October 26^th, 2005 (5:50pm) - This week’s issue of Famitsu magazine features an article that has a number of developers giving their opinion on the Nintendo Revolution’s recently revealed and controversial controller.

Hironobu Sakaguchi of the newly formed and promising Mistwalker game development studio said that he believes that the Revolution’s controller makes players feel as if they’re actually touching the screen. He admitted that simply toying around with the controller filled his head with ideas for gaming.

One of Square Enix’s most respective producers, Yoshinori Kitase (the man behind the numerous Final Fantasy VII spin-offs) revealed that after a long day of work he loves to just go home, sit down, pick up the TV remote and just browse the channels effortlessly. Supposedly, according to Kitase, gaming is a more demanding form of entertainment, since it requires players to use both hands, and for first-person shooters, a table, keyboard and mouse to play. He believes that the Revolution controller will allow players to play various games in more relaxed positions. Additionally, Kitase also stated that the Revolution controller not only changes the content of a game, but the lifestyles of players playing these games.

In regards to actual game development, From Software’s Atushi Taniguchi, producer of the upcoming Tenchu DS, admitted that he loves the hardware Nintendo producers and mentioned that he would like to use the analog expansion (the "nunchaku" setup), which will packaged with every Revolution controller sold, to make a first-person videogame for the platform. Additionally, Konami’s Hiroshi Tanibuchi, producer of the Power Pro Baseball series, stated that he would like to develop an action game for the platform that has players actually moving their body and using both hands to perform various actions. Tanibuchi also mentioned that he’s interested of the possibilities of a Revolution and DS connectivity.

Akhiro Hino of Level 5, and the producer of Rogue Galaxy and Dragon Quest VIII for the PS2, believes that the Revolution will give birth to new types of games. He jokingly said that he would like to create an RPG that has players holding a virtual shield in one hand, a sword in the other, and wearing a headset -- he laughed at the thought though, saying that it would be impossible. On a more serious note, Hino expressed his concerned over players possibly getting tired due to all the hand movement, regardless of the fun they may be having. He’s hoping that games will be designed that won’t tire players after lengthy periods of gaming.

Independent companies such as Q Entertainment, Gaia and Game Republic also has some good words to say about the Revolution’s controller. Testsuya Mizuguchi of Q Entertainment said that he would like to create a game that somehow combines the moving and manipulating the controller and music. Gaia’s Kouji Okada mentioned that he believes the controller will allow for a new type of RPG to be created and that he would like to try out many new challenges using the controller. Finally, Game Republic’s Yoshiki Okamoto stated that the controller will have such an incredible appeal that even those people who lack imagination will light up with wonder when the controller is in their hands. He admitted to only having a handful of ideas regarding possible gameplay possibilities, including an action RPG and a horror game "so scary that it almost makes you want to throw your controller," according to IGN’s original article.

Noritaka Funamizu of Craft & Meister, the developer of the upcoming Dragon Ball arcade fighter for Bandai, believes that that the controller will offer greater accuracy for games that are ideally controller with a keyboard and mouse. He also stated that game developer’s who have been developing for ages will be able to grasp game development on the Revolution easily, including himself (Funamizu was a former designer of the Street Fighter series).

In addition to all these developers commenting on the controller, Suda 51 confirmed that his Grasshopper Manufacturer studio is currently in development with a new and innovative game for the Revolution, as we reported earlier today.

Ever since the unveiling of the Revolution’s controller at the Tokyo Game Show this past September, the Japanese game community has embraced the new input device with open arms. This is undeniably the most positive developer support a piece of Nintendo hardware has received since the Nintendo Entertainment System and the support of the platform is looking to be strong for Nintendo’s Revolution.