Post your definitions of a Nintendo Revolution!

[j^aws]

News: No Revolutionary D-Pad?
By Dennis - Dec 21st 2004 13:23
New rumours on the Nintendo Revolution appeared. Head inside, this is revolutionary!

According to the latest edition 'The Diamond Weekly', one of Japan's premier economic weeklies, Nintendo's upcoming console will be revolutionary indeed. The Nintendo Revolution is supposed to lack a D-pad and A/B buttons!

Nintendo has stressed out that the Revolution would indeed involve a whole new gaming experience, but removing the most recognizable controls...

The Diamond Weekly did not mention any other details about the Nintendo Revolution, nor did Nintendo officially react on the rumours yet. And thus, the wait for E3 2005 continues...

Source: GameFront

http://www.cube-europe.com/news.php?nid=7295

Above is one speculation of what Ninty may adopt.

Post in this thread what you would consider, as your expectations for Nintendo to justify the 'revolution' code name! Be it ATI's R600 (?) derived GPU or the controller/ human interface or indeed the games/software...what would it take?

A favourite of mine is removing the need for for a normal display unit and having one of these wireless/lightweight VR glasses,

http://www.nuvision3d.com/the60gx.html

Ninty is waiting for wired online to be massmarket and doesn't seem to be pushing this tech. However, it is a fan of multi-player games as DS wifi or mult-player split-screen/4 player games that are played more socially in a living room/family environment. Indeed, it still tries to instill this family multi-player spirit with the microphone/ bongo units released recently.

The goggles could be wired and attached to the controller, like a XB headset unit is or fully wireless. So if one can imagine ulta-realistic 3D graphics displayed on TV/ monitors for next-gen and transfer that fidelity to a lightweight stereoscopic VR unit (in full color! ) ...and some sort of intuitive control that doesn't need you to look at the controller...and a killer game to take advantage of it (ala Mario64, analogue controls and camera controls that launcded the N64)...can you imagine the immersion?

Even if the graphics are a half of the PS3's...the immersion should be intense...and I wager you'd be more tolerant about framerates, pixels quality issues etc. that wouldn't be exceptable on a TV/Monitor because of the immersion. Not that they'd be an issue on a R600 class GPU anyway.

Of course you'd still be able to use a normal TV/monitor if needed but not a requirement. If these units are cheap enough for you to enjoy multiplayer VR games in your living room (the Rev box would act as a game/graphics server to your controller/VR unit)...wouldn't that be a revolution?

Or just post your expectations of what is justified for a Revolution name-tag!

Btw, Ninty's expectations from a recent Edge interview was this,

NES (revolution)
SNES (evolution)
N64 (revolution)
GC (evolution)
REV???

EDIT: I've changed this to a poll also, please participate!

 

[GwymWeepa]

IMO they either do something big like this or they shouldn't bother releasing a next-gen console, there's no way they can compete with Sony and MS with another GC or even n64 like unit.

 

[Evil_Cloud]

I don't think Nintendo will stop using D-pad and A & B buttons, at least IF Revolution is to be backwards compatible with GameCube.

This sounds like one of the so many ridiculous rumours launched on the web, I fear the worst for next year...


Also, I don't think Nintendo will ever opt for VR Goggles, it's just an entirely different world, and not really a revolution.

Still, the name 'Revolution' is a pretty bold statement, and Nintendo will have to impress before it can convince people.

 

[pc999]

Would be if they have a good suport, but this

I don't think Nintendo will stop using D-pad and A & B buttons, at least IF Revolution is to be backwards compatible with GameCube.

would be a minor problem, ( they could put ports to the old controlers).

Anyway I probably will love a no controllers console.

But VR googles...I dont think so well about that, anyway I would try it
.

 

[j^aws]

I don't think Nintendo will stop using D-pad and A & B buttons, at least IF Revolution is to be backwards compatible with GameCube.

Devils avacado here...the D-pad was first introduced by Nintendo IIRC, maybe they're bored of it and thought of something better!

