Slashdot Mirror
Nintendo Revolution Details Emerge
Pyrohazard writes "Nintendo has posted some details on the Revolution to their official site, finally giving us some insight into what the console will be like. From the site: 'It will be about the thickness of three standard DVD cases and only slightly longer.' This makes it the smallest Nintendo console yet! It will also be able to stand up, similar to the PS2, and the Xbox 360. It will be backwards compatible, and it will also play '12cm optical disks in the same self-loading media drive'. It also states that it will have a very quick start-up time, and be very quiet. It finishes by stating 'Get ready for the Nintendo Revolution in 2006!'" C|Net has an article up arguing that Nintendo is making an error in missing the 2005 Holiday season.
It also states that it will have a very quick start-up time, and be very quiet.
Aiming to capture the market for game-playing wabbit hunters.
I doubt it will be technically more impressive than than XBOX 360 or the PSX 3. The absence of water cooling (small case!) says it all.
http://onefed.com/media/NintendoON.wmv
I guess the big N are counting on this console once again appealing to hardcore gameplayers, especially since you can't watch DVDs on this.
Are they making an error ?, possibly but depsite selling less consoles than sony and about the same as MS, the gamecube was supposedly very profitable. THe margins were supposedly higher and nintendo reckoned that the gamecube was never sold at a loss despite its low price.
In short Nintendo don't neccesarily have to shift more consoles than Sony and MS to stay in the console game.
I'd argue that Nintendo might be better served waiting until *after* the Christmas season. There's been several "OMG I must have!" Christmas toys that nobody can find, everybody's going onto Ebay and bidding hundreds of dollars for.
Then there's the games/items that come out in say, January, and do well. This strategy has served Blizzard very well with their "ship when its done". In some ways, Summer is actually a better launch date (kids getting out of school) and using that as a steady segway into greater sales.
Of course, this is just my opinion - I could be wrong.
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Link worked just fine in my firefox...?
"This is Zombo Com, and welcome to you who have come to Zombo Com" - www.zombo.com
nint3ndo always has less gigathings, they r t3h suxx0r!!!1
/= better
more power
i thought this thing would have a dvd drive like the xbox 360 has in it's system. I've been a loyal and avid nintendo fan since i was about 4 years old playing the original nintendo. But I'm sorry to say this could be a big mistake if Nintendo does not include a standard DVD-9 drive in its system. When the N64 came out, companies like Square could not release their games on the N64 due to cartridge format. So intead they went to the playstation with the 3 cd FF VII. In reality, their proprietary format drives up cost for developers to use on their system. And since Nintendo is continually losing market share to the XBox and soon to be XBox 360, I think Nintendo should really re-eveluate their stance on media drives.
Check out this fan made video. It's really well done.
mirror 1
mirror 2
Article about video
I do agree with the cnet artical that nintendo are going to miss a major sale period here if it is not out till 2006 but they may as of yet pull it forward .
,Which is a very good thing as we don't need another loud large monster console.
.Though let me put my pundit hat on , besides the normal conectivity ala the GBA and the gamecube i suspect the reveloution may have the ability to download the data from the cards and allow you to play GBA or DS games on the big screen using the DS as a wireless controler (with the touch pad screen perhaps still working as normal ) and perhaps multi player DS games can be played with Reveloution controlers for some titles which dont have a touch screen (unless nintendo take a leaf out of the dreamcasts book and include a screen on the controler , albeit with touch pad functionality. ;) so dont cite me on it.
Looks like they are taking a leaf out of the mac minis book with the form factor
Its wonderfull they have confrimed backwards compatability which will be very important in giving them a good start with a cataloug of games though they may be missing out here if they don't include some form of DVD playback.
I have argued a few times that its not the features that sell a console but the games , but all things being equal otherwise the features can make or break the sale.
I am awaiting news of the conectivity with the DS , this is pure idle speculation
That is pure idle speculation though
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
I think it could be a smart move. Think of it. The XBox and the PS3 will be going all out to steal each others' thunder, and the consumer market for consoles will be split. If Nintendo can handle staying out of the spotlight for a little while, and then show up the next year with a console superior to the other two and good lineup of games, all the attention will be focused on them. As it is, you could argue it's too early for a second XBox and a third Playstation. Nintendo's timing could be perfect.
Can some post the contents of the first link because I don't have flash installed to view this type of material. Thanks.
"Finnally", "dosnt"... Considering your spelling qualities, I'm surprised you haven't had an article published sooner.
/. comment!
Oh, and my first
And wouldn't it be funny if it got modded down as Redundant?
"This makes it the smallest Nintendo console yet!" No, the Game Boy is much smaller. The GBC, GBA, GBA-SP too. It will however be the smallest non-portable console ever from Nintendo
It's interesting that all 3 console manufacturers chose IBM PPC processors this time around. It means that game developers programming in assembly language will only have to learn one. Too bad there aren't many left who do. (A fact of life when the bottlenecks move to memory/art/game-logic).
Because the GameCube used PPC, it looks like Nintendo will be the only one with an (relatively) easy backwards compatability story. The PS2 could perhaps be emulated since it was only a 300Mhz MIPS processor, but I pity the person that has to write the emulator for the pipelining stages on the VUs. Microsoft has not said whether they'll be backwards compatible, but I predict the answer is no.
Didn't Nintendo's president say in a press conference just a few months ago that the Revolution will actually have some feature that is "Revolutionary" that no one has seen before and will change console gaming forever? I remember a slashdot article about it but I cannot find a link to the specific "story" I'm thinking about.
:)
Perhaps something about the controller?
Or perhaps some obscure feature that we'll hafta wait longer to see?
