[AlphaWolf]

Originally Posted by patsu

http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com/...harmony-remote

Check avs forums and you'll get a different story. 10 days... if you're out of town for a week.

[Squilliam]

Would it be coming in 2012? What if they intend to cut the price this month (as in rumours???) and announce the replacement for this year? They could easily come in with a relatively expensive Wii 2 @ $299 and a relatively cheap Wii 1 @ $149 targetting two different market segments.

[patsu]

Originally Posted by AlphaWolf

Check avs forums and you'll get a different story. 10 days... if you're out of town for a week.

It may not hit the max. life in the specs. OTOH, sometimes people forget to turn off the backlighting, which would dramatically reduce the battery life.

A small touch screen in the controller may benefit a game like Heavy Rain, where the game actions are highly contextual. I would wait for more info before discounting it entirely.

[eastmen]

i got my father a harmony one remote (smaller touch screen on the top mabye like 2.5 inches or so) and it will last a week or so before he needs to charge it again

[AlphaWolf]

Originally Posted by patsu

It may not hit the max. life in the specs. OTOH, sometimes people forget to turn off the backlighting, which would dramatically reduce the battery life.

A small touch screen in the controller may benefit a game like Heavy Rain, where the game actions are highly contextual. I would wait for more info before discounting it entirely.

It's not gonna be that small of a screen if its HD. The iPhone 4 isn't even technically HD. However, certainly possible that part of the rumor is false.

And I'm not discounting it entirely, I just think its stupid to have people looking at some tiny display when they have a huge HD display in front them. It doesn't seem very appealing to me. If you play in low light having the screen come on and off would also be very annoying.

[Dr Evil]

Looking forward to hear more information on this, but mostly hoping that this would cause MS and Sony hasten a bit their plans for the next gen. I've been ready for a refresh a long time already.

[oramay]

The rumor can easily have details messed up.

Just to join the speculative festivity, may be they are going to release a device that can properly adapt Wii and 3DS games to (3D)HDTV. It can handle any resolution PS3/360 can and more, hence more powerful in some respects. If you use it with 3DS, you'd feel like you have a HD screen in your hands too.

[Refreshment]

A screen on the controler? The only use i could thing for doing such a thing is for a dynamically configurable button array.

What's the name of those screens? Haptic feedback tactile screens i think. Been curious about this technology for years but havent researched enough. Maybe someone with more knowledge could share his opinions on how practical this might be. Last time i checked the tech was in experimental stages and very expensive. But this way it would allow the user to know what´s pressing without looking at the touch screen.

Anyone has experience with the basic vibrating feedback of those Alpine radious or "smart" phones. How does that feels?

Also heard, going by memory, so i don't know how exact the information is. Some researches that came up with a silicon layer for a touch screen. The layer can be controlled to "inflate" in specific position simulating a button feedback.

Also for those interested recomend checking this page:
http://senseg.com/technology/senseg-technology

Edit: But never mind this seems way out there to be aplied massivley to a consumers product like a controller at this stage intime. Still interested in hear opinions from the forumers about what "good" applications a normal touch screen in a controller could provide.

[dragonelite]

haha i think nintendo has read this post found when searching for dreamcast controller that had a screen attach thingy if my memory dont fail.

http://www.giantbomb.com/microsoft-g...-it/35-227503/

Take you controller with you that includes your save and gamer tag info.
With microgame support to play on the bus. Some good idea that gy has.

[liolio]

Why am I not, even slightly, turn on by this news?
I gave up a long ago on the idea of Nintendo shipping something that would fill my needs.

[Squilliam]

Originally Posted by liolio

Why am I not, even slightly, turn on by this news?
I gave up a long ago on the idea of Nintendo shipping something that would fill my needs.

You're married, you gave up on that idea a long, long, long time ago!

Maybe its because they gave up on you even longer ago? Im not digging at Nintendo here, but they went looking for a completely different audience.

[dragonelite]

A 1080p zelda is enough for me to get it.

