Nintendo Behind in Technology?
Nintendo says that they are bringing a revolution to the gaming industry and most of us have come to accept that it will come. HOWEVER, those of us that are trying to think of HOW this console will be revolutionary are thinking too narrow-minded. I believe that it will not be ONE feature that will bring about a turning of the tides so to speak but it will be a compilation of SEVERAL new features that will combine to create a truly unbelievable experience. Several of them will probably make no difference to the user but will rather favor developers. Others, however, could very well shift the entire gaming experience.
Whether you realize it or not, Nintendo is not being left behind from a technological standpoint. Thus far, Nintendo has not followed the crowd in media format favoring an unorthodox proprietary format in favor of the new fad. Often, this has gotten Nintendo into trouble. However, this generation, Nintendo has finally moved into the 12 cm disks. How much data will they hold? This remains to be seen but my guess is that they will hold a fair amount. Also, traditionally, Nintendo has marketed first-party memory cards to save data to. However, by allowing the user to save data to an external SD card which can be read by a computer OR to a computer itself, Nintendo is starting to tighten bonds between the PC and the console market. This is another technological advancement for in the past, Nintendo has ignored the PC as a potential accessory to the gaming industry. 20 years of backwards compatibility through downloads will allow for a gaming experience like no other and will allow users to fully relive the glory days of Nintendo.
This is what we know. We also know that talented and proven companies such as Broadcom, ATI, IBM, and NEC are helping to truly create an incredible gaming experience for consumer and developer alike. Speculations have been made that Nintendo is taking advantage of cube-mapping technology in a new way to allow for amazing graphics not limited by the power of the console but by the power to render graphics on a PC. From what I understand, this powerful technology would allow developers to create in-game material from pre-rendered 2D images allowing for low development costs, low game costs, outstanding, cutting-edge graphics and room for more content on each disk! Patents have also been filed pointing to a technology used to capture a picture of your face and map it over the face of an in-game character! Wow! Nintendo also plans on launching an online service for playing online games on the DS and Revolution. When reviewing such achievements in technology from one generation to the next, the lack of a hard-disk and high-definition hardly compares.
However, Nintendo apparently hasn't shown nearly all of its cards yet. It still has a few aces up its sleeve...The Revolution continues to be shrouded in mystery and Nintendo shows no sign of budging anytime soon. The hype generated is enormous and the secretive strategy is surprisingly effective. The thing is though, even without knowledge of the truly revolutionary aspects of the console, from what we currently know, the Revolution already seems fit to compete fairly with the other two gaming jaugernaugts, the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. Therefore, everything that is revealed from here on out will only give Nintendo the edge...Or so I think. Many disagree for they argue that by failing to implement technologies such as the ability to play media disks, music, and videos on then console, Nintendo is failing to catch onto the trend. I, however, disagree. When I shop for a game console, I shop for a machine that will play top-quality titles made by trusted developers that I am sure will satisfy my gaming needs. I do NOT shop for an all-in-one console that combines a home theater into one box. That only leaves less room for gaming and can only raise the price. I think that the gaming-only strategy on Nintendo is the right one to take.
But just what IS the revolutionary aspect of the console? Many suggestions have been made...The most popular being VR helmets, pressure-sensitive controllers, and gyroscopic controllers for the controller supposedly is where the true revolution lies. VR will not happen; the concept is blocked by key flaws such as the gamer running into walls while playing. Pressure sensitivity and gyros are very likely but they will not make or break a console...Nintendo would not market an entire console around such features. Touch-screens have been ruled out and supposedly, the controller will NOT feature traditional aspects such as A+B buttons and the D-Pad. Rumors are floating around about a glove-and-handle controller but still, nothing is proven. IF this is the answer to the riddle, it truly would stir up a revolution but I tend to think that it is not because Nintendo claims that the competing companies would be able to copy the revolutionary aspect in a short amount of time but a glove-handle controller would take loads of time to reproduce. I think that whatever the controller is, nobody here can guess it. Therefore, it is a waste of time.
