My Video Game Views & news

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Web Browsing on the DS!


At the same press meeting that is mentioned below for the TV tuner they also announced a Web Browser made by Opera for the DS. I personally have been waiting for this for awhile now although i must admit i expected this to be bundled with a PDA package for the DS, I'm sure we will see this one come the U.S. hopefully sooner than later.


source: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/dsconference2006s/page13.html

DS TV Tuner


Announced at a Nintendo press conference was this DS Digital Broadcast Receiver Card that allows Japanese DS owners to tune-in to the 1seg digital video service launching in April for the mobile devices but becouse it seems to only be for the 1seg service it is unlikely we will see it over hear stateside.

Source: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/dsconference2006s/page13.html

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Interesting New Pictures Discovered!



- - - - - - - Very odd picture this one is - - - - - - -

- - - - - - Look the back of the Rev finally! - - - - - -

Very interesting pictures arn't they, they are believed to be from a Nintendo Annual Report for its major share holders although not confirmed, the picture of the back of the Rev shows the ventalation to shit those people up that tried to say it didnt have any vents based on a hollow shell concept.

Source: http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=85076&page=1&pp=50

Iwata Now Confirmed for GDC Keynote Speech



Iwata has now been confirmed in a press release to deliver the Keynote speech for GDC 06' in March.


Press release:
Iconic game developer and president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Satoru Iwata returns for the second consecutive year to deliver the keynote address of the 2006 Game Developers Conference (GDC). GDC, the world's largest event exclusively devoted to the art of game creation, will take place at the San Jose Convention Center Monday through Friday, March 20-24.

In his keynote, entitled "Disrupting Development," Iwata will inspire developers to take risks and mine the depths of their imaginations to create innovative games regardless of the size of teams or budgets. He will point to the Nintendo DS™ "brain-training" games and Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection to prove it is still possible to succeed at engaging new players and surprising existing players. Iwata will also share his thoughts on the role Nintendo's video game systems will play in expanding the market and widening the possibilities for developers.

"We are extremely honored to feature an experienced platform leader such as Satoru Iwata as a keynote speaker," said Jamil Moledina, director, Game Developers Conference. "As Nintendo reinvents the scope of what games can be, it is ever more crucial to share their creative and market-growing philosophies with the other leaders of the game creation industry.

"Satoru Iwata's keynote, "Disrupting Development," is scheduled for Thursday, March 23, from 10:30 to 11:30am.


Sources: http://www.revolutionreport.com/articles/read/296
http://www.gdconf.com/conference/keynotes.htm

MegaMan on Rev?



According to an Interview with Jeux-France, Assistant Producer Takeshi Horinouchi & Planner of Production Tsukasa Takenaka of Capcom were asked about the MegaMan series and the Nintendo Revolution (codename). Here is a portion of the interview thats been translated provided by Revolution Report.


J-F: What do you think of the Nintendo Revolution? You had the chance to test it at Nintendo, do you think that a Megaman game can function with the concept of Revolution?

Takeshi Horinouchi: I indeed had the chance to quickly test Revolution, and I must say that it is interesting to note the evolution in this field. The perception of the video game is completely new. Concerning Megaman, we do not know yet what the future holds for us, but I would very much like to use the concept of Nintendo Revolution to see what a Megaman game could be on this console.

There has not been any official announcments as of yet regarding MegaMan on Nintentendo's Next Gen Console but i after reading this i believe its pretty obvious that we will see it happen. The question is what path would this 'Megaman Revolution' take? Could we see a MegaMan FPS on the Rev, now that would definatly be interesting.

anyone have any links to a translated version of the full interview?

Sources: http://www.revolutionreport.com/articles/read/295
http://www.jeux-france.com/articles_dossiers247_interview-megaman.html

Friday, February 03, 2006

New Found Nintendo Patent Suggests Voice Recognition



Theres been yet another Nintendo patent found recently this one involving Voice to Text Chat Conversion which uses different sized text for different volumes levels of speech, so if someone is yelling the text would be bigger and also different colors of text used for emotions like say if person sounded mad text could be red. This will be a difficult task for Nintendo to achieve voice recognition software is far from perfect today. Most programs only store like 3 or 4 recordings of each word when realistically much more would work much better but still would not be perfect, and the whole emotion part of it would make it even more complicated. Dont forget there will be many cases were more than one person per household will play online, So multiple people in the household spending a few hours each on the voice recognition alone i think might shy some people away from using that feature. though I am one of the people that would take as much time as needed to perfect this system to my own voice and speech habits.

