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Portables (Games) Businesses GameCube (Games) Nintendo

The Nintendo Conference In-Depth 553

Posted by Zonk from the another-tiny-handheld-yay! dept.
Yesterday's Nintendo press conference was probably the most subdued and honest of the three major events this week. While they didn't have anything really earth-shattering to offer up, the Gameboy Micro, the Revolution's game-downloading capabilities, and the new Zelda Trailer were all welcome news from a company that has been very quiet of late. Commentary, photos, and speculation available from: Nintendo, Engadget, USAToday, GamesIndustry.biz, 1up.com, Gamespot, Cube.IGN, NYT, BBC, Gamasutra, and CNN. Specific coverage on the new Gameboy Micro is available from Gamasutra, GamesIndustry.biz, and CNN. My two cents about Nintendo's conference are available below.
Last night I took in G4's E3 coverage, and their discussion of the Nintendo press conference struck a chord with me. This last console cycle, with the Gamecube, Nintendo really missed the boat. The GC wasn't released until many months after the PS2 was already in homes lighting up screens, and their attempts to carve out a market share were always muddled by confusing choices. The most confusing choice of the current generation, by far, was their almost complete refusal to participate in online gaming. While the Xbox sailed by with the Live service and the PS2 limped into the arena with the broadband adapter, the GC quietly sailed on with only Phantasy Star to break up its lonely voyage. At last year's E3 Nintendo very specifically said that they were not going to miss the boat this time. They were going to release the next console right around the same time as the other two companies and make sure their name was out there.

I have high hopes for the Revolution, but to be honest Nintendo's press conference was very underwhelming. Even given that the PS3 isn't going to be on store shelves for another year, what Sony showed on Monday was literally jaw-dropping. Even if there was some liberal use of pre-rendered footage in the presentation, the press conference put on by Sony was designed to fire the imagination and get people excited about the possibilities of the next generation. Nintendo offered us Nintendogs. And a new Game Boy Advanced. Yes, I think that downloading old games onto your Revolution is a cool idea, but a...uh...friend of mine tells me that I can emulate those games on my PC for free.

Perhaps all this is just worrywortism. Nintendo has never failed to be innovative in the past, and their support of the DS and quirky games like Warioware is proof that not everything has to be same-old same-old in this ever more business-like industry. They have more than a year to get their ducks in a row, but I'm afraid that Sony and Microsoft may have already beaten them to the punch. In the end, it's not just about making fun games. You have to sell them too.
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The Nintendo Conference In-Depth More

The Nintendo Conference In-Depth

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  • oh please (Score:4, Funny)

    by prockcore ( 543967 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @01:59PM (#12568789)
    Yes, I think that downloading old games onto your Revolution is a cool idea, but a...uh...friend of mine tells me that I can emulate those games on my PC for free.

    Yeah, copyright infringement is soo much cheaper!

    • Re:oh please (Score:5, Insightful)

      by incom ( 570967 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:52PM (#12569374)
      Exactly, there IS a market for an iTunes like sevice for old games, some people like respecting copyright.

      • Re:oh please (Score:5, Interesting)

        by ZephyrXero ( 750822 ) <zephyrxero@[ ]oo.com ['yah' in gap]> on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @03:34PM (#12569950) Homepage Journal
        It depends on how much they charge though... I think 99 cents for an NES game, $5 for an SNES game, and $10 for a N64 game sounds pretty reasonable to me...maybe a teeny bit more, but not much. I am curious though, do they plan on just having Nintendo 1st and 2nd party games, or the entire collection available? If I can't download Chrono Trigger and FF6 I'll be pissed...

        • Re:oh please (Score:3, Interesting)

          by MBGMorden ( 803437 )
          No way. You can get the actual cartridges for most of those systems for close to that price on the used market (and for that Nintendo makes NO IP based profits, and most of the cost is just for the media). I say $0.50 for NES, $2 for SNES and $5 for N64. That would make a lot more sense, and would bring in boatloads more money than they're making now (which is essentially $0). Most of these games are small transfers anyways.

  • Pah... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Upaut ( 670171 ) * on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:00PM (#12568802) Homepage Journal
    The Revolution's game-downloading capabilities

    My Phantom can do that, and so much more. Infact my phantom is so much better: only those truely 31007, such as myself, can see its golden case...
  • I know I do, of the next-gen consoles it is at lesat the prettiest and the ability to download over 20+ years of nintendo content! Nintendo is coming back in a big way.