Despite the impressive reservoir of technologies that has already been presented to back the Revolution, I believe that still more new concepts will be introduced. For example, I think that Nintendo may use wireless transmitters/receivers to broadcast AV signals rather than the traditional AV cables of past consoles. This would allow a user to place the console in whatever location they want without it getting in the way...Something that seems to agree with Nintendo's current philosophy. In addition, Nintendo has managed to create a small, affordable, and over-all quiet console that looks great.
Overall, many say that Nintendo is behind in technology, but this is only because they fail to see the many fantastic technologies that are being implemented into the Revolution. As I said, the console is still shrouded in a thick fog of mystery and that fog still conceals several features yet to be announced that will further Nintendo's chances of winning this console war. For those of you that are still worried: Have faith. When Nintendo shows their cards and takes the pot, you won't have to worry anymore.
-Ninty Freak registered investment advisor new york
Whether you realize it or not, Nintendo is not being left behind from a technological standpoint. Thus far, Nintendo has not followed the crowd in media format favoring an unorthodox proprietary format in favor of the new fad. Often, this has gotten Nintendo into trouble. However, this generation, Nintendo has finally moved into the 12 cm disks. How much data will they hold? This remains to be seen but my guess is that they will hold a fair amount. Also, traditionally, Nintendo has marketed first-party memory cards to save data to. However, by allowing the user to save data to an external SD card which can be read by a computer OR to a computer itself, Nintendo is starting to tighten bonds between the PC and the console market. This is another technological advancement for in the past, Nintendo has ignored the PC as a potential accessory to the gaming industry. 20 years of backwards compatibility through downloads will allow for a gaming experience like no other and will allow users to fully relive the glory days of Nintendo.
This is what we know. We also know that talented and proven companies such as Broadcom, ATI, IBM, and NEC are helping to truly create an incredible gaming experience for consumer and developer alike. Speculations have been made that Nintendo is taking advantage of cube-mapping technology in a new way to allow for amazing graphics not limited by the power of the console but by the power to render graphics on a PC. From what I understand, this powerful technology would allow developers to create in-game material from pre-rendered 2D images allowing for low development costs, low game costs, outstanding, cutting-edge graphics and room for more content on each disk! Patents have also been filed pointing to a technology used to capture a picture of your face and map it over the face of an in-game character! Wow! Nintendo also plans on launching an online service for playing online games on the DS and Revolution. When reviewing such achievements in technology from one generation to the next, the lack of a hard-disk and high-definition hardly compares.
However, Nintendo apparently hasn't shown nearly all of its cards yet. It still has a few aces up its sleeve...The Revolution continues to be shrouded in mystery and Nintendo shows no sign of budging anytime soon. The hype generated is enormous and the secretive strategy is surprisingly effective. The thing is though, even without knowledge of the truly revolutionary aspects of the console, from what we currently know, the Revolution already seems fit to compete fairly with the other two gaming jaugernaugts, the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3. Therefore, everything that is revealed from here on out will only give Nintendo the edge...Or so I think. Many disagree for they argue that by failing to implement technologies such as the ability to play media disks, music, and videos on then console, Nintendo is failing to catch onto the trend. I, however, disagree. When I shop for a game console, I shop for a machine that will play top-quality titles made by trusted developers that I am sure will satisfy my gaming needs. I do NOT shop for an all-in-one console that combines a home theater into one box. That only leaves less room for gaming and can only raise the price. I think that the gaming-only strategy on Nintendo is the right one to take.
But just what IS the revolutionary aspect of the console? Many suggestions have been made...The most popular being VR helmets, pressure-sensitive controllers, and gyroscopic controllers for the controller supposedly is where the true revolution lies. VR will not happen; the concept is blocked by key flaws such as the gamer running into walls while playing. Pressure sensitivity and gyros are very likely but they will not make or break a console...Nintendo would not market an entire console around such features. Touch-screens have been ruled out and supposedly, the controller will NOT feature traditional aspects such as A+B buttons and the D-Pad. Rumors are floating around about a glove-and-handle controller but still, nothing is proven. IF this is the answer to the riddle, it truly would stir up a revolution but I tend to think that it is not because Nintendo claims that the competing companies would be able to copy the revolutionary aspect in a short amount of time but a glove-handle controller would take loads of time to reproduce. I think that whatever the controller is, nobody here can guess it. Therefore, it is a waste of time.
