26th July 2005, 2:56 PM
Miyamoto and Iwata Talk Revolution
Also, a few details on Mario 128 and DS/ Revolution connectivity.
by Juan Castro
July 25, 2005 - In a recent interview with EGM, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto commented on the upcoming successor to the GameCube, codenamed Revolution, and offered a few details on Mario 128 and the future of Nintendo in general.
To start though, Iwata faced a series of questions focused on Nintendo's philosophy on game design, which sometimes places innovation above technological pizzazz. With the next-generation of videogame consoles on the horizon, longtime Nintendo fans worry the Nintendo Revolution simply won't compete with Microsoft's Xbox 360 or Sony's PS3 on a graphical level.
"I don't think the Revolution's [graphics] will be inferior in any fashion to Xbox 360 or PS3," said Iwata. "Even if you look at Zelda on GameCube, I don't think that looks inferior to what the competition is touting as 'next generation' visuals. But we think there are more important things for now than making the system work with a high-definition television."
Iwata went on to say that most people who will be playing the Nintendo Revolution won't be doing so on high-definition compatible television sets anyway, and that 480p (progressive-scan) will remain the standard. Bottom line, according to Iwata, is Nintendo's desire to create a system capable of attracting as many people as possible. On the same note, Iwata said Nintendo had no desire to make people pay extra out of the box for the Revolution's DVD functionality, since most people already own one or more DVD players. He also reiterated that the DVD player will be built-in and not an external attachment. At E3 2005, the company confirmed that an additionally purchased dongle would activate the built-in DVD functionality.
As far as the Revolution's Internet connectivity is concerned, the system will be Wi-Fi compatible out of the box but won't come with an Ethernet port. Instead, Nintendo will sell an Ethernet adaptor for the Revolution's USB port. Iwata said it would be difficult, given where the Revolution will be in a household [probably the living room] for players to connect the Revolution to a traditional Ethernet line.
Moving from hardware to software, Miyamoto said Nintendo is considering a DS version of the classic brawler Super Smash Bros. He also said that he'd like to make another Luigi's Mansion game and that a Pikmin game on Revolution would be a "good match" given the Revolution's unique and totally mysterious controller. But he said nothing about Pikmin Revolution was set in stone. Miyamoto also said that if it's technically possible on Revolution, then tweaking older games such as Mario Party for online play was a definite possibility.
Finally, Iwata spoke on the Revolution's unique interface and if it would alienate third-party developers.
"Well, of course, the idea is that the Revolution will sell and sell and sell so it becomes the standard in the industry," Iwata mused. "However, at least for the launch period, we designed the controller so it can play any of the different conventional styles. After all, we are talking about it playing games from our past machines (i.e. the virtual console). So don't worry."
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1.) The graphics will be on par with the PS3 and XBox360.
2.) The Revolution will support 480 Pro scan... which is HD. Though "the Revolution will not support HD." (?????????)
3.) The dongle will activate the internal DVD functionality. That means the system can play DVD's out of the box but will require a 'key' to operate it just like high end computers and workstations. So, by including the ability to play DVD's out of the box but selling the key seperately thy're able to keep costs down. This makes sense because if they included it out-right (no dongle) they would have to pay royaltees.
4.) We have to pay a seperate ethernet adapter. Not a biggie, i'm thinking it will be in the 15 to 20 range.
5.) SSB for DS? Luigi's Mansion? Pikmin for Revolution? Oh yes, my cups fill with drool.
6.) Older games for the virtual console will indeed be updated to include net-play. This means everything from Earthbound to Zelda could have net-play functionality but at the very least, Nintendo's 2 to 4 player games will most likely recieve a net-play update. You should all thank me for this one, we're getting this because of all the praying I did.
7.) The controller can play every game. Does this include light gun games? What's the point of the GC controller ports then? Just there on the mock-up and not in the final version (said to be smaller)? A controller so well made that it will change the industry and create a standard. If any other company said this it would be a joke. But Nintendo's changed and invented standards like nobody's business.
