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Nintendo Revolution Under Wraps Past E3
The next-generation Nintendo console, codenamed Revolution, may not be shown at this year's E3. Eurogamer reports that the Japanese console maker is going to keep the console under wraps to keep the features of the new system out of the limelight a little while longer. From the article: "Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata is worried about rivals nicking all his best ideas at this early stage. That's how revolutionary the new console is, apparently... and also the exact same line Nintendo used to avoid showing Mario 128 at a previous E3."
Maybe it has.... 3 screens?
...he is definitley the hardest one to beat. I remember that time I played all night long and I made it up to Boss SI (that's what it says above his life bar cause his name doesn't fit on the screen). I was kickin ass, but then my mom came and pulled the stupid plug.
Because of course Sony and Microsoft only hear about features at conferences like E3. While the rest of us get the inside track at Slashdot!
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.
"I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, spare me the hype."
So I take it that you won't be paying attention to the XBOX 360 or Playstation 3, either?
"Derp de derp."
"That's how revolutionary the new console is Lets just hope that doesn't mean something like "Lets dare to be different, and use annoying mini-disks instead of the standard DVDs. They provide lower quality, AND they don't meet up to modern-day standards. Its brilliant!"
This might be insightful if Nintendo wasn't responsible for the standard 4 controller ports, standard analog sticks, standard 'rumble' functions, the huge portable gaming market, yadda yadda yadda.
"Derp de derp."
I'll buy it, since I'm a huge Nintendo fan. The casual gamer won't be so accomodating. Nintendo needs to build some hype around the system if they want to actually change the video game industry. Right now, even some hardcore Nintendo fans are skeptical.
Nintendo - shooting ourselves in the foot since 1990...
"They provide lower quality..." AND they reduce piracy, which is excessively rampant for the XBox and the PS2. Go looking for XBox and PS2 game torrents, and you'll find them by the hundreds. You'll be able to count the number of Gamecube torrents on your fingers. Besides...lower quality that's also better than the PS2? Not lower quality, but rather less space.
Might they be holding out to unveil it at the Tokyo Game Show, so that they can completely steal the headlines for the entire show instead of sharing space with the other systems at E3?
The Braying and Neighing of Barnyard Animals Follows.
Oh you bring a tear to my eye. Oh how you bring back the memories of Slashdot of years past. You know, Slashdot before the Legion of Jobs showed up and proclaimed that Apple had an answer to everything.
Yes. Bring me back my old Slashdot. Please, please bring back:
1. Make it with Linux
2. ??
3. Profit!
Bring back the good old days, when BSD was dead and Red Hat was king.
(and yes I AM serious)
Sometimes my arms bend back.
Someone else modded him down while I was looking for the "-1 Belabored" or "-1 Bad Joke" options in the moderation box. =)
Maybe I should have been looking for "+0.5 Almost Funny"?
Nintendo can unveil it at E3, and go up against Microsoft and Sony's HUGE marketing budget and hype. Magazines would probably have a triple feature, with sections given to each system and the respective company booths.
Or, Nintendo can wait a couple of months until the media coverage dies down a little bit, unveil the console, and get the cover of every non-platform-specific major game magazine in the biz. This decision shows not a lack of preparation or a schedule issue, but a smart martketing choice.
Why does everyone blast Nintendo for doing what Apple has been doing for years? Both companies produce a very solid product and don't want their thunder and/or hard work stolen by a bunch of copycats.
Their goal is not the domination of their particular market; instead, they focus on being profitable companies. I say kudos to them for having the balls to make something that works well, is fun and intuitive to use AND still be able to sell enough of it to make some money. And if it takes some secrecy to bring their products to the market, then I'm all for it.
When's the last time Rare made a good game?
Why am I not rapping? I am rapping with you in a way.
It's not to say you can't do both...... Nintendo isn't saying they're going to go backwards on hardware or something. Just that their philosophy is that a focus should be on fun and enjoyable games, rather than just purely on hardware, etc. used to do more advanced versions of the same basic game types.
Regarding the second comment...... just because something is a sequel to an existing franchise doesn't mean it can't be something new. And conversely, something can be a "new" brand but still basically be just a rehash of old ideas. For the most part, when you look at some of the recent Zelda and Metroid sequels, for example, you see something where they take elements and brands that have existed before, but do pretty new things with them. I don't think I'd blame them though for doing something in the vein of an existing franchise though, rather than creating a completely new franchise, because it can make it a lot easier for someone to pay attention to a completely new game if it is part of a universe and history that people like.
-Tom
Shame Nintendo isn't third. The Japanese market laughs at the Xbox and it will the next generation of it. Nintendo aim games at real gamers (I mean old school not Madden 83049234 players), they know their market and what they want. Quirky games which play well, have short load times and are generally fun to replace when you don't know where every monster is and what weapon to shoot it with.
