Mix and match - my ideal game system

So, I've had one of the new Xbox360's for a couple of weeks now, and both the PS3 and Wii have been my toys for a couple of years now... and I've been exposed to home videogame systems of various stripes for decades, all the way back to the old Pong machines (gosh, I'm old!). I got to thinking, what should an "ideal" home videogame system look like these days?

Start with the box itself... small, quiet, and unobtrusive should be the order of the day. It seems that most game manufacturers get that right on the second major physical revision of their systems (the exception being Nintendo, who got it right the first time). Since optical drives are still the method of choice for physical game sales, slot-fed drives are the way to go, in support of the pursuit of quiet (it surprised me how much noise the drive on the new Xbox360 made... then heard that the old one was even louder). An internal hard drive is almost a must... and best good would be to be able to install games from disc onto the hard drive, to minimize noise from and wear on the optical drive (my Wii drive makes odd noises on occasion now, and I dread the day that happens on my PS3, since it's my Blu-Ray player). Wireless networking for multiplayer gaming is now standard, thankfully, so stick with that. Finally, since we're talking about an ideal, build a high-efficiency power supply into the box itself, use a standard power cord to supply AC (your standard PC power cable would do nicely), and vent waste heat to either the front or rear of the box, where you can expect a cabinet-installed box to either have open access for cables or the optical drive and power switch.

Controllers are a trickier matter... if you go by sales figures, the masses like the simplicity and full-body-motion use of the Wii's primary controllers, while "dedicated gamers" still prefer the standard handheld controller style. To add to the confusion, Microsoft is ramping up to push their Kinect system, eliminating the hand-held controller entirely, and there are a slew of game-specific controllers out there for things like Guitar Hero. Since Kinect is still an unproven concept, I'm going to work on the theory that an ideal system would still need a "standard" controller, and try to get the best of all worlds while I'm at it. That said, here's a breakdown of what I think an ideal controller should be:

• No Wires - one of the few hardware design pieces on the PS3 that always made me question the designer was needing a USB cable to connect a controller to the PS3 for charging... and charging only works when the console is turned on. Contrast that with the Xbox360 or Wii controllers, which both never need to touch their console to work properly. Of course, the Wii doesn't get a free pass on this one either... that cable between the Wiimote and Nunchuck was a necessary design evil at the time, I'm sure, but there has to be a better way.
• Motion Sensing - I recall, a few years back, letting my brother (who has owned an Xbox360 for years) know that the controller on the PS3 was motion sensitive, which blew his mind a bit. Even without the on-screen-cursor fun of the Wii, motion sensitivity can add greatly to a game, or even be the heart of a good game (Flower for PS3 springs to mind).
• Rumble - physical feedback, even as crude as controller rumble can be, generally helps with game immersion. Even on the Wii, I can't help but think how much better a sword-fighting game would be if you got that little physical nudge when you crossed swords with your opponent.

With that in mind, here's what I think would be about an ideal standard controller. Start with your basic PS3/Xbox360 style handheld controller, use the PS3-style analog stick layout (the Xbox offset version was just a patent dodge, if I recall correctly, not an ergonomic decision), but use the Xbox-style sticks, plus the Xbox-style bumper/trigger controls. Then, for your Wii-style pointing-and-flailing games... I don't know if you would do this with a physical or magnetic lock, but set up the controller with a twist-lock down the center of the controller, letting you separate it into two roughly chicken-drumstick-shaped parts that still work in tandem, much like the Wiimote and Nunchuck on the Wii. I know there's some serious ergonomic work to be done to make such a multifunction controller comfortable to use in both configurations, but it would start to rein in the Wii's problem of too many controllers, especially when it comes to things like their "classic" controller, which plugs into the Wiimote, and initially came with only the bumper buttons, until they released a version with triggers for a specific game within the past year. Oh, and I'm not even sure if it's possible, from a gameplay-feel perspective, but it could be pretty cool to make those analog sticks into "paddle" controllers as well... there are a fair number of games from the past that analog sticks, as they are now, simply don't handle well... and, if the controller supported that feature, there could easily be some new games to take advantage of the control option.

Well, there's my ideal game system. Note that I didn't get into certain details, like graphics power or how it connects to your TV, because that all tends to be "what's the best we can justify cramming in, price-wise, at the start of the console's life-cycle". Of course, there's at least one service starting up now that's aiming to replace the home game console entirely, so we may not even get the box in years to come. It'll be fun to see what comes along next.