"With that we began talking about 3D. The camera he is going to be shooting with is called THE FUSION CAMERA, which is scheduled to shoot a U2 Concert in the next couple of days. I love that he knows where his camera is going. Anyway. Jim’s planning on shooting 3D not so much as the stab you in the eye, throw a flaming spear at you type of thing, but as, what he calls, “A More Lucid Window,” through which to observe the worlds that he’s going to unleash upon us.
When I began talking about the questionable Home Entertainment application in terms of immediate revenue return, like the 2D market today… especially with this film being seen widely in the superior stereoscopic format. Cameron said that all the at-home viewing technology is developed and is sitting waiting for content. Before the technology giants like SONY come out with the perfect 3D at home screening units – they need to have at least 30-40 major popular titles to package to offer in an initial offering to the public. That’s where the retro-fitting of 2D films to Stereo Optics is coming in. 3D STAR WARS, INDIANA JONES, etc. I asked him which of his films would get that treatment and at this time he’s really concentrating on T2 and TITANIC."
Link to James Cameron interview with Harry Knowles
James Cameron doesn't mention Nintendo, but he does say that the technology is sitting just waiting for content. He also says companies LIKE SONY would be doing this with home entertainment.
Reggie has said that the Revolution will be all about "entertainment" didn't he?
We all need time machines so we can go to May 9th right now so we can end this and find out what Nintendo is really going to do, once and for all.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
Deep thoughts and deep feelings are what the Revolution will help accomplish in games
Nintendo claims that all developers, big and small, will be able to develop for its next generation console, code-named Revolution. Despite this promise, though, the process of getting a game out isn't quite as simple for the smaller, independent developers as we might like. 'The Indie Scene' aims to spread the word about independently developed games and help out the people behind them, who can be just as passionate about making games as the big guys, if not more so.
Crossbeam are based in Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA, and have a total staff count of just 17; they are, however, on the look out for more help to ease the pressure caused by their own, huge ambition, so if you think you're good enough or want to know what you could do to help, you may want to visit their website and give them a bell. Rather than settling for developing arguably more realistic, smaller games, Crossbeam instead have chosen to aim high and set their benchmarks more akin to the standards of Eternal Darkness and Legend Of Zelda rather than the likes of smaller, simpler Gameboy or PC games you might find other such smaller developers making.
The 'Crossbeam dream' began back in 1999, when a group of friends in high school got together and decided that they wanted to create PC games. Each member gained experience in their respective chosen fields with time and as a whole they set upon their mission of creating games, picking up new recruits along the way to reach the 17 person team of the present day. Together, they have a combined experience of around 45 years - perhaps not difficult when one member of your team is 54 years young.
After beginning development for PC after years of design, Crossbeams' collective imagination was captured by a certain new console codenamed Revolution by a certain games company beginning with 'N'. Much of the team already had a fondness of Nintendo, and so it didn't take much persuasion for all attention to turn towards the console. Unfortunately, they have yet to obtain a software development kit for the mysterious system, and so they are concentrating their efforts on creating demonstrations of their projects on PC to show to publishers and developers in the future (possibly at E3 2006), in a bid to impress them and woo Nintendo into granting them official Revolution developer status.
Although they have vampire game ‘Darkness’ in design stages and the just-revealed futuristic action/adventure ‘Thorn’ in a similar state, Orb is Crossbeam Studios’ baby. Twelve of the seventeen team members are concentrating on Orb primarily in their efforts to get the game onto Nintendo Revolution. Orb is scheduled to be of the action/adventure genre (utilising a battle system similar to Zelda), but will feature limited RPG elements, such as levelling up weaponary (15 different stages per weapon) and magical powers; you’ll find no experience points or reams of statistics, RPG fans may be disappointed to learn, but a suitably epic story will be making an appearance.
The story originated from a series of dreams that Crossbeam founder Greg Szemiot had. Inspired and moved by these images in his sleep, Greg put pen to paper and came up with a draft of a storyline. When he and his friends decided to make a game, the story Greg had written was the natural choice for it, and as Orb came along and more people had their hand in its progress, it found itself in its current story, one of a bitter war led against a nation by a brutal army, the Kulon. The nation Delphire eventually falls to Kulon, as the latter tears through the former’s people, striking down men, women and children indiscriminately, and ultimately one particularly fierce Kulon warrior crowns himself as ruler of the land. Continuing his arrogant power trip, the self-imposed king decides that he’d rather like to control everybody’s lives and souls in every way possible, including (but not limited to) their beliefs; ah, religion, the most powerful weapon known to man. There is a problem with this though: in the world of Orb there are Imanti, ‘Guardians of Faith’, who, well, guard the faith. Our glorious leader decides that one such way to control belief would be to go straight to the source and kidnap an Imanti, which he happily does. However, he doesn’t reckon upon this particular Imanti having trainees underneath him, who aren’t too thrilled that their mentor has been whipped from beneath their noses. They set off after him but, as with any great tale, they may be letting themselves in for far more than they bargained for…It is this storyline, full of death and destruction, that is making Orb teeter between being rated as a teen or mature game.
The quality of the story and the talent behind it can be seen when some events during Orb’s lifetime are uncovered. The storyline, much of which is kept securely underwraps at Crossbeam, with the above being perhaps but a brief snippet, helped Orb to win a ‘best in class’ award at university against 120 other hopeful projects due to quality dialogue and characters, and perhaps one of the best compliments a team could hope for was bestowed upon the game – it was compared to the Zelda franchise. Another display of the brilliance of the full storyline is found with a friend of the studio, who would read pages of it to his delighted children at bedtime, and then would settle down to read it himself once they had dozed off – multiple levels of enjoyment, it seems, are prominent with Orb. It has even been suggested that they make a film of it, rather than ‘wasting it’ on a game.
Such a promising sounding storyline requires deep gameplay to match it, and this seems to be what we will be getting with Orb. In addition to the in-depth weaponry system mentioned earlier, there is an intricate magic system, which involves fighting, healing and environmental effects – use of magic will be incorporated into puzzles. There are 30 separate locations with 70 interconnecting areas to go through with six playable characters, and Crossbeam have been thinking hard about how to create a greater sense of freedom to traverse these locations – there are plans to have multiple ways to do things, each with their own separate risks, with one such example given being how to get over a river. Hypothetically, you could take a boat, which could have the capacity to get attacked or sunk, you could swim and risk drowning, you could use magic to walk or fly across the water, but it could run out and leave you in a deadly situation, or you might even choose to use magic to breath underwater – but you run the risk of getting eaten by a fish! All this adds to their goal of creating a game so deep that not everything can be absorbed in just one playthrough because there's simply so much to do - 'epic' is one adjective they would like people to be able to use to describe it. In the words of Greg Szemiot, Crossbeam director and one of the lead designers of Orb: “It's up to the player to be ready and plan ahead, but also to just go for it at times.”
To dwell in the massive land of Delphire (which has had its entire topography changed at least once), races with unique cultures, religions, affiliations and pasts have been thought up – around 200 years worth of history has been written for the land, in fact, and via sidequests players will be able to explore this history. As well as the playable characters, there are a further 50 or so important inhabitants of the land, who each have a personal back-story envisioned. As if this wasn’t enough, a further 100 characters will play some role in the title, and the team have even studied quantum mechanics, anthropology, religion, martial arts and Celtic ancestory in great detail in order to create the greatest story and game that they could – it’s safe to say that this wasn’t patched together over a rushed coffee at the last minute before a Monday morning meeting.