Man the nintendo fanboy in me that died 6 years ago changed into a zombie to rise again.

[3dilettante]

Originally Posted by Refreshment

A screen on the controler? The only use i could thing for doing such a thing is for a dynamically configurable button array.

What's the longevity of a touch screen that undergoes the same usage scenario as a controller button?
Do many mobile games on touch screens have button mashing, and how quickly can a tap register versus a button press in rapid succession?

For example, I've recently downloaded Castle Crashers on an impulse buy. Particularly on its insane mode, my fingers and hands wear down after a few levels of mashing buttons at high speed for extended periods.
Also, from my experience in playing co-op on insane mode, I'm afraid to have a controller too expensive to risk the other player tossing/dropping the controller in anger...

[tongue_of_colicab]

One think you don't need to worry about with Nintendo is build quality. Apart from the n64 analog stick everything they released is built well enough to surive most stuff. Ofcourse if you send it flying into the floor full force it'll break but name one piece of hardware that doesn't break if you use enough force.

[Iron Tiger]

Originally Posted by AlphaWolf

Not really comparable to a controller which you would be using a lot more often.

Which is why I came up with the idea of using OLED screens... two and a half years ago. Having smaller, component controllers with built-in screens would realize the portable storage dreams of Dreamcast's VMUs. The screens don't need to be HD, or have high refresh rates. They're just gonna show supplemental data, and maybe display what's on the internal memory.

[Refreshment]

Originally Posted by dragonelite

haha i think nintendo has read this post found when searching for dreamcast controller that had a screen attach thingy if my memory dont fail.

http://www.giantbomb.com/microsoft-g...-it/35-227503/

Take you controller with you that includes your save and gamer tag info.
With microgame support to play on the bus. Some good idea that gy has.

That´s basically a VMU, nothing new or creative was described in that post. Plus since MS is promoting those Windows 7 phones, it makes more sense for them to just synch the 360 with them and let you download a "micro" app or whatever. As a funny side note the Wii Remote features a tiny bit of internal memory.

Originally Posted by 3dilettante

What's the longevity of a touch screen that undergoes the same usage scenario as a controller button?
Do many mobile games on touch screens have button mashing, and how quickly can a tap register versus a button press in rapid succession?
I'm afraid to have a controller too expensive to risk the other player tossing/dropping the controller in anger...

By no means an expert of the technology so i can't help you there sorry. But yes there are touch games that have the need for quick button inputs or mashing, take for example Ouendan on the DS. For an haptic feedback screen like the senseg proposition, they don't provide input lag data, specially concerning the case of repeated button tapping the same key.

But like i said, that type of haptic feedback for a touch panel seems too fair a way as cost effective for the supposed release window of the new Nintendo divice.

[ToTTenTranz]

A multi-touch capacitive touchscreen in the controller makes sense to me, as long as it's not replacing analog controls and actual buttons.

For example:
- using it as a mouse touchpad or a virtual keyboard would greatly increase the console's ability to browse the web or simply use a search function (hugely more practical than using analog sticks to navigate or pointing a controller at the screen).
- on-screen game information with customized virtual buttons would give new oportunities for popular group games such as Buzz and Mario Party.
- Again, mouse touchpad mode would open the console to more user-friendly RTSs and MMOs.


Sure, the controllers would be expensive, but I remember how everything with an accelerometer was very expensive prior to the Wii's launch. Now everything comes with an accelerometer as they sell for a few cents in great quantities.
I bet NIntendo could now make a wireless controller with a (3" HVGA?) touchscreen, accelerometer, gyroscope, bluetooth, analog controls (via nunchuck, for example), etc, and still sell it for 50€ at a sizeable profit, like they did with the original wiimote.
Regarding the battery drain, the screen wouldn't have to be always on (i.e. mouse touchpad mode turns it off), and if it's OLED, they can save battery by simplifying the screen output with black backgrounds.




