Revolution Tech Details Emerge ( Xbox1+ performance, 128 MB RAM )

[jvd]

How much do you think the Revolution controller, plus the extra "shell" controller, plus the "nunchaka" thumbstick attachment, plus the sensor bars costs compared to a standard gamepad?

Nintendo blew a major part of their budget on the controller. They didn't have a lot of money left for the rest of the system. I told you this would be the case months ago.

THe cost shouldn't be much diffrent . Aside from that they can make the money back from the controller on shells . They can also just put in the standard remote with no nunchaka attachment .

I hate to say this but putting out a xbox lvl graphics system is goign to kill them . Why buy a revoloution when u can buy a ps2 for less ?

The system has to be much more powerfull than that and offer image quality that wasn't there last gen. Gameplay alone wont get gamers to the system. Many will need something else to draw them in as the controller is bound to scare away many

 

[mckmas8808]

Because they can? Because they want it to be seen as more of an "impulse buy" than a gaming investment?

Again, to be clear, I'm expecting $149. But $99 is not out of the realm of possibility.

So why did you jump on me when I said the PS3 could be released at $299? I just can't see a $399 PS3 (some of you think it may be as high as $499), a $299 core 360, and a $99 Revolution.

 

[scooby_dooby]

I hate to say this but putting out a xbox lvl graphics system is goign to kill them . Why buy a revoloution when u can buy a ps2 for less ?

They won't have XBOX lvl gfx. Titles like RE4 on GC right now are nearly as good as XBOX quality.

 

[mckmas8808]

I hate to say this but putting out a xbox lvl graphics system is goign to kill them . Why buy a revoloution when u can buy a ps2 for less ?

The system has to be much more powerfull than that and offer image quality that wasn't there last gen. Gameplay alone wont get gamers to the system. Many will need something else to draw them in as the controller is bound to scare away many

YES!! Me and jvd are on the same page I love it.

That is exactly my feelings. Some people might buy this system just for a few games use the controller to it's full ability, but that's not good enough against the 360 and PS3.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

I hate to say this but putting out a xbox lvl graphics system is goign to kill them . Why buy a revoloution when u can buy a ps2 for less ?

You're making quite a few assumptions there.

1) Who says the PS2 will be less
2) Revolution will be "more powerful" than PS2

Gameplay alone wont get gamers to the system. Many will need something else to draw them in as the controller is bound to scare away many

On the contrary, the entire point of the controller is that it's more intuitive and less scary than the others. It looks like a remote control or old SNES controller for crying out loud. New != scary.

 

[fulcizombie]

So why did you jump on me when I said the PS3 could be released at $299? I just can't see a $399 PS3 (some of you think it may be as high as $499), a $299 core 360, and a $99 Revolution.

You are right ,it's probably gojng to be a 399$ PS3,a 199$ core xbox360 and a 149$ revolution.

MS controls the price of the xbox360 parts much tighter than the xbox and the xbox360 will be in the market for a year when the other 2 will launch so MS will allready have taken the money from the hardcore crowd and a price drop for the xbox360 will be a certain thing,as much as it hurts you.

 

[jvd]

You're making quite a few assumptions there.

1) Who says the PS2 will be less
2) Revolution will be "more powerful" than PS2

1) Right now the ps2 falls inbetween the prices we are discussing . Right smack at 150$ . I see no reason why the ps2 will still be 150$ next year when the ps3 is on the market.

2) They are saying the power is around that of an xbox From ign

To be honest, it's not much more powerful than an Xbox. It's like a souped up Xbox," a major third party source revealed to us. "But it's the controller that makes the difference and the controller is really nice."

What is a souped up xbox ? Obviously not an xbox 360 . The line "Not much more powerfull" raises the question in my mind how suped up is it ? It doesn't seem to be much more powerfull and its ram isn't even double the foot print . Now , the ps2 and xbox images were not far from each other . So why would the rev with power not much more powerfull than the xbox show a noticable diffrence to the ps2 / gamecube / xbox ?

On the contrary, the entire point of the controller is that it's more intuitive and less scary than the others. It looks like a remote control or old SNES controller for crying out loud. New != scary.

People will be put off . Because new is not scary , but diffrent is and ther eis no visual grab to get u in and say oh wow .

