For all those who get more excited about innovation rather than raw gaming power, more news has filtered through about the Nintendo Revolution.
In a recent interview with CNN, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata commented that ‘flashier graphics’ of the rival systems (360 and Playstation 3) would only serve to drive development costs up, making games more expensive for the consumer.
Nintendo, however, will be aiming at keeping next-gen software at current-gen prices, something Iwata believes will be impossible for its two main rivals.
This will please some but there is, as always, a catch. Unlike the other two rival consoles the Revolution system has not made a massive leap forward in technology. Whilst the Xbox 360 is running three symmetrical CPU’s at 3.2Ghz, the Revolution will be running on an IBM ‘Broadway’ CPU clocked at 729Mhz. Although the two consoles aren’t directly comparable, the jump from the Gamecube to the Revolution pales significantly when comparing an Xbox with a 360.
Iwata doesn’t believe this is as big an issue as his competitors would like to make it - he claims development for Nintendo’s new system will not be as difficult, the new controller will ‘revolutionise’ the way we look at games and, as we reported last week, Nintendo have announced a partnership with Sega for their coming console.
This is slightly marred by the strong suggestions that the Revolution will not have a built in hard-drive but will instead use flash cards, similar to those used in digital cameras or phones.
With these announcements it is becoming increasingly likely that the next few years could determine the direction of console gaming for the considerable future. Should the Revolution be a massive success despite bucking the trend of concentrating on graphical performance it is probable that other companies will start work more on innovation and how we participate with games rather than how they appear. The winner of this console war could determine whether future development focuses on how a game looks or, as Iwata predicts, how a game plays and feels.
What is your take on Iwata’s comments and predictions? Let us know in the forums.
In a recent interview with CNN, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata commented that ‘flashier graphics’ of the rival systems (360 and Playstation 3) would only serve to drive development costs up, making games more expensive for the consumer.
Nintendo, however, will be aiming at keeping next-gen software at current-gen prices, something Iwata believes will be impossible for its two main rivals.
This will please some but there is, as always, a catch. Unlike the other two rival consoles the Revolution system has not made a massive leap forward in technology. Whilst the Xbox 360 is running three symmetrical CPU’s at 3.2Ghz, the Revolution will be running on an IBM ‘Broadway’ CPU clocked at 729Mhz. Although the two consoles aren’t directly comparable, the jump from the Gamecube to the Revolution pales significantly when comparing an Xbox with a 360.
Iwata doesn’t believe this is as big an issue as his competitors would like to make it - he claims development for Nintendo’s new system will not be as difficult, the new controller will ‘revolutionise’ the way we look at games and, as we reported last week, Nintendo have announced a partnership with Sega for their coming console.
This is slightly marred by the strong suggestions that the Revolution will not have a built in hard-drive but will instead use flash cards, similar to those used in digital cameras or phones.
With these announcements it is becoming increasingly likely that the next few years could determine the direction of console gaming for the considerable future. Should the Revolution be a massive success despite bucking the trend of concentrating on graphical performance it is probable that other companies will start work more on innovation and how we participate with games rather than how they appear. The winner of this console war could determine whether future development focuses on how a game looks or, as Iwata predicts, how a game plays and feels.
What is your take on Iwata’s comments and predictions? Let us know in the forums.
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