Topic: My Revolution Conspiracy Theory

[Knoxxville]

I've been mulling this over for awhile, and I finally think it is time I let the world know what's on my mind.  I chatted this up with the manager of my local Game Crazy, and he still can't believe I came to this conclusion independently.  Okay, here it is:


The Revolution is a repackaged Gamecube.



Now, before you guys boo me off of the internet, here are some reasons why I've made such a bold statement.

1) Everyone knows that Nintendo isn't going HD, but instead will make developers ensure that all games are 480p. The Gamecube has always been capable of 480p, yet was rarely used. Theoretically, this would give Revolution owners that satisfying feel of "next level-ness", even though the guts haven't changed much from the 'Cube.

2) Iwata and Co. are always talking about how innovation, not "horsepower" is the direction they're headed. It's no secret that the 'Cube has quite a bit of life left in it. So why not reverse engineer it to accept some radical new input device? Plus, the Rev seems to be the only next gen system that is relatively easy to develop for......maybe that's because the developers have had the kits for going on......I don't know......almost 4 years now?

3) Speculators are placing the price range of the Rev somewhere between 200 to 250 TOPS. How can a next gen system be so cheap, you ask? BECAUSE IT'S A GAMECUBE! Unlike Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo isn't very big at taking a loss on anything. Therefore, re-engineering the 'Cube would be VERY cost effective. The best thing is, while Microsoft and Sony are losing per console, Ninty will be cleaning up!  

4) This is the 1st Ninendo system to not only be backwards compatible (Game Boy excluded), but to also have the last gen console's controller AND memory card ports built in! If that doesn't raise any eyebrows, then you don't have any.

5) Zelda pushed back? Here's my take. Zelda is going to be the bridge between the 'Cube and the Rev. Play it on the 'Cube, and you get the full game in normal res. Play in in the Rev, and suddenly, it's in 480p, there are a few extra dungeons, and low and behold, Tingle is washing my Nintendog! XD

6) Now Nintendo is saying they may never, ever, EVA EVA EVA....reveal the specs on the Rev. This is the nail in the coffin!

Now, I'm not knocking Nintendo's hustle at all. The Rev is the nest gen console I 'm looking forward too the most! All I'm saying is, read what I have wrote objectively, and you will see that thiis possibility is quite plausible.

So!......what do you guys think?  Ian?

[Ian Sane]

I'll admit this crossed my mind at least once.  Though I don't think they would use exactly a Cube.  I figured they would at least up the RAM or something.  I wouldn't be surprised if they started with a Cube and then added to it.  But that's not the same as an actual Cube with a new controller.  They did say it would be "two or three times more powerful" as the Cube so at the very least it has to be a Cube+.  Unless that was a lie or Kaplin was misinformed.

I think Zelda really is just going to be a Cube game because Nintendo is talking about the Rev controller as a new standard.  So Twilight Princess is their last hurrah with the old method and the Rev is going off in a different direction.

I think Nintendo just isn't revealing the specs because they cut corners on it big time and don't want to officially reveal it.  All this de-emphasis on technology is likely due to one thing: Nintendo are cheapskates and have no problem with shooting themselves in the foot in the long term if it means they still make a profit in the short term.  They don't want to spend the money on extra hardware so they're not going to.  Using a new controller and focusing on innovation is a good way for them to keep costs down while still having some way to attract attention from the more powerful consoles.

If the Rev was a Cube though we would find out within days after the first launch (Japan most likely) or some third party would spill the beans once the NPAs are up.  In a way I think that's the most likely reason why it couldn't be a Cube.  Nintendo could NEVER keep it a secret and it would be so damaging for Sony or MS to promote how Nintendo is just repackaging their old hardware.  Personally I would consider it a RIP-OFF if it was literally the same thing and most of the general public would as well.  It would be a total PR nightmare.  This is something that would absolutely have to stay secret and there's no way it could.  Nintendo would have to be incredibly stupid to do it, like in the realm where it's unbelievable for them to do it.

[norebonomis]

omg tingle cleaning my nintendog!! that is just freekin awesome

[wandering]

I think that several things contrasict your prediction, including a (retracted) guess from a rep that the system will 2-3x more powerful than the cube, statements that games will be on par graphically with the other systems, and statements that the system will be, definitively, more powerful than the gamecube.

Though you're half right....it has been hinted that the hardware will essentially be modified cube hardware. Modified as in beefed up. Signifigantly.

edit: Ian mostly beat me to it.

