More Nintendo Revolution details revealed
posted May 13th 2005 2:45PM
We already knew it would be packing some backward
compatibility and WiFi functionality, but a couple of new bits of information have now come out about the
Nintendo Revolution. The unit is
apparently going to be quite small, about the "thickness of three standard DVD cases and only slightly longer" — not
sure if that means regular jewel cases as with CDs, or the bigger plastic cases DVDs often get cased in. The unit will
be playable either horizontally or vertically, making for a more flexible gaming setup. As noted with the backward
compatibility, 3-inch GameCube disks will play in the same self-loading media drive as the Revolution's double-layered
DVD discs. Hardware partners IBM and ATI are packing a lot of graphics power into a small space, giving the device
quick game startup times and quiet, low-power operations. And, of course, we're still looking forward to all of this
compactness to be showing up in 2006.
[Thanks, pointfour]
Seeing as how 95% of DVD's come in the larger cases I imagine they meant those since that's the "standard."
over heating is going to be a problem with this "Revolution". due to it's small size i would think
Over heating? C'mon, it's Nintendo. They make the best consoles in the business (from a physical standpoint, anyway).
PS, Yay, used my suggestion.
im really stoked for this, i can't wait. hopefully nintendo will fix their image problems this gen if they want to move up in the ranks. good news, good news.
well did'nt the *new* PS2 have over heating problems in the early stages of it being relesed. and we all know that Sony is a good brand. so im just gessing that it might be the same with this "Revolution"
Sony's a good brand? Their consoles certainly arn't. Think of all the problems with PS1, PS2 (old and mini) and PSP.
Again IBM and ATI.. sounds familiar! ;-)
I don't get it. The Xbox 360 and the Revolution have these blazing processors in this small enclosure, yet we can't get a 3+ ghz Powermac? What kind of sick sad world is this?
Fishes,
narco.
ok fine, i'll b curious as to see how they are going to solve that problem though. the size of three CD cases is pushing it
I am in the boat that feels Sony makes some shoddy devices. Not all of them mind you, but some... People complain about iPods not working, but I had two walkmans stop working for no reason (didn't drop them or anything), and there was no chance of getting Sony to replace them. Also, the PS2 problems are well documented.
Anyway, I hope that Nintendo does well with the Revolution, if only for sentimental purposes. It's really sad to see a company with so much potential (creatively and financially) drop the ball as it has with N64 and Gamecube. And by drop the ball, I mean isolating the 3rd party developers and being too stubborn to give gamers what they want.
it's also suposed to be an internet hotspot for the DS
:D
i feel the same alex , except about the walkman problem. i have a Sony walkman and i have droped it countless amount of times and it still works, i gess bad luck. i dont have a PS2 personally so maybe thats why i still think it is a good brand
I'm getting really confused about the upcoming gaming systems. I'm gonna endup buyign an XBOX 360 and then Nintendo and Sony are going to come out with even better consoles after that. Though there aren't many details about it, I like how small the Revolution will be. Portability is a big issue for me as I take my game systems to parties and such. Hopefully the new Nintendo won't deemed a "kiddie" system because of poor game selection.
Sony makes quality stuff like their TVs and Vaios but their consoles are another story. PSP dead pixels, PS drive dying, etc. The reason Mr. Mikami decided to make Resident Evil exclusive for the GC was because of problems he had with his PS2.
I don't belive the rumor, and think it is not necessary to make a console so small, but it is going to be cool doesn't matter the size.
i saw these pics on another website a while ago and this might very well be the real system.
wow!! forgot the link....here it is....http://home.btconnect.com/hgi/nintendo-ds/nintendo-revolution-2.html
No, that isn't the real system. Just an artists impression. I can't wait to see what this will look like, more importantly the software... Only a few more days.
Can't be the real system since it can't stand on its side.
