Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Speculation worthy of mention

This was a post on the Nintendo forums by Kool_Kid_Joe:

THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY TRUE. THIS IS PURE SPECULATION. I AM NOT A NINTENDO EMPLOYEE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.

Here's how I think the Revolution will change our ways of thinking -

The SD Card Port

Ah, yes. The port below the Disc Drive. Just an SD port, right? No. In addition to accepting standard SD cards as Memory Cards (to accompany the already existing 512M of Flash Memory), the port will also accept N-Chips.

What are N-Chips, you ask?

N-Chips are SD cards that, instead of containing flash memory, contain Broadway and Hollywood upgrades. When plugged in, processing speeds and polygon counts increase. Games can require them, take advantage of them, or not use them at all.

The advantage to this is that, even if the Rev were to be significantly less capable than the competition, IBM and ATI could create new chip upgrades and put them on the market, so hardcore gamers could get better graphical power, but casual users wouldn't have to pay as much.

There would be four (4) SD Card ports.

The Controller's Seven Revolutions

1. Wireless

Each controller will be wireless, like you would expect. They contain battery packs that can last up to 10 hours of solid gametime, and can be plugged into the console with a cord to charge while playing (or not playing). They connect to the GCN ports.

2. Voice

No, the controllers won't have microphones, but they will have headset jacks for online play. The jack can accept nearly any headset.

3. Gyro Control

Not the big part of the controller, but Gyro Control will be incorperated. This will be implemented minimally, but will always be available for use.

4. Built-In Memory

There will be a built-in memory in each controller, able to store small demographic info. Instead of choosing a virtual "port" when connecting to the system, your name in the controller will be recognized onscreen. Your taunt, statistics, and such will all also tie into this, and to help you with this information is...

5. Digital Readout

No, not a "screen" per se. Just a one line of text information that can list info to you in a game. Why would you want to clutter an already extremely small 4-way screen with life info if you didn't need it at the moment? It's just there, below you.

6. C- and D- Sticks

The D-Stick replaces the Control Stick, but is extremely similar. However, its frame is rounded, along with the C-Stick's, and can be pushed in like a button. They also have "release buttons" that fold the sticks in and allow them to be "folded in".

7. Force Feedback

There will be rumble as usual, and in both sides of the controller, but also in the sticks - they will repel motion and be used similarly to Crusin' USA's Wheel that feeds back when you hit bumps.

And... now I'm done typing.
Also, Mario 128? My idea of what it is is a First Person Platformer, or a Mario game where you view the action in Mario's Eyes.

What do you think? Too outlandish? Not revolutionary enough?

END POST

I like most of everything he said, although, I believe the Gyro will play a major role. Either way, it is a good estimation of the revolution may be.

Source - http://forums.nintendo.com/nintendo/board/message?board.id=revolution&message.id=77320&jump=true

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice info, but what is so revolutionary about the controller? to much hype going on for nothing? I don't think so.

5/31/2005 7:14 PM  
Blogger Jason said...

"N-Chips are SD cards that, instead of containing flash memory, contain Broadway and Hollywood upgrades. When plugged in, processing speeds and polygon counts increase. Games can require them, take advantage of them, or not use them at all.

The advantage to this is that, even if the Rev were to be significantly less capable than the competition, IBM and ATI could create new chip upgrades and put them on the market, so hardcore gamers could get better graphical power, but casual users wouldn't have to pay as much."

I'm sorry I don't think Nintendo would want to go through that fiasco again. N64 used a RAM upgrade to upgrade the graphics quality and resolution. Very few if any games used this and was a waste of time.

Other than this interesting ideas.

5/31/2005 8:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"N-Chips are SD cards that, instead of containing flash memory, contain Broadway and Hollywood upgrades. When plugged in, processing speeds and polygon counts increase. Games can require them, take advantage of them, or not use them at all."

While upgrading the RAM is an idea, I highly doubt they would/could use these ports to help out with the processing. They would have to have a lot of bandwidth available, not to mention the problems with dissipating the heat. Another issue are the pins, just not enough on an SD card.

6/01/2005 8:17 AM  

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