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Nintendo Confirms Wii on GC Housing at E3
kukyfrope writes "Nintendo's PR Manager, Matt Atwood, has confirmed accusations that Wii demo stations at E3 were not running inside the Wii case and instead were running inside Gamecube housing using Wii-spec hardware. 'The Wii hardware we exhibited at E3 2006 was made specifically for the E3 show and is not the final mass-production version. Some of this hardware was cased in Nintendo GameCube housing.'" Update: 05/19 21:08 GMT by Z : Changed 'hardware' to 'housing' in title.
And was the controller just a mars bar wrapped in tin foil?
I guess I'm not going to buy a Wii now, because they housed the hardware for the demo inside a GameCube.
Come on Sony, you can poison the well better than that.
Apology to Ubuntu forum.
Do I not get it? Why would anyone care what case they were in?
there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
...but not unexpected for a 5-to-6-months-before release demo.
:)
It showcased what they wanted it to do - they could have cased in hardened dog shit for all I personally would have cared
They weren't running ON Gamecube hardware. They were running IN Gamecube shells. The summary is more true to fact than the subject.
From TFA:
Nintendo confirmed that they did indeed use GameCube housing, but that the "guts" or internal architecture was certainly from the Wii. "The Wii hardware we exhibited at E3 2006 was made specifically for the E3 show and is not the final mass-production version. Some of this hardware was cased in Nintendo GameCube housing," the company explained.
That makes it sound like they were doing something wrong. Who cares what case it was in if the hardware was the real deal?
If the GBA SP and DS lite are any indication, I predict that 18 months after Wii hits the market, Nintendo will announce the WiiCube, a Wii console shaped like a GameCube with a larger disc well and more built-in memory for more Virtual Console products.
Why do we need to ask a Nintendo executive what a GameCube looks like?
Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!
Had this not been the case, then either the GCN is forward compatible or that there'd be Wii controller kits for the GCN.
I mean, it's not like someone was playing it for a while, then looked down and saw a GCN and said "Eeewww, I've been playing on a previous-gen console."
I mean, to think that they used plastic housing cases that weren't exactly the same as the final production models, even if all the important metal and fiber bits inside were!
I am just appalled.
Oh, wait. No, it's Friday.
Never mind: I forgot I actually have a life.
As you were.
They can put them in brown paper sacks for all I care.
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It shouldn't matter if it was in an Atari 2600 case, the hardware inside was closer to Wii spec, and not gamecube spec.
THE HORRRROOORRRR!!!
Did the Wiimote work? That's 90% of the point and feature of the Wii's system right there. So, big frickin deal.
It's not like the goal of the machines was better graphics and processor power, and they had them running on PCs.
Can a GC be overclocked and still work?
Well, maybe it can, but I want to know if we can make a Beowulf cluster out of Wii hardware.
Then we can have a Wii Beowulf cluster.
Thanks, I'll be here all week.
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And was the controller just a mars bar wrapped in tin foil?
No, it was a belgian chocolate mockup wrapped in gold foil, and the whole audience was responding to hypnotic suggestion.
Well, that does it for me, I'll choose the incredibly stable never-used-before Blu-ray PS3 instead of the Wii.
It's not like I care about the games more than the boxes anyways.
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I'm not sure why this is a big deal, or even a surprise -- at last year's E3, the 360 was emulated on heavily modded PowerPCs. When I saw a stack of them at EA, I couldn't help but giggle at the huge Apple logos emblazoned on the side and the small, unassuming "Property of Microsoft" labels affixed to the top of each machine.
I want to make a Beowulf cluster of the energy which is generated from people on /. who post about Beowulf clusters and then form an electric being which will be pre-programmed to know all the old classic /. jokes...
... and the like...
In soviet russia Beowulf clusters you!
1) create super being
2) ????
3) Profit!
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
Just what are 'teh goggles' suposed to do?
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
I'm sorry comrade, but we'd have to put you inside a Gamecube shell first, and I have a suspicion your hardware and software probably won't fit.