Why Revolution, though, and how will they use the new controller? Crossbeam haven’t parted with that information just yet, but they will be using the DPD (Direct Pointing Device – keep up!) to attack, use magic and aim at things when necessary – other than that, their lips are firmly buttoned, as revealing more may give away more storyline; they’d rather we were all surprised rather than know everything that happens right off the bat, see. As for the first part of the question – firstly, Orb will rely on Revolution's unique features to create a new experience, though it's interesting to note that Crossbeam feel the game would be 'crippled' on any other system without said features. Secondly, the team all lean towards Nintendo in terms of company preference, and their new direction has piqued their interest sufficiently to make Orb exclusive for their next generation console!
That is, if the opportunity presents itself. Crossbeam unfortunately still do not have a Revolution development kit, nor a publisher – Orb currently only exists within the pages of an extremely large design document, the hearts and minds of its creators and in the form of a demo for the PC that is being created. This demo is not for public release, more to show publishers and get interest levels up, not least Nintendo’s, and could well be behind closed doors at E3 this year. Until then, support and interest continues to ramp up about the game over the Internet and the generous donate to the cause, so that they might buy a Revolution development kit when the time comes that they are made available to them.
That is such a good story, I had to post it. I really admire this company and what they are trying to do with this game for Revolution. I hope you all go there and ask what you can do to help this company complete this epic game. Seeing them give such an effort makes me want to make a game! If only......
Link to the story here
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Matt reveals more about Revolution in a forum!
These are questions from a topic called: "Welcome Matt #3: Awakening the Sleepy Giant" from the IGN Revolution forum. Matt's answers are in bold. Take a long look:
Harvex_hunter posted:
Matt, I do have one question Nintendo kept the controller under raps, because of competitors copying them and there keeping the specs under raps because they are not something nintendo wants us to focus on. So why do you think nintendo's keeping everything else under, such as games that are in production, and the ports at the back of the rev, these are small harnless things so why can't they just tell us to satisfy are curiosity. Your thoughts on this
The Big N works in mysterious ways. It's a paranoid company. I guess it's just waiting it all out until E3 so that it can show working, ready hardware with polished-up software. It's an admirable goal and I'm willing to wait, as much as it sucks to do so.
Matt
rpawson posted:
On the off chance you're looking at this Matt... What did you hear from developers about the controller dev kits? Reggie recently heard to say that (paraphrase) "over 1000 controller dev kits have been sent to developers". Is the controller easy to work with? Are people wrapping their heads around it and getting into it, or poking and prodding it with detatched curiosity?
Hmm. I think there is a bit of a process, based on what devs tell me. You don't just dive in and it works. There's a ton of tweaking involved. I heard Retro struggled to get Prime working with it, but that once it finally did, it was easier to go on. Clearly some of the results speak for themselves. Every dev who has a kit and a controller seems very excited about the possibilities.
Matt
ssppiizzaa posted:
rpawson changes his tune, ha... Its interesting to me that they called these controller dev kits. I'm guessing the final hardware is still not out then. Did these controller devkits come with the same hardware that you reported on earlier that was just slightly upgraded cube hardware? My question would be on the downloadable games. You have a remix section about the chances of same games being available. I understand that some games have license issues, but why would developers not make the games available? All they have to do is give nintendo permission. It seems that having it available online should cost them nothing to implement. Even if they are selling portable versions, why not offer a downloadable version for what would be the same profit? And since it ties in, have any 3rd parties commented on how much they would like to charge for nes/snes/n64 titles?
Good questions. No concrete details there yet. Although I should have a related story in the next day or two.
Matt
norfair18 posted:
One question Matt: Since there is virtually no news coming from Nintendo, what do you think about the competition, PS3 and 360? Has 360 impressed you or disappointed you? What do you think about the high development cost of the PS3 (some now say $900!)? Thanks.
I really like my 360. I think Live is an amazing service. I picked up Fight Night Round 3 today and going to play Peer in a few online matches shortly. I've been fairly impressed with the presentation of some 360 games and disappointed with others. Rare's titles in particular have under-whelmed me, mostly because I had such high expectations. Looking forward to GRAW and Oblivion. As for PS3, not too excited yet, but I expect I will be come E3. For the record, I'm most excited about Revolution.
Matt
MichaelVash7886 posted:
I have a few questions as well for you Matt. 1. What do you think the launch price for the Rev will be? I'm guessing $199. 2. Can you put to rest the whole projector in the Rev. theories? (Not that I dislike them, just that I don't really think they will be true.) 3. How much more do you know about the Rev. that you can't tell us? 4. Ballpark: How many first party launch games will we see, and what do you think they will be? 5. Do you think we will finally see another Pilot Wings game on the Rev.?
1. $199. Some devs I chatted with recently are hoping for $149 or $199 with a pack-in. I think $199 without a pack-in is more likely.
2. I don't place much faith in those rumors.
3. I know much more about some games than I can say. I still don't know everything there is to know about the hardware -- particularly the "home" button and the front flap, which houses the SD Card bay and possibly other stuff.
4. Don't know. I expect at least two. My guess would be Smash Bros. and Metroid Prime 3. A new IP is also planned. Oh, and I'm still holding out for Zelda to be compatible. 5. I think Pilot Wings will return, absolutely. It's just a matter of time.
Matt
cherishspirit posted:
Matt, It's been said by Reggie that Nintendo's Revolution will exceed everyone's expectations. What are YOUR theories as to how this will be accomplished. There are some very well thought out ideas on the IGN forums and I'd like to get your input on them. Thank you, and keep up the great work. Antonio.
I think it'll happen in the same way that it has for DS. As some of you know, I wasn't a big DS supporter. Thought it was going to fall -- and quickly -- to PSP. But despite the fact that it lacks the horsepower of Sony's handheld, the DS has really rocked the competition. Not with fancy graphics, but with great games. I think Revolution will have some pretty games -- maybe even some that look nearly as good as 360 or PS3 powerhouses -- but I also think it will truly bring about new methods to play software, possibly improving the experience in dramatic ways. Nintendo can market this machine to anybody and if it succeeds in that regard, it will take off. Targeting the Oprah audience with DS is just the start. The Big N is going after the real mainstream -- not some term we use whenever the new Halo or GTA sell three million copies.
Matt
Lance_Dirk posted:
1. What type of game to see benefitting most from the Rev controller? 2. Do you think Rev will get more 3rd party support than GC? And do you think that Rev will succeed in having more mature themed games with or without 3rd party support? What has Matt done to anger you guys? EDIT: Paratroopa!! Edit those = out of your post! I hate page stretching!
1. FPSs. God games. Games with swords. These are the most obvious, but even so, I can't wait to play games of this type on Revolution. Meanwhile, Wario Ware-style software will also rock. I'm probably most excited about the new genres -- the software we can't predict; the stuff that surprises us and innovates.
2. Yes. And yes.
Matt
bigmakstudios posted:
1. Taking today's news into consideration, what do you think the chances are for a Geist sequel/prequel/whatever? 2. Have you gotten any other comments on the revolution from devs? 3. Do you think that the short Metroid Prime 3 video clip from E3 05 was representative of what the Rev's graphics will be like or do you think it will be better?
