Originally Posted by Latch

What made me cream (no not literally) was that they (apparently) plan on offering (for free?) a lot of the old NES/SNES games. If that comes true, I'll be in nostalgia heaven.

Originally Posted by exizldelfuego

And now, for better or worst, the technical ability of this new generation is so far out there that I wonder just how game makers are going to utilize it. Honestly, I don't think we've really yet managed to harness the technical ability of this outgoing generation.

Originally Posted by hulk

Hell, 2-3 times better than RE4? SOLD!

Originally Posted by LoganSnake

PS3 and 360 are about 10 times more powerful than that...

Originally Posted by stevie667

Everyone will tell you, it's not about how much power you have, it's how you use it :thumbsup:

Originally Posted by Slayer

I'm still waiting for the Revolutionary part.

Originally Posted by jonjon42

Gameplay should always come first. Nintendo is usually a safe bet on this,

Originally Posted by jonjon42

Blar, they already have, go play Eternal Darkness or RE4 and report back. I would also like to argue that adult gamers do not necessarly want blood and gore in every game they play. I think they should be/are looking for something fun, even if it means crazy things like Pikman, Animal Crossing, or Super Smash Bros.

That being said, I think Nintendo saying that their next system being only 2-3 times faster is being brutally honest. I don't buy Microsoft's and Sony's stats. I think to an extent they are pulled out of the ass. I think it's all a marketing ploy that both companies have pulled before. Personally I will wait until they show the goods. I want to see a functional game on each system. Then I want to see how fun it is. The graphics should always be secondary in my mind. Gameplay should always come first. Nintendo is usually a safe bet on this, but I find alot of fun games on the PS2 too.

Originally Posted by Fremen

Don't know if this is real, but I like the green one, myself.

http://usera.imagecave.com/Fremen/_a...revolution.jpg

Originally Posted by akito

The green one is nice, I think i'd prefer the red one though honestly. Just because it'd stick out like a sore thumb with my home decor. :thumbsup:

Originally Posted by Fremen

Eh, it doesn't matter anyway. :) I just read that these were prototype colors and will be different in the final version.
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata also said the Revolution will be even smaller than the model that's been shown at E3 by the time it's ready to sell.

Originally Posted by stevie667

Do we have a price range yet?

Originally Posted by LoganSnake

http://www.pocketpclouisville.com/images/dr_evil.jpg
100 BILLION DOLLARS!

I heard it would be around $250-300. But it could be less...

Originally Posted by stevie667

I just realised something about the nintendo backwards compatability...

PERFECT DARK! GOLDENEYE! PERFECT DARK! GOLDENEYE! PERFECT DARK! GOLDENEYE! :D :D

Originally Posted by George Harrison and Gamespot

GS: So let's start off. You guys obviously have the advantage of being last. You've seen what the other guys have got, you've seen Sony's next-gen console and Microsoft's. So how do you think the Revolution is going to stack up to those?

GH: Oh, Revolution I think will have really no problem standing up to them. Sony spent so much time focused on technical specs, it's like they threw in the kitchen sink trying to compete with Microsoft. So for us, we're going to have plenty of power and plenty of capability in the Revolution, but the real thinking and the real value come in the creative game development, and that for us is what's really going to separate the three consoles.

GS: They are putting a lot of emphasis on power. But USA Today said that the Revolution is only going to be two or three times more powerful than the GameCube. Can you give me those details?

GH: Yeah, well we haven't released any of the technical specs. We're working with IBM and ATI, so certainly all the capability that we need is there right in our development partners. We try to figure out how to strike a balance between giving the developers everything that they need to make great games, and not having it be so much that they have to spend inordinate amounts of money. In the end it has to be a business. Publishers have to be able to create the game and sell it effectively, and be able to then support the next game.

GS: So do you think that's really going to ramp up more third-party support for Revolution? The fact that it's going to be easier to make games for than the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3?

GH: Well, we hope it will and, in fact, it's really important to us. There's some games that we do extremely well, our game franchises obviously, but there are others that we don't do. I think if we look at the GameCube and say, "OK, what's one of the things we missed in this generation?" Well, we really didn't have the Grand Turismos or the Grand Theft Autos, so those are the things that the publishers with their particular expertise can really fill in the gaps on, and that's important to us.

GS: So do you think that's Revolution's most compelling aspect from a development perspective--will it be just the cost-effectiveness or the ease of it?

