"Can’t believe that E3 2006 is only a couple of months away. The real debut of Nintendo’s next console and it’s almost here. I call it the real debut because up until now we’ve only seen the hardware and heard countless promises about its potential. That is, when Nintendo isn’t diving head first into marketing speak. Blue ocean. Red waters. All-access gaming. This is a company whose executives need some real games to talk about just so that they can stop repeating themselves.
Luckily, that time is almost here and it’s exciting. I find myself very optimistic about the big show and this is partly true because already I’m seeing active support from various third party publishers. Unexpectedly varied support. Sure, there are the kid games. THQ and Midway have them and, frankly, I expected more. But to my surprise, some third parties have really stepped up. Ubisoft’s mysterious first-person shooter. Activision with a rumored version of Call of Duty that takes full advantage of the Revmote. Midway with a few “grown up” efforts of its own. And smaller studios like Atlus with Trauma Center. This is to say nothing of SEGA’s sweet stuff or Capcom’s sweet stuff. There’s potential here. Lots.
By this time next month, I will have seen and/or played a handful of very promising Revolution games and will in turn have a much better understanding of the software on the horizon. Perhaps I’ll have a vastly different opinion or more likely my current enthusiasm will be validated. Regardless, I always love these periods. You don’t entirely know what to expect, but you’re jazzed about the possibilities.
E3 brings about the end of an era for IGNcube and IGN Revolution. For a couple years now we’ve been writing about a console that doesn’t really exist. We don’t have a previews section on IGN Revolution because there are no detailed/shown games. Oh, we know of a couple dozen titles in development, but we don’t know anything about them. Not really, anyway — except the obvious. I mean, I can tell you that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is on the way and that it’ll look good and support the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but beyond that we enter into the realm of speculation.
E3 changes that. There will be games. They will be playable. And hence, the transition from GameCube to Revolution will be complete. I love my GameCube and I’m looking forward to Zelda. But even so, I’m anticipating the jump.
I’ve been disappointed by Nintendo in the past. I believe it was E3 2004 that Shigeru Miyamoto touted a GCN demo of Pac-Man as the highlight of the Big N’s media briefing. Few in attendance would disagree that Nintendo’s show that year was under-whelming, to put it mildly. But I don’t expect to be disappointed this year.
I think the only people who might find themselves let down are those who still haven’t grasped what Nintendo is going for with Revolution. I read the boards and even now there are posters who still believe Revolution might be able to compete with Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 from a graphic horsepower standpoint. They tell themselves that it has to because Nintendo, IBM and ATI have spent the last five years developing tech.
Revolution will be adequately powerful, but people still holding out for the miracle are setting themselves up for a smack in the face. Power is not the focus here. Revolution as a console is merely a vehicle for the new controller. Think of it this way and you’re going to be happy. I’m going to be writing an editorial very soon that talks about this point.
At the same time, I don’t want to undersell the system’s graphical ability. Games like Resident Evil 4 and Black came about on consoles five years old. Revolution is certainly more capable and therefore the potential for some gorgeous software is there. I’m quite certain that Retro’s Metroid Prime 3 will be a stunner — and it’s going to play like no console game before it.
Can’t wait."
I'll start this show.
If the "console" is just a vehicle for the controller, well, why do we even need the console; why isn't Nintendo just making the controller for 360 or PS3 or simply partnering with MS or Sony? Or why aren't Nintendo partnering with someone to help them finance their own console like Apple or EA?
It is not a good thing for the Revolution to be a delivery machine for the controller, it will simply be a gim mick in the eyes of too many consumers; it is dangerous, more dangerous than investing the money into the hardware and software to match polygon and lighting effects standards found on 360 (which will be out a year when the Rev launches and will likely be priced similarly).
Why are Nintendo investing their money into the console being small and portable when the GameCube showed that angle doesn't work (and GCN had a graphical advantage and still failed). Why aren't Nintendo investing their money in power. Why do they not match the power of the competition and use the remote as their advantage rather than using it to justify the rehashing of hardware? Why didn't they just release the remote for GCN? Even if the tech was at an early stage, lacking the z axis, why didn't they just put gyros in the GCN controllers?
Once again I beg the question, why do we even need the Revolution? Because Nintendo is holding Zelda hostage?
Topic: Matt's latest: "Revolution as a console is merely a vehicle for the new controller" (Read 30193 times)