  • Actual Game? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by bunburyist ( 664958 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:00PM (#12568810)
    Ok, those look damn smoooooth if I say so myself BUT are those in-game shots or the dreaded "let's show the incredibly breath taking cinematic art and make it LOOK in-game even though we will soon find out after dropping 50 bones that the in-game graphics are as bad as ET the Extra Terrestial on the Atari 2600!"

  • Don't be so easy on them (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Metaphorically ( 841874 ) * on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:03PM (#12568838) Homepage
    Nintendo did miss the boat. They've parlayed their one-time leadership of the market into a great big bust. They could hope to catch the low-cost segment of the market with the specs that are given for the Revolution, but that would still require them to take advantage of media events like E3.

    I think they're going the way of Sega and Atari. If they keep it up they won't be able to keep producing their own console.
    • I agree with you, but you have to take into consideration that MS second place in market share is still not getting them any real profit, while nintendo is a financially clean operation, of course MS can wait until the xbox starts being profitable for as long as they want, but that doesn't make the xbox a better console or signal that last time Nintendo missed the boat. MS enters a market and forces its way in. Call me an idealist but I hope that nintendo will prevail ;)

    • Re:Don't be so easy on them (Score:5, Interesting)

      by tuffy ( 10202 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:33PM (#12569159) Homepage Journal
      Sega and Atari failed to make their consoles profitable, which is why they stopped making them. Last I heard, Nintendo's consoles themselves continue to be profitable which alleviates any need to be #1 in order to make up costs on software sales.
    • Nintendo is working on nailing a competition-free niche to distinguish their product as the only option in a certain market. They have the commanding lead in 'youth-oriented titles'. If they could make a strong v-chip style protection system for it and market it as the more affordable console for the younger gamer, they would secure their largely untapped market. You're right though, not playing ball is not playing ball. How long, though, before there's room in the market for several fringe players? Is

  • Wait and see... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by conigs ( 866121 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:05PM (#12568866) Homepage

    I for one, am taking a wait and see approach.

    I've been a nintendo fan from the start with NES. Yes they lost a lot of the market when sony entered the game and gave them real competition, but they've consistantly showed inovation in the gaming industry

    From what I've seen from the Sony footage, it looks absolutely amazing, and I'm sure the XBox360 will be great, too.... but I have a Tivo, I have my computer for browsing the internet... I want a game system (don't even get me started on XBox360's connectivity to the MediaCenterPC.... does anyone even own one?). I want new games. I don't want more FPS games. I want new genres... something different. I have faith that Nintendo will provide that something different. The DS (though akward and lacking) shows that they're not really afraid to try something new.

    So, while Nintendo's press conference may have been underwhelming, I'm still excited for the Revolution.

  • Risky strategy (Score:2, Insightful)

    by RogueyWon ( 735973 ) *
    The implications of this are pretty far-reaching. One the positive side, it potentially allows for some different ideas regarding game-play. The lower power is also probably going to translate into a lower (perhaps much lower) launch price, which could be an asset during the opening months of the next cycle, when the other consoles are still $400+.

    However, it's not all good news. Less powerful hardware and a "different" control system is almost certainly going to have ramifications for cross-platform title

    • Re:Risky strategy (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Daetrin ( 576516 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:47PM (#12569323)
      The lower power is also probably going to translate into a lower (perhaps much lower) launch price, which could be an asset during the opening months of the next cycle, when the other consoles are still $400+.

      What are you basing the "lower power" comment on? The specs i've seen show the Revolution being pretty much on par with the 360. (Four cores at a slightly lower speed vs. three cores at a slightly higher speed.)

      Perhaps you're listening to the marketing-speak? Sony and Microsoft both claim their new consoles will be a jazillion times better than the old ones, while Nintendo only claims its will be two or three times better, but so far this exactly mirros the claims made by all three companies for the last generation. How many times can people be taken in by Microsoft and Sony's inflated figures before they get a clue?

      • A lot. I don't think the average consumer has a memory of such things going back more than a couple years.

        Besides, I don't think many of them care much about the difference between pumping out flat triangles as fast as you can vs. rendering a textures and lighting while also calculating physics and AI. They just want which ever system they pick to have the highest sounding numbers possible, so they can justify the $400 they spent on it.
    • With Japanize game makers Nintendo still has a lot of clout. The PS2 and GC are the only real sellers in Japan, and they are both selling really well. I don't think Nintendo is really as concerned about the American market as much as you think. They have the Japanize market and the lower end Kia buying American market. And they are hugely profitable doing just that.

