Well, the rumors were true. The above image of the 3DS right circle pad attachment from the latest Famitsu has made its way onto the net. The peripheral is only confirmed for Japan as of this time and is specifically designed to function with Monster Hunter Tri G. Interestingly, the device also adds three additional shoulder buttons to the 3DS.
Hopefully this baby makes it over to our neck of the woods at some point, because the 3DS is woefully under-equipped for playing shooter and other action-intensive 3D – old 3D gaming definition, that is – titles. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries would have been a mildly entertaining spin-off if not for the atrocious controls that were largely the result of only having one analog pad on the system. Similar complaints are already popping up in regards to Resident Evil: Revelations and there should be no doubt whatsoever that the Metal Gear Solid 3 port will suffer a similar fate.
Nintendo was foolish to release a system, even a handheld one, in 2011 without two analog sticks – or pads, if they insist. The sad part is that every gamer on the planet knew that it was an inexcusably terrible oversight the moment the device was first unveiled. Somehow, though, Nintendo missed that point.
Actually, saying they missed it is not entirely accurate. They have surely heard the complaints that have rattled the web every day since the 3DS was revealed. Rather, they purposely chose to emit this most basic of features that gamers have come to take for granted. The reasoning is simple: they are so proud of their touch screen that they want the public to think it has made right analog sticks irrelevant. It has not done so, nor will it ever.
Touch screens are great for a number of reasons – controlling Link’s hookshot and boomerang with one works fabulously on the DS – but it is downright atrocious for other applications. No one in their right mind wants to use it to make Link move around the screen, swipe his sword and perform other basic maneuvers. And while plenty of Nintendo fans will tell you that they “made it work” with games such as Metroid Hunters, touchscreen camera control is a surefire way to scuttle a first or third person shooter.
So here we are, stuck hoping against hope that this monstrosity of a peripheral makes it way stateside. And then, on top of that, we have to hope that developers actually take advantage of the thing. Because as unwieldy as it looks, there is no doubt in my mind that it will smooth over the touchscreen conundrum.
A true solution would be for Nintendo to release an updated version of the platform with two pads built right into the damn thing. They will inevitably release several slicker 3DS models, but will any of them have a built-in right pad? Splitting up the audience in such a manner has always been something that the publisher has been staunchly against. It usually made sense too, but in this case they are crazy not to grant us this minuscule “luxury.” If they don’t, there are another seven years of playing pretzel-fingers in our futures. That is something that I simply cannot abide, and neither should you.
[Source: South1996]
[Image via South 1996.]
