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Nintendo's Next Console Revolution Will Have WiFi
nparasu writes "Nintendo released fresh details about its upcoming games console, codenamed Revolution, at a game developers conference.
Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president, confirmed that the new console will be able to run games originally made for the GameCube.
Despite the hardware announcements, most of Mr Iwata's speech, entitled "The Heart of the Gamer", was a call for more imaginative game design.
Game creators cannot rely on better graphics and more powerful games machines to attract new audiences, Mr Iwata said.
He also revealed that Revolution will come with wi-fi connectivity built-in."
nintendo sure knows how to sell consoles together.
I haven't realized that the current Nintendo's President had such strong developer roots. He was behind Super Smash Bross Melee, and Kirby. Does any one have a good link on this man's history and how he became Nintendo's #1?
16,777,216 comments ought to be enough for any forum!
Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president, confirmed that the new console will be able to run games originally made for the GameCube.
Finally, nintendo making something that has backwards compatability. unlike the 'super game boy' or 'game boy color playing game boy games'. It would be fantastic if they could make a way to play NES, SNES, or n64 games on the new system. I'd spend my money on that.
"In the universe of interactive entertainment, there is a planet we call video games. We know this planet the best, but it is not the only one," he explained.
"There are other planets that entertain, and it is those planets we are keen to explore." so, does that mean they're more interested in adapting other forms of entertainment onto their new system? music, movies, porn, internet? a full computer that will work with their specific game cartidges and discs, with the insane GPU processing power of video game systems?
i want one.
I miss the days when Nintendo was on top of the game. Now you can hardly find any games that are worth a flip to play on the system (excluding the Zelda, Metroid, and Resident Evil series). It's just a shame.. and what is up with that freaky controller? There's a good thought for you, when you are desiging your controls, give us something that we can reach all the buttons without having to move our hands all over the controller.. the game cube controller is worse then the original XBox controller (that's just sad).. *sigh* please give us something worth while this time. I am happy to hear that I can play my game cube games (the few that are worth owning) on the new system though..
The Technomancer
"Men of lofty genius when they are doing the least work are most active."-
To be honest, I don't know how to react to your comment, I laughed at first thinking its satire, then grimaced when I realized you are probably serious.
Where is the innovation here? Slapping a new trend technology (WiFi) on top of existing tech?
Not to mention the fact that it doesnt make much sense to slap on a wireless technology to something that will always be wired/never move. Proof that it is just an attention grabber I guess.
This was one thing definitely missing from the GC (to play N64 games), as compared to the PS2. This will make it a lot easier to sell people a new console.
(And it will be one thing that Microsoft (probably) hasn't got!)
And WiFi between DS, GBA and GC could be interesting as well. Go Nintendo!
- A fanboy
speaking of which, i donno why this hasnt his /. yet,,
8 4a -4364-b8fc-e6f11617d1ab.mov
new zelda trailer
http://media.nintendo.com/mediaFiles/52937b07-3
What? You seem to be suffering from classic /.er syndrome of "if i can do it so can everyone" - would anyone use live if you had to put a PCI NIC into the XBOX? i think not. Also, very few will use a service if extra hardware needs to be bought, even less if it may suffer from incompatibilities. Plus inbuilt wi-fi will require much less space on the PCB, thus decreasing the size of the console. No chance in hell nintendo will provide a PCI slot.
I had to read the frickin' article to get what the headline meant! This is preposterous!
Wireless controllers are amazing. I mean really really amazing.
Doing a 4 player game like bomberman, f-zero, mario kart, is so much easier. Even 2-player games are more fun due to less tangle of cords.
Take this to the next level where I believe Nintendo is going with their DS product. Which is basically a wavebird with 2 screens built in. Now you have something that is truely amazing. You have 2 screens and 2 more cpus per player. Just to add more to the game.
Inventory management in RPGs? on the ds ( now with drag and drop ).
Extra hints and tips for the handicapped players? Put them on the DS.
You could make a game that you play all on the DS, but connects up to the console via wi-fi so that others can watch the action. Since watching 4 people on their dses is no fun since you can't see the screen. Maybe the console could also server a large game world of sorts as well? I dunno, the possibilities are very endless once you have multiples of everything.
X-Box/PS3 are looking to be amazing consoles but they are focused on delivering the next level of the same thing.