  • Smart? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by The-Bus ( 138060 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:06PM (#12568876)
    Not an expert by any means but Nintendo probably wanted the spotlight to itself. Honestly, everyone is talking about Xbox vs. PS3 --- Nintendo can wait a few weeks/months and release info on the Revolution once PS3/Xbox talks get a bit stale.

    My question is if Nintendo and Sony are going to have U.S. launch dates at around the same time as Japan, or is the PS3 going to be out months and months before, like the PS2?

  • Nintendo never shows at E3 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by neurosis101 ( 692250 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:06PM (#12568881)
    Nintendo always puts out the big information at Tokyo Game Show or some other usually Nintendo biased video game show in Japan. The fact they didn't supply anything at E3 is not a surprise. Why would you try to compete for press time when you can say something later and have the spotlight for yourself?

  • Reading too much into it, I think (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Junks Jerzey ( 54586 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:09PM (#12568905)
    Nintendo didn't miss out on online in the current generation. Xbox Live has
    been a mild success, though the majority of Xbox owners don't use it, but PS2
    online was a fizzle.

    Honestly, I think Nintendo has been trying harder than anyone to innovate. The
    DS lineup is really out there: Nintendogs, PacPix, Electroplankton. Weird,
    wonderful stuff. But maybe the rest of the hardcore gaming market has gone too
    much over the top, expecting desaturated military shooters, which is what
    everyone is announcing at E3 this year.

    People like to cite Nintendo as the loser of the current generation, but that's
    far from true. They dominate the handheld market both in hardware and game
    sales. And though the Game Cube is the third place console, the big games for
    that console are all coming straight from Nintendo, with each one pulling in
    awards and selling like crazy.

    Personally, I think Nintendo's biggest difficulty is that they lean much too
    hard on old franchises: Metroid, Zelda, Mario, Kirby, and so on. They were once
    fresh, but no longer. Hopefully some of Nintendo's experimentation will result
    in a brand new hit for them.
    • I think you've got a good point about online play. It seems like it's still the area of people that are heavy into gaming. The best thing about online games is the profit margin. That makes it harder to get the wider audience in to it. As that scene grows, though, the companies playing in that field will establish a name and profit from it.

      Honestly, I think Nintendo has been trying harder than anyone to innovate.

      This could be true, the problem is that the kind of innovation they're trying is really e
    • Personally, I think Nintendo's biggest difficulty is that they lean much too
      hard on old franchises: Metroid, Zelda, Mario, Kirby, and so on.

      Yah, I agree. Sony's much better. Those launch titles for the PS3? Tekken 6, Gran Turismo 5, Metal Gear Solid 4, Devil May Cry 4.

      None of those franchises dates to before the PS1. Some were only from the PS2.

      On the other hand, the new Zelda game is the 7th Zelda game to come out for a Nintendo console (8th, if you count Four Swords Adventures). And this spans 4 gener
    • Nintendo's biggest problem is that they're the one making most of their big games. And they can only make so many. People whining about the use of their franchises haven't played any of the new games. The GC metroid games are nothing like the metroid games of old. There are a bunch of Mario games, but they're all very different. Super Smash Bros != Super Mario Sunshine != Mario Kart != Mario Tennis != Paper Mario. Zelda has a decent variety as well.

      There's some common characters between the Gamecube's flag
  • Nintendo's retro-library could be their winning strategy. For every one of us here that love graphically-awsome new versions of Zelda and Resident Evil, or epic RPGs like Skies of Arcadia (or even non-gamecube games like half-life 2, Ico, KOTOR, etc), there are millions of others that loved their Mario 1, Dr. Mario and Punch-Outs that they played in their parents basement all day when it snowed and rained outside, who probably still pop it in when they come home for Thankgiving and play with their cousins. But... who have no need or feel overwhelmed by video games today. And believe me, as pretty as Warhawk (XBox 360) or Devil May Cry 4 (PS3) might seem to us, they'd care less (and, quite frankly, be intimidated by the game and its 12 buttons).

