Monday, August 01, 2005

Whatever that is supposed to be...


Apparently, this is “a component of the Revolution’s interface”. As fake as the image looks, as unusual is its source. It´s from the otherwise very critical people at Joystiq. They received it through some poster called echo_machine, who in turn received it by an inside source that he claims to be “very reliable, and (...) connected to DigiPen and Nintendo”.

EDIT I uploaded the image again, from its apparent origin at the Newground forums. On the previous image, there were a few lines missing at the bottom. To me, it is unclear if the Revolution console is part of the object or if its base is just similarly designed. This guy echo_machine has a DeviantArt page. On it, he doesn´t appear like the kind of person that would be able to create an image like this one with Photoshop easily. Mainly, there´s just photos. He does come out as a Nintendo fan, though.

Also, on page two of the same thread, this guy admits to it being fake.
Haha I fooled all you dumb bastards, lol.

HARDY HAR HAR!

Well, maybe not all of you.... but some of you.... come on -- you were fooled.

But it really isn't a 3D model. I actually used a real photo and just photoshopped the hell out of it, lol. Sorry if I actually got anyone worked up. Just a joke.

Peace!

Further on, though, on page four, he claims he wasn´t serious admitting to faking it.
It's not a fake. I've been trying to get you guys to listen for 2 days now.

By the way, all you guys are pretty dumb. I even intentionally called it fake, just to see the reaction, and you were STILL saying I faked it, lol. Without even reading, haha. Serves you right.

The image IS, in fact, real, and it was gathered from a friend at Digipen who is interning at Nintendo.

That's all I can say.

Oh, all the IGN and 1up crap WAS fake, though.

Or was it.....

LOL. You guys are dumb. Have I EVER posted speculation? Rumors? LIES??? I've been coming here for almost a year, and have ALWAYS been a straight shooter. And I'm the biggest Nintendo advocate here!!! Anyway, I can't say anymore about the source, or what it is for, because I fear the (added) attention will be directed toward him.

There. Are you all happy?

Oh, well. Anyway, since some of you are comparing this one to SEGA´s ´Hologram Time Traveller´, here are some images of that machine. I remember playing this. It was around 1992. It was expensive to play but it was quite amazing.














































EDIT The poster claims that the source of the picture is a friend who is an intern at Nintendo through DigiPen. Now, I read up on that institution and the DigiPen Institute of Technology is described as ´an accredited, college-level program that teaches its students how to program and design for today's demanding video game applications.´ This description is courtesy of the Nintendo company FAQ. In fact, Nintendo is sponsoring the school apparently in return for students researching and developing for Nintendo systems. On DigiPen´s history page, they write:
In 1994, DigiPen officially accepted its first class of video game programming students. Offered in cooperation with Nintendo of America, this program was created to address the industry's need for a formal source of qualified personnel.

Nintendo describe the cooperation like this:
Nintendo and DigiPen's relationship dates back to the formation of DigiPen Applied Computer Graphics School in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1993. In 1998, in cooperation with Nintendo of America, DigiPen opened its Redmond, Wash., campus, making it the first school in the world to offer bachelor degree programs for video game programming.

So the school does have a campus in Redmond, which is exactly where their summer workshops are held. And these workshops really do get students to actually work directly on Nintendo games. Sounds unlikely? Read on.

According to an extensive three-part interview with GameCritics (part one, part two, part three), the school is ´located right next door to Nintendo of America in Redmond, Washington´ and ´Mr. Miyamoto has been there (he even signed the table in the conference room at DigiPen). (...) DigiPen maintains a pretty close relationship with Nintendo, so it's only natural that Nintendo takes an active interest in what's going on at the school.´ Amazingly, some students are even given the chance to get inside proper game development. Like the interviewed student Ben Hopper.
I'm interning for Nintendo Software Technology Corporation (NST), which is a second-party developer for Nintendo, and actually shares the same building as DigiPen (students aren't allowed into NST, naturally). NST is the only division of NOA that develops games and is overseen by Nintendo Company Limited (NCL) in Japan. NST management actually reports directly to Shigeru Miyamoto's EAD team.

Now, it´s unlikely that those students would be shown Revolution details deliberately. At the same time, it might just be that an intern like Ben comes across some hint. After all, they are inside Nintendo of America.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is very interesting, some people say this is the ON from some angle.

This guy has updated his blog:

www.nintendo-revolution-nside.com

Anonymous said...

Looks like a seat.

Someone seems to have just slapped the front of the revolution on the bottom.

Anonymous said...

If you open it in photoshop and mess with the levels you can see some interesting structures in the black area.
What the heck is that?

Anonymous said...

OMG!

Does anyone remember that arcade hologram game by sega, Time Traveler?