I was hoping to see something about that in this article but I guess I will hafta wait longer... If anyone has a link to what I think I'm talking about, I'd appreciate it.
"This is Zombo Com, and welcome to you who have come to Zombo Com" - www.zombo.com
Has anyone who has read the C|Net article considered the source of this statement: "Sony has not said when it will release its next-generation console, tentatively named PS3, although industry watchers generally expect it to hit stores sometime next year." Who are these industry watchers, anyway? Yes, this seems to be the buzz that's about the net, but let's be fair minded here and assume that products can launch when they're not expected to, or not at all, and have in the past (think Duke Nukem Forever, and other vainglorious examples of vaporware in various technological fields).
The Crimson Dragon
Has no one at nintendo realized that true innovation in required to jump above the pathetic third spot. To overcome Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo has to make gigantic leaps over the competition. The name is famous, and it made great advances in the industry. The Gamecube was a lovely system: compact, durable, powerful. Resident Evil 4 was one of the best games ever made. Tales of Symphonia, Windwaker, and others were outstanding. However, they arent enough against the great games Sony and Microsoft offer. The Revolution will have to stand apart and be a must-have to compete with the others...
We as voters have given up essential liberty. We hoped to purchase a little temporary safety. We in fact deserve neither
There's not going to be an MTV special since The Revolution won't be televised. (rimshot)
It is good to maintain backward compatibility, Nintendo will have an easier time getting people that own a GameCube to buy their new console - just as Sony had an easier time getting people who owned the Playstation to buy the Playstation 2. This will give them an easier time with launching this new system.
Not only that, but as the new console generation pops up starting this Christmas, people will take into account which system has the most enjoyable games - if Xbox 360 doesn't have a solid number of good games at release time and isn't able to play Xbox games, they may find people holding back to get a Playstation 3s or Revolutions because of the already present game catalog.
I'm rooting for Nintendo, they've had some extremely fun games on the GameCube with a massively higher ratio of good games to bad when put alongside the Xbox or Playstation 2. The Mario sports games have all been excellent and enjoyable, rather than a pretty simulation of the sport like the EA and Sega sports titles carried by the competition.
I'm sick of following my dreams - I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
if I wanted a big, loud games machine I'd use a PC.
he he he he he he h--(stabbed in stomach by an annoyed Link's sword)-- GAAAHHHH!!!
(four-note song plays) You received the double-barreled rifle! Now you can blast rabbits and Hyrule soldiers through their ears.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
Ok, so great. Yet another Nintendo console. But what's so revolutionary about it? It seems both the big M and the big N are trying to market their consoles as the "Next big thing" yet they really only evolve a bit from current gen consoles. Smaller form factor? Better graphics? Ok, what's so revolutionary about that? It's been the goal of consoles since the Atari came out.
Hopefully the Revolution in Nintendo's console will be a bit more than this, because honestly, things like adding a second screen aren't bad. Minor advances in gameplay are usually good, but something seems a bit anti-climatic if the only thing new about this console is what's always been new for every previous console.
If any of the big 3 does actually get into the shops this year, it will be a miracle, but even if they do rush some samples out the door in order to win the marketing race, they certainly won't have the volume to fulfill the Christmas season demand in all territories, let alone a decent games line-up.
All the new machines will arrive in British shops mid 2006, at high prices, and a round of price cuts will happen in the lead-up to Christmas, when games start appearing in volume.
2005's Christmas console race is already decided. The PSP will be in the shops with a lot of games. Any next-gen machine won't have the manufacturing volume or the games line-up to compete.
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
The Revolution will not be televised.
It's too soon for a new console. The games run fine on the old ones. If it's able to offer some mindblowing new content along with the intro, Nintendo is smart to wait for the 'compelling need' to drive it's sales through the roof.
There's also the aesthetic angle. Cultural preferences are rapidly moving toward Nintendos form factor and will be peaking in 18 months, not 6.
From the description it appears that late models of PS2 (PS1 too perhaps) are smaller...could be wrong though.
Anyway, who cares as long as it's not too big and nice overall (I'd like to have a system in format of typical HiFi equipment, like CD32; original PS2 was closest to that from the recent systems...)
One that hath name thou can not otter
Wow, whoever moderated that as Troll seriously needs some help. Nintendo Fanboy much?
Back when the PS2 was in development, I think DVD players were still $150 and up; so the appeal of having DVD playability was a definite value-add to the game console; it was like subracting $150 off the price of the PS2, because it could serve double duty.
However, nowadays DVD is so common that CompUSA is selling DVD players for $15.
So, why would I care about DVD functionality? To save $15 off the game console? Woot.
Now, if it had something else, like PVR to DVD-R functionality, that would be a value-add worth considering, but basic DVD playing... nah.
Kudos.
On the one hand it seems silly not to include it
If your video game console and your movie player are in the same box, and you want to play a game, then you have to sit on your @$$ and wait until an older sibling finishes watching a 12-hour Meg Ryan marathon. There's a reason why Nintendo has consistently priced the GameCube $50 lower than the PS2 or Xbox.
-1 (Evil proprietary format)
I wonder if the real "innovation" we are going to see with the Revolution has to do with the business side, namely that this box will be better focused in its purpose than Xbox360 or PS3. Perhaps in addition to being small, it will be significantly cheaper than the other boxes. I think if you look at where alot of game systems go (with the exception of Slashdot users and gadget freaks), they are not hooked up to the main TV in a house but to some secondary TV in a kids playroom, den, etc. Some of the media hub features discussed for these boxes are really overkill and not worth paying for if you just want a really good game system. I'll let my DVR evolve into a media hub and let the game system do what it does best, play games.
My Halo box usually just gets used as a crappy dvd player.
So do you play Halo 17 on that box?