    With a sucessful marketing campaign, imagine the outcome. Imagine the NES generation, now in their 20s and 30s, with disposable income to spend a mere $200 on, and showing them with Super Mario 3 in their homes. And... here's where I think the MAJOR innovation and system-seller will make Rev sell like wild-fire: combine the internet Wi-Fi with the old-school games. You could play Dr. Mario head-to-head with your old next-door neighbor, even if she now lives in Seattle. You wanna get some Street Fighter II action on? Pop it in. Still remember Up, Up, Down, Down, L, R, L, R, (select) start? Then now you can play through 8 levels of Contra with your college roommate. And as with the great NES games, we often loved watching others play them. Well, if a "spectator mode" is installed, your elementary school/camp buddy/cousin is only a wi-fi connection away, and you can watch him pound away at Bald Bull, King Hippo and Super Macho Man.

    The nostalgia market is enourmous. It's more than a Mario-All Stars rehash like the GBA games. This could be the console that Nintendo was sorta going for (but never quite even made much of a dent) with their "Who Are You?" campaign. This sort of strategy will send the message to non-gamers that Nintendo is synonymous with fun. Synonymous with their childhood, and that feeling you had when you first got to World 8 in Super Mario 3. And... perhaps their own 5 year-olds that they now have? Get them in with these games. Then... they'll try that Mario 64 they might have heard their girlfriend's 18 year-old younger brother talk about. Then, they'll try the new Mario 128. Like that? Well, in the Nintendo Online startup screen, here's a frontpage:

    "Welcome BTWR! Your collection includes Metroid (NES), Super Mario Bros 2 (NES), Tetris DX (Gameboy Color), Super Mario RPG (SNES) and Street Fighter II (SNES). Might we recommend Super Smash Bros (N64), Tetris Attack (SNES) or Metroid Prime (Gamecube)? Also, look for Metroid: Mission X coming next month for Nintendo Revolution and The Legend of Zelda: World of Hyrule for the Nintendo DS. Press A to pre-order it now on your NintendoAccount and get a 60-minute FreePlay of Super Metroid (SNES) and one (1) free downloadable NES 'Players-Choice' game you wish"

    The possibilities are endless...

  • Is it just me... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Chickenofbristol55 ( 884806 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:13PM (#12568960) Homepage
    I believe that Nintendo is overstretching the life of the Gameboy. I mean, not to be a troll, but changing the configuration of a handheld doesn't extend its life, what does is making it more powerful. Does Nintendo think many people with an original Gameboy Advanced is likely to purchase a GBA sp, or a Gameboy mirco? I just don't see, now with the new consoles on the horizon, that there is a need for the Gameboy in its current state, especially due to the DS. Just my two cents.

    • The new form factor is to compete with cell phones and the games that come with them.

      The "new" handheld is the DS. Nintendo doesn't need another new handheld, except to keep up with current market conditions, which this new form factor accomplishes.

      -Adam

    • Re:Is it just me... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by ro_coyote ( 719566 )
      Does Nintendo think many people with an original Gameboy Advanced is likely to purchase a GBA sp, or a Gameboy mirco?

      To be honest, I've hardly seen anybody as of late carrying around an original Game Boy Advance, as opposed to those carrying around the newer GBA SP. Little kids and preteens, teens, and even adults... I see more GBA SP's out there now than I do original GBA's.

      I myself do not own an SP, due to the fact that I just don't like the washed out front-lit screen (I always thought it looked a bi
  • HOW CAN YOU TELL?

    I mean, seriously, half the G4 coverage w.r.t. the PS2 last night addressed that issue. Then I thought about what I'd seen. In the PS3 "ducky" demo, there was that bald SCEE VP allegedly tweaking the duck's movement. Was it live, or was it Memorex? We've no idea. We have to take the presenters at their word until somebody can lay their hands on a demo, which at this point, will not be the final hardware, or the game's engine isn't properly tweaked, or something.

    Besides which, so w

  • Nintendo On (Score:3, Interesting)

    by rayde ( 738949 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:19PM (#12569023) Homepage
    i haven't seen anybody commenting about the Nintendo On rumor...

    if you check out NintendoOn.com [nintendoon.com] it points mysteriously to an IGN article [ign.com] containing a link to a video that it calls a hoax. However, we know that IGN is in cahoots with Nintendo (Gamespy being the online content provider for DS and presumably Revolution). Also, if you check out the video, it's got amazingly high production values for a hoax.

  • Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:20PM (#12569034)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Mod the Editor Up (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Aaron_Pike ( 528044 )
    It's a shame we can't mod editors up. This one actually held off however long it took to gather a good chunk of the useful articles out there and post them to /. all at once. Kudos!

    Disclosure: the editor is on my friends list, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that he's doing Something Right.

