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Nintendo Revolution Under Wraps Past E3 741

Posted by Zonk from the taking-their-ball-and-going-home dept.
The next-generation Nintendo console, codenamed Revolution, may not be shown at this year's E3. Eurogamer reports that the Japanese console maker is going to keep the console under wraps to keep the features of the new system out of the limelight a little while longer. From the article: "Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata is worried about rivals nicking all his best ideas at this early stage. That's how revolutionary the new console is, apparently... and also the exact same line Nintendo used to avoid showing Mario 128 at a previous E3."
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Nintendo Revolution Under Wraps Past E3 More

Nintendo Revolution Under Wraps Past E3

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  • Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nicky G ( 859089 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:31PM (#12288779)
    Maybe it has.... 3 screens?

    • Re:Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

      by glassjaw rocks ( 793596 ) <bkienzle AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:35PM (#12288818)
      Maybe they'll call it the Nintendo Mach III. Then Microsoft will probably release the Xbox Quattro, or something to that effect.

    • Re:Hmmm... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by happymedium ( 861907 )
      This is a more serious problem than it seems. Nintendo's "innovations" sometimes turn out to be interesting, e.g. Mario 64's control scheme, some turn out pointless, e.g. Virtual Boy. Honestly, I think the DS will fall in the latter category; its "innovative" features don't impress consumers as much as the PSP's, and game designers may or may not come up with any actually interesting uses for them.

      An aside: I recall reading that the Virtual Boy was designed by the same person, Gunpei Yokoi, who designed t

      • Re:Hmmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by SetupWeasel ( 54062 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @10:49PM (#12289355) Homepage
        its "innovative" features don't impress consumers as much as the PSP's

        And that is why it isn't selling as much as the PSP. Oh wait.

        what with Microsoft and that whole "Live" thing.

        And the 8% of XBOX gamers who use it. EIGHT PERCENT! Less than one out of ten.

        God damn it. I'm so fucking tired of the cheap shots at Nintendo. They are the fucking ones that are making money. Q2 of FY 2003 was the only full quarter loss Nintendo reported in 50 years, and everyone predicts their doom. The XBOX has one profitable quarter after eleven straight losses, and everyone calls them a success.

        • They're losing money on every unit (Score:5, Funny)

          by Aexia ( 517457 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @01:06AM (#12290031)
          The XBOX has one profitable quarter after eleven straight losses, and everyone calls them a success.

          but they're making up for it in volume!

        • Re:Hmmm... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by gameboyhippo ( 827141 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @02:57AM (#12290394) Journal
          I'm so ... tired of the cheap shots at Nintendo. They are the ... ones that are making money. Q2 of FY 2003 was the only full quarter loss Nintendo reported in 50 years, and everyone predicts their doom. The XBOX has one profitable quarter after eleven straight losses, and everyone calls them a success.

          I think people take cheap shots at them because they don't want to admit that "kiddy games" such as Zelda: Wind Waker and Mario Sunshine are a lot more fun to play than those hack and slash "grownup" games.

          I'm 23 years old and most of my games are E rated. Some are T rated. None are M rated. M rated games just aren't very fun. My buddies tease me about it, but who isn't having fun playing Mario Kart or Mario Party? Who doesn't like to drop a bomb bug on their enemies pikmin and blow 'em to bits? Who doesn't think the storyline to Windwaker is interesting?

          • Re:Hmmm... (Score:3, Insightful)

            by xgamer04 ( 248962 )
            Yeah, I agree. I bought GTA: San Andreas when it came out, and while it was fun for a while, I'm now playing through some old Metroid and Zelda games again. I'd rather play FUN games than worry about my OMG H4RDC0R3 image as uber-gamer or some stupid shit. The funny thing is, when I ask my Xbox-owning friends what their favorite game of ALL TIME is, they seem to say something like Zelda...

    • Re:Hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

      by hayden ( 9724 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @10:27PM (#12289230)
      Maybe it has.... 3 screens?
      And one of them touches back!

  • Boss Satoru Iwata... (Score:5, Funny)

    by iammaxus ( 683241 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:32PM (#12288785)
    ...he is definitley the hardest one to beat. I remember that time I played all night long and I made it up to Boss SI (that's what it says above his life bar cause his name doesn't fit on the screen). I was kickin ass, but then my mom came and pulled the stupid plug.