Its modded troll presumably because you don't know what your talking about. The "revolutionary" features are yet unnannounced, says Nintendo. Being smaller and having better graphics is not the revolution. (Hell, the pres of Nintendo even said, the better graphics are becoming moot anyway, as games get closer and closer to photorealism theres eventually a limit you hit, i.e. graphics is not the wave of the future)
...will the Revolution be Live? --no wait, XBox took that...
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
A quote on the subject of watercooling:
While this might be technically true, it carries a very heavy marketing spin in order to glom onto an enthusiast technology. To be succinct, the Xbox 360 is not water cooled in the way we, meaning just about every computer hardware enthusiast on the planet, tend to think of water cooling. The Xbox 360 motherboard we were shown did have a CPU heatsink in place that utilized a heatpipe. Yes, a heatpipe does have liquid in it and some H2O as well, but is usually primarily ammonia. In a heatpipe, the liquid at the "hot" end vaporizes, and is moved to the "cold" end of the heatpipe by a pressure differential and convection. Once the heat is transferred to the fins in the cold end, the substance condenses and the process repeats. The CPU cooler we saw on the Xbox 360 processor looked very much like this CPU cooler seen at Plycon except the Xbox 360 cooler was taller than wider and only utilized one copper heatpipe tube.
---
BTW Nintendo has promised that the Revolution will be very powerful. It seems its coming about 6 months after the XBox 360. It's using the same hardware essentially- IBM and ATi.
I expect it to be at least as powerful if not more than the XBox 360. Rumors/developer leaks say the same thing.
...is pretty clueless. Microsoft are the only console manufacturer rushing to get a machine out this year, as they see it as the only way to steal any market share from Sony. Sony and Nintendo are quite happy to keep pushing the five systems that they have on the market at present, and have no pressing need to rush out new systems to respond to Microsoft's stopgap.
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You write: I guess the big N are counting on this console once again appealing to hardcore gameplayers, especially since you can't watch DVDs on this.
It's a classic error. DVD playing takes nothing away from game playing and so a hardcore gameplayer could care less that a console does or does not play DVD's .
I'm unconvinced that 2005 launch will benefit MS as much as they think. This holiday season will already be mighty competive with PSP and Nintendo DS. Both handhelds will have a good selection of decent games by Nov 2005, and it will be the first holiday season for the PSP. Atop that, Sony will likely sell the PSP without the "Value Pack" option, which may bring down the price of the console to $199. Plus Grand Theft Auto and Grand Turismo (amoung others) will be out by then.
The Xbox 360 will also have to compete with people's willingness to wait for the PS3 and Nintendo Revolution. This may or may not be a factor depending on what Sony and Nintendo can deliver next week at E3. Remember, an early lauch didn't help Sega much with the Dreamcast (or the Saturn, which they forcefully lauched a few months early in the US to get a headstart on the PS).
If you also consider that the Xbox's life span was relatively very short compared to other consoles (launch 18 months after the PS2, and lauches ~12 months before the PS3). Many consumers that are not hardcore gamers, esp ones that have bought an XB in the last year or two, may feel perturbed that their recent purchase is already obsolete. To compound that, MS (as well as Sony/Nintendo) have to compete with other hot gadgets like the iPod that weren't around during previous console lauches that may appeal more to their core market(young-male adults) than gaming consoles.
But if [the fake "Nintendo On" VR-toaster console] were real, who would NOT buy one?
The same people who didn't buy Nintendo's last VR game system.
This information has been floating around the gaming sites for a few days now, but oh well. The really interesting stuff about what makes the Revolution a "revolution" has yet to be revealed however.
There's some interesting, but not ground breaking stuff that has been confirmed, like wireless controllers, DS connectivity, 802.11 internet connection, and free online gameplay, but the really interesting stuff is still just speculation. For what it's worth, my guess is that the "revolution" part of the console will be that the controllers have built in gyros. I've been playing WarioWare: Twisted since it hit the streets in Japan, and let me tell you what anyone who has played that title can tell confirm: twisting is the future. There's a great part of WW:T where you get to play the original Super Mario Brothers game by turning the Game Boy to the side to move forward while the world spins around under your feet. It's how the game was meant to be played!! I suppose the Nintendo critics will call a motion sensor a gimmick, but I really believe it has the ability to put some fire under the industry's feet.
Of course, there's a lot of other speculation that I'm not too sure about. Broken Saints claims that the Revolution will somehow display real 3-D on your TV screen, I guess using special glasses or something. That sounds unlikely to me. I've also heard that the Revolution will have a DS like touch screen controller or one that is somehow reprogrammable by the game, but I don't want to think about the ergonomics of that all. Pressure sensitive buttons does sound like a good idea, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that.
One interesting thing about Nintendo versus Microsoft is the different things that people focus on in their announcements. With the Xbox 360, everyone is talking about the 3.whatever GHz PPC chip. With the Revolution, everyone is talking about possible changes to the way games are traditionally played. It just goes to show the Microsoft is still more interested in the technology side of things, and Nintendo is more interested in the "innovation" (or, if you believe the detractors, "gimmickry") side.
...is that they treat games as art, rather than cheap entertainment. There's a huge amount of overlap, to be sure, but the difference in emphasis makes all the difference. It could be argued -- probably correctly -- that the masses want cheap entertainment and not art, but still, if Nintendo could cultivate a sort of elite Apple-esque image, rather than their current childish Disney-esque one, that'd work well for them, I think...
They've been saying how they realized that the look of the console matters. Hopefully this means they've grasped the larger concept that *image matters*, perhaps as much as everything else put together (they can have the best games out there, but if it's seen as an uncool thing to own, people won't own it*). However, from the rather narrow stuff I've heard from them (only talking about making it look physically better, nothing about the larger picture of *why* it needs to look physically better), I'm sadly doubtful...
