Topic: More Revolution Tidbits

[- NintendoFan -]

A bit off topic but were GameCube discs ever dual layered?  

[MarioAllStar]

I like that screen idea. I really hope they implement that one. I'm glad they made it so it can easily hook up to a computer monitor. Not only does it mean you have more screens to play on, but most computer monitors are capable of HD video, so a school-going non-working kid like me can take advantage of the increased quality without having to replace my TV.

Edit: Gamecube discs were not dual layered.

[jasonditz]

Controller headphone jack is very doable, and sounds very cool to me.  

[TheYoungerPlumber]

I'm not so sure smaller size means less power.  New manufacturing processes make for smaller chips -> less heat.  A well-designed console could dissipate heat well and still be small.  I honestly do not think Nintendo would make a weaker console just to make it more portable.  It would be amusing to see a more powerful system half the size of an Xbox360, making the moderate-sized MS system another hugebox by comparison.

I would go along with the LCD peripheral speculation: small form factor + LCD screen + DVD playback = quality portable DVD player.

[NWR_Lindy]

The most important thing is that it can play regular DVDs.  Even though the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray mess looks to be sorted out soon, it'll be at least a year or two before that platform becomes mainstream.  The first next-gen DVD players will probably come out sometime in 2006 and (as usual) they'll be expensive and lacking certain features, so people will wait until they get cheaper and acquire said features.  By that time we'll be a year into the Revolution's life cycle.

The bottom line is that it's too early for anybody but Sony to make a bet on the final outcome of the next-gen DVD wars.  Sony can do whatever it wants with PS3 because it's a partner in the creation of the DVD technology, so they have a vested interest in its adoption.

On a similar note, DVD capability itself isn't as important this time around.  Don't get me wrong - Nintendo needs it in the console - but so many people have DVD players nowadays that the notion of getting a PS2 to use primarily as a DVD player is over with.  It's not as much of a differentiator as it was with, say, GameCube vs. PS2.  DVDs aren't "new" these days, so that extra incentive of being able to play movies on cool new media is no longer there.

I like the vertical/horizontal thing.  That's pretty cool, and also ends the whining people had with GameCube about not being able to fit their console into a normal A/V unit.

It looks like Nintendo has really taken the criticism of the GameCube to heart, and has made some positive changes as a result.

And to whoever said that Revolution is virtually identical to XBox 360, they forgot the biggest difference: games.  If Nintendo comes out with a rumored Halo-killer from Retro, all of a sudden the momentum shifts in Nintendo's direction in a major way.

Things are looking up

[Ian Sane]

"small form factor + LCD screen + DVD playback = quality portable DVD player."

I didn't even think of that.  One of the PS2's big selling points was that it was a DVD player when DVD players were generally considered a new thing.  DVD playback won't sell consoles now but being a portable DVD player sure would.  A portable DVD player would apply even to people who already own regular DVD players (or PS2s and Xboxes).

[PaLaDiN]

Oh crap... I just thought of the whole monitor connection thing.

Affordable HD gaming.

D'oh, seems MarioAllStars had that idea too. I'm slow.

[tForce]

Don't see the portable DVD thing happening.  The cost alone is far too restrictive.  Unless this comes in at a $399 price point, it just doesn't make much sense.  Also... who said anything about DVD playback?  Just because it supports the DVD media doesn't mean it can decode MPEG4.  A vanilla Xbox didn't play movies, remember?  Just playing devil's advocate here.  Don't bet on the hard drive happening.  I see a flash memory based solution, since the whole SD adaptor thing never worked out on the GameCube.

[MarioAllStar]

Of course we are speculating on DVD playback and the LCD screen, but with the news that has been confirmed, they are both more likely than before (especially DVD playback).

[Savior]

Quote
Don't bet on the hard drive happening

Why not? Notebook PC HDs are slightly more expensive but could very well fit.....  

[Ian Sane]

"who said anything about DVD playback?"