  • Shhh!! Secrets. (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Wow. It's a good thing they kept the GameCube secret, otherwise sony and microsoft might have outcompeted and outsold them.

  • Shy Lies (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:33PM (#12288796)
    Because of course Sony and Microsoft only hear about features at conferences like E3. While the rest of us get the inside track at Slashdot!
  • I haven't been keeping up on console games recently, so I dont know what evenets still exist. I *think* that there is some show in Japan in the Fall, but I don't know. I think Nntendo should atleast have some beta hardware to show off, not just DS and Gamecube games. This may hurt them. But maybe this is jsut a flase rumor.

    Now let's wait for E3.
  • I tell you as a 13 year old I learned more about the economics and marketing tricks of consumer electronics by waiting and waiting for my Super Famicom - uhm I mean SNES (North American release), Just watching all the consoles that never were (err the Play Station was, though Nintendo bailed) showed me how committed to product schedules Nintendo was.

  • As they say... (Score:5, Funny)

    by FhnuZoag ( 875558 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:35PM (#12288813)
    The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

  • Stupid Nintendo! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by bhive01 ( 832162 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:35PM (#12288815)
    I'm so frustrated with Nintendo. It's like they haven't gotten it since the early 90s with the SNES. CDs? Who needs those? Whatever defines their self-made revolution had better be the end all to games for it to fly. PS3 and 360 are going to appeal to the masses and steal away more of Nintendo's turf. I myself am considering jumping ship as Nintendo has failed to inspire me this last generation as it did with the first two.

    • Re:Stupid Nintendo! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by bartyboy ( 99076 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:52PM (#12288967)
      Why does everyone blast Nintendo for doing what Apple has been doing for years? Both companies produce a very solid product and don't want their thunder and/or hard work stolen by a bunch of copycats.

      Their goal is not the domination of their particular market; instead, they focus on being profitable companies. I say kudos to them for having the balls to make something that works well, is fun and intuitive to use AND still be able to sell enough of it to make some money. And if it takes some secrecy to bring their products to the market, then I'm all for it.

    • Re:Stupid Nintendo! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Turn-X Alphonse ( 789240 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @10:14PM (#12289139) Journal
      Nintendo have tried to move the games industry on unlike the other two. I suggest you look at the current system names.

      Xbox 360 - It's a "cool" name for the "skaters". It's bullshit, flip an Xbox 360 and you get an Xbox just like before.

      Playstation 3 - All I'm saying is "Yes but these are different, they go all the way up to 11!"

      • Re:Stupid Nintendo! (Score:3, Interesting)

        by clontzman ( 325677 )
        Okay, I'll bite.

        What about the Gamecube was remotely innovative? It's a good game system in a solid formfactor, but Sony's out there with the EyeToy and the HDD add-on and MS is out there with the Live service and a built-in HDD.

        Nintendo makes some fun games, but how have they tried to "move the games industry on" this generation?

      • Re:Stupid Nintendo! (Score:5, Funny)

        by Adrilla ( 830520 ) * on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @02:05AM (#12290220) Homepage
        If you rotate an XBox 360 degrees, I dare say, you get a full (wait for it) REVOLUTION!!!

        ..i hate myself...
  • Show it, don't show it, whatever. I know I'm still getting it, and it'll be the only next-gen system I buy.

    I have owned every nintendo system since the NES (haven't picked up a DS yet though), and the video gaming experience from nintendo has never been matched for me by other systems (Genesis might have briefly come close). I grew up on Zelda, Mario and Metroid, and I have loved seeing how these genres and characters have evolved (I swear I have loved 100% of each of these game's evolutions over the last

    • Nintendo has always been dear to my heart since I abandonded my Master System to go mainstream with a NES. Nintendo makes fantastic games and knows how to grow a loved franchise (mario pimping aside.)

      That said, buy a DS. I have one. And I have a PSP. The PSP was an impulse buy that I bought just cuz, the DS was a months-planned purchase. I haven't put the PSP down yet. I gave the DS to the girlfriend so she can have some puzzle games. The PSP is good, damn good. The DS's 'revolutionary' features hav
    • Big fan of the virtual boy?