On a side not, if the Nintendo Revolution is deemed "kiddie" (for which the GCN is certainly not. There's a difference between kiddie games and E and T games >_>) I think I'll hang myself.
the n64 wasnt a dropped ball comment #10
microsoft:"so nintendo, how goes it?"
nintendo:"great, we are realy siked about E3 tuseday."
microsoft:"we dabuded our xbox360 last night"
sony:"what's up dudes? *skofs*
nintendo:"awesome. me an' MS here are talking about the next generation systems."
sony:"cool. hey M$ here's a name for your next console; the xbox 2!"
microsoft:"uhh, dude we already named it the Xbox 360."
sony:"hmm...sounds intimidateing. Hey nin-"
nitendo:"I've already named mine the Nintendo Revolution, it's goin' to be compatible wath the DS and every thing."
sony:"...intimedating name...compatebility...evaryting..."
microsoft:"dude, you spelled 'everything' wrong."
sony:"...wrong...what was that last part?"
"thickness of three standard DVD cases and only slightly longer"
Uh... http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000463042337/
??
Just sayin', is all.
Given that none of us even know what the Revolution is, is it not possible that it's some sort of portable? And I don't mean necessarily like a GameBoy, I mean something that's equally adept at home or portable gaming, and has other functions built in? (Not that I'm a fan of "other functions" in any specialized device, I'm just trying to think of things that would make it a "revolution" over regular old game consoles - they obviously want it to do things that older consoles don't.)
I don't really know what to think about Nintendo at this point. On the one hand they make really good stuff... the GameCube is probably about as underrated a system as the Dreamcast was. On the other hand, though, they've really stagnated lately, and their first-party output has really dropped off the chart over the past few years (they used to release around 70 games per year). But then they say they're going to be taking gaming in a direction nobody's ever seen before with the Revolution... which makes me both really excited and really nervous at the same time. It could be something really cool or it could be another Virtual Boy.
After the disappointing Xbox 360 showing last night and what I'm expecting of the PS3 (which is also more of the same with better graphics), I'm hoping the Revolution will give the industry a real kick in the pants. But knowing the Nintendo of late, I'm trying not to get my hopes up *too* much or set my expectations too high.
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This system sounds really well designed, but where are they gonna put the hard drive?
The connectivity with millions of DS's and GBA2's (which, I assume will be wifi..) means online play will be very very interesting..
If it is truly that small the upgrade in terms of computational power will be very limited. Which may be according to plan since Nintendo may be focused on input devices and creating unique games for those while using a platform base that is extrememly inexpensive. Low cost of entry to mitigate the cost of many unique controllers. Like a high end version of Xavix.
#23:
A laptop-sized hard drive fits.
Heck, even a CF-form-factor MicroDrive will do the trick.
25
A MicroDrive is very expensive for this application. You need to stick to the lowest common denominator in price. Xbox 360 is able to use a 2.5" drive beacause the increased market share of laptops has eliminated much of the cost premium those units had over 3.5" drives.
narco: The G5 Powerbook isn't being released because they can't get the battery life to a respectable length. Not an issue with either the Xbox360 or the Revolution.
Bill: Nintendo paid Capcom a lot of money to make RE4 exclusive to GameCube. It had nothing to do with the PS2 being difficult to work with, which hasn't been an issue for three years. This may be why RE4 is actually coming out for PS2.
Addison: If Nintendo actually included a hard drive in Revolution (Why would they?), it will probably be a microdrive (think iPod), or as a peripheral.
you know i just realized apple and nintendo are very similar companys. neither design products that everyone likes, both receive a lot of crap for being successful, both constantly innovate, and both are going to be around for a while despite what a bunch of kids post on internet forums. get a life guys. do any of you work for nintendo, sony, apple, microsoft? so what do you have to lose. worst case scenario if ninitendo did go third party, youd still get to play all the games, and youd have to buy one less system.
To mike
Nintendo (at the moment) is like Apple in the sense that they both have extremely popular handhelds (gba/iPod); and the gamecube is like the Mac because most of the people that have them, love them, but they just dont appeal to Pc/xBox, PS2 users.
I really don't like that "revolution" mario hitler picture. It's a joke on the wrong topic. Nothing is funny about it.
that would be Stalin
Actually worst case scenario would be if Nintendo became a games-only developer and then wrote games for both other consoles. Then you would have to buy one MORE system (an Xbox360 and a PS3, instead of just a Revolution. Think about it.)
