At the Tokyo Game Show Nintendo finally showed off their revolutionary new controller for their next-gen game system.

Main Controller Features

• 3D Pointing. Sensors understand up, down, left, right, forward and backward.
• Tilt Sensitive. Controller can be rotated or rolled from side-to-side.
• Buttons Included. Has a trigger on its backside, face buttons, and a D-Pad.
• Multifunctional. Has an expansion port which can be used with different types of controller peripherals. Analog stick with two trigger buttons planned for left hand.
• Wireless. Totally wire-free. Currently there are no details on the max distance, source or power, or otherwise.
• Rumble Built-in. Included as a standard in all the controllers.

Some pictures

Cube IGN - TGS 2005: Hands-on the Revolution Controller
Cube IGN - Controller Video

Lies, damned lies, and statistics. You know the old saying.

But what happens when the statistic measures something that nobody knows yet, and the statistic measures thoughts and feelings based largely on hype and press releases?

Well, you get about 55% of 15,000 people thinking that the PS3 will be the most powerful next-gen console. 31% believe in the 360, and only 10% put forth the Revolution.

I have a PS2 and plan to buy a PS3, but even I have to take a look at these results and think “Waaa?” The only real response should be to join those 4% who said they haven’t formed an opinion yet. Because until we get all three platforms in final form, and they can be scrutinized a bit, we just don’t know.

Link: Xbox IGN - The Most Powerful New Console

The latest issue of EGM magazine reveals an interview with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto.

1. First, Mr. Miyamoto doesn’t think that the Revolution will give up anything to the PS3 or 360 when it comes to graphics. If true, the Revolution’s visuals will be just as lush and complex. This will be a lot easier for the Revolution to accomplish, though, because it doesn’t have to do this at HD resolutions, just 480p.
2. The DVD player will be optional, but will be well disguised in the system. Says Mr. Miyamoto: “it’s going to go inside the machine so you won’t even (be able to) tell the difference.”
3. No Ethernet port! This is a hard one to believe. Having dropped the ball on online last time around, I thought for sure they’d get it right this time. But Shigeru does throw us a bone: “(No, it) doesn’t have an Ethernet port. However, through the USB port, it’s possible to have Ethernet with an adapter.”

The rest is just a bunch of evasions. But you have something at least!

Link: nintendophiles - EGM Miyamoto Interview

Rumours are a funny thing. Everybody wants to hear them. People with a vested interest believe them. Other people trash them. And so it goes.

As the least-specified of the next-gen consoles, the Revolution is bound to be the subject of much conjecture. Most of which centers around their increasingly famous controller. It’s amazing how much press this little thing is getting, especially because it’s all rumour and speculation. Nobody has seen the thing yet. Who knows, maybe Nintendo is blowing a lot of hot air and even they don’t know what it looks like.

But that’s not all!

Gyroscopes, touch screens, posters, more, more more! I’m going crazy! One thing I do know for sure, is that the Revolution won’t be HD. That’s about it. Even the look of the Revolution at E3 was just a prototype. For a discussion of some of these other rumours, go see Gamespot, I’m just too tired.

Link: Gamespot - Rumor Control: Nintendo Revolution rumor explosion!

I’m on vacation as you read this. I posted this article using a time-delay feature. Because I am on holidays, I won’t be able to respond to you if you reply, or to moderate any comments.

Nintendo man Satoru Iwata said “There is no possibility that the Revolution’s launch will fall behind by too much, but there might be some small changes [in its release schedule].” This in response to shareholder questions about Nintendo lagging behind Sony and Microsoft in the next-gen console war.

So what’s he saying here? Not much really. Just that, at the latest, the Revolution won’t be that far behind the PS3. But what about the earliest? Or the middlest? Just from their state of preparedness at E3, Nintendo is third in line behind Microsoft and Sony. But who knows, really? Nintendo is being very secretive about their Revolution plans, and they may be holding some surprises in reserve. (Hopefully one of them is to change their minds about HD support.)

In the meantime, much is being made of this statement that’s almost a non-statement. Nothing new here. These aren’t the droids you’re looking for. Move on.

Link: Gamespot - Revolution to launch post-PS3?

I’m on vacation as you read this. I posted this article using a time-delay feature. Because I am on holidays, I won’t be able to respond to you if you reply, or to moderate any comments.

HD is coming. HD is coming! Well, not if you’re a Nintendo fan. The Revolution, as I reported earlier, will not support HD. Which is not a good thing. And there are lots of people who think so, not just my friend Steve and me. A guy named Tim Forbrook heads up 1080up.org, a website dedicated to getting the giant Nintendo to change their mind. A noble endeavour, but I think ultimately a failed one. Just my opinion of course. I’m rather cynical when it comes to trying to change the minds of big movers and shakers. I want Sony to change the PS3 controller to add triggers (like the Xbox controller) but I don’t think I’ll succeed in getting them to do that. Mind you, I didn’t create a website around the topic, just a mention in a couple articles, but hey. So I think that Mr. Forbrook will get just a little bit more publicity for his crusade than I will, and that can only help his cause. I wish Mr. Forbrook the best of luck, and I hope that I’m wrong. Blogcritics has an interview with the man, with a couple good answers like this one:

Nintendo has gone on record as stating only 1% of Gamecube owners own the (component) cable needed to showcase that consoles progressive scan capability. Does that not mean there’s no market for it?