When you mess with the level you can see the depht of the image a lot better. And it has something that makes me remember that!

Hahaah, I think i'm becoming crazy with all this rumors around.

Anonymous said...

OMG!

Does anyone remember that arcade hologram game by sega, Time Traveler?

When you mess with the level you can see the depht of the image a lot better. And it has something that makes me remember that!

Anonymous said...

Looks like a jukebox! :O

Falafelkid said...

True, looks just like a jukebox. I want my Wurlitzer Revolution NOW! I wonder if it plays any Beastie Boys...

It´s not necessarily fake, btw. I just updated the post. He said it was fake, then claimed he was lying.

Anonymous said...

Of course it's fake !

Falafelkid said...

Well, I urge everyone to be critical. But don´t judge without reason. Otherwise you´d be the boy who cried wolf. When Nintendo do leak an image, you might be shouting fake, too. So, please, tell me why you think it´s fake.

Anonymous said...

- How can you play multiplayer games with this machine ?
- How will game editors manage to convert the Ps3 and Xbox 360 games for the Revolution ?
- On the picture, the Revolution is way too big if you compare it with the original design shown during the E3.
- Finally , Nintendo said they would use a technology that has never been used in the videogame industry. Obviously this technolgy has been used by Sega.

To be honest, I am not really interested by this kind of apparatus, at least not for the present time.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'm going to clear up some misconceptions about DP. Nintendo hardware is used as a teaching aide. Which system? The Gameboy Color. Know how many students get hired by Nintendo? Zero. What do the students do over the summer? Teach the workshops. The very concept that some student at DP a) interns with Nintendo and b) has seen the Rev is absolutely rediculous. Now, considering than that they do teach even the programming students basic photoshop and 3dsmax skills, and considering that most of these students 'friends' wouldn't know how little Nintendo actually interacts with DP students, well, the capability for abuse is obvious. If you're wondering why you should believe me, well I was a student there for a time before finances cut me short.

Basically, this is fake because his story doesn't hold water and he's already admitted to lying at least once.

Anonymous said...

Let me rephrase one of my above comments, the only DP students that would get to intern are fourth year. A first year class of 200 can expect only 20 to actually make it to fourth year. Then there's the fact that they make you sign a program-global NDA when you are admitted. No student would jeopardize a life-long career in the field of their dreams for the proverbial first post. Besides, with all the secrecy around the Rev, does anyone actually think NST would let student interns near the thing?

Falafelkid said...

Hi anonymous. Well, thanks for your extensive comments. However, you haven´t read the three-part article properly. I quote from part 3, page 1: "I'm helping the art team on the GameCube sequel to 1080 Snowboarding called 1080 Avalanche. Being an intern, I do a lot of the work no one else really wants to do, but that's fine with me." So much for Gameboy Color.

Also, whatever the object on the image may be, it could be an extra or add-on, and would thus not necessarily constitute the only way to play Rev games. Also, multiplayer would not necessarily be ruled out. We don´t know how big this thing might be or what exactly it would do (so comparing the Rev´s size is futile too).

About porting games from Xbox360 or PS3: If you read my posts on stereoscopic technology, you will know that for a lot of 3D projection methods the game does not need to be adapted in any way. The signal is a 3D signal, after all. It is simply conventionally projected onto a 2D screen. This is one of the big advantages of stereoscopic 3D projection - and Nintendo would not put out a technology that required special attention anyway. They have stated that developing for the Rev would be easier than development for its competitors.

Another misconception of yours is that the SEGA machine was - for obvious reasons - an arcade machine only. So Nintendo´s statement would still hold true: This has never been applied to videogames before. We are talking home consoles, after all.

Then you mentioned the NDA breach. Well, that doesn´t just apply to these interns, of course. That applies to anyone who has seen the controller. And you are quite right about people endangering their jobs if they were to leak anything. But if you believe that will prevent everyone from leaking stuff, what are you doing on these kind of sites? If everyone respected NDAs 100%, then the Rev will be revealed first on Nintendo.com and nowhere else. I believe an NDA will stop most people, but not everyone.

Finally, writing that "the very concept that some student at DP (...) interns with Nintendo" would be ridiculous (before correctly changing your opinion) shows you really haven´t read my post or the article before posting. You also seem to have missed my last sentence. I don´t think those interns would be shown anything confidential deliberately. But as they would be properly tied in to game development, they would undoubtedly work alongside a number of people who know all about the Revolution. There is no way you could deny that. And this is precisely the assumption that this leak may be based upon.

Again, I want to say that the image itself looks rather simple and could easily be a fake. But the DigitalPen connection is a real possibility - while the institute is not too well known at the same time. This does tip the balance slightly in favour of the image being real, after all.

Anonymous said...

