GameCube 2 Backwards Compatible?

[max-pain]

Famitsu report claims that GameCube games may very well be playable on Nintendo's next-generation home console

According to an article in the latest issue of the Japanese print gaming magazine, Famitsu, Nintendo's top executive Satoru Iwata has hinted that the next iteration of its home console (currently being called GameCube 2) will be backwards compatible, allowing GameCube game owners to play their library of games on the new system. Details on how they'll facilitate backwards compatibility is unknown (hardware add-on? similar media format) and this admission by Nintendo's top guy isn't exactly 100 percent confirmed, so stay tuned for more information as we have it.

http://cube.gamespy.com/articles/511/511656p1.html

 

[London Geezer]

Or maybe a Flipper+Gekko-on-a-chip...? Just kidding...

 

[Guden Oden]

Deadmeat,

For a guy supposedly being dead, you do post a whole lot. Anyway, ever heard about hardware wrappers? GC isn't an overly complex piece of machinery, I'm sure a next-gen system could emulate it sufficiently well if the main CPU is of the same family of processors.

 

[LogisticX]

What about reading the discs....does that mean Nintendo is going for the same proprietary format or are they just going to throw two seperate readers for the different discs or even make a two stage reader ala PS2 type business with CD and DVD?

 

[LogisticX]

Whoops, it says it right there... I wonder which approach they'll take though.

 

[Megadrive1988]

An R500 based GPU won't do it, but an overclocked Flipper Turbo will...

or...... an R500-R600-CLASS GPU that is based on Flipper architecture with many more features and shaders, and has as much MORE power/performance over Flipper, that Flipper had over N64's RCP. 8)

or like the difference between Radeon R100 and Radeon R420

 

[Teasy]

Frankly Deadmeat what would you know about what will or won't "do it". Now please show some respect for this forum and stop posting (you're banned remember).

 

[Evil_Cloud]

What about reading the discs....does that mean Nintendo is going for the same proprietary format or are they just going to throw two seperate readers for the different discs or even make a two stage reader ala PS2 type business with CD and DVD?

It all depends on Nintendo's choice of functions... Will it be a pure gaming machine, or will it do other stuff as well?

 

[Guden Oden]

Nintendo don't need to go the multi-format route; people that buy consoles likely already either have 1 or more DVD player(s) or they don't want one (maybe they "backup" over the internet... ), and if the next GC uses a full-size optical drive a third party could make a software player...

 

[cthellis42]

On topic, I certainly wouldn't doubt it. It's the kind of thing they WOULD want, and if they're not making their architecture totally divergent, should be able to pull off well enough.

 

[BigGamer X]

I'd be shocked if it didn't play GC1 disks. GB advance was backwards compatible, (and wisely so) Nintendo knows this is a good thing to have. Since the CPU and GPU are coming from the same companies I just can't see it not being compatible. Now xbox2 I am worried about though, hopefully it will be too. (and we all know ps3 will be BC)

 

[Li Mu Bai]

Re: ...

An R500 based GPU won't do it, but an overclocked Flipper Turbo will...

Now explain to me from a technical perspective why this couldn't work, I'm up for a good laugh.

 

[Guden Oden]

I'd be shocked if it didn't play GC1 disks. GB advance was backwards compatible, (and wisely so) Nintendo knows this is a good thing to have.

No stationary Nintendo console has been backwards compatible so far, in fact only PS2 has EVER been backwards compatible with a previous generation since maybe back in the Atari days. I'm sceptical they'll spend the time and resources required to make this change. A cube costs $99, and will probably be even cheaper by the time their next-gen hits the shelves. No particulary big financial benefit, and remember; Nintendo always redesigns the joypad with each successive gen and I see no reason why that wouldn't be the case now as well.

PS2 kept the old controller design for better or worse, that's one of the things that made it a good target for backwards compatibility. Don't underestimate the importance of differing controller layouts!

 

[Teasy]

Nintendo already did backwards compatability with GC to a degree with the GB Player. The difference in controller certainly didn't stop them doing that.

Also I think the move from cartridge to discs may facilitate backwards compatability. Nintendo won't want to go with standard DVD's so they'll likely go with mini DVD again (of course a higher capacity version).

I'm not quite sure why you think the price of GC has anything to do with backwards compatability in N5..

 

[cthellis42]

No stationary Nintendo console has been backwards compatible so far,

...they also didn't go to disk media before the GameCube, so as would be expected, they were constantly having to update the cartridges to be able to handle new and different games. (Not to mention it's just a pain to keep all the carts as well and design for new casings [or be forced to use your old/dated designs], so it wasn't quite worth it.) With GameBoy it was easier to manage, and the games were not getting so outrageously better that they were seriously having to push the chipware or cartridges, and it's much easier to lug around a ton of cartridges (which people do since it's a portable system) when they're that small.

Even though N5 will likely use a new ROM format (though I haven't heard much about it, they certainly will NEED more than 1.5GB to last through next generation), it wouldn't be hard to make their optical drive compatable, and they could quite possibly include the major components of the GC now as "dual-use" in N5, if nothing else.

 

[Fox5]

Bah, I wouldn't care about backwards compatibility, unless they cane somehow add online support into every game or something big.

 

[akira888]

Actually there has been a case of post-Atari/pre-Sony backward compatibility. SuperGrafx was backwards compatible with the PC-Engine.

 

[ERP]

And you could technically boot a genesis in master system compatability mode.

Of course the cartridges didn't physically fit, so you needed an adapter. But all it really did was remap pins and hold one pin high on boot.

 

[akira888]

And you could technically boot a genesis in master system compatability mode.

Of course the cartridges didn't physically fit, so you needed an adapter. But all it really did was remap pins and hold one pin high on boot.

Heh, that's what I always thought it did. And I spent 20 dollars back in 1989 on that thing.

 

[Clashman]

How about this: GBA=GCP. GC2 allows you to play new GC/GCP games in 12xFSAA/16x Aniso? Also serves as a way to play GCP games at home, (especially after N discontinues the GC. Given the fact that a GCP audience would eventually likely far outstrip GC userbase, in order to play at home one would have to buy a GC2?

Yeah, it's a fantasy, I know. But it seems like such a damn good business model.