B/C could be provided by the existing controllers. Also, iirc, Ninty made comments after E3 that the GC would co-exist with Rev? :?

This sounds like one of the so many ridiculous rumours launched on the web, I fear the worst for next year...

True...but I'm quietly confident as for a company to tag 'revolution' to the console, is brave, and it should at least be something worth shouting about or a neat idea at the very least. Otherwise they will have the most egg on their faces and somehow I don't think their that naive.

Also, I don't think Nintendo will ever opt for VR Goggles, it's just an entirely different world, and not really a revolution.

True...revolution is an over used word but you cannot avoid using it as it's Ninty's code name! Was the analogue stick on the N64 a revolution?...No. Nor is VR, nor is a gyro...but it's the application to a game that would lift it above a novelty and make it a pre-requisite. Afterall, playing M64 or Zelda:OOT without analague would seem alien now.

A game is just a hand/eye co-ordination system mapped to visual interface/human interface devices that makes interacting fun. If Ninty change both controller and visual devices, then it fits the definition, no?

Ninty have already released a VR device...their failed virtual-boy that was branded as a silly portable device! Maybe ahead of their time and shows they are willing to experiment. Much like an Apple iPod re-launched and re-branded from their failed Apple Newton PDA...companies do learn from their mistakes sometimes!

 

[Kolgar]

I hope the VR speculation (goggles, etc.) is wrong. I can't guess what it is they have planned, but I have a feeling Nintendo's "revolution" may wind up spelling "n-i-c-h-e" in the end.

 

[Squeak]

and I wager you'd be more tolerant about framerates, pixels quality issues etc. that wouldn't be exceptable on a TV/Monitor because of the immersion.

One thing is for sure, if they are going to do VR they better have ROCKSOLID framerate in all their games and very fast head turning response, or else the system will be known as Nintendo Nausea.

 

[Evil_Cloud]

I think we'll have to look at both a hardware as software revolution. Nintendo has always been known for it's outstanding 1st and 2nd party software, it might have something to do with this...

Interaction between different games on the same, and on different Nintendo platforms.
Interaction between hardware, both the same as different Nintendo hardware
Interaction between users, both Revolution users, as NDS/GBA2 users.

...

Innovation, creativity, market appeal,...

Or perhaps they're just trying to make game development as easy as possible, so they can focus on creating new games and franchises at a relatively low cost.

 

[Acert93]

I have no clue what Nintendo is doing...

Removing the D pad could mean they still have analog sticks? No A/B buttons? What about the triggers? Dunno... sounds odd.

The problem is if they remove the primary bottons and D-pad they can make cross platforming for 3rd parties very difficult.

Personally, I hope Nintendo is doing a HMD (goggles/glasses with head tracking). Nintendo invested in a company that makes gyroscopes, so I can always hope I think a HMD would make games more intuitive, immresive, and really be revolutionary.

And Nintedo did dable in the Virtual Boy, so I guess anything is possible. Nintendo has, in the past, done some aggressive things... maybe they are getting serious with Revolution?

 

[cthellis42]

"Support for" those goggles is one thing. "Moving to" would be quite another, as gamers don't typically want to be encumbered by them (or their extra expense, which would be substantial for good ones), still want easy multiplayer, still want people to be able to friends watch and cheer their gameplay, don't want to look goofy while playing... And to take advantage of goggles like that, I imagine they'll want to program specifically toward them, as they wouldn't be at their best just displaying the same image a TV or monitor would. And unless it were a bundled device, it likely wouldn't sell well enough to get the extra programming attention, and if it IS bundled it runs the risk of being a high-priced shtick no one cares about...


Controller-wise, I could see them dropping the D-pad, as they almost did on the GC controller anyway. (At least it's too small, hard, and poorly placed to be very comfortable for use over a long period of gameplay.) The only time I really want to use it is for fighting games (where you need fast, responsive double-tapping and complex directional movements), and there were few enough of them as it is. (And the buttons are bad for those fighting games not specifically designed towards them from the beginning.) It basically turned into "four extra buttons" with the GameCube anyway. Dropping it would be no big deal.

