Topic: The OFFICIAL Big N rumor thread *bring your own salt*

[Ceric]

One more thing. A Nintendo Patent Published on the 19th of April 2011

But filed in 2002 (Japan) / 2003 (US).

Which means its a well aged plan.  Not uncommon for Nintendo.

[MegaByte]

If you look at the patent details, it's basically describing the Nintendo DS multiplayer system.

[BlackNMild2k1]

All that patent talk is confusing. But I admit that I didn't skim through the 44 pages of that patent and only read the abstract.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7929911.pdf
Although Fig. 10 of pg 6 of 27 does look interesting based in how I interpreted the abstract.

[Ceric]

First off is it the goal of every patent to look as close to the time of type writers as possible.
Second looking at the use-cases later on real quick and like.  This looks like a tethered GBA with a Touchscreen.  Can have carts but if it doesn't it calls home to see what can come from their.

[Ian Sane]

The rumor states that the controller is a client that is streamed to from the console. The console does all or most of the processing. New HDstreaming tech has far less lag than your LCD screen/monitor, so you would see it practically the same as you would on your TV.

What sort of distance are we talking about with HDstreaming?  If I play downstairs and I go to the bathroom upstairs on the other side of the house can I still play?  What sort of things can cause interference?

If it is just "hey it's a portable but you can only play it at home" well the idea is toast.  Who would care about that?  At the very least it needs to work as a standard console hooking up to your TV.  The streaming option would work fine if the TV is in use by someone else but as the main method of play, it's pretty stupid.  Might as well use a 3DS.  After all this isn't that huge of a screen that's being rumoured.  If it was something laptop size then there is some advantage to having a portable console you can move around the house.  But a 6 inch screen is like the size of the two DS screens so, again, if that's it it's pretty pointless.

I also would argue that this solves a non-existent problem or perhaps one that only applies to Japan.  It is very common to have multiple TVs in a household and when I was a kid a lot of families had some secondary TV that the console was hooked up to.  If the parents wanted to watch TV then the kids played Nintendo in their room or the basement.  This isn't the 50's where you have one TV and no way to record shows.  And if you can't play games on your console you could always play on your Game Boy.  Nintendo has more or less been providing the solution to this problem for over 20 years already anyway.

I should also note that with a lot of hardcore gamers, single men in their 20's, this is also a complete non-issue.  Once you have the wife and kids that fight for your TV time your videogame time PERIOD is compromised.  If you have to fight to use the TV you're not going to have the freedom to go off with your Cafe tablet either.

Now if this is all an option and the controllers don't cost a hundred bucks, this is pretty cool.  It should be "can't play on the TV?  Use the controller screen!" and not "use the controller screen no matter what all the time!"  Then you're not providing me a service, you're giving me a non-portable handheld like the Virtual Boy.

There's the smart way to do this and the goofy stupid way to do it.  And you can guess which one I fear Nintendo is going with.

[Stogi]

About this investor's meeting, can we really expect anything more than a few choice quotes?

[Louieturkey]

About this investor's meeting, can we really expect anything more than a few choice quotes?

Probably not, but BnM loves the hype train so he's rolling with it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

About this investor's meeting, can we really expect anything more than a few choice quotes?

11.5 hours and we will find out.

concerns over Nintendo fixing problems that don't concern him

You have to remember that Nintendo is a Family Oriented company, so they are thinking of the entire family.

You say people can just go play their consoles on another TV, but who really wants to go digging behind their TV to unhook the console and move it to another TV everytime the GF/Wife needs to watch her shows or you need to watch the game? In that moment you can just stream to the controller instead and carry on with what you were doing.

In other occasions the devs could use the controller screen like it was a DS HD or use the touch screen for puzzle elements or Mario Paint HD. At the same time, I'm sure it would be programmed to be compatible with NoTV Stream Mode as well.

Other instances will be able to use the screen controller for a personal screen to avoid screen cheating, like split screen local multi during a FPS hide and seek death match or picking plays on Madden 2013 or creating audibles on the fly.