* people suck
Work is punishment for failing to procrastinate effectively.
The Brittish gaming market is nearly irrelevant. What difference does it make if the 360 doesn't debut their until 06?
These lists of features are so Goddamn useless it's almost funny. Almost.
It's smaller?
It can stand up?
It's quiet?
It will boot up quicker?
Who fucking cares? Has anyone ever bought one console over another because it was smaller or booted up quicker? The only selling point mentioned is internet connectivity, which is standard now. That's not a revolution, that's playing catch up.
So Nintendo is making a big mistake not releasing their console this year, and Sony don't get mentioned even though their console is slated for 2006 too?
True Sony have made noises about releasing the PS3 this year, but they did exactly the same thing to spoil the Dreamcast's launch. And even though they were about a year after the DC, Sony still had crappy release titles.
http://dynatech.blogspot.com/2005/05/nintendo-revo lution.html
As I mentioned briefly on the N-Scene mailing group... I'll expand more here.
I really don't think this is video of the "Revolution" system at all, I think this is very likely the special "joystick" that was mentioned briefly a month or so back.
Watch the video closely, the video clearly presents this system as a 3-D proximity controller. They always show it on the floor in the middle of the room, and that it is sensitive to someone approaching it.
Also, I don't think this is specifically a Revolution controller either. Notice that it shows in one segment, output supported for TV and some other type of screened device, then in the next segment it shows that it takes input from the GameCube and a "?" device of about the right dimensions of the Revolution concept art that has been floating around.
Also there have been complaints that I have seen about the Mario art at the end, that it either looks like Luigi, or is bad art. Oddly enough, this is the common design for Mario on most PC and Mac based games. I'm not sure what that means, but there is a precedent for Nintendo to illustrate Mario like that.
No, this video is very much in line with something Nintendo would generate and potentially show at a press event, and the fact that it appeared on the net last week is either a testament that Nintendo is attempting to execute a buzz kill on it's competitors announcements... or a very serious security breach has happened within Nintendo.
Personally, what I would like to see is the end of the video, and I'm hoping we get to see it next week.
I think you will find that despite the smaller form factor with the Nintendo Revolution, it will probably still be on par with the PS3 and Xbox 360 given the extra time they will have in producing it. I will be amazed if even the PS3 is as large as the Xbox 360. Additionally, I beleive that the addition of multiple numbers of CPUs, all running at different Mgz clouds the overall power of the system, and makes a systems speed difference very negligable. I think this holiday season is the least of Nintendo's concerns. Nintendo has already stated that they are going after Sony as the top dog in the race. Stepping onto the market later is actually a good move and I think the Xbox 360 is coming to the market way too early. We have seen this happen with the Sega Saturn and the Sega Dreamcast. I also am strangely getting the notion that Microsoft is aiming its targets at Nintendo, and Nintendo is aiming theirs at Sony. And Sony is just content to be at the top. Why not try to challenge Sony? In the end, it is very possible there will be 2 leaders this time around, Sony and Nintendo.
See my comments above under "You guys are misunderstanding the video"
Remember the Ultra 64 that came out a year or so late? I would not be suprised if this new console comes out fall 06.
Are all these new console companies goin round in circles, one is called 360, the other is revolution, what next?! a console called elipse!
I'm sure everyone's already seen this impressive video (widely regarded as an elaborate hoax). It makes a good point: With their vast storage and processing abilities and constantly improving compatibility, Nintendo has only it's lack of development in interface that keeps it from seeking the holy grail of virtual reality.
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what's right." -Isaac Asimov
Can I have your sister's telephone number ?
Both the Xbox 360 and now Revolution are making a big deal about "you can use it vertically or horizontally!" wow! big deal. Is that really a selling point? Does anyone really care about that? Why are they both making that a selling point?
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
Did anyone really expect the Revolution to run on anything else? I wonder what kind of power a modern cartridge has.
It also states that it will have a very quick start-up time, and be very quiet.
... because it wasn't and it didn't.
Are they insinuating that the Cube was loud and had long start up times?
Pointless statements make baby Jesus cry.
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
if I wanted a big, loud games machine I'd use a PC
:-)
I agree with you, ie. small and quiet is essential in the target environment, but I feel very strongly that there is also another issue that is being completely ignored so far: standard hifi form factors.
If the console manufacturers actually believed their own words about entertainment convergence, they'd be making consoles that fit sensibly into hifi racks, sandwiched tidily between A/V amps, tuners, DVD players, etc.
And since hifi systems come in full-width, midi, and micro sizes, the consoles should offer different enclosure styles too (hey, it's just plastic, the cheapest part of the whole unit), as well as a more portable version for taking along to your friends'. There hasn't been a console yet that hasn't looked like an ugly carbuncle hanging off the side of an otherwise decently styled entertainment system.
Sadly the console manufacturers seem to think that it's their divine right to make whacky and sexily styled enclosures at the expense of the commonsense and practicality needed for physical integration with other entertainment equipment. I doubt that this will change any time soon, as none of the Big Three are noted for listening to customer requirements.
Maybe we need some console rehousing specialists to help the annoyed hifi enthusiasts among us!
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
The Revolution will have voice recognition, gyroscopic controllers, pressure sensitive grips, and free internet play.
= 0).
This info comes from a very believable source (see some of his posts here http://ps3.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=482&st
It's doubtful that the Revolution will be more powerful than the Xbox 360 (from what specs I've seen, it's going to have 3 CPU's running all @ 3.2 Ghz).
