Interview with Reggie Fils-Aime (Rev)

[StefanS]

Where is Nintendo right now with the development of the Revolution?

We have been sharing the controller mechanics with developers across the world. We have shipped over a thousand controller dev kits to developers so that they can begin getting experience with the controller mechanics....

[on Virtual console]
I’m certainly not going to get into it today but, suffice it to say, the approach we’ve taken with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which is all about great game play, ease of access, total control in the hands of the consumer and a fantastic experience, all of those principles will be applied to the virtual console....

Speaking of GameCube, if you play a GameCube game on the new Revolution console, will you be able to use the Revolution controller or will you have to use the older style of controller?

Well, all of the GameCube games will be compatible only with GameCube accessories, so whether it’s a WaveBird or whether it’s a wired controller, you’ll only be able to play those titles with those accessories. Essentially what we’re saying is that Revolution titles are the only ones that will leverage the new controller.

Will we see some brand new franchises for the Revolution?

Yes we will.

Something that will be as big as a Nintendogs or a Zelda?

That is certainly the goal, but you’ll have to tell me when you see it at E3. We will be showing a lot of information about Revolution at E3. You know we’ve said publicly that this year’s E3 will be Revolution’s coming out party. Now, we’ve also been quite clear that there are innovations inherent in Revolution that we will be sharing ongoing...

Is Revolution going to be the final name or is it still a code name?

It is still a code name.

Will you unveil the new name at E3?

Maybe.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/20/the-engadget-interview-reggie-fils-aime-executive-vice-preside/

First of all, the DS part of the interview can be discussed in the handheld forum http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28186&page=2. Since this is a pretty long interview, I thought that'd be the best idea.

Interesting bits and pieces:
more than thousand Rev dev kits shipped
Rev is still a code name
no Revolution controlls for old games
a new franchise for Rev will be presented at E3
some features of Rev have yet to be unveiled.

 

[NANOTEC]

One thing that I've heard that will be available is using two Revmote controllers by a single person for single player games.

 

[Rodéric]

One thing that I've heard that will be available is using two Revmote controllers by a single person for single player games.

Heard that too, and it was shown in the Revolution Pad Trailer released @ TGS. (The guy playing drums.)

 

[StefanS]

One thing that I've heard that will be available is using two Revmote controllers by a single person for single player games.

Virtua Cop goes Western style. Dual Gun use. Not very innovative, but I start drooling thinking about it.

 

[hey69]

he is talking about controller dev kits , not just devkits, makes me wonder, .. do devs use gamecube devkits or what?

 

[Nicked]

Wow, looking at that list of interesting bits, it really strikes me how little we know about the system and how absolutely little we know about most key issues (what games are there? - PS3+X360 have hundreds announced, whats the final name?, why so few devkits released etc.).

Given Nintendo's history, 2007 isn't really unlikely regardless of what they're saying. November 2006 the earliest is pretty much assured at this stage.

 

[pipo]

Given Nintendo's history, 2007 isn't really unlikely regardless of what they're saying. November 2006 the earliest is pretty much assured at this stage.

I would say the exact opposite.

Also keep in mind they can probably ramp up production much faster than the other guys.

 

[Nicked]

I would say the exact opposite.

Also keep in mind they can probably ramp up production much faster than the other guys.

N64+GC came in late though, so there is precedent.

 

[Rodéric]

N64+GC came in late though, so there is precedent.

Sure but Iwata said he didn't want to launch last...

 

[fearsomepirate]

N64+GC came in late though, so there is precedent.

Iwata also wasn't top dog then. DS and GBM came out right on schedule.

 

[Jabjabs]

Well at least we will know what to expect from E3 this year from lil-N, could be a great year for them.

 

[Powderkeg]

We have shipped over a thousand controller dev kits

When are they ever going to ship SYSTEM dev kits, or do they plan on just using Gamecube dev kits forever?

 

[NANOTEC]

When are they ever going to ship SYSTEM dev kits, or do they plan on just using Gamecube dev kits forever?

Final hardware probably isn't complete.

 

[pc999]

Anyone knows if there is (usually) any limit of dev kits per dev (at this stage) or if one can get as many as they want or one per dev, because if there is a limit of (eg) 5 per dev this mean that there is at least 200 devs working on Rev, and that is very good.

Plus if they are this late with final HW this could mean that they are indeed working on 65nm once that NEC will have it for mid 06 and IBM for late 06 (I guess that even if they use the same number of transistores from the others (which I doubt), and keep GC wields (that means up to 560M transistores) , they would have ~twice as many processores so if MS can get it for November N should get enought for December (they said they limit is hollyday 06) althought with lower prices (150$max as I expect know) and even only equal interest they would probably have more demand).

I have big hopes for Rev.

 

[Megadrive1988]

I kinda doubt Revolution's Broadway CPU and Hollywood GPU will start out on 65nm.
probably 90nm or 80nm (and 80nm is not a true shrink from 90nm)

 

[pc999]

I kinda doubt Revolution's Broadway CPU and Hollywood GPU will start out on 65nm.
probably 90nm or 80nm (and 80nm is not a true shrink from 90nm)

I didnt saw any 80nm on NEC not even heard about it on IBM anyway it would still about 355M total (BTW todays GC still on 180nm right?).

 

[NANOTEC]

NEC only has 65nm and 55nm for microprocessors available this year and next year respectively. I think they only use 80nm for memory chips. Obviously 90nm is an option too

 

[Urian]

Since the MoSys 1T-SRAM-Q is only available for processors on the the 90nm process I doubt that Nintendo is going to use a 65nm process unless the Hollywood doesn´t have any embedded RAM inside.

The doubt that I have is with the amount of RAM memory, since this is crucial for the quality of the image and the textures and a big amount of RAM can hide without problems the possible Xbox "Turbo" problem.

About the power, well, you must remember GCN and Flipper that is a custom design that in some parts is worse than a GeForce2 and in other parts is better than a GeForce4, it will be inferior to C1/Xenos but we will get a surprise from it and it is going to be an interesting architecture.