Also, a few details on Mario 128 and DS/ Revolution connectivity.
by Juan Castro
July 25, 2005 - In a recent interview with EGM, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto commented on the upcoming successor to the GameCube, codenamed Revolution, and offered a few details on Mario 128 and the future of Nintendo in general.
To start though, Iwata faced a series of questions focused on Nintendo's philosophy on game design, which sometimes places innovation above technological pizzazz. With the next-generation of videogame consoles on the horizon, longtime Nintendo fans worry the Nintendo Revolution simply won't compete with Microsoft's Xbox 360 or Sony's PS3 on a graphical level.
"I don't think the Revolution's [graphics] will be inferior in any fashion to Xbox 360 or PS3," said Iwata. "Even if you look at Zelda on GameCube, I don't think that looks inferior to what the competition is touting as 'next generation' visuals. But we think there are more important things for now than making the system work with a high-definition television."
Iwata went on to say that most people who will be playing the Nintendo Revolution won't be doing so on high-definition compatible television sets anyway, and that 480p (progressive-scan) will remain the standard. Bottom line, according to Iwata, is Nintendo's desire to create a system capable of attracting as many people as possible. On the same note, Iwata said Nintendo had no desire to make people pay extra out of the box for the Revolution's DVD functionality, since most people already own one or more DVD players. He also reiterated that the DVD player will be built-in and not an external attachment. At E3 2005, the company confirmed that an additionally purchased dongle would activate the built-in DVD functionality.
As far as the Revolution's Internet connectivity is concerned, the system will be Wi-Fi compatible out of the box but won't come with an Ethernet port. Instead, Nintendo will sell an Ethernet adaptor for the Revolution's USB port. Iwata said it would be difficult, given where the Revolution will be in a household [probably the living room] for players to connect the Revolution to a traditional Ethernet line.
Moving from hardware to software, Miyamoto said Nintendo is considering a DS version of the classic brawler Super Smash Bros. He also said that he'd like to make another Luigi's Mansion game and that a Pikmin game on Revolution would be a "good match" given the Revolution's unique and totally mysterious controller. But he said nothing about Pikmin Revolution was set in stone. Miyamoto also said that if it's technically possible on Revolution, then tweaking older games such as Mario Party for online play was a definite possibility.
Finally, Iwata spoke on the Revolution's unique interface and if it would alienate third-party developers.
"Well, of course, the idea is that the Revolution will sell and sell and sell so it becomes the standard in the industry," Iwata mused. "However, at least for the launch period, we designed the controller so it can play any of the different conventional styles. After all, we are talking about it playing games from our past machines (i.e. the virtual console). So don't worry."
------------------------------
1.) The graphics will be on par with the PS3 and XBox360.
2.) The Revolution will support 480 Pro scan... which is HD. Though "the Revolution will not support HD." (?????????)
3.) The dongle will activate the internal DVD functionality. That means the system can play DVD's out of the box but will require a 'key' to operate it just like high end computers and workstations. So, by including the ability to play DVD's out of the box but selling the key seperately thy're able to keep costs down. This makes sense because if they included it out-right (no dongle) they would have to pay royaltees.
4.) We have to pay a seperate ethernet adapter. Not a biggie, i'm thinking it will be in the 15 to 20 range.
5.) SSB for DS? Luigi's Mansion? Pikmin for Revolution? Oh yes, my cups fill with drool.
6.) Older games for the virtual console will indeed be updated to include net-play. This means everything from Earthbound to Zelda could have net-play functionality but at the very least, Nintendo's 2 to 4 player games will most likely recieve a net-play update. You should all thank me for this one, we're getting this because of all the praying I did.
7.) The controller can play every game. Does this include light gun games? What's the point of the GC controller ports then? Just there on the mock-up and not in the final version (said to be smaller)? A controller so well made that it will change the industry and create a standard. If any other company said this it would be a joke. But Nintendo's changed and invented standards like nobody's business.