1. I'm not holding my breath for a Geist sequel. I like the franchise, but it hasn't sold well.
2. Yep.
3. I think it'll be much better.
Matt
DrTre8119 posted:
Oh Matt expain something for us please. You had an article about three months back saying the devs you talk to were experimenting with the rev dev kit and that they think they can get about twice the powermance as the cube. Now in your new article you admit that the dev kits sent out only a month ago include only minor power uprgrades and that the 1st two kits were basically GC dev kits with a rev controller attached. The devs you talked to a few months ago really only had GC dev kits huh? Admit it!
I should have probably been a bit more clear. Certain AAA publishers gain access to hardware before anybody else. Dev sources who were experimenting with hardware months ago would obviously fall into this category. A company like EA will have Revoulution revision 3 hardware before a smaller studio gets revision 1.
Matt
DrTre8119 posted:
So are you saying that the dev you talked to was EA? EA LA perhaps?
Nope. Merely suggesting that some of my sources happen to work for or at the bigger publishers, like EA. Or Activision. Or Ubisoft. Or Midway. And on that note, I am done for the night. Later guys.
Matt
I think its really cool that Matt took some time out to answer a lot of questions on a Revolution forum. These answers were much better in my opinion than the regular N-Query, that usually answers nothing. He knows a lot more now than he did a month ago, its safe to say.
We know he has talked to Retro Studios, since when he was asked about the Metroid Prime 3 trailer being proof of the Revolution's graphics ability he said that he thinks they will be much better. I don't think he would just say that. In IGN's Revolution podcast recently, Matt had said he talked to someone "close" to Retro and that the "game" they were working on was going to look fantastic and that Matt shouldn't worry about the graphics. Everything else Matt answered was pretty useful as well.
Great news!
Nintendo Revolution near finalized SDK development kits only $2,000
Recently, Nintendo of America's Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Reggie Fils-Aime revealed to tech blog Engadget that over a thousand Revolution controller development kits have been sent out to various studios. In a follow-up story, IGN spoke with developers about these kits regarding their power, price and functionality.
The developers stated that the console's SDK costs a relatively meager $2000. By comparison, the PlayStation 2 SDK was priced about $20,000 per kit at the console's launch. Even the original PlayStation's SDK weighed in between $4000-5000 at the beginning of that system's life span. Notably, the inexpensive nature of the SDK is in line with Nintendo's goal of lowering development costs.
Apparently, developers have cycled through three development kit revisions. The first development kit was a GameCube console with a wired Revolution controller attached. The second was similar, with a few minor tweaks. The third prototype, shipped out approximately a month ago, adhered to the same structure, but also showed some boosts in CPU power. The latest kit, sent out to only top publishers, displays a more 'next-generation' snapshot and comes with a wireless Revolution controller. However, for uncommitted third parties, it will be several weeks before they receive this kit.
Developers preparing playable Revolution software for E3 2006 will soon be receiving the fourth SDK which should provide 90-95% of the final system's achievable performance. According to IGN's development sources, final developments kits are expected to be made widely available around June of this year.
A number of software houses admitted that studios familiar with GameCube achitecture would find little difficulty in getting their Revolution projects up and running with due speed. In regards to Revolution's horsepower, many developers were finding it to be quite sufficient, also saying that the uniqueness of the controller made up for any lower amount of raw power.
On a final note, most studios working on Revolution titles think the console could retail under $200 US, possibly as low as $150.
Revolution Report
If the developers are happy with the Revolution power so far, then no one should be worried about any kind of "lack" of power. The final SDK's will most likely be even more powerful and then developer's will see all the aspects of the Revolution. Great news for sure.
The developers stated that the console's SDK costs a relatively meager $2000. By comparison, the PlayStation 2 SDK was priced about $20,000 per kit at the console's launch. Even the original PlayStation's SDK weighed in between $4000-5000 at the beginning of that system's life span. Notably, the inexpensive nature of the SDK is in line with Nintendo's goal of lowering development costs.
Apparently, developers have cycled through three development kit revisions. The first development kit was a GameCube console with a wired Revolution controller attached. The second was similar, with a few minor tweaks. The third prototype, shipped out approximately a month ago, adhered to the same structure, but also showed some boosts in CPU power. The latest kit, sent out to only top publishers, displays a more 'next-generation' snapshot and comes with a wireless Revolution controller. However, for uncommitted third parties, it will be several weeks before they receive this kit.
Developers preparing playable Revolution software for E3 2006 will soon be receiving the fourth SDK which should provide 90-95% of the final system's achievable performance. According to IGN's development sources, final developments kits are expected to be made widely available around June of this year.
A number of software houses admitted that studios familiar with GameCube achitecture would find little difficulty in getting their Revolution projects up and running with due speed. In regards to Revolution's horsepower, many developers were finding it to be quite sufficient, also saying that the uniqueness of the controller made up for any lower amount of raw power.
On a final note, most studios working on Revolution titles think the console could retail under $200 US, possibly as low as $150.
Revolution Report
If the developers are happy with the Revolution power so far, then no one should be worried about any kind of "lack" of power. The final SDK's will most likely be even more powerful and then developer's will see all the aspects of the Revolution. Great news for sure.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Perrin Kaplan says Revolution will be the "new" generation
Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing and corporate affairs, Nintendo of America: From our perspective, 'next generation' is a term everyone is overusing. We believe it currently represents only a small step forward in everything consumers have seen and played before.
Then there's a new generation, which is taking a right turn off the 'normal' overused path and creating something brand new, never experienced before. The 'new generation' represents a brand new way to experience entertainment, physically, mentally and most important --emotionally. We're dismantling the current common way of thinking and approach to gaming. For the industry to survive, all must innovative, or the industry will die.
The path of true innovation -- the 'new generation' -- is refreshing. We've already seen proof with the amazing sales of the Nintendo DS, Nintendogs, Brain Age, Animal Crossing Wi-Fi, and Mario Kart Wi-Fi, to name a few. And that success is global.
Fear not, we aren't and will never leave our hard core players and will continue to provide reliable and enticing franchises and other 'core' games.
Nintendo is the only company on the 'new' generation path. The innovation you've seen thus far with DS is just the first step and a template for how Revolution will change console gaming. Suffice it to say, in five years, we can expect our competitors will have joined us on the path to a 'new generation.'
The 'new generation' represents a brand new way to experience entertainment, physically, mentally and most important --emotionally. Does this support the Revolution being able to display more than just on a tv screen? I can't wait to find out the secret.
Source: IGN Revolution
Then there's a new generation, which is taking a right turn off the 'normal' overused path and creating something brand new, never experienced before. The 'new generation' represents a brand new way to experience entertainment, physically, mentally and most important --emotionally. We're dismantling the current common way of thinking and approach to gaming. For the industry to survive, all must innovative, or the industry will die.
The path of true innovation -- the 'new generation' -- is refreshing. We've already seen proof with the amazing sales of the Nintendo DS, Nintendogs, Brain Age, Animal Crossing Wi-Fi, and Mario Kart Wi-Fi, to name a few. And that success is global.
Fear not, we aren't and will never leave our hard core players and will continue to provide reliable and enticing franchises and other 'core' games.
Nintendo is the only company on the 'new' generation path. The innovation you've seen thus far with DS is just the first step and a template for how Revolution will change console gaming. Suffice it to say, in five years, we can expect our competitors will have joined us on the path to a 'new generation.'
The 'new generation' represents a brand new way to experience entertainment, physically, mentally and most important --emotionally. Does this support the Revolution being able to display more than just on a tv screen? I can't wait to find out the secret.