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There seems to be accusations of "faking it" at every E3. I guess the industry has brought it on itself, showing stuff like the supposed Madden for Xbox 360 screen shots that were much better than the actual game when it shipped. This stuff has been going on for years and it's no wonder that audiences are wary of being duped by faked demos.
But 6 months before the console hits the shelves, the only hardware that exists is in prototype versions. It is not suprising that the floor models were put together with duct tape, GameCube cases and whatever else they had on-hand. I would be suprised if the actual Wii games don't look better than what Nintendo had on display at this years E3, as developers have more time to work on games and get them polished.
Don't forget that Friday is Hawaiian shirt day.
*thud*
Obviously, you'll want to name that electrical being "Grendel".
egypt urnash minimal art.
I thought they were cutting down all the trees so they could build a highway up to Whistler. What ever will you swing from?
...you obviously haven't been looking at the front page of /. at all. Since you haven't seen it, I'll sum it up for you.
...and that's about it.
Google!
Wii!
Sun!
Wii!
Linux!
Wii!
Micro$oft iz teh suXX0r!
Wii!
You forgot the one aboNWwE3k!@e%$##!+++NO CARRIER
-gjr
So the Wii is compact enough to fit the guts inside a gamecube case? I could honestly see this having quite a bit of potential..
Mostly./ 2132242
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/15
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
I don't care if the hardware was housed inside a shoebox. It came, it saw, it kicked some ass. Whatever case it came in doesn't mean shit.
On a related note, a shoebox Wii would be pretty cool.
That's a really odd choice for nintendo, given the fact that the gamecube is a fairly 'customized' piece of hardware (3 boards, funky controller ports, etc) crammed into a REALLY tight space.
I would have found it much more likely for them to have been put in some generic grey box or something like that for E3........
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
yep, but the games will run faster and be harder as result ;)
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
I for one welcome our beowulf overlords.
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
And was the controller just a mars bar wrapped in tin foil?
Does this mean that the Wii launch will be like the old rumors around the Xbox 360 launch?
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Not having the production plastic case ready is not a bad thing.
But, being able to stuff the prototype electronics in the gamecube case is a Good Thing:
The Wii will most likely not be Hot, Loud (fans), or obnoxiously large and obtrusive like other consoles.
The relevant question is: Can the GC be networked into a cluster to create a nuclear bomb? Evil nut cases want to know...
It looks like everybody is missing the point.
Accusation: Nintendo doesn't have their Wii hardware ready and is just running the demos on GameCube hardware with a new controller plugged in.
Fact: Nintendo doesn't have their Wii hardware ready and is just running the demos on GameCube hardware that has been upgraded to Wii specs with a new controller plugged in.
Difference: Accusation is correct: Nintendo doesn't have final hardware ready yet (no biggie). Accusation is incorrect: Nintendo is just using GameCube hardware for demos and dev kits and hasn't gotten the updated hardware story figured out yet (this would be scary).
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
Probably not; I really doubt that in this day and age game speed is tied to clock speed. Pretty much all games have their own timing routines.
I'll ask the Squirrel Liberation Army, they're a friend of mine here at the UW on Facebook.
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Even after the update, this is an extremely confusing headline. How about not abbreviating Game Cube to GC? And I believe the corrent preposition would be "in" or "inside" not "on". "Housing?" Are we talking about Habitat for Humanity? Just because the article uses it doesn't mean we have to. How about "Case?" "Shell" would be better, too.
Normally I don't care about this stuff, but this one annoyed the hell out of me for some reason.
-If
Run a pencil-and-paper RPG campaign with your far-off friends: Gametable!
The cube has got to be the coolest shape ever. The G4 cube is one of the best looking production PCs out there. The GameCube is the best looking 4th generation console out there. (I hope I'm getting the generation right.. NES -> Super NES -> N64 -> GameCube (4th gen right?) )..
