Nintendo's Revolution is nigh
Nintendo's next-gen is two to three times more powerful than the GameCube, backward compatible, online; system confirmed for 2006, prices not; DS goes online and Game Boy micro announced.
LOS ANGELES--Nintendo held its pre-E3 press conference this morning, and confirmed speculation that it would announce its contribution to next-generation gaming. Plans for its future console, Revolution, were revealed at a location on Hollywood Boulevard.
Nintendo is the last of the "Big Three" to reveal its next-gen plans. Microsoft took the lid off its future console, the Xbox 360, last week, and Sony unveiled the PlayStation 3 yesterday at its pre-E3 conference.
To cheers from the crowd, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata displayed a Revolution prototype. The Revolution design didn't follow suit with its curvaceous competitors, the concave Xbox 360 and convex PlayStation 3.
In fact, its simple rectangular design can be easily mistaken for a modem at first glance. However, like its competitors, the unit can stand vertically or lay supine. The black console (other optional colors are in the works) can fit snugly in a grey stand, where it is pitched upward at a slight angle for vertical positioning, or be removed and laid flat (and look eerily similar to Apple's Powerbook batteries).
Revolution's enigmatic controllers were not revealed, but they will be wireless. Rumors have been awash that the controllers will be unlike any before, possibly losing buttons in favor of touch screens or incorporating some sort of gyroscopic functions.
By Nintendo's own admission, according to a report from USA Today, the system is two to three times as powerful as its current-generation console, the GameCube. Sony's PlayStation 3, announced yesterday, is reportedly dozens of times powerful than its predecessor, the PlayStation 2.
However, Nintendo told the newspaper "It's not all about having 'turbo power', It's about what you do with it."
Eschewing its previous business ideas, Revolution will be online-friendly, and support a broadband gaming service similar to that of Microsoft's Xbox Live. Its most significant contribution to online gaming will be the ability to download games, and not just simple puzzlers or platformers from the NES days. GameCube titles have "the potential" to be downloadable, though it's not clear whether the games will be saved to a storage devices or memory cards.
For those who would rather just pop in their hard copy of Mario Sunshine, Nintendo offers a simple solution: backward compatibility. As indicated before, Revolution, like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, will be able to play all the games from the current-generation GameCube, as well as DVDs through its blue-LED-illuminated front-loading media drive, though the unit wil require "an internal attachment" to play movies.
Nintendo announced that it has "big plans" for the Metroid franchise on Revolution and that Mario and Zelda games are already in the works. Iwata also stated that Square Enix is working on a Wi-Fi version of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
Reggie Fils-Aime, chief marketing officer of Nintendo, also officially announced that the Nintendo DS will go online, offering connection through Internet hot spots. Nintendo will not charge for the service, nor will they ask for a fee for online gaming.
The premier online title for the DS will be a new Tony hawk title from Activision. Nintendo did not reveal the full name of the game, nor did they announce a release date. However, Nintendo did say that an online version of Mario Kart for the DS would be playable on the E3 floor.
Nintendo also revealed a new edition of its Game Boy handheld. The Game Boy micro shrinks the already diminutive Game Boy Advance down further, and still retains the functions of the Game Boy Advance SP. The unit is slightly larger than a credit card, and can fit easily into gamer's back pockets.
The unit will play all Game Boy Advance games and will have customizable faceplates. However, there are no new multimedia functions to speak of.
Be sure to check back for more information on Revolution and Nintendo's press conference. GameSpot News will be updating this story throughout the day.
......would be incredible
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