As long as Nintendo stick to their guns and keep making fun games their fanbase won't stray too far. They may not make them number 1 in the games market but right now it's been flooded with "Average Joes" who just want the latest EA offering, Halo whatever it is now and don't care about anything except pretty graphics.
I like muppets.
Nintendo have tried to move the games industry on unlike the other two. I suggest you look at the current system names.
Xbox 360 - It's a "cool" name for the "skaters". It's bullshit, flip an Xbox 360 and you get an Xbox just like before.
Playstation 3 - All I'm saying is "Yes but these are different, they go all the way up to 11!"
I like muppets.
Look, the X-Box 360 and Playstation 3 are already designed and getting ready to debut at E3. It's not like they can radically change the design in time for their ship dates by stealing Nintendo's ideas at E3.
DS was featured at E3 in May of last year, and had several changes made to it before its launch on September 21st. 4 months sure can make a difference.
I think one thing to remember is that the DS is not nintendo's next generation hand held. That is still coming. The DS was something to throw at the psp to slow it down. I don't know if the Revolution will bring back some of niontendo's lost market share, in fact I doubt it will, but nintendo didn't end up with billions in the bank by being stupid.
That said, I think all of the next consoles are going to have an uphill fight for volume simply because their projected street price brings them awfully close to computers which have more utility and a larger body of games.
Because slashdot just absolutely has to print every single rumor without ever once actually saying the rumor is offered without basis...
Nintendo has said multiple times that they will be unveiling the Revolution at E3. They've given warnings along the lines that it may be at an early stage, or that it won't be playable, or that some of the demos may be behind-closed-doors, at E3. But they at least have said they'll be showing it. And this has been said by Nintendo representatives, speaking on the record.
So, what's the source for this article slashdot links, which is saying it won't be?
"Reports". From "Japan".
You'll excuse me if I take repeated statements by official persons speaking for Nintendo more seriously than "reports from Japan".
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
Vibrating controllers came to be standard fare when the Rumble Pak came about.
Not long after the N64 was unveiled, Sony released it's Dual Shock controller (complete with 2!! analog sticks and a built in 'rumble' feature.) to the PS1. Then, the Dreamcast had it's own 'rumble pak'. Then the PS2 came with the Dual Shock Controllers. Then the XBOX came along... etc.
Personally, that little tidbit about the Dual Shock controller is what's making me wonder about Nintendo's secrecy, here. I personally think that they did something snazzy with the controller, but they're trying to prevent an imitation of the feature from making it into the boxes of the PS3 and XBOX02's.
"Derp de derp."
You don't believe Nintendo's ever coming out with another console?
Wow... that's, uh... interesting.
~ Aero
" If they launch systems this close, they need to drop support quicker."
Eh, sort of. Take a closer look at your list here. The Game Boy/Pocket/Color all played the original Game Boy games. The Color had a faster processor and had a few games made specifically for it. The GBA plays all GB games, and the DS plays all GBA games. The NES, SNES, N64, and GameCube are all roughly 5 years apart. The Revolution, in theory, will at least be 4 years apart. The actual support required isn't close enough together to really worry about.
Anyway, I said 'sort of' because you did bring up a point I'm worried about as well. Will the new GBA be DS compatible? I have trouble imagining that. Granted, we really don't know. Still, though, from everything Nintendo's said, the DS seems to be the runt of the litter.
"Derp de derp."
Are you trying to say that the VirtualBoy wasn't a major console?
Video Production Support
Look at me. I'm bashing my head on the keyboard.
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Do you really think that showing it to the public is the same as showing it to developers?
And Playstation's features that Nintendo later copied? Optical disk format.
Who copied it from 3DO, who copied it from Sega (Sega CD) and NEC (PC Engine CD).
Maybe if these features turn out to be a success in the marketplace -- unlikely if the DS is any indicator...
If anything, I'd say DS sales bode quite well for Nintendo. It's already past 6 million units, set the all-time record for highest-volume launch sales in the UK, sold 40% past Nintendo's holiday projections... And, Nintendo's production line is up to speed and has thus far prevented any serious DS shortages in any market (say what you will about the limited initial supply of the PS2 or the PSP creating additional product lust, it's still nice to be able to actually buy a console).
The DS has a lot going for it: the touch screen and microphone enable some very fun interaction that's perfect for short stints of mobile gaming. Plus, it has backwards compatibility with the whole library of GBA titles. Everyone says the PSP has a strong launch lineup... this is somewhat true, although many of the titles are just ports of PS2 games with reduced technical capability (near-PS2 graphics is an exaggeration, the graphics look more like some of the better quality Dreamcast games, but that still ain't bad). The only PSP title that really does it for me right now is Lumines, and that doesn't use the PSP's horsepower anyway.
