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Geek Culture / New Handheld Console

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Oakley Design
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 22:18 Edited at: 26th Sep 2007 12:35
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Hey. I am currently doing an A level in Product Design, and I am designing a new handheld game console.

I have tried various different designs and have narrowed it down to this one design which I shall develop further.

I designed it in Fireworks 8 and was quite suprised at the result

Let me give you the rundown of it:

-The 'Nintendo Touch' utilizes touch sensitivity to control it rather than traditional d-pad, analogue stick and A B X Y buttons.

-The left pad replaces the analogue stick or d-pad, and the right pad replaces the A B X Y buttons.

-There are two shoulder buttons on the rear which aren't visible in this picture

-The idea is to create a design which is as simplistic and 'clean' as possible.

-Incase you cannot tell, it is a clamshell design like the
Nintendo DS.

-It will be pocket sized but the pads will be more than large enough for the users thumbs due to the screen being on the top half.

So there you have it in a nutshell. I would appreciate any comments you have whether its good or bad (but please be constructive)
Thanks ppl.


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tha_rami
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 22:20
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I love the touchpad analog controller, but I'd do normal buttons or zones with some sort of boundaries for A/B/X/Y. Looks innovative and a clean idea.


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Deathead
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 22:23
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For a second then I thought that was going to be made. Well actually it could That is one awesome design man.

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 22:24
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The speakers need a little thought. Your thumbs will cover them up and they may take up valuable motherboard space. Either one on the back of the lid or between the touchpads would maybe work a little better.


Since the other one was scaring you guys so much...
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Deathead
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 22:25
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I agree with nex they should be on the top of the bottom thingy.

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Oakley Design
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 22:26 Edited at: 25th Sep 2007 22:28
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Yeh maybe you're right. My reasoning behind the right pad was that you would not be confined to just four buttons. Developers would be able to add fine tuned controls. For example, imagine a fighting game where instead of using A for jump, B for punch etc. you could do a circular sweeping motion to do a spin kick, or thrust upwards to do an uppercut, and the shoulder buttons could be used to diffrentiate between kicks and punches. You get what I mean?

I could add some embossed letters or something onto the right pad to show where the four key points are.

Thanks.

EDIT: I thought about the speakers quite a bit. I got stuck between putting them on the bottom but with risk of them being covered by hands, and on the top which would mean reducing the screen size.


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Oolite
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 22:35 Edited at: 25th Sep 2007 22:37
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It doesn't look particularly comfortable, maybe make up a menu screen rather than a screenshot of skate.

Maybe it would make more sense to have the speakers next to the screen you are watching, but that would get rid of the nice size of the screen, which i like, but the sound might be masked by the hands that would be covering it.

Maybe have a skin over the touch pads that shows where you need to press for each button, thats the one feature i'm unsure about, i can imagine it being really awkward to use and it would make button bashing super easy in fighting games, It might also make using the start buttons and the shoulder buttons feel out of place.


I also imagine this would look sweet in red. [RGB(204,0,0)]

EDIT: i shouldn't take so long to post.

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 22:40
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What about speakers just below the hinge? The stereo would not be affected, the screen could be preserved and your thumbs wouldn't cover them up. As for the right touch pad, some backlit A,B,X and Y icons would be cool that the developers can turn on and off depending upon whether they are appropiate or not. I'd spray a white "X" onto each one though, to divide the touchpads into up, down, left and right.


Since the other one was scaring you guys so much...
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Oakley Design
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 22:43
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Yeh, my whole touch pad idea is based mostly on the game Skate for the Xbox 360. You dont actually have to use the A B X Y buttons at all I believe, just the sticks and shoulder buttons.

Based on some basic tests I have done at home and at school, the console works quite well ergonomically, in other words it handles well and the touch pads are a breeze to use.

Some people suggested putting the speakers above the pads, but that would mean lowering the pads which would make it awkward to handle.


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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 23:05
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What about low power speakers under the pads? Just for feedback purposes. For instance, if you hit the deck hard in Skate, both pads jolt upwards. While grinding, they rumble. How awesome would that be?


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Benji
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 23:07
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How would you have a multiplayer local game?

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 23:09
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You'd use another console and connect over ad-hoc wi-fi.


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JerBil
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Posted: 25th Sep 2007 23:19
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Imo, the touch pads would look better if they were a little smaller, and the speakers could be moved above them.

