New Nintendo Console To Use 6-Inch Touch Screen – Confirmed?

31 responses to “New Nintendo Console To Use 6-Inch Touch Screen – Confirmed?”

1. 

   Richard Smack

   June 6, 2011 at 9:05 am

   F♥ck yes bring it onnnnn!!! so excited for e333333333

   Reply
2. 

   James Mac

   June 6, 2011 at 9:13 am

   Is it really the touchscreen that’s making smartphone’s popular?
   It’s not that they can run decent games, are connected to the internet, or have a cheap marketplace for sales and distribution?

   Reply
3. 

   Andrew Burdusel

   June 6, 2011 at 9:26 am

   How much is this thing gonna cost? A top shelf 6″ Tablet would set you back a few hundred dollars alone.

   Reply
   1. 

      Steve0410

      June 6, 2011 at 3:34 pm

      El Cheapo 7 inch tablets can be found for $100-$150. They have horrible resistive touch screens. On the other hand, they also have a brain inside with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, expandable memory etc.

      If Nintendo releases a controller which is nothing BUT a dumb screen + buttons and bluetooth (and the requisite Nintendo premium), they might be able to market them as $200 loss leaders.

      This is all speculation though, and mostly just to say that a sub $200 controller with these features isn’t too unfeasible.

      Reply
4. 

   Stevorooni

   June 6, 2011 at 9:27 am

   Why’d they bother releasing the 3DS if they’re just going to have another portable console as part of the Wii2/Beem/Cafe/Nintendo?

   Reply
   1. 

      Dissection

      June 6, 2011 at 9:41 am

      Nintendo will find a way to make it the greatest. They always do.

      Reply
   2. 

      Shane

      June 6, 2011 at 9:59 am

      Is it a portable console though? Might it not be a tablet-style controller for a homebound console…?

      Reply
      1. 

         solypsis

         June 6, 2011 at 12:09 pm

         OMG, you just revealed the name of Ninty’s new beauty: the “Nintendo Homebound” …it’s for the new niche market of obese people. It streams fittness apps [only] to a tablet that can be used in bed, on the loo, at the fridge, um, virtually anyware!

         Reply
5. 

   Stepho

   June 6, 2011 at 9:36 am

   If this is true Nintendo is pretty much saying “f*** you but thanks for the money” to the people who bought a 3DS.

   Reply
   1. 

      Steve0410

      June 6, 2011 at 3:26 pm

      It won’t overlap with the 3DS. The thing is essentially a controller, it probably won’t store anything more than save files (if that), it will most likely have a horrible battery and will spend most of its time connected to the console via Micro USB (like the current DualShock).

      It’s pretty much a 2011 Dreamcast controller.

      Reply
6. 

   Unicron

   June 6, 2011 at 9:42 am

   I don’t know what to think about all this talk of a touchscreen.
   Maybe i’m just too old to be excited by these gimmicks anymore.
   Maybe i’m an old school gamer and just want to play games with a normal controller.
   Maybe it’s Monday morning, i’m at work and unfortunately need more sleep.

   Reply
7. 

   Dark_Templar

   June 6, 2011 at 9:53 am

   Hrm, sounds way too expensive.

   At no point in my time playing my PS3 have I wished that there was a touch screen on the controller.

   Reading the article though makes it sound like the tablet is the controller, with no physical controls. If that is the case, Nintendo will fail, as on screen buttons and thumbsticks always suck balls, and not in a good way.

   Reply
8. 

   Haydn

   June 6, 2011 at 9:55 am

   I hope this is a joke. Nintendo is the king of making gimmicks mainstream, but james is right, touchscreens aren’t what make the iPhone so popular. I have over 100 games on my iPhone, but there is no way I’d also a touch screen controller by choice. Not to mention it only works as a controller because you are looking at it. How are you meant to memorise the layout of buttons with no tactile feedback whilst you are looking at your TV?

   Reply
9. 

   Powalen

   June 6, 2011 at 9:57 am

   I’m quietly optimistic about this.

   Reply
10. 

    Stevorooni

    June 6, 2011 at 10:04 am

    Other articles have stated that it will also have 2 analogue sticks, 4 face buttons, 2 shoulder buttons, 2 triggers and that the touch screen will be removable, so it doesn’t sound too terrible.

    Reply
    1. 

       James Mac

       June 6, 2011 at 10:23 am

       It’s going to be big and heavy though.

       Reply
11. 

    Dissection

    June 6, 2011 at 10:08 am

    Didn’t Nintendo already confirm that physical buttons are guaranteed with their next console?

    Reply
12. 

    Rev

    June 6, 2011 at 10:24 am

    Remember when the Dreamcast had a screen in its controller and you could take it around with you for games on the go. That worked out well….right?