Source: IGN Revolution
n-Space developing numerous Revolution titles
According to online publication Orlando Sentinel, Florida-based developer n-Space is currently working on an undisclosed number of titles for Nintendo's next-generation console, code-named the Nintendo Revolution.
n-Space has worked on a number of licenses in the past, including Mary-Kate & Ashley, Rugrats and Duke Nukem. Nintendo employed the studio to develop the GameCube-exclusive first-person adventure Geist, which released last summer.
n-Space presently employs a staff of 50, but the studio is recruiting fresh talent to develop titles for multiple platforms. President Erick Dyke expects to add 20 art, production and designer types by the summer. The company is also doubling its physical space, taking an additional 7,000 square feet in the Westwood Plaza near SeaWorld.
According to sources close to the Advanced Media Network, the studio is developing more than one title for the Nintendo Revolution. However, it could not be confirmed if any of them will be shown at E3 2006 in May.
Revolution Report
Yet another confirmed Revolution developer. Now we all assumed that n-Space was going to hope on board, but doesn't this remind you of how the DS gain support before its launch? Little by little the same thing is happening for the Revolution. We know how its turned out for the DS so far, so this is another good sign for the Revolution.
n-Space has worked on a number of licenses in the past, including Mary-Kate & Ashley, Rugrats and Duke Nukem. Nintendo employed the studio to develop the GameCube-exclusive first-person adventure Geist, which released last summer.
n-Space presently employs a staff of 50, but the studio is recruiting fresh talent to develop titles for multiple platforms. President Erick Dyke expects to add 20 art, production and designer types by the summer. The company is also doubling its physical space, taking an additional 7,000 square feet in the Westwood Plaza near SeaWorld.
According to sources close to the Advanced Media Network, the studio is developing more than one title for the Nintendo Revolution. However, it could not be confirmed if any of them will be shown at E3 2006 in May.
Revolution Report
Yet another confirmed Revolution developer. Now we all assumed that n-Space was going to hope on board, but doesn't this remind you of how the DS gain support before its launch? Little by little the same thing is happening for the Revolution. We know how its turned out for the DS so far, so this is another good sign for the Revolution.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
UPDATE with another proven fake *Rumor* Revolution in action?
EvilgamerzUpdate-Another pic has come up from the same site Evilgamerz. This one is fake for sure because the person has already come forward admitting that first menu with SSBM on it is not real. I just posted it anyway because you just don't see these kinds of things all the time, so why not take a gander?
The system and the controllers look real enough to me, however what is on the screen is another story. Could a developer have taken a picture of the start up of the Revolution while being showed the controller demos? The Revolution name on the screen looks the same as the logo on the system shown at E3 2005, so this might be an old picture and the logo is of course subject to change. Its anyone's guess at this point.
*Rumor* Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball will be Revolution launch title
According to a source close to Nintendo, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims Nintendo has a secret up its sleeve when it comes to its exclusive GameCube baseball game, Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball, which was mysteriously and abruptly "delayed indefinitely" mid last year.
We've been told that since the disappearance of the game, Nintendo has definitely pushed the title to its next-generation console, where it will debut as their premiere sporting launch title.
The last time we heard, the game was to include Major League Baseball players and ballparks, with real stat tracking, for a simulation take on America's favorite pastime. But now there's an even more promising future for fans of the sport, as you can only begin to imagine how much of a killer title this really will be, with full Revolution controller support.
Aussie Nintendo
I wasn't too excited about this game when Nintendo showed last year. However now with the prospect of using the Revolution controller as a Baseball bat, the stock of the game has just went through the roof and I can't wait to see what we can do with it.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Tecmo to release Pang Ya for Revolution launch
I would've rather had Dead or Alive or Ninja Gaiden for the Revolution, but I suppose a Golf game that you can "swing" the controller sounds good too. I have not played the PC online game myself so I don't know how good it already is. Just the fact that Tecmo is on board with the Revolution is very good news. I don't remember them releasing a single Gamecube game. If I'm wrong about that though, inform me.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Reggie says Revolution will surpass the hype
Play videoMatt from IGN interviewed Reggie about his D.I.C.E speech and about the GDC convention coming up.
With all the hype that has been building and building for the Revolution, Matt asked if the Revolution had a chance to live up to that hype come E3. Reggie said that "it will surpass the hype" and "will be fantastic".
Matt then asked about the GDC convention and Iwata's speech and how much Revolution info we can expect. Reggie hinted not to expect much. He said that Nintendo is really focusing on E3 for the bulk of the Revolution info and that Nintendo is still working with Iwata on his speech(so maybe he won't spill too much info?).
He also said that 2006 is going to be the year of the DS more than 2005 was, but that it will also be the year of the Revolution.
Less than 3 months now.....
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Revolution mystery port? The saga continues....
Some clean, simple line art revealing some of the lesser-seen areas of the Revolution. The side of the unit features Gamecube memory card and controller ports, while the rear of the unit features the familiar power and A/V ports, along with 2 USB ports and--the soon to be object of much speculation--a mystery port!Joystiq
Well, the time has come to see the back of the Revolution. With it comes more speculation of the small port above the A/V ports and in the other picture it looks like the Revolution has a second fan; for what you ask? A hard drive? Extra cooling for the CPU or GPU? Its hard to say really, because it could be for all of the above and none. Nintendo has made a very small system so a second fan may be necessary to keep the compact parts cool. Do you have a guess?
Take a look at this too this is a blogger with some good guesses as to what to make of all this. He says he works for AMN but won't give his real name of course. Make of him what you will but some of his ideas about these new sketches are interesting and worth a look.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Blitz games comes to Revolution
Today it has been revealed that Blitz Games have had their first Nintendo Revolution game picked up by a major publisher. The team behind next-generation project 'Possession' is set to release more details on what this will be, but below are some quotes to tide us over:
"We're genuinely very excited to be working on the Revolution. Nintendo's innovation over the years has trail blazed new concepts and the new controller is no exception. It will give people new ways to play existing genres but moreover we hope it will spawn altogether new gaming experiences." commented Andrew Oliver, co-founder and Development Director of Blitz Games.
Philip Oliver, CEO Blitz Games added, "This latest addition to our portfolio clearly signals that Blitz is one of the few major developers with the capability and technology to work on both next and current generation titles simultaneously. Our strategy of a fully featured, well structured tool chain and cross platform engine has really paid off and we are quickly able to incorporate these new platforms with relative ease making our development faster and more efficient."
Cubed3
I hope it is not some cookie cutter game, but actually makes use of the Revolution's innovative features.
"We're genuinely very excited to be working on the Revolution. Nintendo's innovation over the years has trail blazed new concepts and the new controller is no exception. It will give people new ways to play existing genres but moreover we hope it will spawn altogether new gaming experiences." commented Andrew Oliver, co-founder and Development Director of Blitz Games.
Philip Oliver, CEO Blitz Games added, "This latest addition to our portfolio clearly signals that Blitz is one of the few major developers with the capability and technology to work on both next and current generation titles simultaneously. Our strategy of a fully featured, well structured tool chain and cross platform engine has really paid off and we are quickly able to incorporate these new platforms with relative ease making our development faster and more efficient."
Cubed3
I hope it is not some cookie cutter game, but actually makes use of the Revolution's innovative features.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
You like the old school? Check this out
Super Mario Brothers click on "press start"
With the Revolution we will be hearing a lot of these kind of sounds with all the old games we'll be downloading. This is just a taste. Sounds good doesn't it?