GH: Well, I think those two things go hand in hand. Ease of development reflects on how many people it takes and how much time it takes those people to make the game, but [it's important to] make the point that not every game has to be an epic, photo-realistic game--there are many games that can be entertaining, enjoyable, and a great value to consumers that aren't pushing against photo-realistic graphics.

GS: Speaking of photo-realism and such, traditionally you guys have said that basically game consoles should be for games, and now you've added DVD functionality to it. What was the prime motivator behind that?

GH: I think at this point that's a fairly low cost add-on for the DVD player, but we're certainly not trying to turn into a multimedia center the way that our competitors are. They have different corporate motivations and we look at that and think that that's fine for them, but it really is not the heart of what we do. The heart of what we do is try to bring great games to people who own and play their console intensely for maybe three to four years, and as a result are looking to upgrade every three to four years.

GS: How are you planning on a transition between formats from GameCube to the Revolution? Are you going to phase out the GameCube over time? Are you going to make dual versions of it?

GH: Typically one console will sell for a year and a half maybe after the next one is introduced, and I think that will be fine. In this case, the Revolution is backwardly compatible right out of the box. You can just put your GameCube disc right into the slot. So we'll have to just watch the transition there and see what the consumer interest is.

GS: You guys haven't decided any price point at all so far, right?

GH: No, we haven't, and we're really in a good position in that we don't have to declare ourselves first. Microsoft is going to launch this fall. They'll probably have to tell people where they are by, we think, August. That will give us a good chance to understand what they think they can sell it for and also to estimate how much money they're going to lose on their box.

GS: Now, what exactly is so revolutionary about the Revolution? Is this still kind of a state secret at Nintendo?

GH: That will be a number of things. I mean, certainly the virtual console concept we describe with the ability to download the past Nintendo games is going to make it very unique. Not that someone else couldn't add that function, but they certainly can't add that kind of library and that kind of archive.

GS: Do you plan on having like a per-download pricing model along the lines of the microtransactions that will be used in the next-gen Xbox marketplace?

GH: Well, we can use it in a variety of ways. We've used some of the older games already as little bonuses, either as bonus gifts or hidden in levels of games. Certainly for the first-party titles we'll be making some of those available. We haven't really talked about whether we would sell them. The third parties can make their own decision whether they want to sell them, or maybe they will add it on as sort of a free benefit when you buy a current version of the game.

GS: To continue with what's so revolutionary about the Revolution...

GH: Well, I think certainly being wireless out of the box is revolutionary. People sort of picked on us for not jumping in prematurely into online or Internet gaming, but we just looked at it, the way it was evolving, and just felt that it was not time to jump in. But certainly with the next console it would be, with a couple of important changes like eliminating the access fee so there's not really a monthly subscription, and making use of first-party games, downloadable for free. That to us will be really revolutionary. Right now the estimates are anywhere between six and maybe 10 or 12 percent of console owners are playing online. You know, if you really have people embrace it and enjoy it, we think that should be well over 50 percent. I think I heard Nintendo president Mr. Satoru Iwata, and Nintendo vice president of sales and marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime, say this morning as much as 90 percent is the goal for DS online, which is a great goal, rather than keeping it a niche aspect of gaming, to make it a broad-based application.

GS: So do you have any plans on maybe making just one standard for an online service or is it going to be two-tiered like they're doing with Xbox Live?

GH: Right now we're not looking to have a two-tiered service. So for first-party games it would be free, and for third party, I think they just have to determine it for their own game. Not any kind of general access fee again, but for their own game, it's fine if they want to charge them that kind of a price for that.

GS: OK, let's move onto the Game Boy Micro. Now what was the primary thinking behind that?

GH: We think about new ideas for Game Boy all the time. Whereas the consoles are typically a five or six year lifecycle and we finish one and start up the next one, Game Boy is a continuous process of invention, looking at all sorts of ideas. The idea for a small Game Boy came maybe two years ago, and we refined it to the point where we felt like it can really have a place. It plays all the current Game Boy games, but it's got a place by virtue of its size. It's a little bit more image-focused, and maybe more appropriate for some of the people who are more casual gamers now.

GS: And you mentioned that the screen was the brightest one you've made so far, right?

GH: Yeah, it's a 2-inch screen. The Game Boy Advance SP screen is about 2.5 inches, so it's little smaller. But as a result of that we can get a clarity that's really incredible, and the screen is done by Sharp.

GS: So this is just kind of a remix of the Game Boy, a hipper Game Boy. Is this going to have a different price point?

