Files-Aime talks a bit about Revolution

[Shifty Geezer]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=9865

Regarding the controller itself, Fils-Aime expanded on some of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's hints about the design from his E3 presentation. "If you just think about it, we're going to have the ability through wireless internet to download all your great games from NES, SNES, N64," he said.

"Think about it - each of those controllers are different. How are you gonna play? That captured some of the imagination of what our controller needs to be able to do, and certainly as you get into the meat of that type of innovation with the developers, their eyes truly light up because they start to imagine what's possible with that kind of configuration, which is vastly different than a sheer horsepower kind of game."

Speaking more generally about the Revolution console, Fils-Aime also confirmed widespread speculation that the console will be launched at a significantly lower price point than its next-generation competitors, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

"We have to assume that from a pricing standpoint, we will be substantially lower than the competition," he said, going on to say that this would be because the Revolution won't have "all of that added fluff that a gamer, frankly, doesn't [want] - it's not core to gaming."

Gives credence, IMO, to the touch-screen controller for different button configs, and the idea that Revolution will be quite a bit less powerful than the competitors if it's to be cheaper and if by 'fluff' Reggie's talking eye-candy. It's not like extraneous connectors and such 'fluff' are going to contrubute a lot to cost, so he must be talking about the expensive CPU's and GPUs adding little gaming, a point Nintendo have raised before.

 

[jvd]

(jvd dreams of a 100$ ns5 at launch ) back to reality . sd res at 200$ with nitendos line up and a controller that will work on all the games .... yea i will most likely buy this

 

[gurgi]

Nintendo has typically been pretty competitive in the past power-wise, even when they put together a cost conscious design, ie. Gamecube. This suggests that the new interface technology going into Revolution is going to cost enough per unit to require some compromise elsewhere. I've been anxious to see what this 'Revolution' is for a while.

 

[PC-Engine]

Well I'm pretty sure it will not come with a BR/HD DVD drive or a HDD so that right there will make it significantly cheaper by default. That's what I would consider to be fluff. GCN was significantly cheaper than both PS2 and Xbox while still having comparable processing.

 

[mckmas8808]

I think this time around the Rev. will be the obvious loser as far as graphics are concerned.

 

[PC-Engine]

I think this time around the Rev. will be the obvious loser as far as graphics are concerned.

I'm sure you have valid reasons to come to that conclusion too.

 

[BOOMEXPLODE]

PS3 ~$399
X360 ~$300 (according to J. Allard)
Revolution must be below $300...sweet...IMO all three major consoles will be decent and their won't be any "Saturn" type flops this generation.

 

[Farid]

Gives credence, IMO, to the touch-screen controller for different button configs

Is there such a thing as a touchscreen that supports more than one simultaneous input?
If you're going to emulate the NES/SNES pads, you'll need to be able to push more than one button at the time.

Also, this whole touchscreen joypad idea has already been debunked by Nintendo. And it's a stupid idea too, a gamepad with no buttons, would mean that you'd have to keep an eye on the pad to know where the buttons are placed.

Personally, I gues that the revolutionnary part is either a camera, or a pad with a gyroscope (Or a mix of both), or a VR headset.

 

[Iron Tiger]

I think this time around the Rev. will be the obvious loser as far as graphics are concerned.

It may not be doing all that the next gen consoles will be, but that doesn't mean it will be the obvious loser. Most people only see screenshots of games and base their opinions on them. If everyone's getting Gamespot/IGN screens of a typical 640x480 resolution, all 3 consoles will be on equal footing. The Rev's SD limitation probably will help it to have competitive (or superior) graphics in regards when it comes to screenshots and on-box thumbnails.

 

[cthellis42]

I think this time around the Rev. will be the obvious loser as far as graphics are concerned.

I'm sure you have valid reasons to come to that conclusion too.

Depends how many 360's/PS3's are being shown off on HDTV's at that point.

 

[Brimstone]

Personally, I gues that the revolutionnary part is either a camera, or a pad with a gyroscope (Or a mix of both), or a VR headset.

