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The Revolution's Power And Launch Date
IGN is reporting on new details for Nintendo's next-generation console. They have discussion of the Revolution's graphical power, and some reflection on when the console might launch. From the former article: "Based on the information studios have relayed to us, Revolution is truly poised to cater to an altogether different game market than either Microsoft or Sony with their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles respectively. Nintendo's machine will simply not deliver the same graphic horsepower as its competitors. Revolution is all about the controller and what it can do for gameplay experiences. When Revolution was initially unveiled, a Nintendo executive said it would be 'two-to-three times more powerful than GameCube.' The company never commented on Revolution's horsepower again and we were later told that the initial statement was incorrect. However, according to development houses, that description accurately sums up Revolution's power. "
See the DS vs PSP.
DS has the same power of a N64. Maybe less.
PSP has the power of a Dreamcast. Possibly more (although not the same as a PS2, despite what Sony claims).
DS outsells PSP worldwide. Has more, and better games.
XBox 360 is certainly out, but it has all the hallmarks of a product rushed to market. The Live integration seems to have been well polished, but what else? The overheating issues may or may not be as widespread as they are reported, but are a sad reality of the video game industry: you can sell a poorly designed 1st gen system that has an awful MTBF curve, and the consumers will still push old ladies out of line to buy it. Microsoft takes a huge loss on each system sold, and probably won't have a killer app until Halo 3. The backwards compatibility is a spotty work-in-progress. Given that we have yet to see whether or not the first-launched 360 has legs is not cause for "worry" about the Revolution. Sony is probably not behind the development curve, they just have to make claims to keep up in the press war like "Oh, we'll have backwards compatibility too!" and "PS3 will be a very expensive system!" Given the amount of FUD and marketing and questionable profitability of the economic models at work here, I'm looking forward to seeing if Nintendo's gamble pays off. To be worried at vague conjecture by the empty press releases, the gaming media that makes a mountain out of every molehill, and the warring fanboys is absurd.
A lot of people called the DS a gimmick but it has faired very well. Selling a lot of systems and creating a fun handheld with a lot of potential that is being taken advantage of. And I"m sure there's a lot more on the way.
I don't worry about the Revolution being a gimmick. It's innovation. It'll open up whole new possiblities in console gaming. Also having a system only two to three times more powerful is enough. Flashy graphics only get a system and its games only so far. I am not worried about the Revolution at all. While it might not outsell the PS3 I am pretty confident that Nintendo will turn a nice profit off of it and those of us who embrace the Revolution will be thrilled with endless hours of fun gameplay.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
The entire controller is motion-sensitive?
what?
So basically, you can't even shift your body once you start the game, otherwise your character will end up doing some funky jig. Dunno about the rest of you, but that seems mildly uncomfortable to put it mildly.
And what if you don't sit in a position that keeps the controller level? I use a beanbag, and my TV is several feet above the floor. So I'm usually at an angle towards the TV. Will Solid Snake be perpetually looking up as well since my controller is raised 45 degrees?
You know, I'm thinking that 2x-3x as powerful as the gamecube is about the same power as the 360 (and PS3 as well). People flipped out about that statement originally, assuming it meant the revolution was going to be some underpowered system, but every 360 game I see looks pretty much like this generation with less compression on the textures and higher res video.
I'm not too worried about the revolution giving us some good games, but I'm worried about mainstream gamers opening their eyes outside of MTV and IGN enough to see the potential.
I wouldn't worry too much about Nintendo, I think of all of the companies that are involved in the 'Next Generation' Nintendo's strategy is the strongest. How many times (in the past couple of years) have you played a game that was superior to most of the games that came before it and yet it was disapointing; Doom 3 and Quake 4 are probably the best examples but there are others. This is because improved Graphics, Sound and other features do not really translate into better gameplay experiances. Will Madden 2007 really be better on the Next Generation platforms than Madden 2006 was on the PS2?Now, don't get me wrong, I think the Revolution will provide a nice graphical improvement over the Gamecube, but (as with the XBox 360) the graphical improvement alone doesn't provide much of a benefit to most end users.
The controller as a 'gimick' or as a device that doesn't work all that well is something I hear all the time on these forums and I think that it is a huge misconception. There are 3 well known (reasonably) mature technologies that are being used in the Revolution controller; devices that have been used in the HCI (human computer interaction) community for almost a decade now. A gyroscopic rotational control has been used by several people to produce 'free-hand' mice; a translational device has been used in several (Minority Report like) gestural control devices; and an optical sensor device has been used to create many pointer-mouse controls (for demonstration purposes). The reason that none of these devices caught on was that they had limitations that prevented them from being as good as a conventional control setup; what is odd is that no one saw that the limitations of one was the strength of another and combined the devices (which is essentially what Nintendo did). The convergence of these technologies may provide a device which is better than the sum of it's parts, in which case I would say it would be one of the best HCI devices ever.