Sega predicted Revolution way back in 2000
Apparently, when it comes to Dolphin, Sega knows more than we do. In a recent interview with MCV Magazine, Sega of America's VP of Development, Greg Thomas, says that Dolphin is a bigger threat to them than PS2 or X-Box.
"I don't care how many polygons X-Box can put out," Thomas said. "It's all about who can deliver the next great gameplay experience. I'm not nervous about X-Box or PlayStation2, because we think we can make better games. No one will have head-to-head Internet play but us. What does worry me is Dolphin's sensory controllers [which are rumored to include microphones and headphone jacks] because there's an example of someone thinking about something different."
We're well aware that Nintendo has patents on sensory technology to be "used in future controllers." A benefit of this technology would be communicating in real-time voice with other players in a online game. Voice-over-IP, which would make this benefit possible, has already made it onto Nintendo's to-do list, and will likely be used by an incorporated microphone in the controller. Anything more about the top-secret Dolphin controller is mere speculation.
Of course, Sega's input comes as no surprise. The two game companies seem to be focusing on each other, while the two more than game companies are also focusing on each other. It depends on whether gamers want just games or more than just games as to how well this strategy pans out (and to who is more successful in the long run).
link
Wow, it looks like Sega was doing their homework 6 years ago. It sounds like Nintendo was way too early into their tests to have those features put into Gamecube. Its a shame because now the Gamecube truly can be looked at as a stepping stone and not a true innovative system for Nintendo. Nintendo had to release something to buy them time to get the Revolution ready; their online plan and controller just were not ready yet. We still got the great Nintendo games on the Gamecube, but really nothing "new" and innovative.
The Revolution can't come soon enough.
"I don't care how many polygons X-Box can put out," Thomas said. "It's all about who can deliver the next great gameplay experience. I'm not nervous about X-Box or PlayStation2, because we think we can make better games. No one will have head-to-head Internet play but us. What does worry me is Dolphin's sensory controllers [which are rumored to include microphones and headphone jacks] because there's an example of someone thinking about something different."
We're well aware that Nintendo has patents on sensory technology to be "used in future controllers." A benefit of this technology would be communicating in real-time voice with other players in a online game. Voice-over-IP, which would make this benefit possible, has already made it onto Nintendo's to-do list, and will likely be used by an incorporated microphone in the controller. Anything more about the top-secret Dolphin controller is mere speculation.
Of course, Sega's input comes as no surprise. The two game companies seem to be focusing on each other, while the two more than game companies are also focusing on each other. It depends on whether gamers want just games or more than just games as to how well this strategy pans out (and to who is more successful in the long run).
link
Wow, it looks like Sega was doing their homework 6 years ago. It sounds like Nintendo was way too early into their tests to have those features put into Gamecube. Its a shame because now the Gamecube truly can be looked at as a stepping stone and not a true innovative system for Nintendo. Nintendo had to release something to buy them time to get the Revolution ready; their online plan and controller just were not ready yet. We still got the great Nintendo games on the Gamecube, but really nothing "new" and innovative.
The Revolution can't come soon enough.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Gamecube controllers will not be able to control new Revolution games
Speaking to Game Informer at this week's D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, Nintendo exec Reggie Fils-Aime clarified a minor point about Revolution controller compatibility, which still the most significant new information about the system in months.
Reggie told Game Informer that the shell (which has yet to be shown) will be required to play
"traditional" Revolution games with a familiar style of controller -- you can't just use an old GameCube pad for this purpose. The compatibility with GameCube accessories is only backwards in nature. The old controllers will work on GameCube games played on Revolution, and they may be compatible with NES, SNES, and N64 games played through the Virtual Console feature.
Nintendo's stance on this seemingly minor hardware issue may indicate that the traditional controller shell will have more or fewer buttons than the GameCube controller, or that Nintendo has told developers to include some motion-sensing features even in traditional games meant to be played with the shell (which does not preclude the freehand controller's sensors). Reggie has mentioned in the past that the traditional shell will look similar to the WaveBird controller.
PlanetGamecube
This doesn't surprise me, playing new games with an old controller would seem kinda cheap to me. Using the motion sensing of the remote with the shell should prove to be very interesting. I'm curious to see how they plan to implement it into games, besides tilting and such in flying games.
Reggie told Game Informer that the shell (which has yet to be shown) will be required to play
"traditional" Revolution games with a familiar style of controller -- you can't just use an old GameCube pad for this purpose. The compatibility with GameCube accessories is only backwards in nature. The old controllers will work on GameCube games played on Revolution, and they may be compatible with NES, SNES, and N64 games played through the Virtual Console feature.
Nintendo's stance on this seemingly minor hardware issue may indicate that the traditional controller shell will have more or fewer buttons than the GameCube controller, or that Nintendo has told developers to include some motion-sensing features even in traditional games meant to be played with the shell (which does not preclude the freehand controller's sensors). Reggie has mentioned in the past that the traditional shell will look similar to the WaveBird controller.
PlanetGamecube
This doesn't surprise me, playing new games with an old controller would seem kinda cheap to me. Using the motion sensing of the remote with the shell should prove to be very interesting. I'm curious to see how they plan to implement it into games, besides tilting and such in flying games.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Capcom to reveal Revolution plans soon
"On February 16th, Future and Nintendo UK will debut the Official Nintendo Magazine (formerly Nintendo Official Magazine, then published by EMAP), which will give gamers a look at--you guessed it--all things related to Nintendo. The press release, noting its "unrivaled access to the biggest Nintendo-related stories," is boasting that the first issue will contain some information regarding Capcom's future Nintendo-related projects: "Official Nintendo Magazine speaks exclusively with...Capcom about their plans for Revolution. The four-page feature reveals what games will be coming to the new system and just how the company hopes to utilize the cutting-edge controller"
Joystiq
Hopefully these will be confirmed games and not just games they are hoping to do on Revolution. It will be nice to see regardless.
Joystiq
Hopefully these will be confirmed games and not just games they are hoping to do on Revolution. It will be nice to see regardless.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Reggie talks Nintendo strategy with 1up
"In the spirit of collaboration and openness that defines the DICE Summit, one of the most developer-dense conferences in North America, Nintendo VIP Reggie Fils-Aime invited a small group of videogame writers to lunch at the Red Valley Ranch Casino's Il Fornaio restaurant. It was a chance to ask him questions in an informal, roundtable format, but he actually started off by interrogating us.
"Why do you come to DICE?" he said, before the water glasses were even served. "What do you like about it?"
According to the responses, there's a lot to like. More one-on-one time with developers and publishers; less crowd, less noise, and no games, because the focus is really on vision and concepts in game development, not on products. Reggie listened to us all carefully, assessing our responses, until he was asked what Nintendo's plans for E3 were.
"It's a challenge," he admitted. The booths are laid out and designed now, although he didn't give specifics. But they are prepared to give playable demos of Nintendo's next-generation console, the Revolution. The innovative controllers will be secrued against theft, and the monitor-mounted technology that lets gamers point at images onscreen will be shielded so that attendees won't accidentally set off events on their neighbors' screens. I think it's safe to say that they've also thought of how to control the enormous lines of eager gamers, too.