Anyways.. onlything more cool than a cube is a better looking cube or a sphere. But unless they can make it hover and stuff, I doubt a sphere could be as cool as a cube. It'll just roll around and stuff. Not very practical.
I think this could actually be a good thing, think about the attention they drew with this thing... All the same, Sony and MS have been pulling this shit for years and they move units(although how profitable...) Let's see how well it works for Nintendo, they've been the only one that's been straightforward(read: honest)with their work and what to expect from it since day one. In my mind it can only run BETTER than what they showed at E3 and present their customers with a pleasant surprise in terms of raw power and functionality. As the saying goes, it's what you DON'T see that can hurt you.
Magic Carpet was... playing it on a modern PC results in "Start! YOU ARE DEAD."
I guess it *should* be "in" instead of "on". However, "housing" is certainly a common technical term and I don't get that part of your rant.
I know more than you drink.
Accusation: Nintendo is still running games off of modified Gamecube hardware.
:-)
Fact: While this was true for most of last year, and some of this year, E3 2006 saw Wii technology housed in black Gamecube casing.
---space.is.the.place---
Sony BluRay laptop demo was using a DVD-ROM!
Karl Rove has been indicted!
Everything you read on the intrawebs is the absolute truth!
Well, it's all about context - housing as manufacturing jargon is not my default interpretation of the word "housing." Since I had no idea what GC meant, nor was the proper preposition used, it was difficult to figure out what was going on at all. And I don't see it as a common technical term, but industry jargon - as a programmer I don't encounter it much in that context.
-If
Run a pencil-and-paper RPG campaign with your far-off friends: Gametable!
hah! i couldnt care less! so it was in gamecube cases...who cares??
if it gets me my Wii sooner, ship it in gamecube cases!!
sony and microsoft don't have bupkis to play on here...
sometimes, i wonder if i'm the only conservative on teh intarweb. ah well, back to mah hogs and warmongerin'....
In fact, this is an interesting question.
If the hardware is really proved to be a souped-up GameCube hardware, then a working Beowulf cluster of Wiis might not be that far.
More interesting, it would be a wireless cluster. Neat, eh?
Don't you think its odd that if sony was to do somthing like this, you would all be up in flames, but since its nintendo, you just go 'oh well' after whatching the sony bashing that has taken place these past few weeks, you get the idea someone is running a astro-turf campain.
now a little to the left
My dual opteron system sucks becuase it's in a cheap Antec case without a fancy smansy platic window with colored florescent neon green lighting! Damn... without the case my system is nothing!
They were the devices in racks between the monitors.
They're not PCs in there. They're not "representative hardware". They're PS3s, devkits.
No, they weren't in final plastics yet either.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
The NES got a redesign as well around the time MegaMan 4 (or was it 6?) came out (NES went from front-slot loading to SNES-style slot loading.)
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Isn't the Wii's processor just a faster version of the GC processor? That's why the wii is able to play GC games. The Wii slows down it's clock speed for a GC game and voilla!
...if this is the best dirt to be dug up on Nintendo's new console, if the worst we can say of Nintendo is "Their console is named funny and was in strange boxes!", then we should retire from the business. You might as well complain that Mother Theresa hurt the image of Theresas everywhere by looking old.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
Since I had no idea what GC meant
"Nintendo" is in the title. What else does Nintendo make that starts with the initials GC?
Accusation: Wii technology is modified GameCube hardware.
Fact: True.
The Wii running through Gamecubes was this rumor that's been circling and some people thought it was a big deal. So this 'housing' was confirmed, and an article about it was posted here. Nothing bad in that. Good to know the facts from Slashdot! No need to start a war against every piece of text posted.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
All the games companies show games on unfinished hardware, why is this even news? Remember last year the X360 demos were on dual CPU Macs with Radeon X800s until the hardware was finished. And at this year's E3 Sony demoed Gran Turismo HD on a PC! That's not even vaguely similar architecturally to the PS3!
