Revolution INFO exposed!

[Crash]

Last week, Nintendo announced an investment in Gyration, a pioneer in interactive controllers and related markets. The next step in console and handheld gaming peripherals from Nintendo may begin with the intellectual properties and technical capacities of Gyration. The company has developed a low cost dual axis gyroscope "optimized for easy integration into input devices." Further more, Gyration has "exclusive rights to application of inertial sensors in a product which senses angular human motion in order to control a graphic or cursor on a display."

What does it all mean? GameCubicle evaluated the company's products, plans, partners, and patents in an effort to find out. Of their relevant products, Gyration's GyroMouse product features intriguing technologies that would open many doors in the wireless controller arena. We suspect that the same technology could help create the ultimate controller for adventure, platform, and first-person shooter genres. Gyration's RF assets also seem ideal for Nintendo's wireless WaveBird controller thanks to the high performance and low power consumption features. One less likely possibility is that Gyration's technologies could be incorporated into a future wireless gaming gun that would utilize motion detection systems for a new level of interactive play.

According to the company, "Gyration intends to be the first company to produce game controllers enhanced with gyroscopic motion-sensors, which have a tenfold performance increase over accelerometer tilt sensors and add the ability to sense yaw as well as pitch. A gyro-equipped, motion-sensing controller provides a natural method of game control that draws the player into the game and makes game play more enjoyable. The motion sensor can take the place of a typical thumb pressure pad allowing one-handed game play, or can be integrated into a two-handed controller to add a dimension to game playing not possible with traditional video game controllers."

To gain further insider insight, GameCubicle contacted Gyration's Director of Marketing Communications, Marc Harris for the details of the new relationship. GameCubicle's pertinent questions prompted Harris to throw together a little Q&A on his company's relationship with Nintendo. We must note that in earlier conversation, Harris mentioned that he had made use of GameCubicle.com when preparing his initial presentation for Nintendo. Gyration demonstrated how their technologies could "enhance" such titles as Luigi's Mansion, Wave Race, and Rogue Squadron. The following was the response he provided...


GC:How much money has Nintendo invested in Gyration?

GYRATION: Nintendo has respectfully asked Gyration not to disclose financial details of the investment.

GC:What game applications benefit from a Gyration game controller?

GYRATION: The ease accuracy of moving a cursor or crosshair across a screen by pointing makes Gyration technology an excellent choice for 1st person shooters and other action games that require fast and precise targeting.

GC:Which patents did Gyration license Nintendo?

GYRATION: US application Patents 5,898,421 and 5,440,326 which deal with tracking human motion and translating it into linear movement of computer graphic images.

GC:Will the patent licensing affect the availability of Game Boy's Tilt motion feature that is currently available in Japan but not the US?

GYRATION: Not specifically, but the patents that Gyration has licensed Nintendo encompass this particular Game Boy feature in the US.

GCoes this agreement include a game pad development contract?

GYRATION: We are not at liberty to discuss this area.

GC:What differentiates Gyration technology from accelerometer technology?

GYRATION: Unlike accelerometers used by all other motion game manufactures, gyros can track the yaw axis motion that is critical for intuitive game control. Yaw axis tracking allows users to naturally point and move objects left and right much the way screen objects move on their TVS without having to tilt the game controller. Gyros also provide a superior quality of tracking performance over tilt sensors because they are very accurate rate sensors.

NOTE***: The following post is SPECULATION and EXTRAPOLATION based upon available information and industry connections. Please do not take what’s written below as FACT or GOSPEL…otherwise, you do so at your own reputational risk

Well, after reading through yesterday’s posts and seeing that a couple of you were already pretty damn warm, I figured it was time to put an end to ‘dancing the cooch’ and just give up the goods. As you’ve read in the last couple of posts, I’ve yapped with journalists and developers who are pretty confident regarding some of the Revolution’s features. I had been hearing about these bits and bobs for months, but as a diehard Nintendo fan there was nothing to really spark my passion - especially considering the Cube’s lacklustre software showing several YEARS into its life cycle. But, for the sake of the lazy multitudes, here’s a quick feature recap:

GYROSCOPIC CONTROL: Several sources have suggested that the new control scheme will SUPPORT positional shifts a la Kirby’s Tilt ‘n’ Tumble. This means that not EVERY game will require you to pull a Pisa, but that Nintendo is championing the integration of this feature into at least one of their launch games. Talking with several developers, we agreed that this could work well for navigation games and maybe some sports experiences…but it’s nothing they’d be eager to program for.

TOUCHSCREEN INTEGRATION: I’ve heard from more than one reputable source that either a DS style touchscreen or an actual proprietary PDA device with be part of the new controller. As you discussed yesterday in COMMENTS, this makes sense with Nintendo’s technology partners, the creation of the DS, and Nintendo’s push towards ‘tactile’ experiences. Not a hard thing to program for and most likely a smart move, as Microsoft and PS3 will almost assuredly support some sort of integrated screen/handheld configuration.

WIRELESS: I popped up some clues yesterday regarding what I’ve heard about their wireless plans, and can most assuredly state that the unit will ship with wireless controllers like X-Box 2. But as IGN and others have pointed out, Nintendo’s pushing hard with their wireless technology and partnerships, and my sources support that it will go well beyond mere controller connection and into the realm of some serious data transfer: touchscreen/pda and machine, player-to-player, Rev to DS, Rev to PC, and Rev to Rev (both in-home and with locally based wireless ‘tribes’).

Okay. No major revelations there, but I bet its got you thinking about future game design and interactive potential, yes? Yes…but for me, the first twinge of excitement regarding this machine didn’t come until the final pieces of the long-rumoured DISPLAY puzzle fell into place:

- the IGN boys posted this regarding a patent for Nintendo’s upcoming display technology, which I linked to a few days ago. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to glean that this conceptually portrays a form of 3D image projection.

- at a major film conference called ShoWest just last month, a panel featuring George Lucus, Robert Zemekis, James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez, and a satellite feed from Peter Jackson has studio reps, journalists, and theatre owners seriously jazzed about their plans to integrate cheap digital stereoscopic 3D (like recent IMAX features or the oldschool Captain EO experience at Epcot) into ALL major chains by 2007. Lucas even showed several minutes of the original STAR WARS with remapped visuals that popped off the screen and hovered in front of audience members. When an agent friend of mine was chatting with Rodriguez (there to pump Sin City and discuss his experiences with Spy Kids 3D), he mentioned how they were aware of a game machine beating them to the mainstream 3D market.

- the next day, I contacted another strangely influential industry pal/pundit and shared my thesis purely for fun’s sake (and perhaps some extremely lame bragging rights). The final shiny block of tetrisy knowledge slid into place when he excitedly shared the following - that the Big N had shown a real-time 3D add-on for Gamecube behind closed doors…AT LAST YEAR’S E3. It has since gone MIA. This is the sound of four rows dropping.

More details and potential software discussion to follow…for now, I’m eager to hear YOUR thoughts. How will stereoscopic 3D gaming usher in the ‘Revolution’ that Nintendo has been trumpeting? Will it end up nothing more than a Virtual Boy style gimmick, or will custom 3D glasses become the big fashion accessory of 2007 and beyond? With graphics chip codenames like Hollywoood and Broadway, does this signal Nintendo’s plans to make more cinematic games that mimic the upcoming 3D theatrical experience? If (and, from what I’m hearing, this will be a VERY big IF) Nintendo shows their hand at this year’s E3 by giving everyone at their annual press conference a pair of 3D glasses to wear, will players care?

If all or any of it is true, I'll be overly freaking satisfied. I'm diggin it.