If you save the image and mess with the brightness and contrast, you notice 8 "things" in the black area on the arc. I wonder if this is just a concept project a student might have done for a future Nintendo device. Like when you go to a car show and see prototype/concept cars. They won't necessarily be made, but show what could be done.

Falafelkid said...

Good point, Lectoid. Even if this hasn´t been photoshopped by a fanboy, it doesn´t necessarily mean it will be part of the final Revolution hardware. I mean, we still don´t really know what this could be. My best bet is that it´s a stereoscopic 3D projection mirror. But why does it bend further towards the back and upwards like a chimney?

Anonymous said...

Wow just found this information on some site


I'm not supposed to be telling you this as it will breach my NDA but what the hell. This is a holographic projection stage for stereo scopic 3D viewing without the need for 3D glasses. Just one of our 3D Projection peripherals for the Revolution.
It is based off the SEGA arcade game released many many years ago called Time Traveler. What you are infact seeing is the peripheral from the back, with this add on you do not need to connect the revolution to a TV. The best way i can explain this is that if you were to look at the picture or imagine in you mind how it would look like front on if you follow the image contours corectly you will find that they dig deep, so from front side on it is hollow. Where you see the Nintendo sign is where it is hollow on the other side. There are also a few other logos on the other side. It is developed in a joint project with a few other companys.
I won't say anymore than this last statement:

When you power up the Revolution you will say 'WOW' and then your jaw drops to the floor.

Falafelkid said...

Thank you for the info. But provide a link please.

Anonymous said...

You'r right about one thing, I didn't read you're entire post first. As for the GBC, I was refering to the actual students, not the couple of intern-students. Regarding the NDA comment, a developer in a team of 20-30 has far less chance of getting caught then an intern in a group of 2-4. Besides, having been a student, and talking with many of them, I can tell you, none of them would risk a career like this. A guy who has his name on a few games breaking an NDA would still be able to get on with other companies, but a student breaking an NDA wihout any industry experience, I doubt EA would pick them up. Anyway, considering that all doors require an ID card with a magnetic strip to open at DP and NST, interns would not be able to get into rooms having anything to do with the Rev. Also considering how compartmentalized they are at DP, and that NST would have corporate secrets to protect, I imagine it would be much worse there, so I really doubt people working with interns, besides their direct supervisors would know anything. Anyway, I don't want to get into a shouting match or something, it's just that after being there, my personal opinion is that the story is a load of bull. Besides the guy admitted to lying at least once before. As for why I'm on these kinds of sites, analyzing quotes, corporate connections, and patents are far more likely to reveal something than some guy claiming to have broken an NDA.

PS I've only commented about DP, the other anon was someone else. I personally doubt Nintendo's revolution has never actually been used in games before. I feel that was more in reference to more modern history and mainstream gaming, like the PS2 and Xbox, not the 8-bit consoles or arcade machines.

Anonymous said...

I found that post as well

Nintendo are probably going to trackdown their butt for telling us secrets

www.nintendonow.blogspot.com

Falafelkid said...

Hey anonymous. Don´t worry, there´s no shouting match - I won´t flame. Why would I? You are making some very good points there. Sorry if you got that impression.

For a start, you have actually been to that institute, right? All I can do is browse the net for info like that. So that´s invaluable stuff right there. Also, you are quite right about the NDAs applying more to the interns than to the developers themselves.

I have never really wanted to say this image is probably real, though. I merely think there is a chance it could be. And finding out about DigiPen made me think this story could not easily have been made up. Because the story fits quite well and I had never heard about that place before. So I thought that would tip the balance in favour of this guy being genuine. Is it more famous in the US, or in the gaming community?

And what exactly did you do there, if I may ask?

Anonymous said...

You've never heard of DigiPen before? It's my impression that many gamers know about about DigiPen. In fact, Digipen is quite often mentioned-- even advertised-- in Nintendo Power Magazine. For a while they would do a showcase of games that students there were working on and things like that. In my experience DigiPen is pretty well known as THE place to learn about game creation in the USA, besides maybe Full Sail in Orlando, FL. It's also nicknamed "Donkey Kong University," I believe. So, the fact that Digipen is part of the story doesn't give much by way of special credit to the picture, in my opinion. (By the way, I'm a new Anonymous poster)

Falafelkid said...

Right, that about wraps up this one then.

Anonymous said...

I toured Digipen last year out of intrest in going there for college. In fact, Digipen and Nintendo are in the same building, its just Didipen seems to inhabit half and Nintendo takes the other half, and Nintendo dosen't let anyone into thier half of the building. All doors (including front doors) on Nintendo's side are locked all hours of the day including work hours and you need to schedule an apointment to get in and the only door on the inside that leads to the Digipen side from the Nintendo side has a Security officer sitting in front of it (not sure if this one is locked).