There are tons of uses for a screen in the controller and being able to switch the game from the TV down to that screen in your controller. I for one might like to continue my game while I it in the kitchen with my girl and help her cook without having to run back and forth to and from the bedroom or maybe take it outside/in the garage and keep playing while watching the kids/dog/etc/whatever.

As far as distance, I'm not sure, but I would assume it would work like Wifi and have stronger signals the closer you are, so I wouldn't wander too far off. Frequencies likely shouldn't see any interference from the usual sources (cell phone, cordless, wifi, microwave, etc.). If you really need to travel and think you may be out of range, you still have the 3DS as an option though.

[Louieturkey]

My gaming time has severely been cut back due to the son and wife.  However, sometimes I sit on the couch and play quick games on my iPhone while watching him as does my wife.  This idea that I can let him do his thing and I can play at the same time sounds interesting.  I can replace my phoen with my Cafe controller.  It'll more likely have much better games anyways. 

As time passes, he and I will be able to play games together on separate screens.  That'll be awesome.

[Stogi]

Again, I'm surprised by you Ian. All you preach is: Options! Give me options! Well, it seems like Nintendo is doing that and more, yet you still bash them for solving a "non-existent" problem.

I'm a little skeptical too, but at least I can see how this could revolutionize how we define console gaming. A gaming hub sounds especially cool, which is unlike Nintendo. The ability to play anywhere in your house, then without skipping a beat, turn on your TV and play it there sounds incredible.

What I've been salivating over is "What's going to happen once somebody jailbreaks it?" Can I make it my media hub? If the little screen is 3D, can I watch movies on it?

[NWR_insanolord]

The talk is that it will be a simple receiver/input device, with no actual computing going on in it. That means using it for non-sanctioned things will either be extremely easy or damn near impossible, depending on what kind of wireless standard Nintendo uses.

[Stogi]

My money is on extremely easy once somebody hacks the actual console since I see Nintendo themselves offering their own version of what I'm talking about with VC and Netflix on the go.

But who knows what'll happen.

[Kytim89]

How much will Nintendo charge for their HD games? Will they go the route of Sony and Microsoft and sell their titles for $59.99 each? It seems to me that games are far too expensive these days and the prices need to come down. This is why I am looking forward to Nintendo selling the Wii 2 games for $49.99 a piece, but with the rise in the price of 3DS games, I am a little worried as what Nintendo will charge once the Wii 2 is out on store shelves.

[Stogi]

You obviously don't remember the n64 days with $70+ games.

[Kytim89]

You obviously don't remember the n64 days with $70+ games.

I was a Sony fanboy in those days and did not buy my own games.

[Ceric]

I'm really hoping they allow this to be a media hub as well.  My PS3 is basically a Media machine and since it is  I can't play games on it because my wife is using it.  If she could stream netflix from the Super Wii while I play my Super Wii game on the screen that would be great.
 
I remember when a PC Game could command $100 in snes day dollars.

[BlackNMild2k1]

What I've been salivating over is "What's going to happen once somebody jailbreaks it?" Can I make it my media hub? If the little screen is 3D, can I watch movies on it?

Damn, I didn't even think about that. If this console actually packs some power and can do multi-streams of unrelated content.... could I stream Netflix to one controller while someone on another controller picks it up and plays Angry Birds while a 3rd controller is playing SMBHD on the TV?

I'm not sure what the console will be capable out of the box, so I'm not really sure what to expect from a jail broken console or homebrew appz, but just the idea of being able to push content out to the controllers or use the controller like an internet tablet without using the TV... or while playing a game on the TV takes my anticipation level to over 9000. There is just so much potential here for real innovation in not just the hardware, but the software and it's place in the home. I'm really hoping Nintendo doesn't cheap out on us this time around by being conservative with RAM, included Storage Space or CPU/GPU specs.

They don't need to build a supercomputer like Sony did with PS3, but something highly efficient (like usual) with enough left over to really push things a few years down the line.

[Ian Sane]

Again, I'm surprised by you Ian. All you preach is: Options! Give me options! Well, it seems like Nintendo is doing that and more, yet you still bash them for solving a "non-existent" problem.

