Can Nintendo’s NX Controller Compete With Other Options

A new patent that had been filed by Nintendo, supposedly, claims the renowned video game company is working on a touchscreen game controller. This is said to be the Nintendo NX controller. The company previously tried touch-screen controls, and it worked in some cases, but in others it was a pure mess and not really worth the time. While the Wii U is still releasing new content, people tend to use a separate controller when they play.

Looking at today’s video game market, we already have so many options for great controllers, like the DualShock 4, the Xbox One controller, and the newly released Steam Controller. These are all great options. They feel wonderful in your hands, they control fluidly, and can be used on various systems, not just one. Sadly, Nintendo does not have a history of allowing such a feat.

While a touchscreen built directly into a handheld controller would be great, we cannot help but wonder if it would stand in the way. Most players aren’t looking at their controller while they play their favorite games; they just swipe their hands and fingers across the buttons they require. With an added touchscreen included, we have to stop and wonder whether people will be activating said touchscreen by accident, screwing up their gameplay and ending up with a “Game Over” screen once or twice per session.

One good thing could come from the touchscreen, though, and that could be in alignment with what Sony did between the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. Playing your console games on a mobile system is a great idea, though it only works in short distances. We could see Nintendo trying to adapt that same feature, albeit with just their controller as the handheld console needed. Of course, the quality would suffer, and your eyes would strain trying to see everything.

Honestly, with each new release from Nintendo, they appear to lose fans and consumers. Their consoles are simply gimmicks these days, with slightly better technology to run the same types of games that were previously released on old console iterations. How many times have we seen Zelda or Mario tweaked and re-released to the world?

Nintendo has to make some changes. Their original target audiences are growing older, so their video game preferences are always changing. That’s not to say they don’t have their dedicated fans. Pokemon remains one of the most impressive, awe-inspiring franchises of all time. But Nintendo cannot rely solely on their top few franchises to keep them floating in today’s market. People want variety.

Of course, Nintendo has not officially commented on the controller patent. We can only speculate for now.