  • Go Nintendo (Score:5, Interesting)

    by CastrTroy ( 595695 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:25PM (#12569092)
    I have to admit, I'm quite a Nintendo fanboy, so you can disregard my comments if you like. There a few advantages that the GC had over its peers that I'd like to point out.

    1. Portability: The light weight and small form factor of the GC allows it to be toted around to a friends' house if you want to, or for it to be brought with you for weekend trips.

    2. Load Times: The GC has much better load times then both PS2 and XBox. So much less that many games appear to have no load times at all.

    3. Lower Price: A new GC can be had for 100 $CDN right now. XBox still costs around 200 $CDN, which is about double the price.

    4. Better Controllers: While this is a matter of taste, I believe the controllers are much better on the GC. The buttons are much better laid out, allow easy movement between the buttons, and allowing the buttons to be easily located. One exception is that stupid z button.

    I think the GC is one of the most underrated systems of all time. It lost out because people are afraid to buy something that looks kiddie, even though it is anything but. I hope Nintendo grabs more market with the Revolution. I also don't think that the Revolution will scare away 3rd party developers with some weird control scheme. Remeber, it is going to be backwards compatible with GC.
    • I also forgot to point out the warranty. GC is the only system with a 12 month warranty. That's 4 times longer than the other systems. I don't trust a product that a company will only warranty for 3 months. Nintendo products have always been better quality, and I will always trust them.

  • Nintendo not going the way of Sega (Score:4, Insightful)

    by haggar ( 72771 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:28PM (#12569120) Homepage Journal
    *shock horror how can he say such a thing*

    Well, the fact is that the console war is not a winner-takes-all game. At least Nintendo is not playing it that way. They are profitable, and very much so, by being third.

    Also, the PSP is not killing the DS "shock horror how can... etc.". They have sold about the same.

    Finally, the fact that the Revolution is not 100 times more powerful than the GC doesn't mean a thing. The graphic capabilities of the GC were already quite good, and of course, a little improvement doesn't hurt, but how much more power do games really need? Many games are perfectly enjoyable on systems like the Mega Drive already. The hardware capabilities of the game consoles of today are very close to just how much you need, because the human eye has it's own, physiological, treshold. Exceeding it is meaningless (except for penis-lenght battles, i.e. my penis has 8 cell processors - yeah, but my penis can do 2 teraflops and has 1 GBYTE of UBGRAM).
    • Yeah, I agree with you, Nintendo isn't really in any trouble (if they continue executing well).

      But the fact is that current hardware is nowhere close to the physiological limits of our eyes. First, nothing shown at 320x200 resolution is going to threaten the limits of our vision. Even if it was Uber-Hi-Def, we are still a long way from running into physical barriers. The FF Movie wasn't there by any stretch, and the only reason it looked as good as it did was that there was a director and animators maki
  • Games Are Fun [gamesarefun.com] had a blog of the Nintendo conference [gamesarefun.com] with smaller "wrap-up" articles about the details for the DS [gamesarefun.com] and the Revolution. [gamesarefun.com] As well as lots of other E3 coverage of course :)

  • Anyone notice this tidbit? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by scmcclain ( 698239 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:33PM (#12569170)
    from the press release...
    Freedom of design: A dynamic development architecture equally accommodates both big-budget, high-profile game "masterpieces" as well as indie games conceived by individual developers equipped with only a big idea.
    does this mean we can have homebrew developers? Or is this just wordsmithing?
  • To be honest I am not so keen on Sony or Microsofts new offerings. They are still running the spec race when it comes to video game performance. All tech industries run this race (computers, digital cameras, and media players) Its part of the way the industry works. every comany wants to flaunt concrete numbers to validate what is ultimately an abstract experience. For computers it was clock speed , for digicams megapixels, for media players hard drive/flash space. But as each of these sectors Matured the s

  • Please stop discussing "nothing" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by benjithedog ( 885019 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:44PM (#12569299)
    Having been stunned and dismayed by the quality of commentary that I've read in last 24hrs concerning Nintendo's E3 conference, I was excited that this article might perhaps shine some light on the messages from doom that are being put forth. Sadly, it's not exception, and once again shows complete ignorance on well publicized facts, both on Nintendo as a company, and on their upcoming console.