    Reply
    1. 

       NegativeZero

       June 6, 2011 at 11:36 am

       I don’t know if it’s fair to compare against the Dreamcast’s VMU. Sega were ahead of their time in a lot of ways with that system, the technology simply hadn’t caught up with what they wanted to do. Same with their online features. The VMU was tiny, not very powerful, had terrible battery life and never got much developer support. The only reason a Dreamcast owner would get one is that it doubled as a memory card, and without it there was no way to save your game.

       Nintendo, for all their posturing as being a ‘disruptive’ company are pretty risk-averse. I doubt they’ll add something like a touch screen to their controllers without knowing they can produce them cheaply and without being confident in the technology itself. If you can play games on the controller as a portable I’d expect them to be GBA-level at the most.

       Also, we hear 6″ a lot, but a 6″ touch screen doesn’t necessarily need to be expensive. A 6″ high-resolution capacitive multi-touch screen like you might find in an iPhone is certainly not cheap. But if it’s low resolution and single-touch you could potentially do it pretty cheap.

       I’m honestly more worried about the size. ~15cm screen in the middle of a controller is going to make that thing a beast to hold.

       Reply
13. 

    McGarnical

    June 6, 2011 at 10:56 am

    My experience with the DS and Wii tell me that the best games actually make minimal use of the “gimmicks”. Eg. Twilight Princess and New Super Mario Bros.

    So if this touchscreen is used only for things like looking down at a map and scrolling around on it, then it will be quite awesome.

    Reply
    1. 

       Steve0410

       June 6, 2011 at 3:29 pm

       The thing is a six inch display ‘tablet’ with buttons. I can’t see a single controller costing less than $200.

       If you want multiplayer, oh lordy.

       Looking at maps might be a nice addition, but certainly not worth that premium.

       Reply
14. 

    Spiderboy

    June 6, 2011 at 10:59 am

    I suspect many of the people who are posting (prematurely), negative comments, also predicted that Nintendo would fail with the Wii…

    Reply
    1. 

       cyk

       June 6, 2011 at 2:04 pm

       Not only that, but they’re predicting failure for a ‘rumoured’ product to be released in more than a year. I would wait until there are solid facts before going all Michael Pachter on this.

       Reply
15. 

    ShiggyNinty

    June 6, 2011 at 11:12 am

    I dont know how to feel about it. If its true then they’ll do it well and make it work like they have before, but on the other hand i can’t help but feel like this is a real dumb idea. As much as I love Nintendo (A LOT!) I don’t really know about this. I’m sure the fanboy in me will love it in the end regardless though

    Reply
16. 

    Toad

    June 6, 2011 at 11:34 am

    * A little birdy told me that the touch screen on the controller is gonna be detachable … As well as a few other things 😉

    Reply
17. 

    Mad Danny

    June 6, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    much as I think third party support will be better with access to ‘standard’ control configurations, I can’t help but wonder what could have been done with the touchscreen added to a Wii-nunchuck-style system for some good system exclusives. (eg. if the touch screen could be docked into the top of the nunchuck to make an Alien style shooter using the motion controls for gunplay and the analogue just below the touch for movement, but then utilising the touch for combination motion tracker/minimap/inventory manager)

    Either way I look forwards to seeing how it plays out because I like the idea of a DS approach to ‘big’ gaming; ie. easy persistent map/inventory interface for Zelda, GPS for a GTA-type, cool sci-fi style tabbed interface for enginnering and nav systems in a space sim… oh would that be perfect for a space sim… (reminisces fondly of the power management systems in X-wing and StarLancer)

    Reply
18. 

    Daniel

    June 6, 2011 at 12:39 pm

    I want physical buttons, personally….

    Reply
    1. 

       cyk

       June 6, 2011 at 2:09 pm

       http://wii2blog.com/nintendo-likes-buttons-and-isnt-going-to-ditch-them/

       Reply
19. 

    Doraiya

    June 6, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    How the hell is having a touchscreen on your controller going to make a game more fun? Players are meant to be looking at the TV.

    Reply
20. 

    Zadoc Paet

    June 6, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    I’ve been waiting for a controller like this since Dreamcast, and that was over ten years ago.
    POLL: Is Nintendo’s touch screen Project Cafe controller a better innovation than the Wii motion controller?
    Vote: http://www.wepolls.com/r/326324

    Reply
21. 

    astrogirl

    June 6, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    Didn’t they do a segment on Good Game not too long ago, where they hooked their ipads up to a TV? It looked pretty cool, but the conclusion was that it was too hard to play some games, when you had to keep looking back down at the ipad to make sure you were touching the right things etc.

    Reply