The whole lunch, which lasted nearly two hours, seemed to be a sign of a new current of openness in Nintendo. It felt like a dormant dragon was finally waking up, stretching and getting ready to join battle. Reggie coolly assessed his opponents, Sony and Microsoft, frankly admitting their strengths, and probing their weaknesses. Of Microsoft, he acknowledged the superb marketing they had pulled off on drumming up the demand for the Xbox 360, but hinted that perhaps it had backfired because of lack of units. Game developers would want to wait to release games, he said, until there were more consoles out there in the hands of gamers. The discussion then turned to Sony's PSP, since the DS -- and especially the new model, the DSLite -- was still on Reggie's mind. Reggie pointed out that whenever he saw people playing PSPs he asked them what they were playing -- more often then not, Reggie said the response was that they were watching a UMD movie. Nintendo's vision, of course, is that gamers want first and foremost a great game machine; everything else is secondary.
That is definiely a key component of Nintendo's party line, and although Reggie was open to discussion, he stayed "on message," as they say, about Nintendo's philosophy. "What's more important, gameplay or graphics?" he demanded of us. Everyone in the room agreed that gameplay was important; however, there are many examples of mediocre games that sell on the basis of looking "cool." That brought Reggie to another question. "If you're in marketing, how do you sell the next Super Mario World to a jaded, 14-year-old raised on GTA?"
That question is the crux of Nintendo's next marketing message, which no doubt will come more clear in the weeks leading up to E3. Nintendo has proved, with games like Brain Age and Nintendogs, that they are actively seeking out new gamers, new consumers to convert into fans of their products; Nintendo is also tirelessly promoting the ways that their new hardware can enhance and expand the boundaries of what we think of as games. But they also realize, deep down, that in order to truly succeed they have to capture the core gamer, that archetypical 14-year-old for whom Mario is ancient history.
Will they? "
1up article
Well in my opinion, Nintendo needs to get their commercials right this time. Right away they need to show that they mean buisness with the Revolution, and that means NO guys dressed up in Mario outfits dancing around like they are on Barney. I think you would agree.
"Why do you come to DICE?" he said, before the water glasses were even served. "What do you like about it?"
According to the responses, there's a lot to like. More one-on-one time with developers and publishers; less crowd, less noise, and no games, because the focus is really on vision and concepts in game development, not on products. Reggie listened to us all carefully, assessing our responses, until he was asked what Nintendo's plans for E3 were.
"It's a challenge," he admitted. The booths are laid out and designed now, although he didn't give specifics. But they are prepared to give playable demos of Nintendo's next-generation console, the Revolution. The innovative controllers will be secrued against theft, and the monitor-mounted technology that lets gamers point at images onscreen will be shielded so that attendees won't accidentally set off events on their neighbors' screens. I think it's safe to say that they've also thought of how to control the enormous lines of eager gamers, too.
The whole lunch, which lasted nearly two hours, seemed to be a sign of a new current of openness in Nintendo. It felt like a dormant dragon was finally waking up, stretching and getting ready to join battle. Reggie coolly assessed his opponents, Sony and Microsoft, frankly admitting their strengths, and probing their weaknesses. Of Microsoft, he acknowledged the superb marketing they had pulled off on drumming up the demand for the Xbox 360, but hinted that perhaps it had backfired because of lack of units. Game developers would want to wait to release games, he said, until there were more consoles out there in the hands of gamers. The discussion then turned to Sony's PSP, since the DS -- and especially the new model, the DSLite -- was still on Reggie's mind. Reggie pointed out that whenever he saw people playing PSPs he asked them what they were playing -- more often then not, Reggie said the response was that they were watching a UMD movie. Nintendo's vision, of course, is that gamers want first and foremost a great game machine; everything else is secondary.
That is definiely a key component of Nintendo's party line, and although Reggie was open to discussion, he stayed "on message," as they say, about Nintendo's philosophy. "What's more important, gameplay or graphics?" he demanded of us. Everyone in the room agreed that gameplay was important; however, there are many examples of mediocre games that sell on the basis of looking "cool." That brought Reggie to another question. "If you're in marketing, how do you sell the next Super Mario World to a jaded, 14-year-old raised on GTA?"
That question is the crux of Nintendo's next marketing message, which no doubt will come more clear in the weeks leading up to E3. Nintendo has proved, with games like Brain Age and Nintendogs, that they are actively seeking out new gamers, new consumers to convert into fans of their products; Nintendo is also tirelessly promoting the ways that their new hardware can enhance and expand the boundaries of what we think of as games. But they also realize, deep down, that in order to truly succeed they have to capture the core gamer, that archetypical 14-year-old for whom Mario is ancient history.
Will they? "
1up article
Well in my opinion, Nintendo needs to get their commercials right this time. Right away they need to show that they mean buisness with the Revolution, and that means NO guys dressed up in Mario outfits dancing around like they are on Barney. I think you would agree.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Reggie almost confirms Revolution control for Zelda
There was more to the interview that EGM did with Reggie recently, take a look:
EGM: Speaking of Zelda, best-case scenario, it’s a few months away from the Revolution launch, worst case scenario is it’s coming out at the same time. Is there ever a point where you believe that it would be better to switch it over to Revolution? Or does it not matter, since the Revolution will be backward compatible with Cube games?
Reggie: Exactly. I think that our senior management has made it very clear that bringing Zelda: Twilight Princess out on GameCube is important, that we want to satisfy the GameCube fan base and have it be on that system. You’ve said the obvious, which is that [because] Revolution’s backward compatible, it will almost effectively be a launch title for Revolution. The trick will be what makes it special to play on Revolution, and to the extent that we could create something like that, boy, wouldn’t that be fantastic? Certainly one of the things that I would love to see is something that makes Zelda, when it’s played on Revolution, do something magical. And I think that any Nintendo fan would love to see that.
Revo Europe
Its looking like a good chance that we will see Zelda taking advantage of the Revolution controller. The only bad news about this is that we might have to wait all the way until November to play it. However, it would make this a first for a Nintendo system to launch with a Zelda game. Is 9 more months too much to ask? If this is really going to be the greatest game ever made, then I say its going to be well worth the wait.
EGM: Speaking of Zelda, best-case scenario, it’s a few months away from the Revolution launch, worst case scenario is it’s coming out at the same time. Is there ever a point where you believe that it would be better to switch it over to Revolution? Or does it not matter, since the Revolution will be backward compatible with Cube games?
Reggie: Exactly. I think that our senior management has made it very clear that bringing Zelda: Twilight Princess out on GameCube is important, that we want to satisfy the GameCube fan base and have it be on that system. You’ve said the obvious, which is that [because] Revolution’s backward compatible, it will almost effectively be a launch title for Revolution. The trick will be what makes it special to play on Revolution, and to the extent that we could create something like that, boy, wouldn’t that be fantastic? Certainly one of the things that I would love to see is something that makes Zelda, when it’s played on Revolution, do something magical. And I think that any Nintendo fan would love to see that.
Revo Europe
Its looking like a good chance that we will see Zelda taking advantage of the Revolution controller. The only bad news about this is that we might have to wait all the way until November to play it. However, it would make this a first for a Nintendo system to launch with a Zelda game. Is 9 more months too much to ask? If this is really going to be the greatest game ever made, then I say its going to be well worth the wait.
Monday, February 06, 2006
*Rumor* Creator of Halo interested in Revolution?