Any idea what all that is going to cost you yet though? We're at the point now in console video games were I really don't see much advance in graphics. Even if the Revolution is less powerful than the 360, I probably won't be able to tell the difference, and if the 360 ends up costing $700, then what's the point? I certainly wouldn't pay twice the price to get 25% more polygons/sec out of the machine.
Frankly, I think the current generation of systems is plenty powerful enough to graphically do basically anything that I'd ever want to see in a game. I'll probably just sit back and enjoy my Gamecube and Dreamcast games while everyone else is chasing more and more polygons.
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
that Nintendo partnered with IGN.
The landscape for Nintendo information is going to get very strange. First you worry that IGN and GameSpy will be too positive about Nintendo. Then you think that Gamespot and C|Net are going to get vindictive.
Why couldn't Nintendo buy everyone off like Sony and Microsoft do?
who cares if the box is hideous or loud?
I certainly agree that the blind and deaf don't care.
As for the rest of us:
1) Those not currently distracted by gameplay or other things do see the box. Therefore it should not be hideous.
2) Except when game sound or music is loud, you do hear loud fan and disk noise. Therefore they should be absent.
You're merely highlighting the fact that your preferred games are exceedingly loud by nature. Well that's not universal --- in the sneak genre for example, you want to be able to hear a pin drop.
I've been moving my controller to make mario Jump higher since the NES...
Oh you mean now it'll actually do some good? Awesome
This video has been making the rounds, it's a confirmed fake made by a college graphic artists, he hid "HIRE ME" and his email address inside the video on a few frames.
Read first, post after you comprehend what you read.
The parent to your post said nothing about playing movies -- they were talking about Nintendo's use of proprietary formats and how it discourages some developers from working on their systems.
Nowhere in the comment are movies ever mentioned.
My PS2 can play DVD's? I thought it was a video game console!
-jÆ Nana korobi ya oki
I read that as nintendo explaining the gentoo emerge process *rolls eyes*
DVD playback is not so important, but people might assume that the new nintendo console would not play DVDs or do anything else besides games if nintendo didnt let us know that. everyone would be like "oh, gamecube 2"
also, i liked that guy's idea about spinning discs backwards to prevent pirating.
Europe is a bigger market than North America and Japan put together.
The following figures will be total sales as of the end of 2003 (Jan 13, 2004, for PS2).
North America
PlayStation 2 - 29.26 million
Xbox - 8.6 million
GameCube - 7.46 million
Game Boy Advance - 23.78 million
Japan / Asia
PlayStation 2 - 16.18 million
Xbox - 1.4 million (~425,000 Japan alone)
GameCube - 3.37 million
Game Boy Advance - 12.66 million
Europe / PAL
PlayStation 2 - 24.56 million
Xbox - 3.7 million
GameCube - 3.11 million (~3 million Europe alone)
Game Boy Advance - 12.98 million
Worldwide
PlayStation 2 - 70 million
Xbox - 13.7 million
GameCube - 13.94 million
Game Boy Advance - 49.42 million
GBA sales include Original + SP.
Why would I be xenophobic when most euro-weenies are as clueless as your are?
Whle skimming your post I first thought you were suggesting they should use a summer launch date, citing the segway as an example of success.
That would be a pretty funny argument, and I think it's about as valid as any other for missing the holidays when launching a gaming console.
It's sad that we follow corporate holidays so well as consumers- but we do. Almost all parents buy their kids big presents in December, then don't buy much for a while after. Big 'N' is silly to skip the holiday season.
I find it interesting how successful the xbox is.
I don't buy PC's with windows anymore, and generally regard MS as making poor software, but the only console I'd buy at this point is the xbox.
2 cents, nothing more...
Nintendo Revolution -
1. More powerful system and better graphics.
2. HD support even though I only know a few people who even have HD TV's yet.
3. Gone wireless (Even though they already have the best wireless controllers)
4. Wireless connectivity between devices (Nintendo DS, A new wireless GBA perhaps)
5. Small form factor. (You cannot tell me that the new 'slim' version of the PS2 wasn't the coolest thing since sliced bread. It is better period.)
6. More Storage (using DVDs will increase the amount of storage for textures etc for games considerably and is also alot cheaper to produce)
7. Online Gaming (Perhaps Nintendo's only real mistake with Gamecube was underestimating the advantages of online gameplay. The online service remains free.)
8. Backward Compatibility (I can still buy games from Nintendo this fall, enjoy them, and not have to worry about them becoming obsolete and unusable next year. This allows me to wait longer for the console and protects my investment of games.)
9. More exciting things to be announced at E3.
Xbox 360 -
1. More powerful system and better graphics.
2. HD support even though I only know a few people who even have HD TV's yet.
3. Gone wireless. (Controllers are pretty much the same)
4. Wireless connectivity between devices. (Windows PC or Windows Media Center PC)
5. Smaller form factor but still large.
6. Hard Drive (Handy to have, though not used too often).
7. A "ring of light" around the power button.
8. Online gaming (Enhanced version of Xbox live. Paid online service required)
9. Changable Faceplates (Just like cellphones, you can change the 'face' of the console with new hip styles)
Sony PS3 -
1. More powerful system and better graphics.
2. Will probably support Blu Ray although I still do not know what advantages that has or understand what it provides you)
3. Cell Processors (Still don't know what they do exactly, except they can be teamed in a grid somehow which is good for scientific calculations or running Seti @ home, how that helps games has yet to be seen).
4. Id bet money they go wireless too. Their controllers haven't changed in a long time.
5. Online Gaming (Same free online gaming model.)
6. PSP connectivity.
7. Form Factor (either a smaller slimmer form factor or I would not rule out that it might look like a DVD player from Sony)
8. Remains to be seen at E3.
There's will be no Smash Brothers for XBOX 360 and PS3.
