Video game-maker Nintendo has broken with more than 20 years of tradition by abandoning the two-handed controller option in favour of a funky, one-handed unit.
The slimline controller will be central to the company’s upcoming console system, code-named Revolution.
While most controllers require two hands and have an array of buttons, the new Nintendo controller looks almost barren but doesn’t lack punch with all the normal gaming movement options and the ability to be swung like a sword or golf club.
The controller was the star of last week’s three-day Tokyo Game Show, where Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft were trying to drum up interest in their new consoles.
The three are competing for dominance as they scramble to roll out a new generation of consoles.
Nintendo has long been recognised as a pioneer in the gaming industry with earlier innovations — such as controller shoulder buttons and triggers — quickly copied by its competitors.
The new Nintendo controller has 3D pointing with sensors that understand up, down, left, right, forward and backward, is tilt-sensitive, has an expansion port that can be used with different types of controller peripherals, is totally wire-free and has built-in rumble.
The Revolution console is the successor to GameCube, which will compete directly with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3.