First Nintendo IQue Reviews

Major Payne writes "I have found two reviews for the exclusively in china released Nintendo IQue Player which is capable of emulating Nintendo64 as well as SNES Games hardwarewise. English one is located over at Dextrose.com and is a bit more technically advanced than the German one. Both reviews are very detailed though and interesting to read. I also think those two are the world first reviews for this new hardware and there is also some interesting leads on how to hack the device to make it even more interesting to the rest of the world."

Comments

Ugh. Nice idea but...

[Amiga Lover]

That thing looks horrible. It's very cool keeping old tech alive for so many reasons. The games were good, the price can be good now, 10 years later, and it's VERY good to have newer geeks see what was possible on limited hardware

But damn, for a device that's going to sell in the millions, getting the design right first go doesn't cost any extra afterwards.

Games may have a reputation of being just "kids toys" but they don't have to look like a fisher price gadget

Re:Ugh. Nice idea but...

[Guppy06]

"That thing looks horrible."

You're not supposed to look at it, you're supposed to hold it and watch the TV. So long as it's comfortable to hold in your hands, why do looks matter?

Nintendo's Winning Strategy

[Anonymous Coward]

With ideas like this, Nintendo's shaky position in the console game world will be strengthened. Look for them to follow this up with a version that places Original 8-Bit Nintendo games, which is just what the gaming world is clamoring for.

Saving up for a PSX? Forget it. Nintendo is the future of the gaming world.

Re:Nintendo's Winning Strategy

[NanoGator]

"Yes, but that's Nintendo's *only* source of income. Unless they have a Plan B somewhere in headquarters, they are hanging by a thread."

When did this myth that Nintendo is dying start to proliferate out there? Is it because Nintendo's not in the lead anymore? If so, why's it so difficult to believe that you can be quite successful even though you don't have your game machine in every household?

Nintendo is making money hand over fist. They're surviving quite nicely. Are they vulnerable? Sure. If thye fail to keep innovating, they'll be forgotten. I've got news for you, though: Sony and Microsoft are in the same boat. They're completely vulnerable to anybody who comes along with whizzbang hardware. Niether company makes their own games, and has NOTHING to maintain brand loyalty. The closest thing they have is the backwards compatbiliity.

I personally don't get this

[mcc]

I unfortunately can't comment on the articles, as one is in German and the other is currently squashed flat by the Slashdot Effect. But I've looked at the iQue and I honestly just do not see the attraction. I mean, for the specific case of the Chinese market it makes a lot of sense, it looks really cool, and it was a neat idea from Nintendo's perspective. But for the rest of the world, I can't understand why people would want one. An iQue is, what, $115-$150? Go on Ebay, you'll consistently find an N64 with something like 12 games for $80 or so and a Super Nintendo with a few games for probably less than $30.

Meanwhile the iQue will not ever be able in the end to play *all* the games for either of these systems, and at the moment it can only play a handful. And as new games are released for the iQue, as I understand how the system works, you will only be able to add them to your memory card if you can somehow get it to China. No?

The N64 controller really sucked, but just having a better controller doesn't seem worth paying lots more money for a much more limited console.

If my commentary here is made obsolete once the linked articles become readable, I apologize.

"Emulate"?

[oberondarksoul]

Sorry, but the IQue doesn't 'emulate' an N64. It is an N64, albiet one downsized into a controller and using flash cards instead of cartridges.

In response to other posts: yes, it is switchable to use PAL or NTSC - just solder the correct points on the PCB and you're away. Hopefully though, we won't need to - I would love to see these in shops outside China as a budget games solution, much like those Atari Controller-esque machines. Of course, with much better games...