Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Mega Drive or the Genesis, Nintendo was able to respond with a success-
ful new console launch in the Super Nintendo. In responding to Atari's
shortcomings, Nintendo also began to establish what would become stan-
dardized modes of play, even as they would later radically redefi ne how we
interact with games with the introduction of the Nintendo Wii.
One of the key pieces of play is the mode of interaction, the way in
which one engages the game. In sports, one of the most interesting things
about the rules of both soccer and baseball is that they are subject to non-
standard fi eld dimensions, which means that teams can attempt to tailor
their players to best fi t their home stadium. The home console era marked
by the VCS and its competitors, game consoles were designed in a similar
way, precluding the easy movement of players and porting of games from
console to console. The iconic Atari joystick was marked by a single orange
button on a black base. Other controllers, like those for Home Pong and
the ColecoVision, featured dials players spun to determine movement in
games. The Fairchild Channel F controller was oriented vertically, rather
than horizontally, and sought to work as both a joystick and a dial based
controller. The NES popularized its means by which to engage games, with
a now iconic design that paired a control pad with four buttons: A, B, Start,
and Select. In many ways, the design allowed players to do more and, as
a similar design with extra buttons appeared on the competing Sega con-
sole, movement from console to console was less striking. This alteration
to controller design changed how gamers experienced the design and play
of video games at a fundamental level. By normalizing the means by which
players interacted with the console, Nintendo reshaped the mode of play.
Their work was later expanded and redefi ned, with the Sony PlayStation
integrating molded handgrips to make the controller easier to hold. Over
time, companies added additional buttons and thumb sticks, but the roots
of contemporary controller design and layout, with control pad on the left
and buttons on the right, can be seen in the NES controller.
Nintendo sought to do more to shape interaction than simply develop an
innovative control pad. The NES also of ered R.O.B., the Robotic Operat-
ing Buddy, which enabled the player to play a couple of games designed
specifi cally for the robot. More importantly, Nintendo used R.O.B. as a
means by which to dif erentiate themselves from previous game consoles.
The robot of ered them the rhetorical space in which to contend that the
NES was more than a mere game system. Nintendo of ered cutting edge
entertainment, complete with an advanced robot that could show families
many of the wonders of technology, giving consumers a dif erent mode of
play, one that game Nintendo the room to argue they were not just another
game system.
Nintendo's desire to innovate was also expanded by the highly promoted
Power Glove. The accessory was hyped in a variety of dif erent media forms,
including the Nintendo produced feature fi lm
The Wizard
starring Fred
Savage. Shortly after seeing the fi lm I knew I needed one, but rarely have
I been so disappointed. The Power Glove was a breakthrough in of ering
