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Retro Gaming Gains A Savior?
1up.com has a look at a new slimline NES console made by a company named Messiah. They hope the console, named Generation NEX, will be able to reach consumers in retail stores. From the article: "We think our products can be mainstream, it's just a matter of finding and reaching those people. Everyone loves the NES, and grew up playing it...We're hoping to get Generation NEX into mainstream retailers. We think that'll help out a lot. It's kind of like one of those impulse buys, people aren't searching for it but when they come across it they'll be like 'whoa, I want that!'...The greatest challenge was incorporating all of the extra features into the hardware...It's quite easy just to make a clone that works with the existing stuff, but then when you incorporate the built-in wireless and all the other stuff that went into this hardware ... That was the biggest challenge, getting everything to work together."
Wireless NES controllers, rumble protocol, 16 colours!!!! Heracy!
The whole point of the NES controller was that it was built to last. POed with a game, throw the controller out of a window. New games for the NES. WTF? Unless they actively pay me to take this console off their hands I see no reason why I should buy this instead of a current gen system, or an original 'cool' NES. And lets face it, modern emulators do a better job as they play current games as well.
If they're building this because they can... all power to them. If they're building this to market, I have two words: Market Research.
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
Wouldn't this necessitate that they duplicate the system-side functionality of the 10NES chip in such a way as to violate Nintendo's patent? Seeing as precedent stands in Nintendo's favour regarding the replication of cart-side 10NES functionality, with Tengen having lost its case, if the patent is still valid, one would think that this hardware would not be legal in the United States. But has the 10NES patent expired? Or do carts function without 10NES hardware on the system side, though the reverse is not the case?
With the Revolution, PS3, and Xbox 360 coming out soon, won't this disappear without a trace?
I am SO buying this. I think there's enough people who are too poor for the new generation or are pissed off at modern games/game companies in general that this thing will make some money.
"What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
I could see this succeeding or failing.
One thing I didn't see in the article is if they had Nintendo's blessing in all of this. If not, Nintendo could potentially swoop in and take them out, or just take over the company on threat or stopping the product altogether. I assume they haven't gotten this far without some legal talking, but I can't be sure to the extent of that.
The system must debut at an equal price or lower price to the GBA SP at the time. Even in the updated form, the console can't match the graphics of the GBA (can it even match the GBC?), and don't even try to compare it to the current generation of consoles.
Having some form of a developer kit would really boost it. Those toying with the gaming industry would get some first hand experience at 'easier' coding. A fairly inexpensive dev kit, including a cartridge that either hooks up to the computer while in the NEX or can download from the computer and then be put into NEX, software for writing games (and perhaps something like RPG Maker,) and a 'getting started' book would be awesome.
Allow the software to be downloaded for free, but unless they have some other input device (which I also didn't see in the article,) you'll only be able to use a cartridge for that.
Re-release the classics. Chances are that not many people have NES games, so they'll have to release something, or many people will have nothing to play on it. Since the capacity of memory per area has greatly increased since the days of the original NES, take advantage of that: offer extras, if possible.
Alternatively, the article mentioned that, with the expand graphics and rumble support, they could update many games. That would be awesome (Four Swords in the original Hyrule?), but if you have the memory storage to allow it, include the original version of the game for those feeling nostalgic.
I see this console being bought mainly by the older generation. Many of the NES games were quick pick-up-and-play games. Most working adults who loved games as a kid don't have the 80 hours to put into massive games, and this would give them a great alternative. These adults will then share the console with their kids, who will gain an appreciation for gameplay over graphics, perhaps spearheading an improvement in games for the current consoles.
Or not. In any case, I hope that this system comes to frutility (from the looks of it, we're much more likely to get the NEX than the Phantom.) If the price is right, I can see myself easily picking this up.
It really does sound like emulation with a different box...
It's not emulation, it's what people in the know call a "famiclone". In fact, there are probably dozens of similar systems out on the market - if you look up famicom systems on Ebay (or NES systems) 99% of the results will be this thing or similar models, not real Nintendo systems.
The Famicom was reverse-engineered years ago. Nintendo hates it but there's nothing they can do about it. These sorts of consoles have been on the market for probably a decade now. Interestingly enough, the vast majority of those plug and play TV game systems (like the Intellivision 25 in 1, the Atari 10 in 1 and Activision 10 in 1, etc.) are built using a "famicom on a chip" - same basic idea. They're using the famicom to emulate whatever system they're supposed to be.
Nintendo does go after "pirate" consoles every once in a while, but these are systems with Nintendo software pre-installed on them. They always carefully word their press releases so that it looks like the console itself is illegal, though, and the media usually plays along. It's a scare tactic.
Frankly, I don't see why 1up thinks this model is so special, unless this is just the first they've heard that such things exist. That doesn't really make it newsworthy, though.
(Sometimes news isn't really about how new something is but about letting people know about something they probably don't already know about... but the fact is famiclones have been on the market for a long time and are neither going away nor are they headed for the mainstream.)
I'd be willing to bet given the massive success Nintendo has had with their re-release of old NES games for the GBA and the NES-coloured GBAs, Nintendo will be watching this very closely to see if they can stop it.
With one of Revolution's biggest known features being backwards compatibility right back to the NES I'm sure Nintendo won't want a competing product out there that might cost them a Revolution sale.
Lik-Sang is taking preorders for 60 US dollars.
Of course, that's with one wired controller and no hard drive...
Shipping date is set for the end of august.
The ______ Agenda
Price the Messiah at $50 with games from $5 to $10 and it might find its niche. Providing a free SDK and selling programmable carts would help, too.
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
I've covered videogames for some years, and my initial reaction was that this... sweet! but then I thought about it more. Having programmed a bit for the NES I can personally attest to the difficulty and hurdles to overcome.
A system that has these same features and accepts a cheap flash memory like SD that runs it's own 2D games utilizing an easy, modern programming language and has the ability to run NES games in emulation would go much further and be able to be made much cheaper.
This thing is headed for failure either because of poor market research or lawyer costs trying to save their asses. Any serious older gen gamer is going to buy a Revolution and get the same thing but with so much more.
Gaming in general needs to go back to 2D. 3D is great for FPS' but that's about it. 3D has been a square peg in a round hole for years and what kills me is that companies cling to it as tightly as possible. Ever notice why the GB/GBA does so well? People want FUN games with SIMPLE controls, whoever thinks that a controller with 18+ buttons and three directional inputs is a good thing is an idiot.
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I didnt Read the Fancy Article, but I see a lot of people speculating that this company will go under after Nintendo crushes them with their legal might.
Not going to happen, because...
Nintendo's patent on the NES is over. There have always been Famiclones out there, but now we are seeing very nice ones being released. Wonder why? Because they are legal and products companies want to succeed in the face of other Famiclones.
the Intellivision was a base 10 system
No, it wasn't. The Intellivision's CPU was actually a 16-bit processor. The common misconception of the Intellivision as a 10-bit system comes from the fact that since the majority of it's commands were 10 bits long, the game cartridges used 10-bit ROMs. The CPU also handled 8-, 14-, and 16-bit commands and data. When the occasional 14- or 16-bit command was used, it would be stored in two 10-bit words (a bidecle) with the excess bits ignored.
I should point out also that the bit width of the famicom-on-a-chip makes no difference for the Intellivision 25-in-1 game unit, since the hardware is NOT running an emulator. Those games are all re-written (or ported) to run on the famiclone hardware.
For technical information on the Intellivision, from the same people who programmed it back in the 80's, visit the following link:
http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bluesky/hardwar
Must... think up... something... clever!