    The buzz on most gaming sites is, expectedly, represented by two extremes. On one side, Nintendo fans and some "undecideds", praise the looks of the Revolution, and it's legacy game download feature.
    On the other side, statements that have a stinky ting of "BSD is Dead" come in the following shapes and flavors (paraphrasing):
    - "What a weak showing, Nintendo is going to hell, gonna get trounced, dead meat"
    - "Legacy gaming?! Some revolution!"
    - "PS3 and Xbox are going to smoke the Revolution."
    - "Nintendo has made a huge mistake, and it's going to pay for it."

    Let's clarify some facts:
    - Nintendo made profit on the N64 and the Gamecube, both on consoles sales (they didn't sell at a loss), and games sales. So Nintendo did not lose this generation's "war". It made a profit, and that's always more important than being "first". (Yes Sony also made an overall profit with PS2, if we count games).
    Nintendo will almost definitely make profit on the Revolution, so even if it's third, Nintendo won't "die".

    - Nintendo did NOT intend to show anything important about the Revolution at this E3. They said it before the conference. So what is everyone whining about?
    We also know (if we read the news from these months) that the console isn't finished, and that includes the controller. Why is that so difficult to understand? Even the Iwata should, is not the final version. It will be ready in a few months, and he invited user participation to make suggestions on things like color, etc...

    Furthermore, they consider they have very revolutionary ideas, and hence don't want those copied early in the game.

    So what was Nintendo supposed to show? Some freaky , wacky, OMFG graphics. NO, once again, you're not listening. "It's not about the graphics anymore (Nintendo)".

    In conclusion, Nintendo is right on track, and when it's ready it will show it's console. When that happens, you can all open the floodgates of opinion and commentary, but until then read up on Nintendo before making uninformed comments.
    • I agree. Let Nintendo play their own game, and if that interests you, great, if not, you've got two other consoles to choose from. There is, however, a large bunch of people who own gamecubes and even prefer them over the other current consoles. And we're happy to see Nintendo taking a different stance on the future of gaming, and we aren't ready to dismiss them just yet.

      You don't have to be number one in sales to make a good product. You don't have to own a market to make good games. And anyone already ma

    • Re:Please stop discussing "nothing" (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Snodgrass ( 446409 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @03:33PM (#12569947) Homepage
      - "Legacy gaming?! Some revolution!"

      It strikes me that people are just missing the point:

      From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

      Revolution \Rev`o*lu"tion\, n. [F. r['e]volution, L. revolutio.
      See {Revolve}.] ...

      2. Return to a point before occupied, or to a point
      relatively the same; a rolling back; return; as,
      revolution in an ellipse or spiral.
      [1913 Webster]

      Maybe it's not that it's supposed to be 'revolutionary', but that it's coming full circle with new and retro games.

      And maybe that's already been mentioned before and I just missed it.
  • Let me guess what the big surprise is - little DS like screen / touch pads built-in.

  • On Nintendo (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Phantasmo ( 586700 ) on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @02:49PM (#12569340)
    A few things:

    The PSP and the DS do not exactly target the same market. The DS has two primary purposes - as a special controller for Revolution and as a handheld console for people who don't normally play games. That's why a lot of the upcoming titles are puzzle games and things like Animal Crossing.

    Online capability: strange, even though X-box has Live, that didn't stop Gamecube from completely owning it in terms of worldwide sales... and Microsoft just started to turn a profit on X-Box???
    Remember that Gamecube's primary customers are parents looking for family-friendly games. What if pedophiles started hanging out in Pokemon Online? The American media would eat it up and Big N would be dead in the water in a month. Definitely not something to be rushed into.

    And as for those saying that Nintendo will stop making hardware: have you ever played with a Gamecube? Ergonomic controllers. Next to no load time. Sharp graphics. All in a small, light, durable box. $99 CDN. Sony and Microsoft wouldn't know how to pull that off, even if they had any interest in doing so.

    If I want to play Ultimate Online Gorefest 2005 (complete with five-minute load screens before each level) I'll go play on my computer. However if I have some friends over and want to jump right into a really fun game, nothing beats Nintendo.

  • Nintendo is dying, Nintendo is teh suck... (Score:5, Informative)

    by leoboiko ( 462141 ) <leoboiko@gmail . c om> on Wednesday May 18, 2005 @03:15PM (#12569720) Homepage
    ...except that GC and NDS consoles (and games) are selling fairly well in Japan [the-magicbox.com] (unlike, say, the Xbox). I know that Slashdot is USA-centric, but it irritates me that, because Nintendo encourage games fitting to the Japanese gaming style, Americans keep saying that the company is dying. Newsflash: it isn't [yahoo.com], and there are those of us who deeply enjoy its games.

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