    • Re:makes no difference to me... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Malor ( 3658 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @12:41AM (#12289934) Journal
      Dude, Ico was awesome. It was... wrenching. Sad and exhilarating, a bit funny in some spots, wistful in others. It evoked emotion better than almost any game I can remember, and it did it almost completely without words. I don't think you can call yourself a gamer if you haven't played Ico. Seriously.

      I found out about it very late, and played it only about a year ago, and even going in with high expectations, I was STILL blown away. A year later, I can close my eyes and summon up exact pictures of several locations, to the point that I could sketch them out and be pretty accurate. That's how intensely it impressed itself into my memory... no small feat, when you consider that I'm nearer 40 than 30, and have played so many games over the years.

      All the consoles have something to offer. Pick one of each up used, for chrissake. Refusing to buy hardware because it's not Nintendo is cutting off your nose to spite your face. All you're hurting is yourself.

      I have all three consoles, and I don't have any real attachment to any of them. I suppose, overall, I like the XBox the most at the moment, because it has had the most interesting games of late, and it may have better 'legs' than the other two. Chronicles of Riddick is really good. Burnout 3 is excellent. Jade Empire is quite good... maybe not as good as Knights of the Old Republic, but good. KOTOR was one of the best RPGs ever done, a true classic. Halo was okay, but tremendously overrated.

      On the PS2, there's the Grand Theft Auto series and Katamari Damacy as can't-miss titles. And Ico. And probably a zillion others I can't think of right now.... I guess if you've never owned a Playstation, you must have missed all the Final Fantasy games? Final Fantasy 7 is probably the second-best RPG ever made, and you could argue that it was better than KOTOR in some areas. (freedom and duration, mostly.)

      Gamecube has Wind Waker, a true masterpiece, though I do feel it was a bit on the short side. Harvest Moon was good, but got old a bit fast. Animal Crossing was a lot of fun for awhile. The Metroids were excellent. Wario Ware is a completely bizarre, but fun, party-type game. I've often gotten the feeling that the console is underused... it really feels like it has more power than what you actually see.

      Nintendo makes great consoles, but cripes, you've missed some unbelievably good games because of your platform-centrism. The platform doesn't MATTER. It's the games that matter. Find the games you want to play, and buy the hardware that plays them best. That's really all there is to it.

      If you don't want to play Ico just because Nintendo didn't make it, then you're willfully blind and ignorant. Go away, or I shall be forced to taunt you again.

  • I love nintendo but... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Sprotch ( 832431 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:40PM (#12288852)
    They have pulled the exact same trick for the N64 (remember the Ultra64?), Virtual Boy, Game Cube and DS. Meanwhile the consoles that left a significant mark on their generation were the NES and Super NES. What did they have that made a difference? Certainly not the fancy gadgets. Remember that NES robot that was promptly set aside?

    What made them special is that they offered the best games and were the most powerful at the time. Mario and Zelda made the NES. They also made the Super NES, along with Street Fighter II and Mario Kart. We would almost cry at the inovation of the gameplay, quality of the graphics and music, and amazing fun they provided.

    Today it's all about superficially good looking graphics. Gameplay and fun went the way of the dodo. Meanwhile Nintendo thinks it's okay to have consoles with non standard earphone plugs...

    I miss those days spent with the old NES/GB/SNES...

  • meh (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Omkar ( 618823 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:42PM (#12288873) Homepage Journal
    I'll buy it, since I'm a huge Nintendo fan. The casual gamer won't be so accomodating. Nintendo needs to build some hype around the system if they want to actually change the video game industry. Right now, even some hardcore Nintendo fans are skeptical.

    Nintendo - shooting ourselves in the foot since 1990...

    • Re:meh (Score:3, Interesting)

      by adam31 ( 817930 )
      I'm not a huge Nintendo fan, and I'll even cut them a break. The fact is they're happy to leave Microsoft alone to get the marketing beat-down from Sony.

      Remember last year when Nintendo released pre-E3 images of the DS as a white and purple toy? Then Sony put out the PSP shots and everyone looked at the two side-by-side. By the time E3 arrived, Nintendo had scrambled to get a shiny-silver and black version out... but people had already made their comparisons.