Nintendo hasn't told anyone about the Revolution yet, aside from a few tiny tidbits (release date, size, etc). None of these are "the Revolution". Nintendo's big revolution as of right now is a very, very tightly held secret.
A few reasons -- Both MS and Sony have long held cherished traditions of ripping their competition off. Plus, every single 3rd party who has seen the Revolution has had pretty much the same thing to say about it -- this is going to be BIG. Industry changing big.
And, I think ultimately, they're going to wait until E3 or TGS to unveil it, and it's going to be a huge amazing "Woahgod" that will get every gamer that sees it salivating, just like last year's E3 presentation.
Just heard this from over at the teamxbox forums (ironically)
"Each player will actually have two controllers, one for each hand. They will each have a joystick or d-pad, a regular shoulder button, and a pressure sensitive trigger, kinda like the gamecube. But he said the real kicker is that they also have laser readers of some sort in the top of the controller, above the triggers that can tell where you are pointing. So for instance if you were playing a FPS, you'd point it up and you'd look up, move it right and you'd look right."
With these consoles coming out with HD support, fast multi-core CPU's (PPC), I'm wondering if Intel and AMD are worried that they might loose market shared to the consoles especially if they supported web, IM and email through optional keyboards/mice.
Will Apple receive a 3+ Ghz multicore processor soon from Apple?
Will this lead to more games being ported to the Mac "first"?
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Doh! That should be "soon from IBM".
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
The processor's that these consoles are using are not similar to the G5s that Apple uses. They are simplified, and as a desktop processor they would perform terribly. And the games will be written to the console specific specs, not the CPU, so this won't affect Apple's games.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_On
...Also, I didn't know Buggalo could fly.
It says fan mockup but it looks pretty professional.. If this is real the new Nintendo it looks interesting
p e=wmv Video
http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=5779&ty
I know it's confusing for you to understand that Amsterdam isn't actually in Britain, but please try to bear with me...
You are mixing up sales figures with market size. The European market isn't as saturated.
Here are the ACTUAL market size figures, according to the United Nations population divison
Population of North America: 314 million
Population of Japan: 127 million
Population of Europe: 727 million
314+127 is less than 727
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
Don't most people buy PC's for games?
Do you have a job?
I'm alarmed by the prospect of the Revolution using DVD discs. Why this fear? I'm afraid that its limited storage space will limit game designers.
Right now you might be thinking, "Are you insane? DVD-9 discs can store 9 gigs of data! What do you mean, limited?" Well, here's what I mean.
As most people probably know, both the Xbox and the PS2 use DVD discs. They both support DVD-5 and DVD-9. The support for DVD-9 indicates something; some games are too big to fit on one DVD-5 disc. This can be conclusively proven by looking at some recent games, like Xenosaga Episode II (see the bottom of the page, "Lasting Appeal"), which use multiple discs. At smallest size, these games are unable to fit on a single DVD-5 disc. At largest, they're too big to fit on a single DVD-9.
That's a lot of data.
I recently read in an article (probably in Game Informer, though I can't find it at the moment) that many recent games, including Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, only barely miss filling a DVD-9.
That this is on the PS2. A current-gen system.
I think that says something.
What I'm getting at here is that games are getting bigger and bigger. There's no way around it. As our technology improves and our systems become capable of bigger and better graphics, we must supply more and more data in order to make said graphics.
If a PS2, whose capabilities are far eclipsed by the next-gen systems, almost requires multiple discs, how will those next-gen systems fit all their data in the same space? Better graphics require more data: bigger textures, more polygons, more custom shaders, etc. So how will it all fit?
And bear in mind that this isn't even taking into account the data needed for the actual game. A lot of code and other data is needed for the actual game. Furthermore, the Revolution is supposed to be, as Nintendo says, "revolutionary". How much extra code will it take to do cool things with these "revolutionary" features? A lot, I imagine.
This poses a problem. Where will all that data go? It has to go somewhere. Sure, wonders can be worked with compression, and yes, Nintendo has somehow managed to shove DVD-5 games from other systems into the 1.8 gigs offered by its proprietary format, but there is a limit to how small things can get. Furthermore, too much compression will result in decreased performance, which is a bad thing.
This is definitely a big problem. Sony got around it by flinging enormous Blu-Ray discs into its next-gen system, aided somewhat by the fact that it partially owns that standard. For Nintendo or Microsoft to use Blu-Ray would require licensing the technology, and you can be sure Sony would charge them up the wazoo for both the drives and the discs.
That's a problem.
The way I see it, both Microsoft and Nintendo are in trouble if they use normal DVD drives on their next-gen systems. Nintendo possibly more so, depending on the "revolutionary" aspects of their device, but this doesn't change the fact that they're both rather screwed.
For Microsoft, it looks like it's already too late; the Xbox 360 specs declare that it has a "12x dual-layer DVD-ROM". There is still some hope left for Nintendo, though, as they've only announced support for "12cm optical disks", which could be nearly anything.
Here's to hoping that Nintendo chooses something better than DVD-9.
I own itburns.net. What should I put there?
Do I have a PC at home? No.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
If Nintendo can come up w/ some way to top 4 Swords, then it's all good.
I'm not too concerned about consoles or whatnot, but the idea that the Revolution can play GameCube games really appeals to me. This will save me space and money.
[o]_O
Well maybe before saying something like "...are the days of the X86 platform numbered?..." you do a little research, because XBox was the only console that is/was x86 based, others have been MIPS, RISC, MC68000, Super-H 3, Super-H 4, ARM, etc.
They only real difference between PowerPC processors and x86 is the amount of registers they have. PowerPC has quite a superior Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) instruction set, where x86 processors have a rather limited amount SSE and MMX.
market share of consoles compared to computers is a rather benign comparison! they are two totally different markets, aimed at totally different people. I very much doubt AMD and Intel are even remotely worried.
