Nintendo Files Patent for Touchscreen Video Game Controller

Nintendo has a filed a patent for a new touchscreen video game controller. This isn’t just an ordinary controller with a touchscreen display, however. Instead, it features NO physical buttons, utilizing the entire touchscreen surface as the primary method of input.

As you can see in the image patent to the right, Nintendo’s new gamepad features a touchscreen over the entire front panel. Being that there are no buttons, joysticks, triggers or direction pads, the operator would input commands via the touchscreen display. Of course, there are several benefits of using a touchscreen gamepad, including greater customization of button placement. If you prefer the controller to be set up with different buttons in different areas, you could possibly move them around. Furthermore, this would eliminate problems associated with traditional gmepads, such as broken and/or malfunctioning buttons.

But there are some potential disadvantages associated with a full-touchscreen gamepad. For starters, there’s the issue of knowing where the buttons are located. With traditional gamepad controllers, you can feel the buttons, which is particularly beneficial since the average gamer’s eyes are focused on the TV. We can only speculate that it would be difficult for a person to know where the buttons are located on a touchscreen gamepad since you can only see and not feel them. Perhaps Nintendo is working on a solution to this problem, such as haptics feedback.

There’s been rumor of Nintendo working on a new video game console, dubbed the NX. While details remain unknown at this time, this recent patent filing could hint at what’s to come. As noted by the folks at Wired, this new touchscreen gamepad could be used in conjunction with the Nintendo NX, allowing the company to develop games for both mobile devices and the living room simultaneously. Whether or not this is true, however, remains to be seen.

“The gamepad would appear to function as a large 3DS-style machine, in which the whole case is the screen. Theoretically this could match rumours that the new Nintendo machine would allow the company to develop games for mobile and living room use at the same time, rather than having to make separate games for each,” explained Wired.

What do you think of Nintendo’s newly patented touchscreen gamepad?