I guess if they put a camera on the side of the controller, the camera lens would allow them to emulate a light gun. Just turn the controller on it's side and put your finger on a trigger, then your set to play Duck Hunt, Gumshoe, or Hogans Alley.

 

[pc999]

With a GC pad we can any game, so that dont give any info on rev pad.

On gfx side they will not suport HD dont that means that they can put a lot of ALUs per pipe (if a traditional one), so at 480 (i?) they can get the same qualitity than the others at 720p using cheaper HW, but I am more concerned about CPU power, and the PAD.

 

[mckmas8808]

On gfx side they will not suport HD dont that means that they can put a lot of ALUs per pipe (if a traditional one), so at 480 (i?) they can get the same qualitity than the others at 720p using cheaper HW

I just don't think this will hold true. It's hard for me to believe that the NR (which Nintendo themselves always say graphics are not that important) at a lower price and smaller machine will be just as good at graphics like the X360 and PS3. I think on multiplatform goods it will hold its weight though.

Kinda like the PS2 to Xbox is what I'm expecting the NR will look like.

 

[GuyMe]

The main Revolution controller is not what you use to play old Nintendo games, there are Gamecube controller ports in the back of the machine.

http://cube.ign.com/articles/617/617195p1.html

Depending on whether the Revolution is situated horizontally or vertically, its GameCube docking section is located beneath a flap on the right side or top of the unit respectively. The flap is easily raised to reveal four GameCube controller ports and two GameCube Memory Pak slots. This area is of course dedicated to the idea of backward compatibility. Revolution's new controller is likely to be dramatically different from anything we've seen before, and therefore Nintendo needed to include ports for the old pads so that new buyers could continue to enjoy old GameCube software.

 

[Magnum PI]

so he must be talking about the expensive CPU's and GPUs adding little gaming, a point Nintendo have raised before.

unless HDTV is a gimmick, PS3 and PS3 bis will need much more fillrate than revolution.

no support of HDTV implies the rev need less fillrate, so a cheaper GPU.
no hard disk, no blue ray...

 

[Magnum PI]

I just don't think this will hold true. It's hard for me to believe that the NR (which Nintendo themselves always say graphics are not that important) at a lower price and smaller machine will be just as good at graphics like the X360 and PS3. I think on multiplatform goods it will hold its weight though.

Kinda like the PS2 to Xbox is what I'm expecting the NR will look like.

without HDTV support, revolution should be able to have graphics equivalent to PS3 ans PS3bis on non-HDTV screen, with much less fillrate.

 

[hey69]

hm , it almost sound like they will release a TRANSFORMERS ROBOT TYPE OF CONTROLLER !

bend it turn it and you have a different controller. twist and bend again and you have a snes controller

 

[PC-Engine]

I think this time around the Rev. will be the obvious loser as far as graphics are concerned.

I'm sure you have valid reasons to come to that conclusion too.

Depends how many 360's/PS3's are being shown off on HDTV's at that point.

You mean like how FFTSW looks so good at 480p?

 

[rabidrabbit]

My sources tell me that instead of joysticks the Revolution controller will have joyholes.
You put your thumbs in these recesses and move them inside the holes.
That eliminates the slipping that's too common in the today's thumbsticks.
These holes will also have a new kind of force feedback, in addition to standard vibration they can squeeze your thumbs, and even pop your thumb out to simulate for example you losing control in a crash.

 

[rabidrabbit]

I think this time around the Rev. will be the obvious loser as far as graphics are concerned.

I'm sure you have valid reasons to come to that conclusion too.

Depends how many 360's/PS3's are being shown off on HDTV's at that point.

You mean like how FFTSW looks so good at 480p?

Standard resolution is just fine for relatively close up obeject.
But for faraway object, scenery... you lose much detai, making for example a character standing some 100 meters away from you appear rather indistinquishable.
For face closeups and such, 480p will look just fine in next gen games, but for detailed scenery and long view distances the limit is real.