"The father of the Halo series, Jason Jones, is extremely interested in working on the Nintendo Revolution, according to the latest issue of EGM. This hasn't been made public it seems because Microsoft has kept the interview hidden from the public. In the interview Mr. Jones talks about a FPS on the system and some of the great ideas he had for it. "
Nintendo Revolution
If Microsoft has Jason Jones by their little finger then he probably won't be allowed to make games on other platforms besides Xbox360. However, if he has these ideas about how a FPS game would be on Revolution I'm sure he would find a way to make it if he really wants to do it. If he does make a FPS on Revolution I hope it would be better than Halo(too slow).
Nintendo Revolution
If Microsoft has Jason Jones by their little finger then he probably won't be allowed to make games on other platforms besides Xbox360. However, if he has these ideas about how a FPS game would be on Revolution I'm sure he would find a way to make it if he really wants to do it. If he does make a FPS on Revolution I hope it would be better than Halo(too slow).
Flash Revolution menu system!
What do you think? Even though its not real, its nice to see someone went to the trouble to make what they thought would be the Revolution menu.
Activision is ready for the Revolution
In its fiscal 2006 conference call this afternoon, Activision confirmed that it is under development with and will have at least one game ready in the first four months of Nintendo's next generation console, codenamed Revolution. The publisher's CEO and chairman, Robert Kotick, said that the game would arrive in Activision's fiscal 2007, which ranges from April 2006 to March 2007. This could very well mean that the game will be a Revolution launch title, although the executive would not elaborate on a hard release date for the still-unspecified project.
IGN Revolution is able to confirm that Activision readied a Revolution development team as far back as October of 2005, giving it ample time to work on the still-secret game.
The company has a host of big-name licenses to draw from, including inevitable sequels in the Spider-Man, Tony Hawk, and Call of Duty franchises. The Revolution game in question could fall under one of these brands. However, it might also be a completely new IP catered specifically for Nintendo's innovative controller and platform.
IGN Revolution
I personally hope that the game is Call of Duty, the franchise would seem brand new with the Revolution controller.
IGN Revolution is able to confirm that Activision readied a Revolution development team as far back as October of 2005, giving it ample time to work on the still-secret game.
The company has a host of big-name licenses to draw from, including inevitable sequels in the Spider-Man, Tony Hawk, and Call of Duty franchises. The Revolution game in question could fall under one of these brands. However, it might also be a completely new IP catered specifically for Nintendo's innovative controller and platform.
IGN Revolution
I personally hope that the game is Call of Duty, the franchise would seem brand new with the Revolution controller.
Megaman Revolution?
Jeux-France had an interview with Capcom about Megaman on DS and Revolution
Now that you finished the development of Megaman Battle Network 5: Double TEAM , do you have ideas of projects which could use the specific properties of Nintendo DS?
Takeshi Horinouchi: We wish indeed to adapt more the gameplay Megaman series compared to the capacities of Nintendo DS, I think that the next title [ Mega Man ZX? ] will be able to benefit more from specificities of the portable console of Nintendo
What do you think of Nintendo Revolution, you had the occasion to test it at Nintendo ? Do you think that a play Megaman can function with the concept of Nintendo Revolution?
Takeshi Horinouchi: I had indeed the occasion to test quickly Nintendo Revolution and I must say that it is interesting to note the evolution in this field, the perception of the video game is completely new. Concerning Megaman, we do not know yet what the future holds for us, but I would like much to use the concept of Nintendo Revolution to see what a play Megaman could give on this console.
Jeux France
Now that you finished the development of Megaman Battle Network 5: Double TEAM , do you have ideas of projects which could use the specific properties of Nintendo DS?
Takeshi Horinouchi: We wish indeed to adapt more the gameplay Megaman series compared to the capacities of Nintendo DS, I think that the next title [ Mega Man ZX? ] will be able to benefit more from specificities of the portable console of Nintendo
What do you think of Nintendo Revolution, you had the occasion to test it at Nintendo ? Do you think that a play Megaman can function with the concept of Nintendo Revolution?
Takeshi Horinouchi: I had indeed the occasion to test quickly Nintendo Revolution and I must say that it is interesting to note the evolution in this field, the perception of the video game is completely new. Concerning Megaman, we do not know yet what the future holds for us, but I would like much to use the concept of Nintendo Revolution to see what a play Megaman could give on this console.
Jeux France
Saturday, February 04, 2006
New EGM interview with Reggie
EGM: When Nintendo first showed the controller, it said there were other functions it wasn't talking about yet. Might those include a digital camera and microphone?
RF: As much as I think [Nintendo President Mr. Satoru] Iwata likes me, if I shared that with you I probably wouldn't be here. [Laughs] You know, here are the facts: Come [this May], we'll disclose a lot more. After [that], we'll disclose even more, and right about the time of the launch, we'll disclose even more. There are certainly elements to everything we're doing about Revolution I'm talking beyond the controller, the virtual console, all the different element we'll be sharing all the way up to launch. And I believe as consumers understand the full range of benefits and the full functionality, the more and more they're going to get excited. I really do.
EGM: Given [Mario creator] Shigeru Miyamoto's outspoken admiration for Sony's EyeToy camera and the microphone function in the DS and recent GameCube games [like Odama and Mario Party 7], they seem like a natural fit for the Revolution controller.
RF: We could certainly see all of that. Again, our orientation is, how do we push the gaming experience, the interplay between the player and the game? So all of the different elements that enhance that capability's use of a camera, use of the microphone, voice activation all of that certainly I believe is fair game.
EGM: How about online with the Revolution how will it work? Will it be more like Xbox Live? Or more similar to how the DS is now, where you get a friend code that's different for every game and you exchange that like a phone number to find each other online?
RF: I would think [it'll be similar to the DS]. Again, that's been part of our [plan] in creating an environment that is more friend and peer-to-peer based, versus simply, I wanna go take on everybody for certain types of games.
EGM: You mentioned the virtual console where users can download old games to play on the Revolution. We know you're experimenting with revamping some games graphically what about retrofitting them to use the Revolution controller?
RF: [Long silence] Honestly, I don't know. If I look at this personally, given my own gaming experience, I would love to play my favorite game, whether it's Kid Icarus or it's Zelda: A Link to the Past. I'd like to play the original game in its original configuration. I don't know how I would feel as a fan to take that original game and to augment it in some way. I don't know what the technical challenges to do it are either. We'll find out.
EGM: Any chance we'll see a virtual console style online distribution of older Nintendo games for the Nintendo DS now that it's online?
RF: We certainly never say never. The piece that we are learning as we work through our plans for a virtual console on Revolution is really working to understand the flow of content, how to manage that. That's a fairly large interface to do it effectively. So my concern would be, how do you embed that on a DS [cart] in addition to the game to really make it effective? But we've said from the start that Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is meant to be the service both for the DS as well as the Revolution. So could you see a merging of that technology at some point in the future? Certainly possible.
Well, we don't see much "new" stuff in this interview. However the prospect of playing retro games on the DS is cool. When he said Nintendo would keep revealing things about the Revolution all the way up until launch, I think (I hope) he means prices and online functions of the Virtual Console. At E3 the Revolution is expected to be fully playable and basically ready to go, so how much more info can Nintendo reveal after that? We will find out.
RF: As much as I think [Nintendo President Mr. Satoru] Iwata likes me, if I shared that with you I probably wouldn't be here. [Laughs] You know, here are the facts: Come [this May], we'll disclose a lot more. After [that], we'll disclose even more, and right about the time of the launch, we'll disclose even more. There are certainly elements to everything we're doing about Revolution I'm talking beyond the controller, the virtual console, all the different element we'll be sharing all the way up to launch. And I believe as consumers understand the full range of benefits and the full functionality, the more and more they're going to get excited. I really do.