Nintendo still knows the portable gaming market very well, and I think the interface features on the DS will continue to do quite well there. The PlayStation Portable is pretty much just that, a shrunken-down version of an ordinary console. Nintendo is trying to enable a new, unique experience on the DS, whereas Sony is trying to deliver a home-console gaming experience that comes along with you. The one thing that the PSP has going over the DS as a portable entertainment device is its multimedia capabilities, but even those are far from polished. If you want to enjoy music and video on the PSP, you have to buy a bigger memory stick (and it has to be the Duo version), and you can't just drag and drop songs and videos from your PC, that'd be way too easy. Instead, you must use special software (definitely not included in the box) to properly convert and obfuscate those files, and you're still limited to the 1GB size of Sony's largest memory stick. Sony has made an effort to make the PSP a multimedia convergence device, but it is, unfortunately, halfhearted. Hopefully they will roll in some improvements in subsequent firmware updates, but I still wish they would have included a little slot on the back that could hold a mini hard-drive option.
People want a convergence device, but the PSP hasn't made multimedia use easy enough for the average user yet, and I doubt it will do a whole lot to stave off the cell phone's continued drive to assimilate every other peice of portable electronics. This isn't a huge issue for Sony, as they are in that market, too (I have a T610 and I love it, Sony's definitely got that down, don't get me wrong). If you want a portable gaming device, though, the innovation present in the DS, for me and for a whole lot of other gamers, trumps the raw power and the (I'll admit it) oh-so-sexy screen of the PSP.
Notice, however, that what Nintendo has going on with the DS doesn't necessarily translate to whatever the hell they're planning with revolution. To succeed in the home console space, they need 3rd party developer support (it's becoming clear that, despite continued strong showings from the Mario, Zelda, and Metroid franchises, they just aren't system sellers anymore), and they need to make a decent technical showing against Microsoft and Sony. Now, Microsoft started this generation with a very small selection of games but obvious technical superiority, showcased by their trump title Halo, and gradually built up a solid selection of titles. Sony had backwards compatibility with the vast universe of PS1 games, plus astoundingly great 3rd party support that gave them plenty of system sellers at no development cost to them (Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, Tekken, Soul Calibur... all developed by 3rd parties), and was first to launch by
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" So far, it looks like everything Nintendo has tried releasing with 2 screens has been a flop. I seriously doubt the new GBA will be DS compatable, yet alone continued production of DS games."
What the heck?
Considering that the DS had the highest launch sales of any console in the UK EVER, and has been outselling the PSP by 2x, I wonder how you are defining "flop".
Uhhh, nice try at sarcasm, but Gamecube outsold Xbox in worldwide totals. Oh, and more importantly, Nintendo MADE MONEY on the Gamecube. Get a clue.
Dude, Ico was awesome. It was... wrenching. Sad and exhilarating, a bit funny in some spots, wistful in others. It evoked emotion better than almost any game I can remember, and it did it almost completely without words. I don't think you can call yourself a gamer if you haven't played Ico. Seriously.
I found out about it very late, and played it only about a year ago, and even going in with high expectations, I was STILL blown away. A year later, I can close my eyes and summon up exact pictures of several locations, to the point that I could sketch them out and be pretty accurate. That's how intensely it impressed itself into my memory... no small feat, when you consider that I'm nearer 40 than 30, and have played so many games over the years.
All the consoles have something to offer. Pick one of each up used, for chrissake. Refusing to buy hardware because it's not Nintendo is cutting off your nose to spite your face. All you're hurting is yourself.
I have all three consoles, and I don't have any real attachment to any of them. I suppose, overall, I like the XBox the most at the moment, because it has had the most interesting games of late, and it may have better 'legs' than the other two. Chronicles of Riddick is really good. Burnout 3 is excellent. Jade Empire is quite good... maybe not as good as Knights of the Old Republic, but good. KOTOR was one of the best RPGs ever done, a true classic. Halo was okay, but tremendously overrated.
On the PS2, there's the Grand Theft Auto series and Katamari Damacy as can't-miss titles. And Ico. And probably a zillion others I can't think of right now.... I guess if you've never owned a Playstation, you must have missed all the Final Fantasy games? Final Fantasy 7 is probably the second-best RPG ever made, and you could argue that it was better than KOTOR in some areas. (freedom and duration, mostly.)
Gamecube has Wind Waker, a true masterpiece, though I do feel it was a bit on the short side. Harvest Moon was good, but got old a bit fast. Animal Crossing was a lot of fun for awhile. The Metroids were excellent. Wario Ware is a completely bizarre, but fun, party-type game. I've often gotten the feeling that the console is underused... it really feels like it has more power than what you actually see.
Nintendo makes great consoles, but cripes, you've missed some unbelievably good games because of your platform-centrism. The platform doesn't MATTER. It's the games that matter. Find the games you want to play, and buy the hardware that plays them best. That's really all there is to it.
If you don't want to play Ico just because Nintendo didn't make it, then you're willfully blind and ignorant. Go away, or I shall be forced to taunt you again.
The XBOX has one profitable quarter after eleven straight losses, and everyone calls them a success.
but they're making up for it in volume!
If you rotate an XBox 360 degrees, I dare say, you get a full (wait for it) REVOLUTION!!!
..i hate myself...
"Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)