GH: It may. We're also looking at what the price and bundle combination might be for the fall. One of the things that they've launched in Japan that we're considering is--it's called the Play-Yan and it allows you to play MP3 music or MP4 video files in your Game Boy. We're trying to see how that's doing and if that makes sense to bring out as a companion to this.

GS: There were some rumors that this would actually have the Play-Yan function built in...

GH: No this does not have it built in. The Play-Yan function can work either on the Game Boy Micro or on the regular SP.

GS: So is this going to work for games just like a regular Game Boy?

GH: Right.

GS: Now you mentioned the longevity of a Game Boy platform. It's been around for a while, and this will probably be around a lot longer. A lot of people heard there was a new Game Boy at E3, and some thought it was a completely new Game Boy, a totally new handheld platform. How long do you see the life span of the current Game Boy, and when can we expect its successor?

GH: Oh, the Game Boy, we don't really manage it on any kind of a fixed lifecycle. It really has to do with when consumer interest is ready to move on. We think there's a lot of life left in the SP at $79. It's a great value proposition relative to the DS. Backward-compatibility has been a big strength for us in Game Boy and there may come a point where you have to sort of break with that, and that's always more challenging.

GS: You've shrunk the Game Boy. Do you plan on a smaller GameCube? Something like the slim-line PS2?

GH: No, I think GameCube will stay in its current form. We'll be looking at more value in bundling options late in the lifecycle. As we get to the holidays we're going to announce this afternoon to the retailers that we're going to launch the Super Smash Brothers GameCube bundle in August at $99. So that'll be a good piece to carry us into the fall, and then we'll look at a couple of other options for the holidays.

GS: Now you guys announced a lot of games here and with the new Pokemon title and the new Zelda, you've given kind of a darker edge to them.

GH: Yeah, well I think Miyamoto has really taken Zelda in many directions. Now that he's given [Twilight Princess producer] Eiji Aonuma, the opportunity to go off and sort of create his own vision, you know, Link has gone from mostly animated style to a more realistic style. But it always starts with the storyline and what we have Link doing, who will be the adversary and those kinds of things. The Pokemon XD [: Gale of Darkness] game, I've seen only little bits of it, but you could do storylines and graphics and environments on the GameCube that you can't do on the Pokemon games on Game Boy. So it gives him a chance to do something a little bit more--let's say more aggressive that we think will be very interesting.

GS: At the beginning of the press conference, Reggie said actions speak louder than words. What actions can we expect from Nintendo in the coming months?

GH: Well, certainly you saw a lineup of games that we're going to launch that are very important to us. And we're not going to take our eye off of existing players, but most people can't buy the hardware right away, and so they want to know, "what's good for me in the next six to nine months?" And we think we've got a great game line to do that. And certainly in the handheld area, making the effort with Game Boy Micro to add on the DS, there should be a whole lot of innovation coming that will keep them excited.

GS: Sounds like a plan.

Originally Posted by LoganSnake

PS3 and 360 are about 10 times more powerful than that...

Originally Posted by stevie667

I just realised something about the nintendo backwards compatability...

PERFECT DARK! GOLDENEYE! PERFECT DARK! GOLDENEYE! PERFECT DARK! GOLDENEYE! :D :D

Originally Posted by 777

To top this idea off, ever see some people move their controller in response to something ("Jump Higher!")? Now it reads those jerky motions as commands :)

Originally Posted by guthmund

Imagine a FPS that actually felt like a FPS? No mouse to slide across the desk, no control stick to mess around with and tweak, right? You, your gun, no lights and the latest zombie shoot'em up as loud as you can get it. How great would that be?

Originally Posted by MooseMan3000

The Revolution is about adding new styles of gameplay.

Originally Posted by biznatch

I'm just thinking about one thing: Zelda would be so kickass if you controlled the swings, forward stabs and such by moving the remote...
I'm definitly excited about this.

Originally Posted by pacaveli

that just means more money to spend on something, ii think after veiwing the controller i might go with ps3 instead of revolution

Originally Posted by irateplatypus

it's conceivable that new unique games could regularly be shipped with a customized control interface at little additional cost.

Originally Posted by Slavakion

If every game has its own controller, I need to find more storage space.

Originally Posted by KnifeMissile

However, the button placement looks awkward. Not all of the buttons are accessible with a single finger...

Originally Posted by Fremen

I doubt you can play the new controller like the old ones by turning it on its side.
Look at where the infrared port is. On the end, where your hand would be.
It would be covered up if you held it old-school style.