EGM: Given [Mario creator] Shigeru Miyamoto's outspoken admiration for Sony's EyeToy camera and the microphone function in the DS and recent GameCube games [like Odama and Mario Party 7], they seem like a natural fit for the Revolution controller.
RF: We could certainly see all of that. Again, our orientation is, how do we push the gaming experience, the interplay between the player and the game? So all of the different elements that enhance that capability's use of a camera, use of the microphone, voice activation all of that certainly I believe is fair game.
EGM: How about online with the Revolution how will it work? Will it be more like Xbox Live? Or more similar to how the DS is now, where you get a friend code that's different for every game and you exchange that like a phone number to find each other online?
RF: I would think [it'll be similar to the DS]. Again, that's been part of our [plan] in creating an environment that is more friend and peer-to-peer based, versus simply, I wanna go take on everybody for certain types of games.
EGM: You mentioned the virtual console where users can download old games to play on the Revolution. We know you're experimenting with revamping some games graphically what about retrofitting them to use the Revolution controller?
RF: [Long silence] Honestly, I don't know. If I look at this personally, given my own gaming experience, I would love to play my favorite game, whether it's Kid Icarus or it's Zelda: A Link to the Past. I'd like to play the original game in its original configuration. I don't know how I would feel as a fan to take that original game and to augment it in some way. I don't know what the technical challenges to do it are either. We'll find out.
EGM: Any chance we'll see a virtual console style online distribution of older Nintendo games for the Nintendo DS now that it's online?
RF: We certainly never say never. The piece that we are learning as we work through our plans for a virtual console on Revolution is really working to understand the flow of content, how to manage that. That's a fairly large interface to do it effectively. So my concern would be, how do you embed that on a DS [cart] in addition to the game to really make it effective? But we've said from the start that Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is meant to be the service both for the DS as well as the Revolution. So could you see a merging of that technology at some point in the future? Certainly possible.
Well, we don't see much "new" stuff in this interview. However the prospect of playing retro games on the DS is cool. When he said Nintendo would keep revealing things about the Revolution all the way up until launch, I think (I hope) he means prices and online functions of the Virtual Console. At E3 the Revolution is expected to be fully playable and basically ready to go, so how much more info can Nintendo reveal after that? We will find out.
Think of this site as a "portal"
When I first started this blog I posted the below info about myself and why I'm doing this. Think of this place as another portal to Revolution news that will lead you to other places that have even more Revolution news. Places like gonintendo update their site like every half hour or so. Don't expect those kind of updates here. I do have some links to help out though.
I've been a Nintendo fan since 1985 and I am really looking forward to the Revolution. The Gamecube was a disappointment to a lot of people including me; with the exception of Resident Evil 4, the GC has failed to make a really noticable dent in the gaming community. The Revolution looks to fix all those problems when its released next November '06. With the ability to play all past Nintendo games from NES, SNES, N64, and GC the Revolution will sell millions of systems just on that alone. The new controller is something that will change every new game that we play on the system. I won't go into details on it because most of you already know its "known" powers. I'm looking forward to seeing what else the controller will do too, since Nintendo has said that not all the secrets have been released yet.
There has been speculation on the Revolution's graphic ability. Falafelkid's blog: http://www.nintendo-revolution.blogspot.com/ is very good and he has posted numerous things about the possible secrets behind the power of the Revolution's graphics chip codenamed "Hollywood". Nintendo is proving to be the smartest developer in making the Revolution. As his blog points out, the Revolution should be able to have graphics that look on par or the same as the Xbox360 or PS3 even though the power of the Revolution will be much or somewhat less than the other two systems. It goes to show that Nintendo is interested in making profit for themselves and for us the consumer. By doing whatever texture or polygon "trick" Nintendo wants to use in the Revolution, it will make it a performance monster instead of a power hungry and expensive bulk of hard plastic; the Revolution will be the consumer's absolute best choice in the true next-generation of gaming. No one seemed to need a Gamecube that much, the Nintendo name just wasn't enough. The Revolution will be "the" system to have and a system that you "must" have, not because of the name Nintendo but because of the name of inovation and true next-gen gameplay.
Enjoy the next 6 months as we all will see the secrets of the Revolution revealed to us slowly but surely. I will post every now and then when there is something to post, not just because I want your attention. This blog is just another extention to the growing Revolution support. Enjoy!
I've been a Nintendo fan since 1985 and I am really looking forward to the Revolution. The Gamecube was a disappointment to a lot of people including me; with the exception of Resident Evil 4, the GC has failed to make a really noticable dent in the gaming community. The Revolution looks to fix all those problems when its released next November '06. With the ability to play all past Nintendo games from NES, SNES, N64, and GC the Revolution will sell millions of systems just on that alone. The new controller is something that will change every new game that we play on the system. I won't go into details on it because most of you already know its "known" powers. I'm looking forward to seeing what else the controller will do too, since Nintendo has said that not all the secrets have been released yet.
There has been speculation on the Revolution's graphic ability. Falafelkid's blog: http://www.nintendo-revolution.blogspot.com/ is very good and he has posted numerous things about the possible secrets behind the power of the Revolution's graphics chip codenamed "Hollywood". Nintendo is proving to be the smartest developer in making the Revolution. As his blog points out, the Revolution should be able to have graphics that look on par or the same as the Xbox360 or PS3 even though the power of the Revolution will be much or somewhat less than the other two systems. It goes to show that Nintendo is interested in making profit for themselves and for us the consumer. By doing whatever texture or polygon "trick" Nintendo wants to use in the Revolution, it will make it a performance monster instead of a power hungry and expensive bulk of hard plastic; the Revolution will be the consumer's absolute best choice in the true next-generation of gaming. No one seemed to need a Gamecube that much, the Nintendo name just wasn't enough. The Revolution will be "the" system to have and a system that you "must" have, not because of the name Nintendo but because of the name of inovation and true next-gen gameplay.
Enjoy the next 6 months as we all will see the secrets of the Revolution revealed to us slowly but surely. I will post every now and then when there is something to post, not just because I want your attention. This blog is just another extention to the growing Revolution support. Enjoy!
Friday, February 03, 2006
More Revolution news at GDC?
"Though many have presumed that all new information would be kept under wraps until E3 in May, senior sources suggest Iwata will choose to make key announcements, possibly including pricing and release details, earlier.With a Nintendo Europe press release this week reaffirming that Revolution is still on track for a European launch this year, this news puts more pressure on Sony, whose continued silence is reducing the likelihood of a 2006 European release for PS3."
link to story
I think there will be some good news here, but don't expect the huge news until E3.
link to story
I think there will be some good news here, but don't expect the huge news until E3.
New Patent: Voice Recognition for Revolution
A new patent has been dug up, entitled ´Voice-to-text chat conversion for remote video game play´. The abstract reads:
"A multi-player networked video game playing system including for example video game consoles analyzes speech to vary the font size and/or color of associated text displayed to other users. If the amplitude of the voice is high, the text displayed to other users is displayed in a larger than normal font. If the voice sounds stressed or is aggressive words are used, the text displayed to other users is displayed using a special font such as red color. Other analysis may be performed on the speech in context to vary the font size, color, font type and/or other display attributes."
This will give a new dimension to the Online model for the Revolution. I only hope that Nintendo has more than just one or two Wi-Fi enabled games at launch.
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