Email: just wondering

Today I’ve seen lots of comments on gaming sites saying that Nintendo
has made a home console out of the DS. Of course they are not saying
this in a positive way.

But I think that wouldn’t have been a horrible idea, had they actually
done it.

You know, if you take the new controller out of it, the Wii U has the
potential to be a great console. If the Wii didn’t have everything
developers needed to make great games (motion control wasn’t so hot
before motionplus, and playing it on an HDTV kinda sucks), the Wii U
certainly does. Maintaining backwards compatibility with the Wii
controls is a great move in my opinion.

And then if you take the idea of a controller with a screen in it, on
paper that doesn’t sound so horrible either.

But when you actually see the controller they came up with … there is
no possible logical conclusion you can come to, other than that Nintendo
is batshit insane.

So here’s what I’m wondering: why not put the lower DS screen in the
controller? Give me one solid reason why that ridiculous hoss of a
touchscreen is a better choice than using what the DS has. Because I can
think of several reasons why it’s not. Using the same screen as the DS,

– the cost of the controller would be at a minimum, because Nintendo is
already making them by the million, they work the exact same way, and
they’re smaller. Even then I don’t see them being less than $60 or so
apiece (unfathomable for a controller)
– they wouldn’t be able to tout the stupid ‘play without a TV’ feature,
which as others have pointed out, is an insult to the console and to the
TV I spent a bundle on.
– you could still do all of the potentially cool things the large screen
can do.
– the controller could actually be a reasonable size. You know, like a
DS with handles.

Sorry, dear Malstrom, I can’t write anymore. That last point makes me
unable to make any sense of what Nintendo is trying to do. What I can’t
get past is … just how is someone supposed to press start or select on
that stupid thing? How can you pause a game while you are playing it,
without setting the whole thing down?

Has no one else noticed this??? Has there ever been a more obvious
gigantic blunder in controller design???

Nintendo is phoning it in. This use of a Wii reject is just a stopgap to do what Nintendo REALLY wants: home console with 3d output! Remember, Iwata has already announced this will be the Nintendo Ninth Generation Console (this is not a joke. Iwata has announced this).