I saw an auction on eBay a while back for an early GameCube dev kit. The CPU clockspeed was listed as only half that of the final GameCube and the graphics hardware was missing a few pipelines. It was also bigger than the final hardware so it couldn't fit in the GC's case. Was demoing GameCube games on that at E3 also misleading?
And what have we got this year? Wii hardware that's too big to fit in Wii cases, so they stuck it in a GC case. Even if Nintendo were just using GCs and there wasn't any Wii hardware in them, I don't think it's particularly important because a) the Wii isn't about graphical power and b) the GC is essentially a subset of the Wii's final spec. So it's the equivalent of working on a cut down Wii anyway, like the early GC dev kit I mentioned above was a cut down version of the final GC hardware.
There's no reason that you couldn't tie game speed to clock speed on a console, because you can assume that any particular console has the same clock speed as all others. PC's are different
Subtext, perhaps we shouldn't be complaining about those ps2 demo's rendered on the slightly diffrent hardware of SGI workstations :P
Small is hard... That's why PDA's aren't crazy fast...
Crazy heat issues etc... one of the hottest components is wireless (radio waves)...
If the Wii has several seperate wireless connections (8 it sounds like) that thing is going to be REALLY REALLY REALLY hot, depite the mediocre graphics and cpu the wireless alone provides a massive technical challenge.
Reading through 20 Nintendo apology posts made me sad... they're scamming, it sucks, they admitted it... gamers are NOT picking on Nintendo about this, it blows that anyone would do this and it's especially problematic because some 3rd parties DO get their info from E3 while Nintendo seems to be using it to mislead(however minorly) the consumer.
Whoever said that games will probably look better later could be right but what kind of attitude is that to take when someone lies to you.
Back in 2004, there were many rumours that Nintendo was going to announce a new peripheral add-on for the Gamecube that would add new functionality and possibly extend the life of the Gamecube. Let's assume that this peripheral was the "Wii-mote".
So let's put all this logic together about 6 months after this announcement:
1) The Gamecube never really got it's established fanbase.
2) Around the same time, Nintendo launches the DS. The "Wii-mote" would have distracted Nintendo from the DS launch.
3) Let's say that had trouble making the "Wii-mote" work... say... the Gamecube lacked the CPU horsepower, or they needed to "refine" the controller more.
4) Sony and MSFT both announces their next-gen consoles at this same time.
So, you have this potentially revolutionary controller. Why try and compete against Sony and MSFT with the dying Gamecube? Add some horsepower to the Gamecube. Add a new GPU, and voila... you have a new console.
Therefore, it doesn't surpise me that they COULD have a "pushed" Gamecube at E3 to demonstrate Wii's capabilities.
1) It explains the un-exceptional graphics... or at least graphics the Gamecube could do.
2) It explains the huge amount of games demoed at E3.
3) It explains the "Gamecube" housings.
4) It explains how "polished" the demos were, and how refined the Wii-mote works.
5) It explains why the Wii development kits are so cheap... they are probably very much similar to the Gamecube.
So it doesn't surprise me that the Wii was disguised in the Gamecube housing. In the end, does it really matter? I'm still buying one at launch.
Until the greedy bastard from IGN ate it.
All that nice hardware was insulted by the glitsy case. it's kind a like saying your favourite career is marketing..I deliberately stripped down th case given to me by my prother and ade it look like a regular server box!
My original plan was to use my old Dell PIII case. They're nice and slim desktops (prefer those to towers) Unfortunately the hardware wouldnt fit inside the Dell case. The height of the cpu and fan made it unworkable and the mainboard was also too big. Pity. I really like the idea of 'prince in shabby clothes' I loved the old SNES cases. Im sure someone somewhere has a mini ITX in one.
As an aside, I love the idea behind the Wii/revolution. I think it's gonna be the best of the 3 and at ~$200, it'll sell like hot cakes!
It should appeal to a wide demographic as well as Nintendo fans like me.
could be the best thing since swiss cheese, and Microsoft as well as Sony know that damn well.