I don’t think so. I think the market is there. Nintendo really hasn’t made known to anybody how to get these component cables. I had to order mine from Nintendo.com a couple of years ago after finding out from an EB Games manager that they weren’t available in stores. I think Nintendo could have doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled their sales of the cable by just letting people know where to get them. Combine that with the fact that HDTV is relatively new to the casual electronics consumer, and it should be expected that the cables would have sold poorly in this generation. In the next generation, however, people are going to be actively looking for these cables as HDTV will be the standard and the average consumer will know what component cables are.

Link: Blogcritics.org - Interview: 1080.org’s Tim Forbrook
Link: 1080up.org

In what is sure to be a blow to my friend Steve (though just a little one, he’s quite stoic by nature), Nintendo has confirmed that the Revolution will not support HD.

Mrs. Kaplan, Nintendo of America’s vice president of corporate affairs, says:

Nintendo doesn’t plan for the system to be HD compatible as with that comes a higher price for both the consumer and also the developer creating the game. Will it make the game better to play? With the technology being built into the Revolution, we believe the games will look brilliant and play brilliantly. This can all be done without HD.

This is in stark contrast to Sony and Microsoft, who are both touting the HD capabilities of the PS3 and Xbox 360. The PS3 even has the ability to put out video at 1080p, and has two HDMI connectors. This all comes at a cost that Nintendo doesn’t want their customers to pay. Personally, I have an HDTV and want HD content for it, so if I would have previously been considering buying the Revolution, this would have taken it off the short list.

My GameCube-owning friend Steve said “Without HD support, the Revolution will still be on my short list but probably not at the top. I think that decision puts this console at a definite disadvantage compared to the others.”

Link: GameCube Advanced - No HD On Revolution

A rumour of a rumour of a possibility of an inkling thought says that the specs to the Nintendo Revolution might be:

2 G5 1.8GHZ CPUS (NOT 2XCORE)
512K L2 Cache
1200 MHZ Front Side BUS - Xbox 360’s FSB is 1000 MHz
600MHz GPU with 12MB embedded 1T SRAM – 2x Pipes 4x T read?

128MB 1T SRAM MAIN MEMORY 600 MHz (L3 Cache to CPU and GPU)
256MB 400MHZ NEC design embedded DRAM
Embedded 16-BIT HD 7.1Digital sound chip
Dedicated sound bandwidth with zero affect on CPU

6GB HD Dual Layer Panasonic Discs

Take it for what it’s worth.

Link: Nintendo Centrum - More Rumored Revolution Specs

Nintendo has released some pictures of the Nintendo revolution. Not only will the Nintendo Revolution will be backwards compatible with the GameCube, but it will play DVDs, and have downloadable access to 20 years worth of Nintendo 64, SNES, and even NES games. It will have a bay for an SD memory card to expand the system’s 512MB of flash memory. Wireless controllers, two USB 2.0 ports, and Wi-Fi access are also features.

Unfortunately, no mention is made of HDTV. I hope a console released in 2006 has HDTV support? Does anyone have any more info on this?

Link: engadget - Nintendo Revolution pic
Link: bytesector - Nintendo Revolution First Look

The Nintendo Revolution has been confirmed for a 2006 street date. Not only that, it will be backwards compatible with the GameCube. (Sony has announced backwards compatibility for the PS3, so that leaves us wondering about the Xbox 360.) The Revolution will also have wireless capabilities, play horizontally or vertically, and will be wireless internet ready out of the box.

Link: Nintendo - Nintendo Reveals Early Details About Revolution

The memory supplier for the Nintendo GameCube, MoSys, has said that we should expect Nintendo’s next gaming console, code-named ‘Revolution’, to ship in mid-2006. This is about the same time that the PlayStation 3 is widely rumoured to ship, though no official statements have been made. It is also rumoured that the Nintendo Revolution will be a small device, no taller than three DVD cases. Chinese website Unika.com has quoted the hardware of the console to be:

… four 2.5Ghz IBM G5 Custom cores, with 128KB of level 1 cache and a 512KB shared level 2 cache, while the graphics will be powered by a dual core ATI RN520 chipset, with 1MB of on-board eDRAM for the frame buffer.

Link: gameindustry.biz - Nintendo’s Revolution to emerge in mid-2006, says key supplier
Link: GIZMODO - Nintendo Revolution No Taller Than Three DVD Cases
Link: GIZMODO - Nintendo Revolution - Mid 2006 Release

One of my friends (let’s name him, oh, Steve), a GameCube owner, is probably wondering why I haven’t written about the next Nintendo system (codename: Revolution) yet. Am I biased? Do I hate Nintendo? Some conspiracy of some kind? Nope, none of the above. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. (But then on the other hand, Steve’s so laid-back that maybe he’s not thinking any such thing.)

But there’s not a lot to get around to. Nintendo has been pretty quiet about the Revolution, and even when they DO talk (like in this GameSpy article), not much is revealed. We don’t even know if the Revolution will support HD or not. We know the Xbox 2 has it and developers must support it. We know the PS3 has it. But we know nothin’ about the Revolution. Not yet at least.