Also, if you were meant to hold the controller sideways, wouldn't the text under the buttons for "a" and "b" be turned sideways, as well?

Originally Posted by stevie667

It's a good thing they're using RF frequency then isn't it?

Originally Posted by silver26

The controller uses Blue tooth.

Originally Posted by stevie667

It's a good thing they're using RF frequency then isn't it?

And i doubt it would be that hard to figure out which button was which when playing old-skool-stylee.

Originally Posted by ChistledStone

But you see people, Nintendo undoubtly has the next generation in the bag. Not because of their new spec's we've found out about. Not about the other system's weaknesses. Not even because of their new controller and kick ass design.

It's because they have you talking about it. Undoubtedly, Nintendo has intrigued you all, and whether you like it or hate it, you already know about it. You've looked at the new controller. You've seen the specs. You've seen the battles that have gone on. But you know what their about.

So, ladies and gentlemen, Nintendo has truly won this generation.

(p.s. xbox 360 becoming a media centre is dumb. If I want a media centre, I buy one. one that actually works.)

Originally Posted by silver26

The revolution will be so much cheaper than the other 2 machines that some XBox 360 owners and PS3 owners will actually buy a second console.

Originally Posted by Lasereth

Just buy all three consoles and you won't turn into a fanboy afflicted with constant spurts of cognitive dissonance. You have the option of playing the best of games and don't have to keep trying to prove that you bought the best system (even though the only reason you're trying to prove your system is because you didn't want to spend the money on the rest...).

As for general next-gen console talk, all I'll say is that Sony made videogames mainstream and cool with the PlayStation, and gamers are never going to forget that.

-Lasereth

Originally Posted by Fremen

Well that's good news then isn't it, stevie667?

Originally Posted by Text of the linked article

You've all seen the curious Nintendo Revolution controller, but what about the Revolution console itself? No official information has been released, and we don't really expect to see it soon, but it's Friday, so a little rumor-mongering is in order.

A Factor 5 employee who goes by the name "Han Solo" claims to know the Revolution's specs, and has leaked them (middle of page 3). Why listen to some guy trapped in 1977? Señor Solo, as I'm sure he's known to his Spanish-speaking friends, proved worth listening to when he nearly nailed the Xbox 360 stats before the official details came out. That said, we can't treat this as reliable information, but it may prove to be good fodder for a Friday evening console war. Or maybe, just maybe, Nintento and Sony fans will join hands and sing songs about the merits of a market with more than one player.

If you're the kind of person who hates rumors, then... why are you still reading? OK, with that out of the way, here we go.

The brains of the console are rumored to be a single dual-threaded IBM "custom" PowerPC 2.5 GHz CPU, with 256 KB L1 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache (L3 cache is rumored). The system will also sport a Physical Processing Chip (PPU) with 32MB of dedicated RAM, while the CPU itself will saddled up next to 512MB of system RAM. The custom ATI GPU solution is rumored to consist of a RN520 600MHz core, backed with 256MB of RAM and "32 parallel floating-point dynamically scheduled shader pipelines." While the output will theoretically be capable of putting out 1080p resolution (higher even, at 2048x1268), Solo says that HD support has not yet been decided (which fits with Nintendo's own comments).

I'm not particularly inclined to deeply assess how such a configuration would stack up to the Xbox 360 or the PS3, but Solo wrote that he thinks it "would be on par with Xbox360, though PS3 could have an edge in the CPU area. In the GPU area the Revolution beats PS3, and technically would match Xbox 360."

Nintendo may have the right idea. As publishers demand more and more games go cross-platform, a single-core system that's easy on developers may be the best way to ensure plenty of cross-platform support, without burning too much money on console architecture that may only be used for exclusive games. While we expect to see exclusive titles for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3, most titles will be cross-platform, and will not necessarily take advantage of the multi-core optimizations for the Xbox 360, or Sony's Cell architecture. Keep in mind that Gabe Newell recently said that the Xbox's CPU performs like a 1.7GHz P3 on unoptimized code.

Perhaps I was preparing myself for a letdown, or something truly abysmal, but these specs don't look too shabby to me. Of course, specs alone can't define how fun a console is or how developer-friendly the various tools will be. However, for a company that seems to really want to downplay polygon counts as a way to measure a console, these specs aren't exactly anything to apologize for.

Hannibal has a few things to say with regards to the assessment made by Solo, so stop by Carthage, part of our new Staff.Ars section, for additional comments later today.