Nintendo is at least trying to do the next great thing. They may not do it, but it's a risk I think that they need to take if they want to be back on top, or at least not seen as a third place contender.
"Game creators cannot rely on better graphics and more powerful games machines to attract new audiences..."
Yeah, sure. So why update the Gameboy at all? Why bother upping the graphics to 'Gamecube' possibilities? Because Mr. Iwata, you know that eye candy DOES attract the very audience you seek. No matter how much you talk about interesting and unique games (which I'm all for), the reality is that games like NHL 200X, or FPS Shooter version 37 still SELL.
All I can say is, it's not stopped Nintendo from pushing yet ANOTHER version of Mario whenever they release a new system. Not that there's anything wrong with any of this. I think the portable Gamecube is a terrific idea for them since attracting developers is hard enough without making them recode everything.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
If you read the complete keynote transcription you'll know what I mean with "strong developer roots": He programed a baseball game on his hp calc in college, worked in a 5 employee dev house named HAL (that later became a Nintendo's 2dn party in the NES era). He even showed a picture of himself at that age when he survived on pizza and rice balls coding until sunrise. Later on, when he was working in a higer position for Nintendo he asigned himself full time back to HAL in order to finish a game. If that's not "true geek" material I don't know what would.
16,777,216 comments ought to be enough for any forum!
Have you guys noticed how IBM is behind the CPUs for all 3 next-gen consoles? (ps3, xbox2, 'tendo revolution)
And that is why I could very well buy the console. Fuck re-hashed sports games. You rarely see stuff like that on other consoles.
For instance, the DS. The DS is simply a game boy with two screens, one you can touch. But they tought it as something that is gonna change gaming. How? How exactly is this so much different from past designs that people are gaming differently now?
My son bought a DS, and if you actually play one for a while, you can see how it really IS a different form of gaming -- especially with titles that make full use of the touchscreen. It is definitely NOT just a "game boy with two screens," and the hype, in my opinion, is well-deserved.
Interesting. When it was rummored that the Revolution would have WiFi, I assumed that the Revolution itself would be device that the DS used to connect to the online service.
Since the DS multiplayer games/apps that exist don't use IP packets, they need some sort of gateway that intercepts the 802.11 packets, tunnels them over the internet to another gateway, which rebroadcasts them to the DS's in the general vicinity. The other issue is how to find people to play with online. If the Revolution were to act as the gateway, then the software / user interface for that could be implemented on the Revolution itself, and thus every game with LAN multiplayer support would automagically gain internet multiplayer support.
But from the sound of the article, the Revolution will be using WiFi to connect to the internet itself. I suppose it could both intercept the DS packets, and broadcast internet communication to the WiFi Hub, but that seems wastefull and unlikely.
Nintendo could sell a seperate device that was capable of intercepting and tunneling it's proprietary wireless protocol over IP and both the Revolution and the DS will this device. But then you still wouldn't have a way select who you want to connect to for existing multiplayer games like picto chat. Only new games specifically written for online multiplayer, as opposed to LAN multiplayer would be able to use the device. And if you are going to have that restriction I wouldn't be supprised if the third device is just a normal WAP, and all online-multiplayer games, just use IP packets and communicate directly with the Nintendo server.
I've consistenly heard from people that they don't want a gamecube because its graphics aren't up to par. Who's been selling this shit? Gamecube graphics aren't the BEST, but they are high-ranking regardless. I own all three major consoles, and when I don't feel like playing a game one day, for whatever reason, picking up that gamecube controller and playing a gamecube game tends to give off that feeling of "Ah, that feels better." There is something about the control design and graphics of the gamecube that is relaxing, entertaining, and soothing all at the same time.
"No one is more miserable than the person who wills everything and can do nothing." -Emperor Claudius 10 BC - AD 54
They probably won't be the same chip, because the XBox 2 is beating the Revolution to the market by several months.
As a result, the Revolution should have a NEWER version of the same chip.
Have you actually played Pokemon? They're actually pretty decent games and a lot better than most of the crap that has gotten past of as a console RPG since the release of Playstation.
The Farewell Tour II
I think that Sega was more the Apple of the console world. Superior, if misunderstood, software and hardware that was often ignored because it wasn't the 'cool' thing out there.
Internal madness and strife took Sega down, a fate Apple only just managed to avoid...