[vudu]

I think it's safe the say the Revolution will be a beefed up Cube, but certainly not a repackaged one.  Think of it like an upgraded PC--it has the same architecture as one build four years ago, but now it can do so much more.  I think this approach makes more sense than what Sony and Microsoft are doing (i.e. completing changing around their systems' architecture just to make it difficult to develop games for).

Quote
Zelda is going to be the bridge between the 'Cube and the Rev. Play it on the 'Cube, and you get the full game in normal res. Play in in the Rev, and suddenly, it's in 480p, there are a few extra dungeons

This will never happen.  As you said yourself, the GameCube can output to 480p just fine; why would this feature be taken out of the GameCube version but added back in if you play it on Revolution?  It just doesn't make sense.

[majortom1981]

My theory is its an upgraded gamecube.

Not the eact hardware but close

The processor for the rev will be the same family but just upgraded speed. I think that processor family f i read the data sheet on it right goes up to 1ghz or 1.4 ghz.

they are using the same memory company and disc company and even the same graphics company (ati bought art x so they are tech the same)

I think it will be an upgraded gamecube. Nothing more.

instead of a 450 processor maybe an 800mhz processor. Instead of 64 of the ram that it had maybe 128 or 256.

See what i mean ? Maybe even double or tripple the disc capacity.

You cant just use the gc hardware because there are many more things added that will use up power like usb ports, wifi,managing the flash memory and the bluetooth for the wireless controllers.

My opinion its just an upgraded gc. maybe just doubling or trippling some things.

[Knoxxville]

Upgraded 'cube is more what i meant, methinks.  But for SURE they didn't start from scratch!  Either way I'm sold on it.....I just  think that Ninty is brilliant if that is what's going down.

[Michael8983]

There's a perfectably reasonable explanation for Nintendo not releasing the specs.
You may recall it released specs for the Gamecube which got a very negative reaction because ON PAPER the system seemed to be BY FAR the least powerful. Even the PS2 runs circles around the Gamecube if you compare specs. But we all know the reality. When it came to visuals the Gamecube beat the PS2 and actually stacked up against the XBox.
I think the REV will be the same deal. Tech-wise it may not look like much but it will at the very least match the competition in the visual department. The competitor's games may look better on HDTVs but the vast majority of us don't have 'em and won't anytime this decade.

[Karl Castaneda #2]

Eh? With "Broadway" and "Hollywood," oodles more RAM, and a completely different interface, it's tough to imagine the Rev as an upgraded GameCube. I think the similarities end with the programming architecture. However, with specifications being kept behind closed doors, nobody can say for sure.

[ThePerm]

well heres what i think..basically the same but with more bandwidth, ram, shaders, processor speed, and like gcn no bottlenecks

[Ian Sane]

"There's a perfectably reasonable explanation for Nintendo not releasing the specs.
You may recall it released specs for the Gamecube which got a very negative reaction because ON PAPER the system seemed to be BY FAR the least powerful."

That's because Nintendo gave realistic estimates while everyone else gave unrealistic raw power specs.  Had Nintendo played by the "rules" that would never have been a problem.  They decided to be cute and do their own thing for no good reason and got burned for it.

If Nintendo can give raw specs out that are comparable to Sony's or Microsoft's they should.  Though due to their general weirdness they might not.  I still would bet they just aren't revealing them because no matter how you present it the Rev on paper looks inferior to the other consoles.

[Hostile Creation]

Isn't any upgraded technology just a beefed up version of the previous one?  Why make the distinction?

[Dasmos]

Boo! Get off the Internets......

[trip1eX]

IF the Cube can launch at $200-$250 like it did this past generation and still be comparable in power to the Xbox and PS2 (a bit less than the former and a bit more than the latter) then the Revolution can launch at a similar price and have next-gen power.

Also realize the Cube could have quite a bit less power than the 360, but outperform the 360 at 480i/p.   Why?  Because MS has set 720p as the design spec on the 360.  When you play the game at the lower resolution you're not using a big chunk of the 360's power and they aren't adding in extras for 480i/p folks as far as I know.  Same game at lower resolution equals less power used.  Less memory is needed.  You don't need as fast a cpu nor gpu.  

Anyway it seems to me you're really only saying this because it ain't hi-def.  And sure it's an upgraded Gamecube if you consider upgraded a faster cpu, gpu, more ram, usb ports, flash memory support, wi-fi, larger optical media support....

 

[IceCold]

NEVER HAPPENING

 

[zakkiel]

Quote
Had Nintendo played by the "rules" that would never have been a problem. They decided to be cute and do their own thing for no good reason and got burned for it.