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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 11:21
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My quick 5 cents:

The speakers have to be white and moved to where they are not covered by the hands.

Posting about this in a public forum means you can't get a patent for the idea.

You need more then a start button. Also design in buttons to control volume and brightness.

Add media buttons on the side that doesn't require the opening of the clam so it can be used as an MP3 player.

It's an interesting idea!

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Oakley Design
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 12:13 Edited at: 26th Sep 2007 12:37
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I forgot to add it into the picture, but there are extra buttons along the sides for volume and brightness, a USB port on the back for use with a computer, a headphone port for...well, using headphones and of course an on/off button but I have not decided where to put that yet.

Quote: "
Posting about this in a public forum means you can't get a patent for the idea."


What!? That's not fair. How are you supposed to get people to evaluate and give suggestions if you cannot share it with the public? What else does that apply to? Say if I made a prototype and I needed people to test it, would that mean giving up rights to a patent? Also, is that a US or UK law or both?

Im not happy

EDIT: I have googled that and I am not so sure. It seems you still can as long as you register it to retain the rights to the design.


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Oakley Design
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 12:18 Edited at: 26th Sep 2007 12:34
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OK here is a modified design. What do you think of this?
The speaker is underneath the screen. I got the idea from our TV. The speaker literally just a thin strip barely visible along the bottom of the screen and sound quailty is great.

Plus I have taken the idea of putting markings on the pads for two reasons:

1.If this were a Nintendo product, it should resemble previous products such as the DS.
2.It makes it clearer for the player to see where the keys points are on the pad.


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Jess T
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 12:47
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If you open up your TV, you'll notice that the speakers aren't actually thin strips, but they'll be two oval-shaped speakers.

I don't think it's possible to have speakers as small as you want and still have any kind of volume or sound quality.

As for patenting, if you can prove you came up with it, and are first to the patent office, it's yours.

You keep saying it's a Nintendo product (or, you're hoping it would be), which is kind of silly since it's a step backwards from a full-on touchscreen as well the d-pad, etc...

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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 17:35
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A patent is not about how it looks, it's how it works. A hand held console with 2 touch pads capable of simulating both digital buttons and analogue pads might be something that one could get a patent for (and you want a world patent for something like this, not a US one). But you can't patent something that is already commonly known. That's why inventors are very secretive about their ideas and only shares it with people they trust. Best thing would be to build your own prototype and patent the technical solution as well as the overall idea.

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Duplex
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 18:05
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Nice I like.

I would have done something close to a Wii. Except Handheld, now that would be cool.

A little on your design, You could put the speakers inbetween the touchpads? Or Maybe like what you have done now, but put another speaker above the screen?



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DrewG
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 18:06
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What games can this console play? Or just first party games you make. Or is this just a design?
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Oakley Design
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 18:17
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Im not actually making a working model, just the design.


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Oolite
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 18:22
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@Duplex: How would i view what i'm doing if i'm waving my screen around frantically.

There is already a motion thingy for the DS, i believe JessT owns it.

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Jess T
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 18:49
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Quote: "There is already a motion thingy for the DS, i believe JessT owns it."


Haha, there's not just one... You can get one too!
http://www.ndsmotion.com


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Samoz83
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 19:25
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how big is it ment to be like the screen

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Oolite
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 19:41
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Damnit, I nearly had them convinced then.

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Oakley Design
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 19:44 Edited at: 26th Sep 2007 19:44
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not exactly sure yet cos I haven't begun testing yet. I need to test people with different sized hands etc to find the best average size, but I am guessing the console will be around the same size as a DS, and the screen occupies most of the top half so you can get a pretty good guess from that.


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Oolite
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 19:48
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Quote: "but I am guessing the console will be around the same size as a DS,"

Phat or lite?

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Oakley Design
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 20:19
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lite


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Oolite
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 20:28
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Sure the touchpads won't then be too small?

Dimensions would be nice for further crit.

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Samoz83
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 20:35
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i don't like the size of the start button i just think it looks strange maybe you could split it with a select

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Oakley Design
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Posted: 26th Sep 2007 20:42
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Well thats why I have bottom half allocated to the pads, they can be as big as needed and still keep a small console overall.


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Jess T
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Posted: 27th Sep 2007 06:19
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Ewww, the DSLite is too small.
Being 6'3", I have pretty big hands, and that thing is just too tiny. My DSPhat is much better suited, but even that's too small still! Oh well

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