The controller itself consists of a D-pad and the omnipotent A button. You get the feeling that A will be important, kind of like the “Do” or “Win” button but perhaps a bit more creative in its implementation. There’s also a giant B button where one would consider it a trigger and two other A and B buttons on the bottom half.



But didn’t Nintendo promise backward compatibility through downloadable content, how would we play all the old games with this new contraption? Interestingly enough, you just turn the thing sideways and bam— you got the old controller configuration back, albeit it’s not the same, but it works well enough.

So how will consumers react to the new technology when we’ve been trained to one basic idea our whole lives? Time will tell. Nintendo could wrap a dirty diaper up with the Nintendo seal and the hardcore people will buy it. Those people are in the bag. The casual people will be a bit more of a challenge. The Revolution will rely on innovation and new ways to experience games and honestly, the casual people probably won’t care.