Despite the impressive reservoir of technologies that has already been presented to back the Revolution, I believe that still more new concepts will be introduced. For example, I think that Nintendo may use wireless transmitters/receivers to broadcast AV signals rather than the traditional AV cables of past consoles. This would allow a user to place the console in whatever location they want without it getting in the way...Something that seems to agree with Nintendo's current philosophy. In addition, Nintendo has managed to create a small, affordable, and over-all quiet console that looks great.
Overall, many say that Nintendo is behind in technology, but this is only because they fail to see the many fantastic technologies that are being implemented into the Revolution. As I said, the console is still shrouded in a thick fog of mystery and that fog still conceals several features yet to be announced that will further Nintendo's chances of winning this console war. For those of you that are still worried: Have faith. When Nintendo shows their cards and takes the pot, you won't have to worry anymore.
-Ninty Freak registered investment advisor new york
14 Comments:
good post, it was really intresting
This is a very good artical, and I agree with most of it.
Especialy as to the revolution having lots of new features..not just a single amazing-super-thingmajig.
I hope Nintendos download system, for instance, lets small developers publish stuff for cheap. (bypassing publisher and destributor needs)
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Cube-mapping however, is a false rumour...blatent to any 3D artist.
Cube Mapping is a very old techique now, something that all current generation consoles and pcs can do.
Its simply a way to fake reflections.
Rather then reflecting the enviroment, you reflect the inside of a cube painted to look like the encviroment. Thus saveing a lot of power.
It isnt new though.
And its a phrase used far,far too often for the meaning to be change...or for the inventors of a new graphical techique not to know of it.
Theres plenty of possible new graphic techiques. (eg. Voxals are still hardly touched..yet with the CPU's we have these days they would be very strong).
However, anything new wouldnt be called cubemapping.
It would be like someone inventing a teleportation device and then calling it a car :p
Oh, and VR is ruled out by price mainly.
However...Look up "Augmented Reality".
I have seen some very impressive demos.
VR is too impratical to ever be used extensively.
Augmented Reality, however, I believe will be absolutely essiential for gameing in 10 years time. best summer camp Brooklyn
oh, and while I dont personaly believe the glove controller rumour (wishfull thinking) there is some *very* interesting* glove controllers on Immersion Corps site.
Yup, the same Immersion corp that successfull sued Microsoft, and is now sueing Sony.
They have a glove controller that not only sense's your movements...but also lets you "feel" like you are interacting with stuff.
Works by a combination of Forcefeedback figure-tips and things that can resist your motion.
I wish this was the revolution, but at many many thousands of pounds per glove its unlikely.
Cool site to look at though.
Actually, Nintendo posted a patent regarding a special form of cube-mapping that allows for a developer to take 2D images and create 3D models out of them...I'm not very clear on the details though.
Heh, I got some funny images in my head after reading about the running into walls thing. :P
Nice article, and welcome to the team! :)
Jimmie (Patrick, forum moderator)
It has to have A and B buttons. Otherwise how would you play the old game downloads.
Great article, it again raised my already-high anticipation level for Revolution. I like the possibility of wireless AV signals you mentioned. That would be super-nifty.
Glove controller failed miserably for NES with the Power Glove...I sure as hell hope that that isn't the "revolution" for the new console.
The famitsu scan saying there will be no d-pad or a/b buttons was a fake, that's just a rumor as far as I know, prove me wrong if you like.
Wireless AV outputs would be annoying if there was signal interference.
What I would think would be amazing would be usb controller adapters to let us use all our old controllers from NES up to Gamecube to be able to play the old downloadable games on the revolution...now that would be amazing...
One more thing...honestly, with the xbox 360 being 300 dollars, the PS3 at 500 dollars, if the Revolution (being said it will be cheaper than both the other consoles) has decent adult content and classic first party franchise games, it WILL become a front runner once again in the gaming industry...
