Slashdot Mirror
Next Generation Nintendo Revealed
dwlt writes "I'm sure lots of people have sent this already, but take a look at
the story on videogames.com
for the full scoop on Nintendo's Game Cube (gotta catch 'em all!), and Game Boy Advance. The controller is kind of crazy, though..." Let me tell ya about the countless hours spent in the geek houses drinking and playing Mario Kart 64: Kurt The Pope is a wildman under the influence of alcohol, and the new one looks cool.(thanks to those of you who wasted no time in submitting a new Slashdot icon too ;)
Here. Wireless controllers, online connectivity, Metroid. Could be interesting.
The GameCube tech demo movie is also available as an .mpeg file, playable via your favourite OSS movie player. Die Sorenson codecs, die! P-)
The file is right here, a zipped mpeg. It's a direct download off ZDNET's servers, which should handle the load effortlessly. *grin*
The tech demo shows some nice, although pre-rendered scenes featuring the inevitable Pokemon, a waverace game, some scened from a 3D shooter demo, and an X-Wing.
Alex T-B
St Andrews
The PS2 system is tricky because of two main systems.
Firstly, it's designed with high bandwidth, and low cache. This is very different to the standard 'low' bandwidth and high cache. Whether better or not remains to be seen, but the fact is that by being very different, it is causeing problems for the developers
The other point is that some of it's much vaunted power comes from the vector registers. And (speaking from experinece) these require careful coding to get the best out of (such as doing the sum on 32 memory locations rather than just the required 5 can be faster). As far as I know, the only people who really have experience with this sort of thing are the supercomputer programmers.
Um, how many people write computer games and code on supercomputers too? Not darned many. Thus there is a lack of experienced deveolpers for the platform.
The N-cube specs suggest, to me, a more conventional design, although I would hardly call that page detailed or technical.
A more conventional design, means more deveolper experience, which, as you point out, means better games.
Time will tell, but I am wondering about the disk drive used in the cube. Anyone familer with it?
"Why should Nintendo ultimately decide what I can and cannot see in my video games?"
:)
This is not a free-speech issue. A developer has no fundamental right to produce any game for any platform.
It is Nintendo's hardware platform. They control the hardware and software production. Their approach has generally been to a strong Q&A, strict content standards, and a "few games, much quality" mindset. It's served them fairly well.
This approach also works for Disney, childrens' book publishers, childrens' TV & movie producers, and certainly others.
I'm not easily offended, and I enjoy bloody games at times. I just appreciate knowing that at least one content provider understands and respects that a large group of people prefer to have access to a generally "clean" source of entertainment.
A peeve of mine is the labeling of graphic nudity, violence, or offensive language as "Mature Content," because it generally isn't. Usually it would be more accurate to label it "Immature Content" since the use of that sort of material usually reflects more junior high fantasies than mature attitudes on the subjects.
For truly "Mature Content" that effectively uses brutal violence, extremely offensive language, and brief nudity, see the movie "American History X".
Oh, I see it's time for my medication! I'm sorry, what was I saying?
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http://movies.shoutingman.com
ShoutingMan.com
NINTENDO GAMECUBE Specifications
The peak figures listed are all for maximum instantaneous performance and cannot be achieved with the actual game. However, following the conventions in the game industry they are listed for your reference.
Wow, that's an extremely unusual thing for a hardware vendor to state up front about published specs. Kudos to Nintendo!