I for one hope Nintendo can pull this one off but it wont be easy. Here is the patent for all who wish to check it out.

sources: http://nintendo-revolution.blogspot.com
http://appft1.uspto.gov/

Thursday, February 02, 2006

PS3 Developer Josh Robinson gets fired for talking


Josh Robinson a PS3 Developer who spoke out about his opinion of the PS3 a few weeks back was fired for talking.

Here is the statement he made a few weeks ago.

"I started [off] VERY excited about the PS3. I was very confident that it was going to just destroy the XBOX 360 just on the name SONY alone. The more time that goes by the more I am becoming doubtful. Everything I’ve developed or seen developed has yet to be 'next gen."

It seems that Josh is still doing pretty good forr himself though acoording to this statement in an interview with PS3Week.com

"My life has changed a lot since the article. I was let go at Sony after the article was plopped on the desk of Sony corporate. I was also asked to remove the article immediately. (Which I did without any resistance.) I had lots of job opportunities immediately after I became a “free agent” I am a little fortunate because I’ve made a small name for myself over the last year or so with some things I’ve written. I wrote a 25-page comparison between Maya and 3D Studio Max. That article actually got me a book deal. I was asked to write the entire Max 8.0 essentials book, which I have been working on the last year. It will be in production in the next couple weeks and available at all book stores nationwide. So I’m very fortunate to have all the opportunities I’ve had. I had four or five job offers the same week I was let go. Ultimately I’ll be making even more money, I’ll have a better title at the end of my name and I’ll be very near the beach. So it’s a bit hard to complain I suppose. I ended up settling down near the Santa Monica area. I’d rather not say where right now. I’m pretty excited about the project however.

Well we heard an actual Sony Developer's opinion of the PS3 so it looks like the PS3 is not going to be way more advanced than the competition like some would like to believe.

Source: http://www.ps3week.com/blogs/ps3week.php?title=title_6&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Redesigned DS " The DS lite"



So Nintendo did it as expected they just announced it a week later than expected, the overall design is the same which is good in my opinion. the most imprtant factors were taken care of its smaller lighter and has brighter screens. heres the official info on the DS lite.

The modified dual screen handheld has been tweaked into a smaller chassis. The new unit measures up to 133 mm wide by 73.9 mm tall by 21.5 thick. (that's compared to 148.7 x 84.7 x 28.99 mm in the original.) DS Lite weighs 218g, compared to the 275 g of the original.

DS Lite's biggest new technical feature is its updated set of backlit LCD screens. The system is brighter overall, and will give the user the ability to select from four different levels of brightness for viewing and/or battery consumption. A few other cosmetic changes were made to the new DS Lite -- there's a new hinge design, the power light was put on the left side of the hinge and is visible while the clamshell is closed, the mic is moved to top/center while the speakers are more centered, the Select and Start buttons are set on the bottom instead of top, and the power button is no longer on the front, and all of the dark button colors are changed to whites and grays

So there you have it, i think instead of getting the blue DS as a second DS i am getting the DS lite i hope they'll make it in black.

Sources: http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/26/nintendo-announces-ds-lite/

http://ds.ign.com/articles/683/683684p1.html

Friday, January 13, 2006

I'm Back



Sorry bout the extended period of time with no post, ive been very busy. my life is getting very hectic lol so bear with me, if you ever feel the need to contact me you can do so on AIM my S/N is B1izz79 on weekdays during the day eastern time before 5:00pm.

Ok so back on track there has been some rev related info. A UK Magazine NGC insists that LOZ: Twighlight Princess will take full advantage of the Revolutions controller when played in the revolution, Nintendo claims this is just speculation but also avoides denying it.

Shawn White of http://revolutionreport.com/ had an interview with John Swinimer of ATI and we now know that the GPU "Hollywood" is not just an updated version of the Gamecube's GPU "Flipper" or a version of the RN530 or a version of any existing GPU for that matter, that it was built from the ground up specifically for the Revolution. there is also some speculation making its rounds that it may be integrated on the same die as the CPU "Broadway" which would have many benefits ranging from performance, price and size.