Dropping the A&B buttons, though? I'm not even sure what they're insinuating there. Changing the button design around again? Likely. Changing the names of the buttons? ...who cares? That's not even a proper comment as it explains nothing. Do they mean it's going back to only two main face buttons? They would be pretty silly, but perhaps not entirely out of line for Nintendo which always stresses "simple, easy, and intuitive" controls.

Riddle me this: what if they go to two good, responsive, and equilaterally placed analog sticks (for proper dual-control) and four trigger/button options (for better dual-analog control options)...? In that case, I could see them removing a few buttons from the front side, as they wouldn't be needed (except like you'd use Start and Select buttons) in dual-analog gaming, and would be enough for most simple gaming as well. (Either ones that only need one or two buttons like a puzzle game, arcade shooter or the likes of WarioWare... but the right two triggers would be easily encorporated as well regardless, and even the left two to make things "as accessable as needed.) And when not going dual-analog, the right one becomes the camera movement or "extra buttons" stick as usual.

Of course another intriguing possibility would be the inclusion of the rumored tilt- or movement-sensor which would make for new possibilities, and the need for extra face controls less critical.

 

[gokickrocks]

i hope at the very least that all controllers are wireless like the wavebirds

 

[Megadrive1988]

maybe Nintendo is dropping the d-pad for the Revolution controller & games, but you can still plug in your Gamecube controllers to play Gamecube games?

 

[Evil_Cloud]

maybe Nintendo is dropping the d-pad for the Revolution controller & games, but you can still plug in your Gamecube controllers to play Gamecube games?

Or maybe the controllers can transform like the Knightrider car!

Seriously, it's very unlikely Nintendo will opt for VR goggles. The most likely option is that it will be a device like the Donkey Konga bongo's.

 

[Megadrive1988]

^ I wasn't suggesting Revolution will be based on VR goggles

I'm thinking more along the lines of what was rumored-reported for Dolphin controller in 1999-2000. some sort of sensory/tilt/motion controller. maybe a touch controller. we have to keep DS in mind as that's what Nintendo has said we should look to.

 

[Evil_Cloud]

^ I wasn't suggesting Revolution will be based on VR goggles

I'm thinking more along the lines of what was rumored-reported for Dolphin controller in 1999-2000. some sort of sensory/tilt/motion controller. maybe a touch controller. we have to keep DS in mind as that's what Nintendo has said we should look to.

Maybe some sort of 'cartridge' system in the controller itself, much like the Dreamcast controller?

Memory Card, tilt sensor, video camera, microphone, touch screen,...

 

[Fox5]

Instead of a dpad revolution will have a gyroscope, and c and z buttons will replace A and B.

BTW, even with a VR headset you still need a traditional controller to play it. VR would be nothing more than a novelty.

I wouldn't mind seeing each game with its own controller though, like in the arcades. Police 911 can have its motion sensor, house of the dead a lightgun, daytona its driving wheel, silent scope its sniper rifle, and so on. I think that'd be more immersive than a VR headset...hmm...but perhaps a vr headset combined with a lightgun...but that'd be awkward to walk arounnd still. Maybe put an analog joystick on the back of the gun to use to walk around with.

 

[Tweaker]

I bet "Revolution" = Game console+HDTV+MP3 player+internet browser+... console with LCD

 

[Fox5]

I bet "Revolution" = Game console+HDTV+MP3 player+internet browser+... console with LCD

It's a dreamcast sitting on top of a panasonic q?

 

[Tweaker]

I bet "Revolution" = Game console+HDTV+MP3 player+internet browser+... console with LCD

It's a dreamcast sitting on top of a panasonic q?

I'm not sure I understand well, but question: "What teenagers usually do?"
Answer:
1. play games
2.watch TV
3.listen to music
4.browse Net.
...

put everything together and you have 'Revolution'

 

[Almasy]

IMO, the Revolution will be a standard videogame console, with some kind of small new gimmick. Not trolling, I´m just not expecting anything revolutionary, at all.