      Now, Nintendo is in a good spot. They're

  • what are they afraid of? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mincognito ( 839071 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:44PM (#12288897)
    It's really hard to imagine what these secret features might be. M$ and Sony are about upping the graphics ante, not about incorporating voice recognition, three screens, body sensors or whatever new ideas Nintendo comes up with. Maybe if these features turn out to be a success in the marketplace -- unlikely if the DS is any indicator -- the other console makers would think about incorporating them. I figure Nintendo's secretness is just a way of building hype around the product.

    • Re:what are they afraid of? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by spoonboy42 ( 146048 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @12:17AM (#12289824)

      Maybe if these features turn out to be a success in the marketplace -- unlikely if the DS is any indicator...

      If anything, I'd say DS sales bode quite well for Nintendo. It's already past 6 million units, set the all-time record for highest-volume launch sales in the UK, sold 40% past Nintendo's holiday projections... And, Nintendo's production line is up to speed and has thus far prevented any serious DS shortages in any market (say what you will about the limited initial supply of the PS2 or the PSP creating additional product lust, it's still nice to be able to actually buy a console).

      The DS has a lot going for it: the touch screen and microphone enable some very fun interaction that's perfect for short stints of mobile gaming. Plus, it has backwards compatibility with the whole library of GBA titles. Everyone says the PSP has a strong launch lineup... this is somewhat true, although many of the titles are just ports of PS2 games with reduced technical capability (near-PS2 graphics is an exaggeration, the graphics look more like some of the better quality Dreamcast games, but that still ain't bad). The only PSP title that really does it for me right now is Lumines, and that doesn't use the PSP's horsepower anyway.

      Nintendo still knows the portable gaming market very well, and I think the interface features on the DS will continue to do quite well there. The PlayStation Portable is pretty much just that, a shrunken-down version of an ordinary console. Nintendo is trying to enable a new, unique experience on the DS, whereas Sony is trying to deliver a home-console gaming experience that comes along with you. The one thing that the PSP has going over the DS as a portable entertainment device is its multimedia capabilities, but even those are far from polished. If you want to enjoy music and video on the PSP, you have to buy a bigger memory stick (and it has to be the Duo version), and you can't just drag and drop songs and videos from your PC, that'd be way too easy. Instead, you must use special software (definitely not included in the box) to properly convert and obfuscate those files, and you're still limited to the 1GB size of Sony's largest memory stick. Sony has made an effort to make the PSP a multimedia convergence device, but it is, unfortunately, halfhearted. Hopefully they will roll in some improvements in subsequent firmware updates, but I still wish they would have included a little slot on the back that could hold a mini hard-drive option.

      People want a convergence device, but the PSP hasn't made multimedia use easy enough for the average user yet, and I doubt it will do a whole lot to stave off the cell phone's continued drive to assimilate every other peice of portable electronics. This isn't a huge issue for Sony, as they are in that market, too (I have a T610 and I love it, Sony's definitely got that down, don't get me wrong). If you want a portable gaming device, though, the innovation present in the DS, for me and for a whole lot of other gamers, trumps the raw power and the (I'll admit it) oh-so-sexy screen of the PSP.

      Notice, however, that what Nintendo has going on with the DS doesn't necessarily translate to whatever the hell they're planning with revolution. To succeed in the home console space, they need 3rd party developer support (it's becoming clear that, despite continued strong showings from the Mario, Zelda, and Metroid franchises, they just aren't system sellers anymore), and they need to make a decent technical showing against Microsoft and Sony. Now, Microsoft started this generation with a very small selection of games but obvious technical superiority, showcased by their trump title Halo, and gradually built up a solid selection of titles. Sony had backwards compatibility with the vast universe of PS1 games, plus astoundingly great 3rd party support that gave them plenty of system sellers at no development cost to them (Grand Theft Auto, Final Fantasy, Tekken, Soul Calibur... all developed by 3rd parties), and was first to launch by

  • Tokyo Game Show? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by -kertrats- ( 718219 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:45PM (#12288903) Journal
    Might they be holding out to unveil it at the Tokyo Game Show, so that they can completely steal the headlines for the entire show instead of sharing space with the other systems at E3?