RevolutionReport also uncovered some new info in a patent on the Revolutions Virtual Console feature.


The application refers to storing a game program for a legacy console alongside a game program for the "newer-type" console all on one storage medium. This could be in reference to Nintendo planning to deliver its classic titles with Revolution titles.

It is stated that the "home video game system" is capable of emulating a "legacy home video game system or a hand-held portable game system". This suggests Nintendo has at least given some thought to providing their Game Boy and DS software through the Virtual Console service.

A mysterious claim in the application says that the game machine can "use a high-speed computer instead of a special purpose-game machine to execute game programs." This can be interpreted several ways, but it seems to hint at some possible Revolution-PC connectivity.

In the previous patent, replacing characters in legacy games using a graphics replacement technique was discussed. This application expands on this idea, saying it can also be used to "suitably change the map or other characters." This once again falls in line Nintendo President Satoru Iwata's comments in June 2005, stating that "with Revolution, we may be able to see the old games with new looks."

Last but not least, the patent application also claims that this technology is not limited to game machines created by Nintendo, but is applicable to the older and newer game machines of "other manufacturers." This is most likely stated to prevent other companies from stealing this technique of backwards compatibility, but it could also likely mean that other legacy console manufacturers such as Sega or SNK could provide classic content in a similar manner via Nintendo's Virtual Console.

you can see the patent here if you like.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Supposed Rev Specs




Sorry for the long delay in updating my Blog at first got frusterated with people putting up there friend codes on Mario Kart threads but not adding anyone elses (whats the point in that?) and ive been extremely busy (I work 7 days a week) plus with the holidays coming up so i'm sure you can understand.

Ok i'm sure that just about everyone has seen these supposed specs from IGN by now. Personally i think these specs are bogus for the most part, they just do not add up. Heres the recent info from IGN.


" "To be honest, it's not much more powerful than an Xbox.
It's like a souped up Xbox," a major third party source revealed
to us. "But it's the controller that makes the difference and
the controller is really nice."

Nintendo has said all along that sheer horsepower has not
been a priority with Revolution. Rather, the company hopes to
make the console small, quiet and affordable. It is very likely
for this reason that the Big N chose not to make Revolution
compatible with the emerging 720p, 1080i and 1080p high-
definition video resolutions, which are focuses for competing
consoles.

Gamers holding out for Nintendo to reverse its stance on the
HD front may be in for a disappointment. Revolution will not
have the RAM capacity to store and display an abundant source
of high-definition textures. Third parties have revealed to us that
the console will top out with 128MBs of RAM, and possibly even
less. One studio would not give us an exact figure, but did say,
"The same as GameCube plus an extra 64MB of main RAM." That
number is by comparison nearly triple the amount of memory in
GameCube. However, it is a far cry from the 512MBs present in
XBox 360.

One studio we spoke to hinted at the possibility of accessing
further Revolution RAM, but its comments were cryptic. "There
is more RAM that you can use, but Nintendo is using that for
general memory, like game saves and all sorts of other things. You
could use it, but you can't rely on it." This comment seems to
suggest that developers might be able to tap into Revolution's
512MBs of on-board Flash memory, but to our knowledge such a
solution would be too slow to utilize in games.

Still, the studios we spoke with are still very intrigued by
Revolution and are not ruling out the possibility of additional
graphic horsepower. No developer that chatted with us had, or
was willing to share, details on the console's GPU, Hollywood.
One studio said: "As soon as we find out what it can do then we'll
know if Revolution will just be like an Xbox or something a little
more."

Asked if it was developing for Revolution, one major third
party source said that it was well past the experimental stage and
was evaluating what types of games might work on the platform.
"We are looking at it quite differently. It's like another current
generation platform for us. But it's such a nice controller that it
opens up a lot of possibilities. It's very different and it's very
precise." "




Then the next day they followed that info with this




In yesterday's article, we wrote that Revolution would
include 128MBs of RAM, or possibly less. Developers have
clarified the makeup based on officially released Nintendo
documentation. Revolution will build on Gamecube's
configuration of 24MBs 1T-SRAM and 16MBs D-RAM (40MBs)
by adding an addition 64MBs of 1T-SRAM. The result is a supply
of memory in Revolution that totals 104MBs. That number does
not consider either the 512MBs of allegedly accessible (but
hardly ideal) Flash RAM or the Hollywood GPU's on-board
memory, said to be 3MBs by sources.

