RF Generation Message Board

If the launch price is $99, i will be picking it up as soon as it comes out.  Any word on if Revolution is backwards compatable with Game Cube?

How come I just cant seem to believe that article :-/



I guess I will believe it when it is shown at E3  :P

I second that. But a price tag of 99-149 would be nice.

Revolution to be "2.5 times more powerful than Cube"
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Rob Fahey 17:07 07/12/2005

Nintendo's next-gen system won't match power of rivals, focuses firmly on innovation

Developers speaking to GamesIndustry.biz this week have commented that the the Revolution console, hardware kits for which began shipping to third parties recently, is shaping up to be around 2.5 times more powerful than GameCube.

Up until the past week or so, developers close enough to Nintendo's inner circle to have seen any Revolution hardware were working with development kits that were simply GameCube kits with mock-ups of the "wand" controller attached - a clear signal, if any were required, that the system is more about innovative control than about the hardware specs.

Now, however, Nintendo has spoken to developers in more depth about its hardware plans for the new system - and has begun shipping more advanced development kits to selected third-parties, featuring early versions of some of the chips which will appear in the final console.

An article published by US website IGN this morning revealed some details of the console, and several developers today have spoken to GamesIndustry.biz to help fill in the gaps.

The picture we're building up of the final console is as follows; the Cube will be powered by the IBM CPU codenamed Broadway, which is very similar to the Gekko CPU used in the GameCube, but runs at around twice the clock speed and offers potentially two to three times the overall performance, and the ATI graphics chip codenamed Hollywood.

While Broadway is well-understood by developers, the ATI part remains "a bit of a black box", according to one senior developer we spoke to. "We have theoretical throughput figures and stats from Nintendo, but nobody's seen the hardware yet - we're just treating it like it's a faster version of the GameCube GPU, at the moment."

How much faster exactly it will be remains to be seen, but the chip - which "seems to be an evolution of the Radeon range" according to our source - will probably mirror the CPU by running at around twice to three times the speed of the existing part.

In terms of RAM, the system is well-known to boast 512MB of Flash RAM which can be used to store save games and downloaded content, but this will not be accessible to developers, we were told. What they'll have available is 96MB of main memory, built on the same 1T-SRAM architecture as the Cube, and "a few megs here and there for other stuff" - such as 3MB of on-board memory on the graphics chip, which will be used for a frame buffer. "That's plenty, since the Revolution isn't supporting HDTV," one developer added.

As for the storage media the Revolution will use, "they're pretty much standard DVDs," we were told, with capacity similar to current PS2 and Xbox discs. "The only clever thing about the drive, really, is that you can put the little Cube discs into it despite being a slot-loading drive - I think that's the first time you've been able to do that with a slot loader."

In other words, what Nintendo is planning to ship is a system which is no more than around twice to three times as powerful as the current generation GameCube - indeed, more than one developer who has access to the hardware specs suggested "about 2.5 times the power" as the benchmark for the new system.

Although this makes the Revolution significantly less powerful than the PS3 or Xbox 360, developers we spoke to were upbeat about the machine.

"You can basically treat it like a current generation machine," one told us. "The time it'll take to ramp up to developing on this is basically nil - we can just work on a PC or maybe an Xbox, and then improve the quality of our assets when we move to the Revolution. Or even work on a Cube, in fact. The libraries are very similar."

"We could do a game for this in a few months," commented another developer. "Developing games is going to be easy, the challenge is going to be using the controller properly."

The approach mirrors Nintendo's strategy with the DS, which is far less powerful than its rival the PlayStation Portable but offers an innovative interface which has been a hit with gamers and has had major success in the mass market.

Crucially, the low specification will also allow Nintendo to score a victory in terms of pricing; speculation is already rife that the Revolution could enter the marketplace at $149 or even lower, suggesting a sub-GBP 100 price point at a time when the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 still retail for three times that price.

most developers have said that a launch price of $149 is viable, and some have even said that a launch price of $99 is a possibility as well

Speaking to delegates made up from the world's media industries, Fils-Aime talked up Nintendo' need to innovate as well as the market and demographic forces which were driving this strategy.

He offered some stats showing Nintendo's strength in the handhelds market and he also pulled some quotes from third-parties about Revolution.

These are the 20 main points from his PowerPoint presentation...

