Matt responds: I'm going to dig deep into my vocabulary and pull out two words to describe that scenario: nifty and rad. You were probably searching for these same words, but I get $6.35 an hour to come up with this stuff and so it's only natural that it flows directly out of me like blood from an open wound. But back to the original point, which is that Nintendo has already hinted that we do not yet know everything about Revolution so there's always the possibility that Miyamoto is working on a super happy tree fruit to be packaged with the unit. But frankly, I don't think said mystery element will be the ability to spray rooms with 3D gaming goodness. The console was demonstrated to us on regular old televisions and everything we know about it -- from specs to comments from Nintendo executives -- indicates that it has been designed to work with all kinds of TVs. I'm not going to come right out and dismiss such a notion -- Miyamoto has in the past said he would like to create a "flying machine," so anything is possible -- but it might be something to think about post-Revolution.

(p.s. The Gamecube Analog stick has never hurt my thumb. It was a BIG improvement over the N64 stick, so I don't know where he was going with that criticism either. I think he just has it in for Nintendo.)

What did you think about his rants?

Louie55

Matt responds: Since I received about 1.2 million e-mails on this subject, I figured it'd be a smart move to address in today's mailbag. I'm actually surprised so many people downloaded that thing. A couple of preemptive strikes for people who watched it or are planning to do so: first, I was severely hung over that morning and struggling not to collapse -- I'm not proud of the fact, but there it is. Second, you can download the entire video if you're an IGN Insider and you'll get roughly 40 more minutes of back and forth between Mark and the rest of the panel members, including myself. I was slightly disappointed to see some of my comments cut from our all-access video because I called him a graphics whore, a label traditionally reserved for myself, so that was a bit ironic.

Clearly Mark pissed off quite a few Nintendo fans with his comments on the IGN Live panel. I don't think he was expecting so many diehard Nintendo fans in the audience, either. For some odd reason, IGN's got a pretty big Nintendo fanbase. But I digress.

My opinion of Mark hasn't changed and I can understand where he's coming from. He's a smart guy who has clearly done well for himself and he's got some great games to back up his outspoken opinions. Do I agree with everything he said? Not by a long shot, no. My biggest beef with his beliefs wasn't his claim that better graphics will be the big innovation of next-generation games and that this improvement should be enough. I think he more or less said what so many of us are thinking, but are either unwilling or afraid to admit. I mean, the promise of high-definition clarity and improved visuals are easily the biggest factors determining my excitement for the arrival of Xbox 360. I haven't seen a single 360 game that has me excited for other reasons, including Gears of War, and I'm not entirely sure this is something that Mark should be celebrating.

My only beef with Mark's comments is his dismissal of the Revolution controller as anything other than a gimmick, and on top of that his acceptance of the 360/PS3 pads, which have made virtually no innovations, as adequate. Actually, he loves the 360 controller. And you know, as far as conventional pads go, it's fantastic. However -- and call this an epiphany if you want -- the potential of the Revolution controller has really opened my eyes to just how archaic today's traditional pads are. Think about it. Even the best dual-analog control setup in a console FPS is a poor substitute for a keyboard and mouse. I would think that he of all people would be embracing a controller that has the potential to duplicate or possibly even improve upon the keyboard and mouse configuration. But instead, he's hung up on graphics to the point where everything surrounding them has become secondary, and I just don't share that view. However, given that Gears of War remains one of the most widely anticipated games, based on IGN traffic results, there are apparently quite a few gamers who are just fine with Epic's direction.

So many Nintendo fans took issue with Mark's comment that Revolution will get a lot of gimmicky games. And you know, this is actually a statement that I agree with. I think some developers are going to fart out quick, thoughtless games that make use of the controller in a fundamentally retarded manner, and that's just an unavoidable drawback to the device. On the other hand, though, I think Revolution will also see some truly pioneering games. And most importantly, if Nintendo really delivers on the controller's potential, the device may by comparison make playing traditional games on 360 and PS3 feel downright archaic. That, to me, would be the ultimate irony: 360 and PS3 software with cutting edge graphics and fundamentally dated and limited controls, at least when shown next to Revolution.

P.S. I want you all to have this important image. I made it in under three seconds.

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