Now, whether you see the Revolution controller as a gimick or the way of the future I can say this; by being so distinct in the market it will only help Nintendo sell systems. I have shown the 'teaser trailer' to everyone from the most devout gamer to a person who's last game experiance was Pac-Man and (almost) all of their reactions were "I'd really like to try that". If the revolution is inexpensive enough I am willing to bet that many of those "I'd really like to try that" becomes "I'm going to buy that"
Based on my contacts at a few dev. studios, they all seem excited about developing for the system and the overall feel I have received is that it will be about 2x as powerful as a Gamecube powerwise.
However, folks tend to forget that the Gamecube offered 8 layer texture mapping... 8. That is huge, however, the GC was simply not powerful enough to really do anything meaningful with a screen full of 8 layer polys.
If the graphics chip ends up being a slightly updated GC chip, I'm cool with that. I have seen what can be done in demos on the GC and sweet Jebus is it amazing!... yet only graphic demos.
So if the system ends up about 2-3x as powerful with a 1.5x GPU you now have a very capable system that can produce graphics plenty pretty enough to look stunning even on a HD set.
I truly believe that the folks who are mainly concerned with numbers and horsepower will stay away from the Revolution - or maybe buy one in addition to another system - and that is FINE. There are so many families and casual gamers out there clamoring for a simpler system that the numbers will eclipse us "hardcore" gamers. While we are strong, we are few in the grand scheme of things. Realize that more Billions of dollars are pulled in by many forms of entertainment like Barbie dolls annually than out beloved hardcore gaming demographic. When Nintendo taps this wide market, Sony and MS will soon be doing an about face and targeting them too.
I wish Nintendo and the true spirit of gaming nothing but the best, and I will be purchasing a Revolution on day 1 and have my pre-order in as soon as they become available to help show the amount of initial interest and garner as much developer support as possible.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
I had a crazy thought a few days ago.
Sony said that they still had a major surprise to reveal about the PS3. What if that surprise is that their controller also has a gyroscopic sensors built into it, giving it the same capabilities as the Revolution controller?
This would make Microsoft and their "traditional" controller the odd man out. Sony's market share (coupled with Nintendo's market share) would push developers away from the 360. Why would Sony side with the big N? Sony's not worried about Nintendo taking away its customers because the PS3 is a more powerful system and follows in the footsteps of the PS2, which already has an install base of around 100 million.
In the meantime, Nintendo can compete with Sony by having a lower-priced system, and by relying on its franchises (Mario and company) to sell the new games. Both companies are winners, while Microsoft's future doesn't look that great.
Take this post with a proverbial grain of salt - it's more of a what-if scenario.
Nor am I; although it could stand higher-resolution output. Otherwise, it's pretty much fine.
Pretty much. What I've seen has been pretty much crap compared to the current generation. Slight improvements at best; no high-poly models, particle effects, etc.
People still complain that the FF8 demo was faked, yet we have games like Jak 3, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, and others that far surpass it. Even the Cube has had various graphically awesome works (despite the involvement of some bafmodads). Unfortunately, the XBOX never really got that much spectacularly better than its first generation; maybe it never had the time to mature, or maybe there was just nothing else there. In the same way, maybe the 360 will... but maybe it won't, too. Especially if it'll only last another 4 years.
OK, this I have to quibble with. Even various PS3 trailers, regardless of your opinion on their veracity---while amazingly better than what we're used to---are still not photorealistic. I point you at, for instance, the Yafray gallery, which has some fairly amazing pieces. I don't believe the PS3 even claims realtime radiosity and raytracing, which we'll want to see before we truly claim photorealism. And there's a ways to go beyond that.
(This is one reason the Cell, despite not being the PS3's main GPU, is exciting; radiosity and raytracing can be done in amazing parallel. The more CPUs you throw at it, the faster you can do it, down to the pixel. Wouldn't it be fun to build such an engine on a box with 4-8 cells? All those independent SPEs... tasty.)
I think we have different definitions of "hardcore" here. "Hardcore" gamers are not the sort whose first game was Halo in the frathouse. Hardcore gamers are the sort who still get out their NES, and have the imagination to play tabletop games. These are the sort Nintendo is still catering to.
Of course, if all they make is party games, and don't start putting out a serious library, they'll never get anywhere. This is Nintendo's main problem right now. Not how many pixels they can push; how many games they can make.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
Metroid Prime will use it to simulate mouselook (it works awesomely in the demo).
If by "awesomely" you mean "induces agonizing hand and wrist pain," yes.
That is the biggest problem I have with the DS. I enjoy most of the games, but it is the least ergonomic device I've ever used. I can only play Mario Kart DS for 20 minutes or so before I have to put it down. I hope that they release a revised version some day that isn't so painful to use.