 

[Joe DeFuria]

1) Right now the ps2 falls inbetween the prices we are discussing . Right smack at 150$ . I see no reason why the ps2 will still be 150$ next year when the ps3 is on the market.

All depends on the launch price of Ps3.

I agree that the price is likely to be less than $150...but then I also beleive that $150 is the ceiling for Revolution, and it could be less too.

2) They are saying the power is around that of an xbox From ign

They are also saying "2-3 times" the GC. And many people would argue today that GC produces similar visuals to XBox.

What is a souped up xbox ? Obviously not an xbox 360 .

But obviously more than a Xbox1 and thus Ps2.

People will be put off . Because new is not scary , but diffrent is and ther eis no visual grab to get u in and say oh wow .

People who have never used a controller before will be put off?

You guys keep on thinking about existing gamers, instead of one of the primary targets: new gamers. I would also argue that the majority of existing gamers are not intimidated by new controllers. Doesn't mean they'll like a new one, of course.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I hate to say this but putting out a xbox lvl graphics system is goign to kill them . Why buy a revoloution when u can buy a ps2 for less ?

Because a PS2 hasn't got Revolutions controller. What you're saying is aking to saying 'why by a dance mat for £30 when you can get a DS2 controller for £15'. They're different commodities. If someone really likes a pancake tossing game, or Tennis with a virtual racket, there's only one choice. The fact that a people carrier might be priced higher than a sports car doesn't mean anyone with a large family is going to buy the cheaper sports car. Price alone isn't the deciding factor here. Nintendo are offering a different and unique experience.

 

[Bobbler]

I'm still wondering when previous systems made their first price drop... Anyone got this information? I don't think any of the major systems had a price cut at all in the first year (can't remember for sure though), let alone a 1/3 cut in their price.

Anyone who thinks a 200 core is possible or likely within a year of launch might want to lay off the happy juice.

 

[mckmas8808]

On the contrary, the entire point of the controller is that it's more intuitive and less scary than the others. It looks like a remote control or old SNES controller for crying out loud. New != scary.

Joe my 4 year old cousin can play PS2 and Xbox games. I don't think the controllers of the current generation consoles were ever scary.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

Joe my 4 year old cousin can play PS2 and Xbox games. I don't think the controllers of the current generation consoles were ever scary.

Don't think 4-5 year olds.

Think 30+ year olds who have never touched a console before.

My 5 year old does quite well himself playing Halo on our x-box. My parents on the other hand....

 

[fearsomepirate]

Double the clockspeed, and you get a double GC, not a 3x GC. At least that much is pretty simple. While I think these specs are ridiculously low, one thing to keep in mind is that most games this gen were designed for PS2 and ported across all consoles. The vast bulk of the Cube's library was cross-platform games. So hopefully at least Revolution will get graphics engines tailored for the chip like we saw in the exclusives (Metroid Prime, Rebel Strike, Wind Waker, WWE: DOR2, etc) rather than piles of lowest-common-denominator Renderware games.

Also, look for bundles over price drops, the way they're doing with Gamecube now.

 

[jvd]

All depends on the launch price of Ps3.

I agree that the price is likely to be less than $150...but then I also beleive that $150 is the ceiling for Revolution, and it could be less too.

It could be , thought i doubt it . I wish it was 100$ . But i don't see it happening. Nintendo wil lwant to try and break even on the tech. The gamecube itself is close to a 100$ still to make (from my understanding) SO are u expecting a console the same price as the gamecube ?

They are also saying "2-3 times" the GC. And many people would argue today that GC produces similar visuals to XBox.

Yes they do and later they compare it to the xbox . The net result is that the developers either have diffrent info or feel that the xbox is much more powerufll than the gamecube .

You can't have 2x-3x more powerfull than the gamecube and then in the next paragraph , not much more powerfull than the xbox .

So what does the final image look like ?

But obviously more than a Xbox1 and thus Ps2.

How much so , The xbox visuals aren't much better than the ps2 visuals . So what we get slightly better than xbox visuals or the diffrenece between ps2/xbox visuals ? That will be hard to sell , very hard to sell.

People who have never used a controller before will be put off?

How will people use the controller ? Either buy a system or go to a kiosk. Many people will be turned off by seeing the movements needed and the akwardness of playing it in front of people and looking like an ass your first time

You guys keep on thinking about existing gamers, instead of one of the primary targets: new gamers. I would also argue that the majority of existing gamers are not intimidated by new controllers. Doesn't mean they'll like a new one, of course.

no i'm thinking of my mother right now actually. When she saw the video from the press confrence and says that thing looks nuts , how are u supposed to use it and then walked off .