  • Usual Nintendo hype (Score:2, Insightful)

    by NightWulf ( 672561 )
    They're probably simply afraid whatever they do have might be blown away by the PS3 and Xbox Next. I think Nintendo is running out of ideas as the other companies are getting developers who make platform games as well as Nintendo. Sony has it's Square and Rockstar. Microsoft has Rare and Bungie. Nintendo has well...Nintendo. Sure Nintendo has made some amazing games in the past, but they're starting to feel their age. Plus their incessent insistance that "mature" games be not included on their consoles, wh
    • I hate to tell you, but Nintendo has never insisted that mature games not be on their console. They just got that reputation over 10 years ago when they made the creators of Mortal Kombat remove the blood. For example, the Resident Evil series has been pretty much exclusive to Gamecube this generation (including the excellent Resident Evil 4).

    • Rare? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Ian Action ( 836876 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @10:00PM (#12289030)
      Microsoft has Rare and Bungie.

      When's the last time Rare made a good game?

    • Re:Usual Nintendo hype (Score:3, Informative)

      by N5 ( 804512 )
      "The N64, which was originally the Dolphin, then the Ultra 64 was delayed almost two years"

      Actually it was originally called Project Reality, then Ultra64, which was going to be it's launch name until it got delayed.

      "Microsoft has Rare and Bungie"

      you may have something with bungie, but all of rare's talent left years ago. How many killer games has rare made since selling out to microsoft? I was happy to see them leave, their games were over-hyped, often delayed, all the talent had left anyway.

  • [pulls hair out in frustration] (Score:4, Funny)

    by RyoShin ( 610051 ) <tukaro AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:47PM (#12288920) Homepage Journal
    Great, now I'm bald.

    Damn you, Nintendo. I have been a loyal servant of yours ever since I first played Super Mario Brothers 2 on the NES: I've fought for you time and again in the useless internet debates; I've spent my hard-earned college cash to pay for your no-internet system with lacking 3rd Party support; I even still lug around my N64 because it has games I enjoyed enough in the past that I might want to play them again in the future, but I'm not really sure if I ever will!

    Doesn't that deserve something? If nothing else, show some footage. I don't need to see the actual system or controllers right now; but damned if I don't see any 'eye candy', and I'm not talking those sweet Ssian numbers you put on display... actually, that's more of a Sony thing.

    In any case, I digress. While I can understand wanting to keep industry secrets secret, we're not asking you to reveal every spec of the system. If all you did was hint at what makes this console a 'revolution', and showed a picture of one of the buttons on the controller, that would be enough for many a fanboy.

    So, Nintendo, I ask you this: Please, please, won't you show something? Have we not earned at least that?

  • Solid marketing Decision (Score:5, Insightful)

    by briankoenig ( 853681 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:49PM (#12288941)
    I don't understand why everybody thinks that this shows that Nintendo is "behind" or "not prepared" to show Revolution to the public. I think the decision makes perfect sense from a marketing standpoint.

    Nintendo can unveil it at E3, and go up against Microsoft and Sony's HUGE marketing budget and hype. Magazines would probably have a triple feature, with sections given to each system and the respective company booths.

    Or, Nintendo can wait a couple of months until the media coverage dies down a little bit, unveil the console, and get the cover of every non-platform-specific major game magazine in the biz. This decision shows not a lack of preparation or a schedule issue, but a smart martketing choice.

  • Damnnit, (Score:3, Funny)

    by binaryspiral ( 784263 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:52PM (#12288966)
    And I just bought my Gamecube in January... guess you bastards are going to force me to upgrade my PackardBell to play doom 3, too?

    GEeez... you buy something new and it gets outdated in just a few years.

  • Not a big deal.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MagicDude ( 727944 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:58PM (#12289004)
    So what if Nintendo doesn't show their new system at E3? It's not like the system isn't going to be demonstrated months before it's release anyway. Sure internet nerds like us will be disapointed, but I'd wager that a good majority of video gamers don't really care about who does what at E3, but rather will have their interest piqued by what's advertised in the mainstream media. This could even work to Nintendo's advantage. People get saturated by all the stuff that's released at E3, thus diminishing the impact of the information released. By letting the other guys beat at each other for a while, Nintendo can see where the bar is being set and can have their own press release a month later. This gives the gamers a chance to cool down and get hungry for more information after E3, and Nintendo does have a knack for making interesting and engaging presentations.

  • Not so much as stealing as old (Score:3, Informative)

    by aussie_a ( 778472 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @09:58PM (#12289011) Journal
    When is the new Nintendo system coming out? Before the next E3? If not, then I'd say they don't want to become old-hat before it does come out. They'll let Microsoft and Sony demonstrate all of their new features that will be seen as "older" when E3 comes around next year when Nintendo announces their new features.

