Topic: How Revolution Works

[kirby_killer_dedede]

Just thought I'd point it out.  

[RABicle]

This doesn't contain the word "magic"

[pudu]

Tnx for the link, not a bad read (seems fairly biased in favor of Nintendo though lol).  I wonder why they seem pretty confident they know what the system specs are though...

[KnowsNothing]

That was a terrible article.  Most of it was about system specs which are based completely on conjecture and have absolutley NOTHING to back them up.

[zakkiel]

Not only that, apparently they know the price point as well. Remarkable, their prophetic abilities.  

[Epitaph]

This is what interests me, they took a look at gyrations patents and they came up with this link.

http://www.gyration.com/intl/uk/technology_uk.htm

Nintendo owns stock in gyration. The company claims to own the copyright for not only a cheap and smaller gyroscope but the patent to control a cursor or graphic on screen using a gyroscope. This would tell me microsoft or sony would have more trouble copying nintendo.

Another interesting point is they have powersaving technology in it. This means it shouldnt suck up batteries which is always a good thing.

[pudu]

Quote
Originally posted by: KnowsNothing
That was a terrible article.  Most of it was about system specs which are based completely on conjecture and have absolutley NOTHING to back them up.

lol just want to make sure you know I agree it was a terrible article but made for a good read (or good laugh).  I'm hoping much of what is there is true but almost all that is stated as fact is rumor (they even "know" indepth GPU specs ha!).  I thought that howstuffworks was more legit and trustworthy.

But anyway, what they are saying seems plausible.  A regular multi-purpose PowerPC coupled with a graphics card on par with XBOX 360's and the inclusion of a PPU would allow the Rev. to have "all the firepower of Xbox 360 and much simpler architecture that makes life easier for software developers." (as stated in the article)

[Switchblade Cross]

The first PC PPU, Phys-X, will be hitting store shelfs by the end of the year and, if I recall, will be around $250.  So, I think cost may keep this from being included on the Rev.  In the end it would probably be cheaper for them the just up the speed a little on whatever CPU they have then to include a PPU.

[pudu]

Quote
Originally posted by: Switchblade Cross
The first PC PPU, Phys-X, will be hitting store shelfs by the end of the year and, if I recall, will be around $250.  So, I think cost may keep this from being included on the Rev.  In the end it would probably be cheaper for them the just up the speed a little on whatever CPU they have then to include a PPU.

Yep this has always been the main thing causing doubt in the PPU rumor.  Consider that the price of say the PS3 if the parts were bought seperately would be probably many times it's actual price.  What I'm getting at is that for starters if they were released in the Revolution they would be bought in "bulk" by Nintendo.  Also the Revolution could very well be released a year after the innitial PPU's are released.  Do I think there is a good chance of a PPU making it's way into the Rev?...nope I sincerely doubt it.  Nintendo seems more interested in making a balanced console then one containing bleeding edge technology.  Also their usual mass-market price point leaves little room for this kind of thing.  

I hope that Nintendo has some stuff up their sleeves that isn't too expensive but adds to the power of the console.  Maybe some trick or specialized peice of hardware that can take load off the CPU or something.  If this is true it could be a bombshell later on...hmm why haven't they released specs yet if they are so unconcerned?  What are they hiding?...and more importantly can I start more rumors and speculation?

[KirbySStar]

Quote
For example, in any first-person-shooter game, you will want to shot while running.

Oh that made me giggle. :'D  

[Obiyo]

I was talking with this guy that works for IBM that came and spoke for my engineering class(electrical engineering major...), the topic ended up on game consoles and the processors behind them.  He said that the X360 and PS3 processors(both by IBM) are difficult to compare in terms of power because they're architecture is so different, he did say however that, to him anyway, the graphics of the two weren't that different and that the two companies were going in different directions with what they wanted to use them for.  When I asked him about the chip IBM was developing for Nintendo he told me that the basis for it is the Gamecube's cpu(PowerPC 750CX) and that it would be a modified(it was implied that the modifications would be big) version of that.  Furthermore he did go on to state that the Revolution's cpu specs aren't final yet and that they probably won't be until early spring 2006 or so.  In all he seemed to know what he was talking about so I imagine this information is pretty accurate.

[couchmonkey]

I'm surprised that he'd be able to talk with you so candidly about the cpu, although if he's in a different department it's possible that he's gleaned some information from the department that's working on it and doesn't feel obligated to keep his mouth shut since it's not his project.  The idea that the cpu is modified from the Cube seems to be in line with a lot of the stuff we've heard from Nintendo.

[Epitaph]

Probably uses the same technology that made the gamecube so efficient but with a few new parts and a faster clock.

[Hawkeye_a]

I agree, withthe "claim" made by the IBM rep. Nintendo took advantage by encorporating the PPC into the GameCube. A lot of the hard work has been done in compilers and optimizations over the life of the GCN. It wouldbe folly to throw all that out the window (The way Microsoft and Sony have done).

It "seems" logical to develop and ship a system in line with the GCN. The same processor and same GPU company definately point  to this kind of philosophy.

As far as PPU, sure if youre going into a store to buy one PPU it's gonna cost you $250. But lets not forget, this is Nintendo here, bulk buying is possible, and seeing as how the console is expected to last for 4-6 years, it would be a worthy investment now(if its actually as great as they say it is). Having a humbler CPU would also leave the possibility of a PPU open imo. Seeing as how game programming is linear as opposed to parallel(from what ive heard), having a single core CPU would not only make it cheaper, but also easier to program.