Perrin Kaplin from Nintendo did.  Check out Nintendo.com.  It says that it plays DVDs.  And don't worry about the cost.  I'm suggesting the screen as an accessory as in you don't have to buy it.  It's just there for whoever wants it.

I just thought of something cool for E3.  The Rev is backwards compatible so let's assume that you can connect a Cube controller to it.  What if Nintendo's Cube demos on the show floor were Revolution prototypes playing Cube games with Cube controllers hooked up to them?  That would be really cool and would attract a little more attention to the Cube at the show and because of the controller thing they wouldn't have to show off the "secret".  Plus it would let reporters get a good look at the Rev from all angles.  It's not essential but it would get people talking and would be a real treat for Nintendo fans.

[PaLaDiN]

You're assuming the prototypes have working GC compatibility already. I would think that would be last thing to be worked out.

"It says that it plays DVDs."

Games... movies are still in the air.

[ThePerm]

hmm..what if it was portable but not in the sense that psp is porable..imagine if the screen and the controlelr are wireless then you could keep the rev in your backpack attach the screen to your controller and play it like that

[Ian Sane]

"Games... movies are still in the air."

It's in the first news post from the NY Times.

"Unlike GameCube, the new system will play DVD's, Ms. Kaplan said"

Oddly it doesn't specify that on Nintendo's web site.

[BigJim]

"Games... movies are still in the air."

The game discs will likely be proprietary since using a DVD format (which is strict in specification) would open them wide up for piracy. So movie playback is likely.

[PaLaDiN]

"Unlike GameCube, the new system will play DVD's, Ms. Kaplan said"

I know. They didn't specify that it would play DVD movies though. The word "movies" is missing. Technically if all it played was DVD9 games then it would still be playing DVDs.

[pudu]

What many people aren't realising is that the whole reason of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are to allow for HD resolution FMV.  Standard DVDs simply don't have the massive storage space needed to fit HD movies.  DVD movies now commonly come on multiple disks as it is.  How much HD quality video could then be fit in there...VERY little.  Sure they could included multi-disk games but this costs more and is a bit annoying (I don't mind too much but some seem to).

Also worth mentioning is the difference in transfer rates.  1x DVD is about 11Mbps and 1x BD is about 54Mbps.  I understand that the DVD drives in the next MS and Nintendo consoles will be far faster then 1x (and, thus, be able to stream HD video) but I bet Sony will also include a BD drive greater then 1x aswell.  To equal the tranfer rate of just a 4x BD drive the DVD playres would need to be around 20x.  I'm unsure how much this will affect load times but I imagine there will be a noticable difference.

BUT:  Considering Nintendo is all about REALTIME cutscenes this wouldn't be as big a problem for them.  The cutscenes would be in HD but without the need for all of the storage space.  I, for one, prefer this approach.  It really struck me as awsome first with LoOT and after playing RE4 it's all I really want.

[Ian Sane]

"I know. They didn't specify that it would play DVD movies though. The word "movies" is missing. Technically if all it played was DVD9 games then it would still be playing DVDs."

Dude you're thinking like, well, me.

It would pretty misleading to say "unlike the Cube" and then only be refering to the games.  To phrase it like that and not mean movies would either be incredbily stupid or incredibly deceptive.  The only Nintendo exec I would expect to be misleading like that would be Iwata.

[tForce]

I don't think it's necessarily misleading.  The Cube didn't play DVDs, per se.  It played a smaller sized disc, a mini-DVD if you will.  Revolution will be using standard DVD9s.  Regardless, if you don't have a DVD player by this point, you probably don't want one anyway... so the Revolution having DVD playback is rather moot.

The reason I don't see the hard drive happening is because it is not really used for much.  The BEST feature is custom soundtracks, and that was rarely used on the Xbox.  Why would you need 20GB on a game system?  Are you going to install applications on it?  Are you going to download porn?  Seriously, you don't need that much space.  A flash card would definitely be preferable to me, much like it's used on the PSP.  It opens up a world of possibilities, such as easily sharing game saves, importing your own images into your games, etc.  