FUN games, and in depth games are what I buy. Playing FPS after FPS on my Xbox got boring in a hurry...So what'd I do...I modded it and put emulators for NES, SNES, N64, PS1, ATARI, GENESIS, and many others...WHY? because those games were, and ARE FUN! Conker for N64 (which now does work on xbox via Surreal64 XXX thanks to the new codec) was a MUCH better game in my opinion than the new first person rendition of Conker on Xbox, sure the graphics are no comparison, but neither is gameplay...Mario Kart 64 is more fun than playing Forza and other realistic games, I can't have fun playing these games with other people who don't sit in front of their console at least 2 hours a day playing the same game, with Mario Kart, even my girlfriend that has never played it can get the hang of it within 10 minutes and beat ME!...I could name off countless classics that I would much rather play than current gen games, but why bother when it will all happen with Nintendo's new system. Hopefully other companies will come onboard with Nintendo and make their games available for downlaod over Nintendo's network...you never know, maybe the Castlevania Collection will one day be a reality...Just think, having Castlevania 1,2,3 castlevania bloodlines, castlevania SOTN, Dracula X (PC-engine version), Super Castlevania and other classics all on one console...It can be done illegally but being able to do it legally on one console with perfect emulation would be amazing...I have a feeling SEGA will jump onboard with Nintendo making their classics available for download (you'd have to pay a small amount obviously).
Nintendo should have done this a long time ago, they started to with Classic NES on GBA, and the Zelda games that came with the gamecube game. But emulation is something companies could have made a boatload off of if they would have gotten into it early. Now all you think of when you hear emulator is PIRACY. But even if I owned all the games I have emulated on my xbox, I would have to have a roomfull of consoles and controllers and so on just to play one game on each...Nintendo has been against piracy for a long time, and tries to get emulating their systems illegal with patents and whatnot...but I think they now realize that the only way to beat the emulation scene is to join it. People always justify themselves by saying that the games are no longer freely available for purchasing and the company is not losing money in any way, so Nintendo letting you play all their old games will definitly give them the upper hand when it comes to shutting down sites that make pirated games available for download...
No matter what, I WILL get a revolution, it's going to be a hub to the network for my DS, online multiplayer is FREE and I can play all my favorite classics...and still use my Gamecube games on it. The system is small, sleek, and supposedly less expensive than the other conoles on the market, and if anyone else is like me...I don't want a Halo 3, Projecto Gotham 3, Ghost Recon 3, 3...3...3.3..3.3.3.3.33.3333333!!!!AAARRRGGHH!!!Give me something new for God's sake. That's why the DS is doing so well...it's less expensive and offers a new gaming experience not possible on console games. PSP just has a bunch of remakes...yay...Ridge Racer...yay...Wipeout...yay...Tony Hawk...yay...I played those already on my console, I don't need them in a dumbed down version on a handheld that cost more than a PS2...
The Revolution IS coming...
YEE GODS! $500 for a PS3?! That is one rich kid toy!!
But as for the Revolution, it's all just speculation at the moment. I really do hope nintendo releases all the hidden goodies soon. The time is ripe and the fans will start chewing off their own legs if there aren't any hard facts soon.
Have pity on us Nintendo,
tteeeeelll . . . uuusssss. . .
i don't get it :'(
On what Omega Star Said....
Wireless AV cables are unecessary, evil in fact. What if you lose one end of it? A wire is much easier to keep track of.
On Annonymouses note, putting in the old controllers would rock the house. It would'nt be odd to see me play with the SNES conroller. But N64....oh no! The N64's analog stick is terrible, and you have to hold the controller all funny. I hate it.
On the fact of the PS3 being $500, I think that if Nintendo wasn't going to put in revolutionary features, the PS3-Rev race would be kind of where the DS-PSP race is now, with the PSP being less abundant, but if you are seen with one it makes you elite, as in a status symbol. The X-box would fall inbetween.
But, with Revolution coming out with revolutionary features, the concole race is anybodys guess. No doubt Sony and Microsoft will be neck and neck, but Rev could fall way behind, get far ahead, we just don't know. Which adds to suspense.
And, as annonymous said, if nintendo could pull that extra bit of maturity or adult content, while I do not like it, it would work very well, and pull some of those stubborn, lost gamers over.
Great Article, by the way.
The possibility of losing cables is no reason to not have wireless AV.
Good post.
I've heard that the Revolution Discs can hold up to 8 Gigabyte.
However i WILL buy an Revolution not only because the new games and new ideas but als because i missed the whole nes generation and i missend the half generatiom of the snes too!
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