    Nintendo can also concentrate on their Online component (which would be ignored even more if the new system was unveiled).

    The "stealing our ideas" is just PR bullshit.

    Having said that, if the systems are to be released before the next E3, I can see this as being a BIG mistake.

  • The Cjeese Stands Alone (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @10:03PM (#12289062)
    The thing people don't realize here is that Nintendo is a hugely profitable company. Even though it's console was a distant 3rd in the last race, it makes so much money off of games and eventually hardware (as it becomes cheaper to produce) that they don't really care about losing big time to sony & microsoft (in the US at least).

    Nintendo can really do whatever it wants. No matter what it will make up more then enough in the pure software sales on it's next gen system alone. MS & Sony don't have this advantage. For 1, MS has to buy all second party support, which costs mega $$$, and they don't have many (any?) first party games. Sony has paltry first party games, and the bulk of sales on software is given to third parties (the bulk of software sales being the bulk of profit available from consoles).

    That's the economics of Nintendo, and if you aren't used to it by now, you've been naive.

  • E3 - bad (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Turn-X Alphonse ( 789240 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @10:05PM (#12289070) Journal
    ANyone who shows off new hardware at E3 is a complete idiot when it comes to marketing. When we see a new console or big game it can usually get a good 4-5 page spread in magazines, 2-3 articles on big websites each and so on and so forth. Now if you release E3 week you get 1 mention per website thrown in with the 2 other consoles and general games which "look amazing and will rock the world!" type stuff. If Nintendo really want the hype they will wait 2-3 weeks after E3, let the other consoles hype die down and then show it off in an exclusive event. That way they don't have to compete with anything but "heres what we saw at E3 that you rad about 2-3 weeks ago on every website there is" type articles.

    Plus they would get their own Penny Arcade strip rather than one based on the 3 consoles which may do them alot of favours.

  • Tinfoil hat Suggestion (Score:4, Interesting)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @10:12PM (#12289125) Homepage Journal
    Heh. Well I have a theory. Rumor has it that Nintendo is choosing between two or three systems right now. Assuming that's true, maybe Nintendo's waiting to see what MS and Sony do before making any commitals.

    This may seem a little out-there, but if Nintendo is doing something revolutionary like putting a touch screen into the controllers, it stands to reason that the money put into those will result in not as spiffy of graphical specs. If the difference is that noticable, perhaps they're deciding between a $200 system and a $300 system.

    Anyway, maybe that's just my imagine working over-time. If I were a bettin man, though, I'd say that Nintendo's big revolution isn't in the system itself, but in the controller. It's probably too late for Sony or MS to mess with the system specs a lot, but tossing in a controller feature may not be out of the question yet.

  • Here we go again (Score:5, Informative)

    by mcc ( 14761 ) <amcclure@purdue.edu> on Tuesday April 19, 2005 @10:26PM (#12289227) Homepage
    Because slashdot just absolutely has to print every single rumor without ever once actually saying the rumor is offered without basis...

    Nintendo has said multiple times [google.com] that they will be unveiling the Revolution at E3. They've given warnings along the lines that it may be at an early stage, or that it won't be playable, or that some of the demos may be behind-closed-doors, at E3. But they at least have said they'll be showing it. And this has been said by Nintendo representatives, speaking on the record.

    So, what's the source for this article slashdot links, which is saying it won't be?

    "Reports". From "Japan".

    You'll excuse me if I take repeated statements by official persons speaking for Nintendo more seriously than "reports from Japan".

  • Copy a Mass Product, In full view of the Public? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by TJ_Phazerhacki ( 520002 ) on Wednesday April 20, 2005 @12:01AM (#12289743) Journal
    I don't think so. If Nintendo REALLY thinks M$ will not only revise their design, development, production, and Release schedule so they can include Smell-o-Vision, they have been eating their own magic mushrooms for too long. The PS3 will dominate with good titles, good tech, and a wave of "must-have it" word of mouth. MS will sell on huge advertising budgets and no-compromise graphics.

    Really, what is there left to copy? MS is more than likely (according to the GDC) tied into development contracts, and a change at this point would ruin their hoped-for Q4 pre-christmas ship date.

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