You need something there to get the new gamer to look at the system and try the controller and it certianly wont have the graphics to do that

 

[function]

I'm still wondering when previous systems made their first price drop... Anyone got this information? I don't think any of the major systems had a price cut at all in the first year (can't remember for sure though), let alone a 1/3 cut in their price.

Anyone who thinks a 200 core is possible or likely within a year of launch might want to lay off the happy juice.

In the UK the Xbox dropped from £300 to £200 in about 3 months and the DC dropped from £200 to £150 in 6 months (officially it took a year). If you're having no problems selling well then you don't need a price cut.

The Saturn rocked hardest of all though - dropped from £400 to £250 in within about 9 months. Was £200 in about 12.

 

[function]

Joe my 4 year old cousin can play PS2 and Xbox games. I don't think the controllers of the current generation consoles were ever scary.

Children are like the comic and film hero "Daredevil": they know know fear. Not everyone is Ben Affleck though, and none gamer adults often are put off. Nintendo want a console and controller that, like Ben Affleck, appeals to almost everyone.*

*Almost.

 

[Branduil]

There is no way the 360 will cost $200 next year. MS wants to actually make a profit this time around.

I still think the GPU will be more advanced than people are thinking. I can't imagine it won't at least have SM 3.0.

The developers in this article seem a bit more positive than in the IGN one:

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62069

While Broadway is well-understood by developers, the ATI part remains "a bit of a black box", according to one senior developer we spoke to. "We have theoretical throughput figures and stats from Nintendo, but nobody's seen the hardware yet - we're just treating it like it's a faster version of the GameCube GPU, at the moment."

 

[Joe DeFuria]

You all fail to realize that Nintendo is attempting to make console gaming more approachable.

The line of thought is this:

Game consoles have gotten so powerful, and games so "sophisticated" because of that power and sophistication, a sizable population just isn't interested. They don't want to learn what 2 analog sticks "do", 6 buttons, plus a D-Pad that the hard-core users pretty much demand all be used on every game....when they are not demanding full blown keyboards and mice as well.

You may agree or disagree with that assessment. I think there's a lot of truth to it. It's MUCH easier for people who have never been into gaming to pick up a SNES controller and "just play" than it is a dual shock or XBox controller.

So, to make Revolution more approachable, 2 things need to happen:

1) Lower the price, so that the barrier to entry is not as high.
2) Offer a more intuitive and approachable interface than the typical controller....while at the same time offering much of the effective functionality of the typical controller.

The big question is number 2. How well can Nintendo pull it off...we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Joe DeFuria]

There is no way the 360 will cost $200 next year. MS wants to actually make a profit this time around.

My personal guess at the 360 core next x-mas will be $250. However, I'm also guessing that it will be a kind of "core-plus". That is, today's core version plus something else thrown in: memory card or a pack-in game.
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62069

 

[Bobbler]

In the UK the Xbox dropped from £300 to £200 in about 3 months and the DC dropped from £200 to £150 in 6 months (officially it took a year). If you're having no problems selling well then you don't need a price cut.

The Saturn rocked hardest of all though - dropped from £400 to £250 in within about 9 months. Was £200 in about 12.

And those are all systems that sold horribly or started out at far too high of a price. Are we assuming that 300 dollars is too high of a price? or that Xbox360 is going to sell horribly? I honestly don't think Xbox360 will need a price cut to compete, it isn't as if a price cut to Xbox360 next christmas will do much to compete against a new and highly sought after system (sort of like dropping the price of the PS2 this christmas vs the Xbox360) -- the PS3 is going to sell out regardless of MS's pricing, so it would only hurt them (since chances are it won't be profitable enough, if at all, to withstand a pricedrop and retain profitability).

I'm still wondering when PS1/PS2/N64/Xbox/etc first got their price cuts in USA (since the pricing scheme that MS is using for Xbox360 is closer to that of the USA -- europe isn't getting nearly as screwed ). I think without knowing those (since I vaguely remember them following the same pattern) it's a possibly false assumption to be stating that there will be a price cut at all, let alone a 100 (1/3) price drop.