Nintendo Revolution Rumours Emerge

In more next-gen console news, ComputerandVideoGames.com has rumourmongering info on the new Nintendo console. Interesting bits like gyroscope sensing controllers and an online service make for intriguing ideas, but no details yet on what's going to make this console a revolution. From the article: "And what's revolutionary about Revolution? The inside source claims that talking about that "would get him into too much trouble" ... He is quoted as saying: "if you think too hard you'll never guess what it is. It's nothing 'new', technically speaking. It's just something that hasn't really been applied to videogames yet."

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[whiteSanjuro]

REVOLUTION RUMOURS RAMPANT, NINTENDO SILENT

Another spurt of speculation about Nintendo's next-gen console splashes onto the net. Full details and stunningly predictable Nintendo response inside

10:47 A fat bundle of Nintendo Revolution speculation has belly-flopped onto the internet, causing fansites across the world to spontaneously combust with excitement.

According to hazy and totally unofficial reports, Nintendo's next-gen console will come broadband-enabled with an online service in the works, feature a hard drive, use controllers fitted with tilt-sensing gyroscopes, allow connectivity with the next-gen GameBoy, and play host to new Mario, Zelda and Super Smash Bros. games. The 'revolutionary' aspect of Revolution is also hinted at - "if you think too hard you'll never guess what it is."

The sketchy information - which we were sent direct last week and have been investigating - originally surfaced on a gaming forum, with the poster quoting an inside source. To be fair to the bloke who broke these rumours, he did preface his speculation with the assertion that his source had been wrong as well as correct in the past, and estimated there was a "65% chance" of the accuracy of these claims.

Here's the rundown of the alleged Revolution information:

• Motion and tilt-sensing gyroscopes will be used in the controllers. They will not come wireless as standard but the Revolution will have four pad ports like GameCube.
• The console will be powered by twin processors and will feature an internal hard drive. Games will come on HD-DVD format discs rather than Sony's Blu-Ray format.
• Broadband online gaming will be available out of the box via Nintendo's own service, which is currently "in development" and will be rolled out first on DS.
• The Revolution will not feature connectivity with the DS but will link up to Nintendo's next-gen GameBoy.
• Work has already begun on new Mario, Zelda and Super Smash Bros. titles, all of which are to be available at launch.

And what's revolutionary about Revolution? The inside source claims that talking about that "would get him into too much trouble" (whereas the rest of this stuff will presumably get him a pat on the back). He is quoted as saying: "if you think too hard you'll never guess what it is. It's nothing 'new', technically speaking. It's just something that hasn't really been applied to videogames yet."

He then signed off in deliciously enigmatic fashion with, "Touching is good but feeling is better."

Force feedback gloves? Electrodes attached to dangly parts of your anatomy? A force feedback full body glove made out of lycra? It's a proper riddle - answers on a postcard, or even better, in the forums below.

And it's a riddle Nintendo itself unsurprisingly doesn't have much to say about. When we contacted our spokesperson we were told: "Nintendo does not comment on rumour and speculation."

So what are we to make of this? The information itself does seem fairly informed and - in stark contrast to a lot of rumours that spark on the 'net - relatively sane. It doesn't instantly smack of the deranged ramblings of a semi-illiterate monkey.

But it also has that air of calculated vagueness and educated guesswork that at once lends it credibility and damages that same credibility. Are any of the alleged 'facts' offered about Revolution really anything that anyone with a little bit of knowledge about Nintendo itself and the games industry in general couldn't have come up with?

Not to worry - it looks increasingly likely that Nintendo is gearing up to unleash the Revolution at E3 in May. We'll know the answers for sure then, and as soon as we know, you'll know.

Re:Who knows what to expect

[Anonymous Coward]

Your #1 is wrong, Mattel(tm) made the Power Glove, not Nintendo.

Re:Who knows what to expect

[HarvardAce]

Mattel(tm) made the Power Glove, not Nintendo.

Should have done my homework, because you are most certainly correct. However, I think my confusion is understandable since it was heavily hyped in Nintendo's (actually Universal's) feature length ad^H^Hfilm "The Wizard".

Re:What?

[Naikrovek]

have you ever PLAYED a Mario or Zelda game? They're fun and know no age.

sure there is a lot of potential unoriginality in tried and true game franchises, but there are also guaranteed results, and in the case of Zelda and Mario, the results are ALWAYS great.

I see the fact that they'll have Mario and Zelda titles on release to be a very good thing. Mario and Zelda are part of what make Nintendo consoles great.

There are lots and lots of titles on XBox and PS2, but 99/100 of those suck. in fact the only good games for xbox are halo and halo 2. If xbox didn't have Halo it wouldn't have anything. A more powerful graphics processor does not make a good game console on its own. A networked crappy game is still a crappy game.

I know maybe 8 people with Xboxes, and all of them have modded their box to play MAME and NES/SNES games. They rarely use their XBoxes for XBox games, and two of those eight people sold all their xbox games because they were never played.

Games make the console. Nintendo has them, more good fun games than any other game company to this day.

Re:Gyroscopes

[HarvardAce]

But I find the 'click' analog sticks of XboX controllers very nice.

I'm pretty sure the PS2 had those first...