If they make sure the controll er is DURABLE and RESPONSIVE enough, it's the winner
But, if they don't and the system sucks over all, I will *sigh* painfully becasue it's the best idea for progress in console development yet.
incidentally, I also believe that the DS was a good attempt at handheld developent. Nintendo will really cash in on consumer loyalty (as they have before) because they offer more for less. Aside from richer graphics and sound, theres nothing special about the other 2. In fact allot of what I've seen is disapointing sam'ol same'ol.
The Wii is new and fresh and fun, not to mention cheap. It will also be the choice for parties etc. as the controller should ake for a good laugh. I haven't owned a console since the SNES - my first and last to date. I really wasn't bothered, but I may very well get the Wii. I think they'll open up a whole new market and you can be sure they're are many people who think just like me on this matter
I disagree with this. This is an insightful thought, and Nintendo has a history of releasing redesigns. However, all of their changes have been in the direction of smaller and more elegant - more Apple-esque, if you will. This in particular appeals to the Japanese, who are space-conscious and thus turned their nose at the Xbehemoth.
The currently shown Wii design is about as small and elegant as can be created, still having room for a full-size DVD slot. Moreover, it already has wireless capabilities. After the Wii enters the market, they will release elegant add-ons, but not a redesigned console.
I assumed this! http://www.wii-volution.com
For the latest Wii News, reviews, and downloads. http://www.wii-volution.com
If Nintendo actually did put the Wii guts into a Gamecube case, wtf is wrong with that? The Gamecube is so perfectly compact and it spits out very little heat compared to an Xbox or a PS2.. I'd love it.
--- We need more Ron Paul!
well,reading some rumors,and some stuff that was told and etc,for me,what happened is like this: IBM did the processor,and its ready :3,and its probably the last unrelased G3 with some heavy nintendo modifications to support game cube code and some new stuff like physics (just look at a truck collision on Excite truck,and tell me,a nintendo coder really can do that on a game cube or overclocked game cube?)
but ATI on the other hand is Slow,thanks to the X-box 360 video
as we all know,ati had all her vid chips slowed down by the 360 video chip,and i think that the nintendo one is on that slowed down list,so,this wii's on E3 probably are a frankenWiis,with a ready processor,and the original gamecube vid with some overclock on it
but Why Wii vid needs to actually be ready,instead of just getting the X1300 of the shelf and etc?
my guess is that nintendo instead of reliyng on heavy shader performance,just got a "ok it works" one,and did all the trendy stuff like normal map and sub surface with a dedicated hardware stuff,as dedicated hardware is a lotta smaller than shader execution units,and faster too o.o
No problem you just need to make some speed holes in your case ;)
sowhat... That's really the most appropriate tag for this story and I'm glad people put it there. What they had at E3 was still a working model, and it makes no difference to me if they put it in a gamecube case or if they put it in a pink elephant case as long as it works and does everything as advertised. This really seems like the most innovative console in a long time. Cheers to Nintendo to not worrying so much about the bleeding edge graphics and focusing more on great gameplay.
--
http://www.wiishlist.com
I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.
-Xenocrates
What was the point in that? Why would you show something off thats not even the finial? And GC - Wii is quite different!
Talk later, Holmesey For free Domain names, PSP's & I-Pod's click
there's the trees in the world's largest national park just north of Whistler. trees have a habit of growing, you know.
but thanks for asking.
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Seriously, Sony last year runs cut-scenes as in-game footage, makes fun of the Wii controller only to hastily copy it, and this is the best that people can use to take jabs at the Wii?!?
C'mon. Normally I could care less and stay far away from this "console war" marketing crap, but this is just re-damn-diculous. People need to realize that no matter if _they_ will buy a Wii or if they even hate every game released for it, that the Wii is the single greatest thing that could happen to their beloved industry as it will cause a rapid break from the never ending sequels and stagnant genre's that have been dead and beaten continuously for years now.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea