Fact: Nintendo to release HD console + controllers with built-in screen late 2012

[DeadlyNinja]

They need to solve some fundamental problems with how 3D rendering works. Stuff like megatexture will make more difference than even the most beefy GPU. I would also like to see the plastic-wax-people normal-mapping-love-thing go away.

I'm not being sarcastic, but is megatexturing really that big of a difference? I've seen 2 recent builds of Rage and I was not that impressed. I see the texture variety and I understand that much, but to me, good art still ace even with old texturing methods. I can understand how annoying repeating textures look, but beyond that I'm not seeing anything that impressive.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I'm not being sarcastic, but is megatexturing really that big of a difference? I've seen 2 recent builds of Rage and I was not that impressed. I see the texture variety and I understand that much, but to me, good art still ace even with old texturing methods. I can understand how annoying repeating textures look, but beyond that I'm not seeing anything that impressive.

Yap, the last video I saw with gameplay wasn't even a little bit convincing imho. Graphics or gameplay-wise. Indoors were "plagued" with low-res textures, and everything just felt like a copy of Borderlands (not-funny-anymore red-neck accents included) that you cannot play in coop mode.

I don't really know what's the differentiating factor in Rage anymore. 4 years ago it looked really good. Now (2 Crysises, a Borderlands and a bunch of UE3 and MT Framework games later) it seems to me it'll be just another game that got delayed into irrelevancy.

 

[swaaye]

Yeah we'll see. Megatexture is supposed to ease development because texture painting is much more natural and it also allows for more unique texturing instead of traditional tiling that can get really ugly in some games (ie Oblivion). And as has been said elsewhere on here, with megatexture you can either have a huge uniquely textured world or you can have ultra detailed textures but not both apparently. There has most definitely never been a game with the former.

 

[RudeCurve]

You haven't seen what Mega Texture is REALLY capable of until you move to Blu-ray storage...

Anyone who says Rage doesn't look great is smoking crack.

 

[swaaye]

I am more than ready for 100gb games. Stop downscaling those assets already. But is Steam ready?

 

[Deleted member 13524]

You haven't seen what Mega Texture is REALLY capable of until you move to Blu-ray storage...

Anyone who says Rage doesn't look great is smoking crack.

Sorry, it doesn't. And I'm not smoking crack.

 

[swaaye]

I'm not sure that comparing it to Borderlands is realistic though. It looks far better than Fallout 3 and isn't cell shaded goofyness. That ride towards the city in the preview video was incredible and I've never seen anything like that in any previous game. I'm mostly concerned as to whether the gameplay is going to be interesting. The graphics look great.

 

[zed]

I don't really know what's the differentiating factor in Rage anymore. 4 years ago it looked really good. Now (2 Crysises, a Borderlands and a bunch of UE3 and MT Framework games later) it seems to me it'll be just another game that got delayed into irrelevancy.

I have respect for id,
but yes it looks as if its suffering the same fate as doom3,
i.e. its a couple years too late

 

[swaaye]

Doom3 suffered from shitty gameplay and that had little to do with when it came out other than being about 8 years behind the times. Visually it kicked ass at the time and those looks were cloned by how many other games?

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Personally I never liked how doom3 looked. Too plastic and shiny. I liked Half-life2 en Far Cry much better.

I never understood why there are so few games that copied the hl2 look. IMHO it is one of the few games that actually looks realistic because it has color and doesn't make the whole world look shiny.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I'm not sure that comparing it to Borderlands is realistic though. It looks far better than Fallout 3 and isn't cell shaded goofyness.

I wasn't comparing to Borderlands visually, I was comparing it in terms of gameplay, environment, the same future-cowboys-in-a-rocky-desert setting. Borderlands is a "complete RPG" with experience points that increase your overall performance and let you select additional skills.
From what I've seen about Rage, it looks like the exact same thing, but without the coop story mode (which was a crucial feature for me to buy the game).

That ride towards the city in the preview video was incredible and I've never seen anything like that in any previous game. I'm mostly concerned as to whether the gameplay is going to be interesting. The graphics look great.

I was talking about the latest gameplay trailer. Look at the indoor textures, they're really weak. Specially when you're looking at the guy who's briefing about the mission.




Doom 3 went through the same stages. When it was first announced 2001, everyone's jaw dropped to the ground with the detail and how the world didn't suffer from the "hanna barbera" effect anymore.
When it finally came out, the Source Engine showed better looks for outdoors, Far Cry with the HDR patch looked better and Oblivion was already being shown to the public with yet another significant visual upgrade.

 

[RudeCurve]

I don't see much low res textures at all except maybe the wall texture behind that guy. Everything else just looks amazing ESPECIALLY the outdoor areas where the MT tech shows i'ts benefits.

