By now you’ve surely read the countless stories citing “reliable sources” that the Wii’s successor will have a 6.2 inch touch screen on its controller. Those murmurs combined with Nintendo’s penchant for touch screen handhelds and motion-sensing control units might lead one to believe that the hardware manufacturer is transitioning away from actual buttons. Not so, says Nintendo Company Ltd President Satoru Iwata.
In a recent financial briefing, Iwata-san stated that “we have never abandoned the + Control Pad and buttons for our game systems because we think these functions are advantageous when creating highly reactive games.” He then added that he does “not think Nintendo hardware will take on any of the current tablet forms as they are without buttons, to make our game devices.” Mr. Iwata added that he believes that full touch screen tablets are useful for many functions other than gaming, and that the market for them will continue expanding.
So there you have it Nintendo fans; The Big N has no intention of making a console controlled by a scaled back iPAD-type device. Although MTB had previously reported that Cafè’s controller would feature eight buttons and two analogue sticks, it’s most reassuring to get an official confirmation of the inclusion of classic-style buttons.
[Source: Nintendo]
[Image courtesy of Free Webs.]
