Nintendo talks Revolution at GDC 2005

[Chewchilla]

It's nice that the Revolution will play GameCube games, but unless the new system uses the same controller ports as the GC - I can't help but think the Revolution controllers might be monsters (Maybe bigger than the original US Xbox controllers? ).

Nintendo talking about a Revolution
Published: March 10, 2005, 12:36 PM PST
By David Becker
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Satoru Iwata, president of the Japanese game pioneer, previewed quirky new titles based on those creatures and spilled a few details on Nintendo's next game console during a speech at the Game Developers Conference here on Thursday.

While Sony and Microsoft have kept up a steady dribble of information on plans for their next-generation game machines, Nintendo has been relatively quiet about its upcoming machine, code-named "Revolution."

Iwata said Revolution would break with Nintendo's past practices by being backward-compatible and playing games for the current GameCube. Nintendo's reliance on proprietary media formats previously has meant that each new machine rendered old games obsolete.

"The best of the Nintendo GameCube library will still be enjoyed...years from now," Iwata said.

Iwata also revealed a few internal details on Revolution, confirming that IBM is making the main processor, code-named "Broadway," and ATI Technologies is working on the graphics chip, dubbed "Hollywood." He also said the Revolution would have built-in support for wireless networking.

Like Sony and Microsoft, Iwata tried to get developers on his side by promising they wouldn't have to master a lot of complex new software tools to make games for the new console.

"It will not require a big new learning curve," he said. "It's a place where the best ideas, not the biggest budget, will win."

Iwata's most novel ideas centered around the DS, Nintendo's new handheld game system. He showed a preview of "Nintendogs," a virtual pet program in which players use the DS's microphone and touch-sensitive screen to train, entertain, bathe and pick up after a virtual puppy.

He also showed an advance version of "ElectroPlankton," in which players tap floating pieces of biomaterial to compose music.

Both titles stretch traditional concepts of interactive entertainment, Iwata said, and are emblematic of Nintendo's mission to create new software that can appeal to a general audience uninterested in current conventions. That's a critical move if the game industry is to keep growing.

"Are we creating games just for each other?" Iwata asked developers. "How often have you challenged yourself to create a game you might not want to play?"

Iwata said such novel thinking is at least as important as teraflop processors and high-end graphics in pushing the game industry forward. "Making games look photorealistic is not the only way of improving the game experience," he said. "We need to have more than one definition of quality."

More at GameSpot

[Demolition Man]

He also showed an advance version of "ElectroPlankton," in which players tap floating pieces of biomaterial to compose music.

I don't know about you folks, but that description alone has me sold.

[jamcat]

I don't know about you folks, but that description alone has me sold.

You can't be serious! You're kidding and being sarcastic, right? To me, tapping floating pieces of biomaterial to compose music sounds totally lame to the extreme. Nintendo needs to leave quirky crap like that in Japan. Does Nintendo really think American gamers are going to go for stuff like that?

Interesting to hear Nintendo is offering backward compatibility. They should have been doing that with the SNES. What they should do is throw in a cartridge port for GB/GBC and GBA games as well. If they did that, I'd buy a Revolution system just for that feature.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Ectoplankton will be leet ... There are many AMERICAN games in history that focused on this sort of thing (LOOM comes immediately to mind).

Some of the most fun I've had on games have been 'music' related games/gadgets. Especially on the Amiga.

[wookieman]

From www.gameplanet.co.nz - "Nintendo's next game console, code-named "Revolution," is proceeding on schedule and will include both backward compatibility and Wi-Fi features.

Nintendo soon will offer a free Wi-Fi connection service to Nintendo DS owners."

"Iwata announced that Revolution will feature built-in Wi-Fi protocols, which will allow users around the world to connect with one another wirelessly."

"Iwata announced that the Wi-Fi protocol for Nintendo DS will provide users with a link to other players across the country or around the world. Once the service begins later this year, Nintendo DS users will be able to connect to the service wirelessly at Wi-Fi hot spots, whether they're at home, in a hotel or at a coffee shop. As one of several Wi-Fi games, Nintendo's in-house development team is creating a new Animal Crossing game for global Wi-Fi play."


You may well be right Shane, I'm starting to think someone at Nintendo must be listening to the show myself - first with the GBA-sp and now the DS / revolution. (re. your suggestions to Nintendo on a show some time back about how to make their next console succeed...)

[Darksol]

Here is another article describing the backwards compatibility and wi-fi of the new console from the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4340337.stm

Wi-fi is the way to go . The hardware cannot be majorly different though since it is supporting backwards compatibilty.

Still sounds like a gamecube with a faster proc, faster video card, and a wi-fi card.

The innovation part is still undetermined.

[jamcat]

Ectoplankton will be leet ... There are many AMERICAN games in history that focused on this sort of thing (LOOM comes immediately to mind).

Some of the most fun I've had on games have been 'music' related games/gadgets. Especially on the Amiga.

Trying to come up with games that aren't the usual FPS, racer, or RPG is one thing. But going off the deep end coming up with obscure stuff is just too out there for me.

Instead of this obscure crap, Nintendo should look at the games from the 80's that were different, but not extremely different to the point of being strange. For example:

Playing a bar tender chucking beers in Tapper.

Playing a lumber jack cutting down trees in Timber.

Playing a chef making hamburgers in Pressure Cooker.

Playing a paper boy in Paper Boy.

It's games like that I want to see. Take things out of actual life and make games out of them. But I guess Nintendo doesn't see that as "innovative". They'd rather say come up with a game where you'd collect dust bunnies and call that "innovative".

[TheGrandPubaa]

The revolutionary bit is still to be determined, but I really like what I see so far. It would definitely make sense for Nintendo to wait till e3 to drop what could be one helluva bombshell(likewise, it could be utterly disasterous). Ought to make for an interesting piece on the show.

I guess I could get into Electroplankton and Nintendogs if I had the chance to try them out hands on. I mean, I did get a few weeks of laughs out of Seaman....