Anyway back on topic...there's no reason why Nintendo's new console can't support MT as both PS360 is able to run Rage. It's not something that requires specific hardware support to implement.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

What has any of this got to do with Nintendo's new console?

 

[Deleted member 13524]

What has any of this got to do with Nintendo's new console?

Well, we were talking about how new techs like megatexture were important for future titles to look better, as that could be a selling point for the Nintendo Feel, and then we were talking about the upcoming game that uses megatexture, Rage, and then..
Erm.. yeah, sorry.


But hey, Rage could be a launch title for Nintendo Feel, together with an exclusive multiplayer mode (like the smash-bros-ish multiplayer in Force Unleashed II for the Wii).
They already said there will be some coop levels, though most of the game is single-player only.

 

[Squilliam]

What has any of this got to do with Nintendo's new console?

How games look on the new console? If at all there would be a meaningful difference?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That's perhaps where the conversation was coming from, but it turned into what RAGE looks like, and Doom 3 yadayada. It's been about a page since anyone was talking about what NES6 is rumoured to be!

 

[pc999]

My take on things is that Nintendo will try to do a mix of both GC and Wii strategy, to sum things up:

- a inovative/unique take on gaming that will allow it to differentiate itself, again
- fair tech for its day being profitable at a low (200-250$) but overall a "fair" price given the HW (like GC)
- try to be competitive on stuff like online
- a realization that gamers need/want more games than they can give so more 3rd party


The rumured controler (for me):

- seems like a step back if it is going to loose all the motion controls
- too expensive
- low battery
- looking at the controler and at the screen at the same time seems a bad idea
- lot of good small ideas in the foruns, but to small to be significant IMO
- after the DS/3DS/iPhone/Ipad/NGP/... it is not innovative!

So HW wise I think if you look at a low end late 2011/early2012 DX11 PC you will get a idea of the kind of raw performance you will get, plus some customizations for a better price/power/performance ratio. Personally they would be perfectly well with a custom low end liano...



On the controller I dont have problems in beliveing in a SMALL touch/hepatic screen, but I really doubt that the controler will be a "desktop" NGP. they would need a big twist if it is only the touch screen, like we knew about dual screen of the DS but we didnt knew about one of them being a touch screen.
It is very hard to predict what Nintendo will do in the controller, but I wouldnt be surprised if instead of a revolution it is a very fast paced evolution with small revolutionary elements (much like 3DS), where the innovation come not from one big thing but from a few small(er) things and all of those could have many small applications in many games to put them in a category of its own. I also doubt they will lose the motion controllers, specially not when so many devs are starting to put some nice efforts in the move generation (UFC trainer, Virtua Tennis, PS3 shooters...), and the industry in general is starting to expect it.
Still, in this, too much is possible to have any prediction...


Anyway I think that nintendo will try get a new distinctive innovation for gameplay plus FAIR hardware,online and third party (even if "easy ports") and try to increase it own IP portfolio to get some more mature gamers, with a hybrid GC/Wii strategy not very distant from 3DS.

That is because those arent bad strategy's, but incomplete one, the GC lacked a proper reason to get GC instead PS2, the Wii lacked the proper infrastructures for a long term/many games per console chance (both HW, online) maybe to much casual marketing too.

 

[Megadrive1988]

Getting back on topic, what do we think the IBM triple core CPU willbe based on? The PPEs of Xenon or something better?

 

[swaaye]

I would imagine that anything new would take cues from recent PowerPC developments. Xenon is pretty simple, simpler than even Broadway in some ways (OOE for ex).

It's interesting that they stress both easy development and easy porting from PC and 360. That leads me to believe that it will be either similar to PC or similar to 360. So maybe Llano is an option? I doubt they can use anything closely resembling 360 architecture without MS being unhappy.

 

[borowki]

More speculation about the controller. I'm still not impressed by the idea of a gamepad with a touch screen. Even if it has hepatic technology and it works amazingly well, all you get is a lot of buttons with pretty pictures on them. How is that supposed to be the next step in gaming?

If Nintendo wants to build on the success of the Wii, the next step would be hand gesture control. Imagine a device you wear on a forearm with cameras directed at your hand. With the help of tilt and motion sensors, the setup should allow you to reconstruct an accurate model of your entire arm in 3D space--down to the finger tips. That opens up tons of possibilities. To cast a spell in a RPG game, you just do a casting motion. To employ telekinesis, just cup your hand and direct it at the object you want to grab. To throw a split-finger fastball instead of a two-seamer in a baseball game, just change your grip. Such a controller would probably have a touch screen for things like play-calling. The sci-fi cool factor along warrant its inclusion.