Wow. Isn't that like only slightly bigger than a PSTwo? I like.
Dan Elkayam its Stalin like Noix said. Study history much?
Yay! I see they are taking some hints from the PS2 design, with the backwards compatibility and the horizontal/ vertical playability... Oh well. This is gonna be a hit!
They wanna space out the release of Zelda GC (this winter) and the revolution (which we have known would be back compatible for a while).. that zelda game.. man..
the reason i say that, is because people are going to be picking up GC's to get that zelda game.. so it's cool that any games you get, will still run on the rev.
in fact, arguably that was why PS2 still outsells GC and XBOX to this day..
narco: custom build proccessors that are not as sophisticated as mac g5 so they can run at higher speeds..
here come the geeks 8-B
all I realy care about this system is that it; plays DVDs(that was A magor game cube slump),
is compatable wath my DS,
and has the most awesome games ever. that's all I realy care about.
PS.oh yeah, and can play Halo3 ;)
#39 - I highly doubt it plays DVD's, or contains a next-gen DVD drive. Why? Because Nintendo has stated time and time again that it is a gaming company and has zero interest in making a home entertainment center like Sony or Microsoft. Sony and Microsoft have other reasons to want the systems to do everything - Nintendo doesn't. This allows them to keep the costs of their systems way down compared to Sony & M$.
http://onefed.com/media/NintendoON.wmv
#40 duerra hello :0 'two layer DVD format' why in the heck would they not make it play DVDs!?
#41:
Where'd you get that? The video looks so professional, but I really can't see that being the Revolution.
#43 I think it's fake but scane with 500 milions of mario castles is amazing.
wow that looks amazing but i dout thats the revolution. I cant see an amature make this
First of all Nintendo isn't going to be going software only like SEGA has. Why? Because Nintendo is making buttloads of profit aka CASH!!! Anybody see SEGA making money going software only? That's right I didn't think so.
Second just because Revolution will be in a small case doesn't mean it has to be underpowered. You want any example? Look at the GCN. You see any games pushing graphics and particles like RE4 on GCN? I didn't think so. If you don't have any clue about engineering then it's best to keep your mouth shut thank you.
#41
I believe this is it. The main reason being, this is the heart of nintendo, truely innovative. Do you know how much potential a system like this would be? Imagine it. You would litterally be able to become something like neo in the matrix. I mean common, do you not get chills when you watch this video? If nintendo pulls this off, this will make bill gates xbox version 1.5 cry. Hmm what would you choose, the ability to become your favorite characters? or to use a controller staring at a tv screen. Excuse me while I pick up my samurai katana with my Nintendo On and pwn some noobs.
That video [#41] has got to be a fake (basing on the speculation that Nintendo has given so far, such as standing the system on its side or base). Still it has been done very well, full kudos to whoever did it!
The Revolution will play DVDs. It says so in this article here http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=59061
The way I see it, Nintendo is practically obliged to include a harddrive, HD-DVD, internet, and all the bells and whistles. Aren't Microsoft and Sony including these on the next 'station and 'box? Without keeping up with the competition, Nintendo hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of seeing it through to the next generation. Would you buy a C.D. player if it didn't have anti-skip? No, because that technology has been put since, oh, 1996? And today it's a basic feature of a portable C.D. player- just like (I hope) all the aforementioned features will become basics on next-gen consoles.
Will such a small system be prone to overheating? Common sense says yes, but a system that doubles as a hotplate won't last long out there will it? By the time it's on the market, it should be problem free.
Now, a few issues to address:
Post 25: "If it is truly that small the upgrade in terms of computational power will be very limited." I can't see that happening. Again, the Revolution would have to compete with two rival systems both with muscle-bound processors. Remember smaller isn't always weaker: a laptop today is more powerful than a desktop computer- admitedly, at a price.
And as for that Post 41 by "jau"... That is some crazy @$$ $|-| | +. Personally I can't see even a die-hard nintendo fanboy going to all the trouble just to create a movie of a fake system. Some of that animation seemed very technical. So it was....leaked?
We can only sit on our asses and wait. Remember: Ignorance is Bliss.