Honesty is being cute now. Wow. You really should just become a Sony fan and be done with it.

Nintendo's integrity has a lot to do with why I'm a Nintendo fan. I'm fairly confident that, if they printed music CDs, they wouldn't install spyware on my computer, for example.  

[Stimutacs Addict]

I still cant believe how many people were convinced that the Cube's price meant a weaker system... complete idiocy. No one ever thought "hey, this is a great deal."

If that happens this gen I'm going to kill Dick Cheney

[couchmonkey]

I don't think it will be a repackaged GameCube, the system will simply be less powerful than the others which is how Nintendo can make it so cheap.  Microsoft and Sony have been forced to increase the price of their consoles because releasing reasonably priced ones won't produce enough graphical "wow".  Nintendo doesn't need that extra graphical power because it's got something better: new and improved gameplay.

I think Nintendo is actually being the opposite of short-sighted.  Microsoft and Sony think marginally improved graphics for $400+ US will sell.  They are probably right, but will they sell as well as the current consoles?  Nintendo doesn't think so, and I think Nintendo could be right.  IGN reprinted a recent speech Reggie gave where he revealed some pretty grim numbers.  Basically, the North American market is only expanding because nerds like us are buying more and more consoles.  Console sales are going up, but the number of households with a console in them has barely changed since the days of the NES.  If these claims are true, then the same slump that's happening in Japan can and probably will happen here.  In that case, Nintendo has nothing to lose by trying to expand the market.

So Nintendo's strategy is to get non-gamers.  Now lots of us think that strategy is crazy.  Even I do.  But if the only alternative is slow death while fighting two huge corporations that have many other interests besides videogames, I say Nintendo is going sane in a crazy world.  This is where making a cheaper system comes in.  What non-gamer is going to spend $300-$500 US on a piece of electronics they never felt was necessary until now?

For the record, I still think Nintendo should be offering HD support, but I think going with lower power to have a more attractive price is the right thing to do to make the non-gamer strategy work.

[zakkiel]

Quote
3) Speculators are placing the price range of the Rev somewhere between 200 to 250 TOPS. How can a next gen system be so cheap, you ask? BECAUSE IT'S A GAMECUBE! Unlike Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo isn't very big at taking a loss on anything. Therefore, re-engineering the 'Cube would be VERY cost effective. The best thing is, while Microsoft and Sony are losing per console, Ninty will be cleaning up!

How can Nintendo get away with selling a five-year-old console for the same price it had at launch, you ask? Easy: they can't.

Why would Nintendo get ATI and Intel to develop new chips when they plan to use the same hardware, you ask? Easy: they wouldn't.

Honestly, I don't know why people continue to take this even half-way seriously.

[StrainX]

Not happening. When Nintendo said that pursuing graphical upgrades won't make the console industry stay alive, I think what they really meant is graphical upgrades ALONE won't keep the industry alive. In other words, just as Iwata has said in his other press releases, the Revolution will have comparable technology and graphics to the other consoles, but on top of that, its got a brand new way of playing games through its controller. While the Revolution may not have exactly as high par graphics and processing speed as the other consoles, they'll probably have comparable technology that will definitely be an damned good upgrade from the GC.

[cubist]

I echo the point about the announcement for "Broadway" and "Hollywood" making the REV different than the GCN...but this initial post would make sense due to Iwata and Miyamoto's  own statements about the GCN and REV environments being similar.  That being said...if the Revoultion is a beefed up GCN upgrade...then I would say that the XBOX 360 is a XBOX upgrade.  Sure they use completely different hardware (ATI vs. Pentium-like chip); however, I've seen the demos at the local Gamestop and the 360 visuals, despite being first generation, are basically a leg up on the XBOX graphics.  Microsoft claimed that the hardware was 10 times more powerful, but it looks more like 2 to 3 times more powerful.  Wait a minute, didn't Miyamoto say that about the Rev (when compared to the GCN)?  

[PaLaDiN]

The 360 doesn't even look twice as powerful to me... but whatever.

[Artimus]

I don't get this. Brand new chips, brand new hardware...that's a new system. Using similar archetecture doesn't mean it's a GameCube.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

It sure as heck isn't SHAPED like a GameCube, and I can't transport it with as much ease since I believe it lacks a HANDLE like my GAMECUBE.

[PaLaDiN]

"It sure as heck isn't SHAPED like a GameCube, and I can't transport it with as much ease since I believe it lacks a HANDLE like my GAMECUBE."

Fear not, that'll be one of the controller attachment modules.