Just a few hours ago an image leaked onto the web of a supposed controller that was originally given to Alex Maier of Dual Pixels from a source simply known as Idrss2Dev. The startling thing about the peripheral photographed is that bares a striking resemblance to some visual aids from a patent that Nintendo had filed back in December of last year. There was much speculation on this patent possibly being the controller for Nintendo’s upcoming NX system.
This newly leaked image has roughly the same design as the diagrams shown in the document and appears to actually be operational, showing an image on its elliptically shaped display. This photo looks as though it was shot with a cell phone camera. According to some investigation on Destructoid’s part, there seems to be very little alterations made by an image manipulation program like Photoshop aside from the image being saved multiple times. Here is a reoriented version of the image below:
The patent detailed that the peripheral would feature two shoulder buttons and two analogue sticks that can be clicked in to register button presses. The other big aspects of the patent revealed that, other than these aforementioned button, there are no traditional face buttons. Also, the game display actually takes up the entire facial surface of the controller, which has an oblong form factor.
As far as the photo shows, this is a thing that exists. However, Nintendo has yet to officially revealed what the NX controller will look like or function. The company has not confirmed nor denied the legitimacy of this photo, but if this turns out to actually be the NX controller it is a bit troubling. There are a few reasons why this is not a great idea, With the screen supposedly existing around the analogue sticks and the screen being an elliptical shape, it would be a bit difficult to see all of the action. It is even more problematic because the display is round as opposed to being square, which only adds to the notion of limited visibility.
Another issue is the lack of tactile face buttons. Would the controller only have a total of four buttons between the shoulder bumpers and the thumb sticks? That does not seem to be conducive to the current standards of modern day gaming as far as controller input goes. Even if the screen on the controller is theoretically optional or even not ancillary to the gaming experience, the absence of face buttons is a troubling prospect. Hopefully this is, at best, only a physical prototype of a NX controller and not the finalized design. If that is the case, the hardware department at Nintendo may want to rethink some things.
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Which was showcased at E3 2003.