Apple will be delivering a Dual Core PowerMac next year, maybe multi-core a year after, but like I said previously, they are pretty much two different technologies.
and I very very much doubt it will lead to more games being ported to make "first" due to the measly "5%" market share, where is the economic sense in that??
If you want to play games, get a console; for everything else, get a computer, PC or Mac..
/. is good for you.
From Gamespot
Nintendo's next-gen console will also be around an inch tall; will support GameCube and DVD discs.
Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
As the machines are more advanced, including emulation "software" is feasible (in the non-backwards days, you had to duplicate hardware, which was pricey. Often the old processor was used as the sound processor on the new system so you could maintain it. With modern systems, an emulator should be feasible, especially with Nintendo using a newer PPC chip, it should be pretty straight-forward.
:)
"Back in the day" when people hooked systems up through the RF modulator (other than as proof of concept, did anyone REALLY use the AV jacks on the NES or even the SNES when stereo televisions were rare)? Nintendo avoided it as front runner because they wanted to repackage and sell the games on the hand helds or as "All Stars" packs, but it was also infeasible.
Now with the devices sported Component Video or DVI jacks, the sets are becoming input limited. For good quality, nobody hooks their modern systems up via RF hookups, and lots of televisions only have one or two component hookups, asking people to give them both up for Nintendo is unreasonable, given that they don't play DVDs (meaning you need a component input for the DVD player).
I've loved all my Nintendo systems, and played them much more than anything but my Genesis, but I've been so busy that I rarely use my Gamecube despite having lots of games that I love. However, with backwards compatibility, I'll probably pick one up within the first 6 months or so, even though otherwise I might pass. Hell, if all it does is let me stop routing Stereo cables around and send it via digital audio, it'll be worth it to simplify wiring.
Alex
Because it increases the odds I'll actually buy it. If they all come out around the same time, I'll buy the cheapest one first, and then wait to see which of the other two I just have to have. Honestly, I'll be buying a PS2 when the 360 and the PS3 come out, because a) the bugs have been worked out in them finally (I think) and 2.5) The handful of great games I want to play on the PS2 (mostly RPGS) will finally be cheap enough I'll buy them.
ok.. so heads you lose tails I win. right?
If the size is correct, this form factor leads itself naturally to Revolution Blade Servers!
I guess we will soon see Beowulf clusters of these...
Personally, My A/V visual goals are quite simplistic. My entertainment system, aside from my TV are all cleverly hidden from view during nonusage.
The only advantage of your idea is possibly a space savings... but old consoles are packed away or migrated to another (lesser used) television.
*Shrugs shoulders*
Oh well.
Deja Vu
n. 1. The sensation that you've read this very article before.
Most home PCs now are the $500 complete systems sold by companies like Dell, Gateway, eMachines, etc. used primarily to browse the internet and do email. Most of these people are not really interested in games past Solitiare and games.yahoo.com. I suppose it may be true that most high end PC's are bought for games though.
how is the small size of the console going to contribute to the revolutionary aspects of the console? maybe it will be a detriment actually.
if they supported web, IM , and email through optional keyboards/mice.
Missing Comma.
Deja Vu
n. 1. The sensation that you've read this very article before.
Well those activities do not, as you say require a powerful computer. Suffice to say, those user would not have any incentive to "upgrade" in the future. Having no reason to upgrade would mean that you would see a decline in X86 "marketshare".
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Now divide the number for Europe by the number of different languages a title has to be translated into in order to meet all of that market.
Europe may be an enticingly large market, but translation costs, coupled with smaller sized runs of discs to meet those markets, complex distribution channels (what's the european equivalent of Walmart and Best Buy?)... it can all eat into profit margins.
The big money for these companies is in the US and Japan, where they can push volume.
For years, Sega always had to be FIRST FIRST FIRST FIRST when releasing anything, and they always had to hit the holiday system. Sega CD, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast. First, first, first, first first. Now they don't make consoles anymore.
Being able to hit the holidays is utterly unimportant for the vast majority of console releases. It's much more important to have a library of games available when the 4th quarter hits, and to build up a buzz among the hardcore gamers that should trickle into mainstream interest.
Basically, releasing a console before it's "ready" is always a bad idea.
Come on, the parent has very valid points. Game systems are also nicer than PCs in the respect that you don't have to worry about configuring games or worry about how it's going to perform or whatnot. People really dig that.
You know, much of the space in current console games is eaten up by the video cinematics and other extra things. Since the next gen consoles will be more powerful, they could realtime render the cinematics, reducing the amount of space required. More powerful compression for textures and music and the like could also be used because of their increased CPU power. A problem, but not incredibly so.
The Gamecube uses a format right now that only holds a bit less than 50% of what a normal DVD does. It doesn't seem too bad off for it.
Heck, they could just fit games on multiple DVDs like they've been doing for years for games with many prerendered cutscenes like Final Fantasy.
If they can make it as powerful as the PS3 and Xbox360 and also make it small enough to be a portable, they win.
I for one don't mind their Disney status in videogames, as long as they are capable of pumping out Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story or The Incredibles. yes, i know the last few are from a close third party, like Nintendo had Rare...
I don't feel like it...
Just because they said 12 cm discs doesnt mean they are dvds.
It could just be a dvd sized version of the gamecube disc. The space ofa dvd but the security features of the gamecube disc
Christ, you do realize that when you buy a new console, you don't have to destroy the older one, right?
Muhammad, you do realize that when you play an old console, especially one with moving optical drives and fans, it eventually destroys itself, right?