As for hooking up a gamecube controller... I don't think so.  More than likely, it'll be wireless much like the Xbox360.  Plus, if Nintendo really does plan on reinventing the way we interface with games, it won't be possible to control Revolution games with the GameCube controller... so it'd be pointless to allow for backwards connectivity.  I mean, you wouldn't use the NES controller to play SNES games, would you?   After seeing how conservative MS was with it's new controller, I'm all the more curious about the new Revolution controller.

[ShyGuy]

I believe GTA San Andreas uses DVD9 too

[Ian Sane]

"As for hooking up a gamecube controller... I don't think so. More than likely, it'll be wireless much like the Xbox360. Plus, if Nintendo really does plan on reinventing the way we interface with games, it won't be possible to control Revolution games with the GameCube controller... so it'd be pointless to allow for backwards connectivity."

It is wireless but it will likely have cord slots so that you can charge your controller and play at the same time.  So if they're doing that already then they might as well make those slots the same as the Cube's.  It's not like you play Rev games with the Cube controller.  It's just that you have the option to use a Cube controller to play Cube games on it.  That's how it works on the PS2.  One big advantage is that when you first buy a Rev odds are you won't buy four controllers right away.  But if you can use Cube controllers then you don't have to buy Rev controllers to play old four player Cube games.

[PaLaDiN]

Yeah, tforce made the point I was about to make.

I figure since it's such a pointless feature at this point I can be a bitch about it. Sounding like you was just a coincidence.

No offense meant Ian... just poking harmless fun.

I'm trying to downplay whatever Rev news and magnify whatever X360 and PS3 news we get... that way I'll be happy with the actual Rev when it comes out and we can switch places again.

[RickPowers]

"Oh for God sake! Listen up! Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are one in the same now. Toshiba and Sony have combined both together and the final specs will be released within the next month."

This isn't true.  Sony and Toshiba have been in talks, but the talks have broken down not once, but twice now.  Currently they are at am impasse, and it doesn't appear that either side is willing to give in to the other.

As for playing DVD movies, Perrin's comment is ambiguous, but no person in the industry says that a console can "play DVDs" and is talking about GAMES.  Anytime the phrase is used, they're talking about movies.

From a developer standpoint, games are code, and code is not played by a drive, it's READ.  DVD movies, on the otherhand, while still code, are considered to be something that plays.  It's all semantics, sure, but I don't think interpreting Perrin's statement to refer to playing DVD movies is that much of a stretch.

That said, Nintendo could very well stick to their "only games" philosophy, but that hurt them a bit the first time around.

[Strell]

My pants are exploding with joy.  I will have to do laundry multiple times over the next week.

Sadly, like some people have said, "the Revolution will use DVDs" does *not* specify whether or not it will play movies.  It is *only* a term towards the media used in the system.  Which is really disappointing in the sense that it is misleading, but lots of PR/advertising personnel do it all the time (take a course about it in college, you'll be surprised how rampant it is.  Case in point - Geico commercials.  "Save up to 15% or more" pretty much gaurantees you nothing at all.  Anyway...).  

I am most interested the level of graphical power in the system, given it's small stature - it has been said it will eclipse the Xbox but less than the PS3, and given the system, it leaves towards portability.  Could it possibly be that Nintendo is attempting to converge the portable and console platforms into one cohesive package?  I highly doubt that, it would destroy the whole "third pillar" mentality, but the small form factor makes me incredbly anxious.  I also admit I am very curious about backwards compatability, wireless features, and how previous controllers will work.  I question if there will be *no* controller ports and if only Wavebirds will work, but then this would destroy using the drums, something I think Nintendo wants to continue to support.  

5 days is too long.

[Bill Aurion]

The article on Nintendo's site has been edited..."dual-layer DVD" has been removed and replaced...

Revolution will be backward compatible, playing both Nintendo GameCube 8cm disks along with its own 12cm optical disks in the same self-loading media drive.

Did NOA leak something too soon or was "dual-layer DVD" inaccurate?