Nintendo Patents Controller With Two Shoulder Scroll Wheels - News

by William D'Angelo , posted on 18 September 2015 / 6,098 Views

Nintendo has patented a new controller that looks similar to the Wii U's GamePad, however instead of shoulder buttons it has two scroll wheels.

It also features a touchscreen, two thumbsticks, a d-pad, and only two face buttons compared to the Wii U's four.

The new scroll wheels are meant to be used with the index fingers when held horizontally, or with one thumb if held vertically.

The patented device is described as both a handheld and a controller in the patent.

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A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials.You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

39 Comments

Roronaa_chan (on 18 September 2015)

More horrible gimmicks?

bowserthedog Roronaa_chan (on 18 September 2015)

Last time I checked Nintendo hasn't been making horrible gimmicks. Ever played Pikmin3 with wii remote and nunchuck and compared with a classic gamepad? Again the Wiiu is not a gimmick either. I've got my gripes with it but the main premise of being able to play games while the TV is being occupied is pretty sweet and not a gimmick at all.

In terms of having scroll ability on the shoulder pads I can think of several good uses for it. Not the least of which is scrolling webpages. Scrolling through launchable apps in the dashboard. And I'm sure there will be in game implementations as well. In fire emblem you could scroll through your team of characters with the left wheel and enemies through the right wheel. Anyways.. I haven't put much thought into it yet but immediately it seems like something that would have benefits and thus not a gimmick.

-5

bowserthedog Roronaa_chan (on 18 September 2015)

-5

Dr.Henry_Killinger (on 18 September 2015)

Shoulder scroll wheels sounds like a terrible idea. Moving your fingers like that would loosen your grip on the pad and shift all of your other fingers out of place

Octane (on 18 September 2015)

Read the patent, they only patented the rotary shoulder buttons, the pictures provided with the patent are just examples, this is not a final product. Nevertheless, patents don't mean a lot, companies file them all the time.

DevilRising Octane (on 18 September 2015)

Rolling shoulder buttons still sound like an awful concept. No thank you.

Kotastic (on 18 September 2015)

Oh come on guys, this seriously can't be the final product. Like, only two face buttons? I don't think so.

KingdomHeartsFan (on 18 September 2015)

Lol scrolling shoulder buttons sounds like such a stupid idea.

Dr.Henry_Killinger (on 18 September 2015)

Shoulder scroll wheels sounds like a terrible idea. Moving your fingers like that would loosen your grip on the pad and shift all of your other fingers out of place

Mnementh (on 19 September 2015)

Could be useful in some applications and mouse-scrollwheels are usually clickable, if these are too, then it should be possible to use it in the classic way with no problem.