can pick up and play. [Something with a] gameplay style that people who have never played games can pick up and not be intimidated by. We wanted a controller that somebody's mother will look at and not be afraid of."

Has Nintendo won the GDC Europe game design challenge?

And here is Eurogamer's report, appropriately titled "Revolution controller - not remotely what we expected". I agree.

We can discuss if it makes business sense, and if it will be a commercial success, but I think it's harder to argue that it is not a creative success (as much as one can without having held it in one's hand, but when has that ever stopped anybody?). I also think that pretty much everything Nintendo said about the Revolution before today's revelation turned out to be true, which is kind of refreshing in this age of hype. And, as they said, it's not a new idea - just well-implemented and executed, apparently.