1. Quote from the movie industry: “It makes no sense to continue aiming all your films at the same demographic quadrant. Eventually, they become stale and lack originality.” Hollywood is suffering from a lack of originality.

2. Similarly, Sony and Microsoft are going in a straight line. Nintendo is taking a new turn, seeking new audiences.

3. Hardware and software sales in Japan have decreased significantly in the last decade. In 1997 the market was worth nearly 800 billion Yen. It's now worth less than 500 billion.

4. The majority of sales have traditionally been earned through very strong second half sales. This pattern has been consistent throughout the console industry's history, but second-half sales have been decreasing for the past three years, showing a weakness in the market.

5. The 8-bit market was worth 31 million hardware units followed by 16-bit (42M) and 32/64-bit (48M) and current generation of 53 million units.

6. Despite increased sales of units, household penetration of game consoles has hardly risen from around 30% in the 1980s.

7. The number of U.S males in the target demographic for games consoles has been rising through this decade, but has now peaked (at 10.86 million) and is declining.

8. A year ago, 29% of U.S. teenagers said their interest in videogame was increasing. That number is now down to 25%. 75% say their interest is declining.

9. Quoting a business guru: Expand market boundaries. Create new demand. 'What can be,' not 'What is'.

10. Iwata quotes:

"If we cannot expand the market, all we can do is wait for the industry to slowly die."

"It is our responsibility to make games for all skill levels...including people who are not playing games now."

"Technology alone can't advance videogames...which is why we plan to take Revolution in a dramatic new direction."

"Revolution...does not follow the conventional path of new game systems."

11. Quote from management guru Jack Welch: In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward.   You pick a general direction—and implement like hell."

12. GameBoy unit sales have increased from 1.5 million units in 1995 to 7.5 million in 2004; peaking at 8 million in 2003.

13. Nintendo DS is a Technology and Market 'Disruptor' offering two screens, microphone and touch screen. It's the market leader.

14. Total U.S. / Japanese retail sales are at 6 million, compared to PSP's 4.26 million

15. Likewise, Nintendogs has opened up new markets. "Not a Traditional Game - Social Appeal  - U.S. Sales: 950,000+. 2x Female Purchase Rate."

16. August to October handheld units sales (USA). GBA has 41%; DS has 31%; PSP has 28%.

17. Benefits of WiFi and success of Mario Kart DS / Animal Crossing  explained.

18. Revolution: is all about "New Players / New Thrills. Backward Compatibility makes it a  "Virtual Console" catering both to a market for  Nostalgia and for something Brand New.

19. Third party reaction:

Creative Liberation
Easy to Port
Traditional Controller Cradle
Developer Enthusiasm

20. Third Party Quotes:

Sega: "I don't think there's a creator who doesn't get tickled after getting their hands on this."

Square Enix: "You have to start by looking back at your play as a kid and think of what kinds of things you could do…you will be able to make a completely new form of play."

Namco: "There are great possibilities hidden within this controller."

EA: "Our sports titles might be the first to immediately take advantage of what this controller has to offer. It's a brilliant controller, and as usual we can credit Nintendo with being innovative and neat and fresh and fun.  They continue to pioneer in our industry…they make some of the best games in the industry…and we look forward to partnering with them."

Activision: "It's designed with an eye on enticing new players to the industry…something we firmly support."

THQ: "THQ is very focused on creating unique and innovative game play in this next console generation…and Nintendo's new controller fundamentally alters the interface between gamer and game in a unique and compelling way."


Ubisoft: "We were among the first publishers to see it in action, and are looking forward to taking advantage of it…"

There are many fans who have wanted Super Mario RPG to be re-released for either the Game Boy Advance or Nintendo DS for quite some time. However, it seems Nintendo and Square Enix are not inclined to do so. Disappointed fans have created an online petition and obtained over 20,000 signatures, but no action has been taken by either company. However, the Nintendo Revolution will offer NES, SNES and N64 games via download, and President of Marketing for Nintendo of Europe, Jim Merrick, announced that Europeans would be able to download games from other regions, such as Super Mario RPG, although nothing has yet been official announced by Nintendo. It is rumored that Super Mario RPG will be included among the Revolution's downloadables.

Developers have pointed out that the Revolution's design will put it at a very affordable price to consumers - most developers have said that a launch price of $149 is viable, and some have even said that a launch price of $99 is a possibility as well.