And what about launch titles? A backward-compatible Revolution would appeal to people who skipped the Cube, even if the Revo launch titles aren't sliced bread, because they still have the Cube's greatest hits.
If you want to play games, get a console; for everything else, get a computer, PC or Mac..
What if I want to play games from independent studios that are too small to be noticed by console game publishers, or even make games myself?
Now Star Fox 64... with that much voice acting, how did it manage to stay under a Gig? Nintendo has some of the best compression methods around. If I remember correctly, the voice acting from SF64 was done using an algorithm similar to MP3.
Mobile phones and other voice-tuned audio communication systems usually encode the voice with CELP (code excited linear prediction) rather than transform codecs such as MP3. Go to the Speex site to hear samples of how good voiceovers can sound even after lossy compression to 10 kbit/s.
the voice files were too big due to the extra languages
Which voice codec did you use? Some generic ADPCM or MP3 codec, or a specifically voice-tuned codec such as Speex?
The entire thing was textures. Gigabytes and gigabytes of compressed textures.
You could have gone the path of .the .product and generated a lot of the game's textures procedurally.
and look where they got, pretty much the #2 position. The Xbox has been a pretty big success. Seriously. Microsoft just up and decided to pop into the gaming market and bumped Nintendo into third place, really. As much as I personally dislike the Xbox, I have to admit it's been a success.
Nintendo really just needs to attract more big name brands to their console again.
Gabriel Ricard
Actually, it's not required. Fucking stupid, I know, but them's the rules of grammar.
First posting isn't trolling. It's...first posting.
Oh these topics are great for bringing out the cult-like fanboys.
Stuff on Macs vs. PCs is great for it too.
Why do people take it as an attack if you choose a different console then them. I mean for chrissakes... I'd rather have my choice of 3 or more consoles, then have to pick a winner. different people like different things.. but they don't like other people to like different things.
Hell if you want to like the xbox, or osx, or the psp... why give a fuck if someone else doesn't? I actually MISS the days of more choice for computers and consoles... it was always neat trying to figure out the workings of a new system.
Grow up fanboys... it's not all about you.
If I can't smoke and swear I'm fucked.
There's a fourth wildcard: Samsung.
:)
I have long expected Samsung to jump in with MS for the Xbox program if not buy out MS's share. The MTV special was LOADED with Samsung ads. The two companies are apparently already living together.
Why? Microsoft wants to beat PS3 and Samsung just wants Sony dead. Worse for Sony, Samsung is on a tear and actually has the products to do it, in vertical markets both dominated by Sony and in markets Sony can't touch. What crumbs Samsung leaves behind, LG is happy to grab. Sony is under huge pressure they simply have not felt in years.
For MS, Samsung brings the manufacturing skills that would come in handy for making consoles.
Right now, making Sony miserable is Samsung job #1 and if they can throw a few billion at videogames and give Sony a massive headache, they'll do it. In a flash.
So I speculate they will either go in with MS as coproducers on Xbox360 or the third Xbox will be made by Samsung and powered by MS.
If it happens, I was scoop credit.
Sig for hire.
I'm not gonna count my eggs before they hatch...your telling me that this thing won't overheat? They have had problems with it ever since n64! (After say, 48 hours of nonstop playing it would either A make noises or B shut off)...And dood, i measured that, thats almost small enough to fit into my pocket!, There is no way...Well maybie there is, but i was glad to see the addition of backward compatability, esp since i sold my gamecube to buy steel batallion for xbox (very fun, but very expensive)
Your skill in reading has increased by one point!
I'm not sure if I'm alone in this but I always thought of my GC as something a little bit different. I use my XBox for 'serious' games and PC Ports because I own a Mac, and to be honest £100 for an XBox seemed a lot more attractive than £1500 for a decent games machine.
I bought my GC for party games and genuine original content. I loved Monkey Ball, Doshin, Pikmin and Double Dash. The GC proved without a doubt that there was more to modern gaming than how many polygons you can process per second and how accurate your AI and physics engines are. I think thats what made it better for adults. When I was a kid I wanted more realism and violence, now I want more fun and originality.
This is why I'm excited by the Revolution as there will be something in there that is not obvious by the hardware specs, that will make it a worthwhile purchase - fun games.
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
Ain't got nothing on the Phantom.
The Revolution uses DVD media, not BluRay. Only the PS3 will be using BluRay media.
i must congratulate nintendo already for making ... ...
the revolution (rev-i?) game cube compatible.
i think everybody in the console market has learned
a lesson from all those dedicated emulator
programmers, that let you play playstation one etc.
disks on a normal pc
i missed to buy the game cube (living in
thailand), but i'm really looking forward to the
revi and i'm def. going to buy that gamecube
wipeout game!
now if only getting a newer console, speak
hardware, would also improve grafics and stuff
of "old" games
and another word about net-session. i hope someone
will offer a free open-source server so i can
setup my own server, since latency is an issue
and having to connect to a server in u.s. will
simple destroy that option?
He didn't say it was his sister.
n/t
Actually, Mr. Coward, it is required. I am typing in English.
Deja Vu
n. 1. The sensation that you've read this very article before.
BTW. Your comment is completely off-topic. There is no need to be a fucking grammar nazi.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Get back to work.
"Nintendo went a step further, announcing Tuesday to applause and cheers that Revolution's built-in wireless Internet will provide downloadable access to the thousands of games in company's 20-year-old library, going back to the original Nintendo Entertainment System."--http://portal.wowway.com/news/read.php?i d=13182274&ps=scitech&cat=&cps=
That ALONE is worth the price of admission, countless old school SNES rpgs that I would love to have, and not pay 50 bucks for on ebay. Hopefully these downloadable games will only come with a monthly fee or fairly cheap or just free.