My concern is that this won't be an option and I'll be stuck having to play on the controller when I don't want to.  The Wii solved a problem that didn't apply to me either... and essentially didn't provide the option, forcing waggle into most of Nintendo's games with no workaround.

Nintendo doesn't really provide options so when they offer some sort of new alternative it really is a replacement.  The "option" becomes going with Nintendo's goofy way or going with another console.  I want this as an option and that means I can never use this streaming controller idea if I don't want to (except for maybe a small pocket of games that use both the TV and controller screen at the same time).  With Nintendo's track record you never know if an "option" is truly optional.

[Ceric]

This is probably the borest of uses but Cooking recipes in the kitchen...

[BlackNMild2k1]

Another thing I just thought of.

The IR sensors in the Cafe Controller.
What if the tablet controller comes with a charging dock that stande teh controller up with a slight tilt away from the user.

(like the stand for my Droid X)

now the IR sensors on the front of the upright controller would function as the sensor bar for the wiimote. This actually eliminates some issues that lots of people currently have with the sensor bar and glare or other light sources in the room. Now everyone can focus towards a much closer sensor that would eliminate the finger jitter for the pointer or even a centralized/personal screen with HUD info, private messages or video chat.

[Ceric]

My wife has a Palm Pre and it has and Inductive charging stand for it we got her.  Its sweet but, when its put on there it is held to the center by magnets and goes into a desk type mode.  That would be sweet for the controller.

(The clock isn't pictured in this picture)

[BlackNMild2k1]

Digital Foundry is chiming in from their "sources' and I'm not really feeling HYPE dampening words they have to deliver
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-project-cafe-rumour-analysis?page=2

In terms of available power, R700 scales up from anything from a low-power Radeon HD 4350 with 80 streaming processing units all the way to the HD 4890 that utilises 10 times as many. Optimistic speculation zeroes in on the HD 4770 as the most likely candidate for inclusion in Cafe, but our sources suggest that the overall profile of the GPU is much closer to the Xbox 360 - and we've even heard that in some applications it may even operate at a deficit compared to Xenos.

While this may come as a disappointment to many, it's important to remember that Nintendo has achieved incredible success in recent years through a combination of factors: new concepts that appeal to a mainstream audience, a price point that's "right" straight from launch, per-unit profitability from day one and not getting involved in spec wars with rival manufacturers. Wii - and perhaps Project Cafe - aren't consoles with 10-year lifecycles in the way that Xbox 360 and PS3 need to be in order to recoup their costs.

I will be disappointed if Nintendo sells up a slightly upgraded 360 like they did with the slightly upgraded GC that was the Wii. This device has too much potential (based on rumors and speculations) to be squandered away for higher profit margins. But I will reserve judgement until I see what Nintendo has to offer. The HYPE train slows down for no one.


edit: But then again Digital Foundry also said this in that same article

What's almost as interesting as the rumours themselves right now are the topics not being addressed by the speculation. For example, how much RAM does Project Cafe have? With the 3DS packing 512MB, we would expect more: at least 1GB. And what about onboard storage: iOS-style flash RAM, SD card support or onboard HDD? Assuming an optical drive, is it DVD or Blu-ray based? Can movies be streamed across to the controllers too?

So maybe they just have all their facts messed up and throw their statement on the HYPE trains tracks to get runover and flattened like the penny their thoughts might be worth?

edit: I guess I should point out that IGN also said that there would be a Pre-Announcement and a reveal at E3, both of which were confirmed. They also said that the Cafe (possibly called Stream) was "Significantly More Powerful Than PS360" and would be released in June 2012.

[ShyGuy]

chugga chugga CHOO CHOO Hype Train!

[Ceric]

chugga chugga CHOO CHOO Hype Train!

Please... Hype Trains are Mag Lev Bullet trains.

*Swoosh Swoosh*

[Stratos]

But the HYPE train has to make the 'choo choo' noises. Perhaps an old-fashioned steam train but with Mag Lev instead of regular wheels on the bottom?