Viva la Revolution

[Spriggan]

I'm watching Nintendo's press confrence and the Revolution will be able to play games all the way back to the 8-bit nintendo that you'll be able to download from Nintendo via their wi-fi network.

Hot crap that's awsome.

[Archon]

That is the single best piece of news that I have heard in regard to video games in several years. Nintendo and Super Nintendo games are the whip. I hope that they don't decide to abandon their promises at the last minute because of something stupid like not enough time for development.

[Spriggan]

they allready confirmed that the revolution is a vurtual box so basicaly they're just running emulators inside their system.

I for one am giddy over their wi-fi system that the DS and Revolution will be useing.  You won't need to have an internet connection at your house to be able to play and it won't cost a thing.  YEA!

[mulchNator]

Freedom at last, SWWEEEEEEEEETTT!

[Spriggan]

We finally know what nintendo's new controller looks like and is used for, and after reading it over I have to say they very well could live up to this console's name.

You'll prob ally go "What the..? That's not cool." on first sight but read the articles to see why it is.  It's basically a "mouse in 3d space" the system can tell the difference when you move it right, left, up down, forward and backwords.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/09/15/news_6133335.html?q=1&tag=gs_hp_flashtop_bg

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3143782

http://www.revo-europe.com/news.php?nid=8241

[Entsuropi]

I think it is best to wait to see how real, non-tech demo, games use this device before we jump to any conclusions about it's 'awesomeness'. It could work great. It could be a gaudy piece of crap.

[Parker]

I don't know--I'm pretty hyped for it.  It looks very different, and different in this case could be very good.  I was really skeptical about the DS even after its release.  Used it in stores a couple of times and couldn't figure the darn thing out.  Then I got one as a gift, and I'm loving it.  It makes for a whole different style of gaming, while still being able to accomodate the old style.  This looks like the same thing to me--you can put the controller in the shell thingie, and then it's a normal controller.  You get both options, not one.  I agree that it depends on the software, but I'm willing to bet Nintendo at least will have some slick games for it.  With the exception of Virtual Boy, they've usually been spot on for me.  I'm anxious to see where this leads.  Anything that gets my wife to play with me would be a good thing--and this looks like something she wouldn't be scared of.

[Tage]

I believe Nintendo is going the right direction. They *cannot* compete with the juggernauts that are Sony and Microsoft, at least not on their level. So they need to do what Apple did, and create a different product with a different style. They'll probably never gain the market share of Sony or MS, but people will still love and buy their products.

[Spriggan]

Let me say I agree with Entropy on the point that we should wait until actual games come out to say whether or not is awesome or the like, but it is different and that's what's peaked my interest.

[Spriggan]

So some Specs were "leaked" and if you want to pretend what they all mean then this blog is for you.

http://arstechnica.com/staff/carthage.ars/2005/9/23/1348

1 IBM Custom PowerPC 2.5 GHz with 256 KB L1 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache (an L3 cache is rumored). It's Dual Threaded.

The theory that this is a modified 970 (with hyperthreading + a specialized L1) makes even more sense when you think about the Revolution's form factor. You could probably fit the current low-power 970FX comfortably into the Revolution's form factor at 2.5GHz. If you couple this with another block of specialized hardware (whatever this PPU thing is), either on the same die or in the same package, then the Revolution looks pretty nice from gamer's standpoint. Just as importantly, from a developer's standpoint this makes the Revolution your favorite next-gen console. In contrast to the exotic Xenon and Cell parts, the 970 is a fairly conventional CPU architecture that doesn't rely too heavily on multithreading for performance increases. This means that it will be much easier to develop for than either Microsoft's or Sony's consoles.

[Skar]

Dude.  I saw the teaser video, I read all three articles Spriggan linked, I am bloody excited.

I may just have to buy one when it comes out.

It looks like it fills a deepseated need I didn't even know I had.

[Spriggan]

The rumors are true!  The revolution will play game from the old Sega systems and the Turbografx!


http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146528.html

According to Nintendo, over 1,000 games for Sega's Genesis console, released in 1989, will be added to the Revolution's library. Joining them will be an undisclosed number of titles from the Hudson's TurboGrafx console, also released in 1989 and codeveloped by electronics giant NEC.

[Robert_Boyd]

Jigga-what?  How on earth did Nintendo manage that?  Now, if they only reveal that when they said Genesis & Turbo-Graphx, they're also including games that were released for the CD attachments for those systems, I'm going to be really excited.

I'm worried somewhat about price, mostly because Nintendo had the nerve to release a few old NES games on the GBA at $20 a pop about a year or two ago.  If Nintendo prices these game downloads at around $5-$10 for the popular stuff and less for everything else, then they've got a winner.  If they price things higher than that, I think people are just going to stay with the option they've been using up to now (play these games on computer emulators for free).

On the other hand, the Playstation 3 is supposedly able to run PS1 & PS2 games with no problems (in high definition no less!) so it's not like the Revolution is the only system in town that's going to have a huge backlog of awesome games.  Moreover, it's already been confirmed that PS3 games aren't going to be region specific which means its quite possible that not only will the PS3 be able to play old PS1 & PS2 games, but it will also be able to play old import games as well.

I'll probably buy a Revolution at launch assuming there's something decent for it and then pick up a PS3 when it starts getting the good RPGs.  I imagine in the end, I'll have more games for the PS3 than the Revolution just like my Gamecube vs PS2 situation (if it wasn't for RE4, Naruto 4, and the upcoming Zelda: Twilight Princess, I would just pack my Gamecube away).

[Spriggan]

Nintendo hasn't released prices, but rumors are the system will be $150 and games will be anywhere from $.99-$5 depending on the game.

[FirstMateJack]

I'm personally the only one of my friends who would rather have a revolution than the other systems, the PS3 may come second though, just to be an overall entertainment/DVD center.

Does anyone know any kind of real release date for it? I can't seem to find anything.