As for the processing hardware... All Nintendo needed was a Juniper-class GPU and it would do loops around X360 and PS3. Even more if using spare ALUs for physics and A.I. stuff.
But I wouldn't get my hopes too high about that. Nintendo's been creating a history of launching consoles with uncompetitive CPU\Graphics performance for 8 years now.
I wouldn't be surprised if the new console turns out closer to NGP in therms of raw hardware power.

But they do need to get access to AAA cross-platform games this time, though (it's the reason why the Wii has been declining so much in the past 2 years), so there may be a chance for powerfull hardware because of that.

[Shifty Geezer]

Originally Posted by tongue_of_colicab

One think you don't need to worry about with Nintendo is build quality.

That doesn't really answer the question. If haptic touch interfaces aren't technologically advanced enough to be durable, there's nowt Nintendo can do about that!

[wco81]

Originally Posted by Dr Evil

Looking forward to hear more information on this, but mostly hoping that this would cause MS and Sony hasten a bit their plans for the next gen. I've been ready for a refresh a long time already.

Ditto.

It's well past time for someone to raise the bar on graphics.

If Nintendo only tries to achieve parity or produce slightly better graphics, it won't compete with the PS3/360 or their next gen efforts.


It's ridiculous for consoles to remain still when tablets are outputting 1080p graphics via HDMI, and only going to get better SOCs every year.

[Farid]

HD is a very relative term, it does not mean it has to be 1280x720 or above.

If the screen has a relatively high PPI (pixel-per-inches), calling it HD would make sense from a technical and marketing standpoint.

Anyway, what I really want to learn more about is what solution Nintendo will choose for their CPU and GPU. The TDP for Llano is quite reasonable even in all its configuration forms (between 25 and 100W), and if they're shooting for a 2012 release a Wichita/Krishna/Trinity APU is a possibility.

[Megadrive1988]

I hope Nintendo goes with a powerful multi-core PowerPC CPU and at least a Radeon 4800-level GPU. I want a 100x leap in graphics over Wii. Imagine Mario Galaxy 3 at 1080 60fps with near CGI-like visuals & lighting. sign me up. This E3 will be incredible to say the least.

[axehandle]

Originally Posted by wco81

Ditto.

It's well past time for someone to raise the bar on graphics.

If Nintendo only tries to achieve parity or produce slightly better graphics, it won't compete with the PS3/360 or their next gen efforts.


It's ridiculous for consoles to remain still when tablets are outputting 1080p graphics via HDMI, and only going to get better SOCs every year.

I concur. A 4 inch screen at 960x640 is "higher def", in relative terms, than a 50 inch screen at 1280x720. High Definition is a measure of pixel density.

[AlphaWolf]

so you should look forward to a 1" 200ppi display.

[eastmen]

Originally Posted by dragonelite

A 1080p zelda is enough for me to get it.

Man the nintendo fanboy in me that died 6 years ago changed into a zombie to rise again.

the zelda's have been sucking , majora's mask was the last good one , twilight princess was bad and skyword sword doesn't look any better if not infact look worse.

[ToTTenTranz]

Originally Posted by Megadrive1988

I hope Nintendo goes with a powerful multi-core PowerPC CPU and at least a Radeon 4800-level GPU. I want a 100x leap in graphics over Wii. Imagine Mario Galaxy 3 at 1080 60fps with near CGI-like visuals & lighting. sign me up. This E3 will be incredible to say the least.

Given Dolphin's success with the PowerPC JIT recompiler on x86 CPUs, I believe a PowerPC isn't really mandatory to get "flawless" emulation for Wii and Gamecube. Given the proper development resources, I believe a 4-core Llano (as suggested by some in this thread and even AMD themselves) would be up to the task. The emulator even uses OpenCL!


I don't know if a high-end Llano would be powerfull enough to make that "Wow!" factor amongst. I bet a Trinity would make more sense if they want something that easily overshadows X360 and PS3.

Originally Posted by AlphaWolf

so you should look forward to a 1" 200ppi display.

God, please.. no..
2.8" as bare minimum for any actual functionality.