Revolution's Broadway CPU, developed by IBM, is an
extension of the Gekko CPU in GameCube, according to official
Nintendo documentation passed to us by software houses. The
Hollywood GPU, meanwhile, is believed to be an extension of the
Flipper GPU in GameCube. Since developers have not gone hands
-on with the GPU, they can only go on Nintendo documentation,
which is limited.

Exact clock rates were not disclosed, but one development
source we spoke to had this to say of the Revolution CPU and
GPU: "Basically, take a GameCube, double the clock rate of the
CPU and GPU and you're done."

We presented that description to another informed studio,
which clarified that the clock rates may even fall short of
doubling those on GameCube.

"The CPU is the same as Gekko with one and a half to two
times the performance and improved caching," said a source.
"Our guys experimented with it and think they'll be able to get
about twice the performance as GameCube."

"It's a gamble for the Big N," said another source. "It's not
about horsepower for them -- it's about innovation and
gameplay."

We've also been able to unearth firm details on the storage
capacity for Revolution discs. Recent rumors suggesting that the
discs can hold 12GBs of data are false. In fact, Revolution discs
can store 4.7GBs of data on a single layer or 8.5GBs when double
-layered on a single-side. This is a massive jump from the 1.5GB
capacity of GameCube discs and more than enough storage
capacity for any non-high-definition game. "

This info is not even logical really, why would Nintendo spend so much money & 3+ years of development to just have the same CPU and GPU just slightly better even if they have the speed correct there would still be plenty of other changes to the chipsets to differenciate them from there predecessors beyond just being a lil faster, and the RAM will most likely change in the final kits although i do not expect it to be anywere near the 512MB that the Xbox 360 has, i would say 256 at most and that theres a good chance we get around 196MB of RAM.
Also note that the Editor in chief of IGN's Gamecube and Revolution channels Matt Casamassina who posted these articles had also said this in an article "Most interesting, though, was what Miyamoto didn't talk about. The Nintendo legend flat-out stated that there's more to be revealed about the Revolution controller."
When infact Miyamoto never said it had to do with the controller just that there was another secret to be revealed, so is Matt's brain degenerating? He is seeming to be a untrustworthy source of Information.

I also found these supposed specs for the GPU "Hollywood" on www.revogaming.net.


One of the two sources who gave us information on IBM's "Broadway" processor today gave us information on the "Hollywood" GPU from ATi. Details inside.

The source provided the following information under conditions of anonymity, as well as some other general Revolution statements:

- "Hollywood" is based on ATi's RV530 GPU
- The GPU has been optimised significantly (more on that below)
- The graphics are not as bad as IGN might make them sound
- The Revolution's RAM, whilst being around 128MB, is highly optimised

Here are the specs for the RV530, thanks to Anandtech:

RV530

600MHz Core Clock
1400MHz Memory Clock
512MB Maximum Memory for "XT"
256MB Maximum Memory for "Pro"
128-bit Memory
12 Pipelines
Maximum 16x32MB 1.4ns GDDR3

High Optimisation

The source described the Revolution's optimisation like this:

Although he acknowledged that Revolution will not be as powerful as 360 or PS3, he said that the optimisation level of Revolution is similar to that of the GameCube: although it did not have the highest hardware specification, it managed to churn out the best graphics in titles such as Resident Evil 4.

RAM

The RAM is 1T-SRAM, as previously reported. The source mentioned some optimisation of the RAM but did not clarify.

We remind you that this source is very trustworthy: the information that we broke exclusively on IBM's "Broadway" is now mirrored in the comments of various developers to IGN.

There is no official word from Nintendo, however. Take this as you will.

RevoGaming will keep you updated.


While this makes much more sense than the GPU only being a slightly faster version of the Gamecube's GPU i'd still take it with a grain of salt.
What do you think of all this? Comment away.