Saturday, February 25, 2006

EA hinting at Rev´s last secret?


PS3News.Ca claims to have interviewed EA representative Trudy Muller. Here´s an excerpt:

Last year at the E3, Nintendo gave the world a brief glimpse at their new single handed controller. Have you had the chance to see it yet?

Yes, and the beauty of the new Revolution controller is that the possibilities for new game ideas are limitless. I’m sure that Nintendo already has a number of phenomenal design concepts built around 3D Pointing or Touch Sensitivity for their 1st party games. Our developers are inspired and excited by the new controller’s features.

Now, sister site NintendoRevolution.Ca has picked up on the fact that Mrs. Muller definitely mentioned ´touch sensitivity´ with regard to the Revolution here. It is hardly conceivable that she was talking about the DS, since she had just mentioned new game ideas that were enabled by the Revolution controller. She may then be hinting at the Revolution´s last secret.

A word of warning remains. The site calls Trudy Muller a representative "of Electronic Arts Canada". Yet her contact details clearly show that she is based in the Redwood City headquarter near San Francisco. Of course, she might still work for EA Canada somehow. Yet the various .Ca sites, belonging to a company called Dice Ventures, are not the most reliable source. They have provided solid news so far, but the items are often riddled with spelling mistakes and the pages are full of server errors. Their record on quoting original sources is not the best, either. I do give them the benefit of the doubt, obviously. But please bear with me until I can verify that interview.

EDIT It seems that all gaming sites connected with NintendoRevolution.Ca have been taken off the net. Though that may be unrelated, the interview in question could also very well be fake.

EDIT Both sites are back online after almost two days of downtime. The stories, however, have vanished. Either EA requested them to be pulled, or the whole interview was fake. I will get in touch with Mrs. Muller to verify that.

EDIT I have now spoken to Trudy Muller and the interview did take place. She never meant to imply anything that had not yet been revealed by Nintendo, though. As far as I understood her, she did not even play herself. She merely relayed information from a colleague who had used the controller. It´s still possible that this slip-up reveals the last secret. But since it´s relayed information, I regard this as less likely.


Source: PS3News.Ca
Image source: EA press server
Thanks to: Revolution Lifestyle, Codename Revolution

56 comments:

Anonymous said...

By "touch sensitivity" could they mean the whole 3D-space thing, being able to thrust at things or gently push them by thrusting/pushing the controller? Basically I mean could they mean "touch" not as in physical touch but in-game touch? That would fit easily with what we already know.

Falafelkid said...

Good point, it´s a possibility. Perhaps it´s not likely, but it´s possible.

Anonymous said...

Herr Garbe, kapieren sie es bitte endlich: es gibt kein Geheimnis!
Sie sind ein Träumer!
Warum geben sie sich nicht einfach zufrieden mit dem was Ihnen aufgetischt wird? was wollen sie denn noch alles sehen?
Sie suchen die Imaginäre Nadel im Heuhaufen,den Teufel im Detail!
Es ist einfach nur lächerlich!
Durch Ihre penetrante Herangehensweise
wirkt es fast schon so,als läge Ihr
Bestreben einzig und allein darin, den Leuten falsche Hoffnungen zu machen und Ihnen somit einen Bären aufzubinden, nur um Ihren Blog am leben zu halten und um Ihren beinahe tierischen Trieb zu befriedigen.Herr Garbe, sehen sie,ich bin nicht auf streit aus oder sonst irgendwas,aber von Ihnen, einem 32 Jahre alten TV Journalisten erwartet man sich doch schon ein wenig mehr Bodenständigkeit.Lassen sie doch einfach mal die Kirche im Dorf.Wissen sie,ich mein ich weiß ganz genau was sie jetzt denken.Sie denken warum macht dieser Besserwisser sich überhaupt die Mühe sich zu beschweren und so einen langen Text zu schreiben, wenn es Ihn doch eh nicht juckt,geschweige denn kalt lässt..
Aber Herr Garbe bei allem Respekt wissen Sie,es geht nicht darum!
Ich verfolge ihren Blog schon sehr sehr lange und weiß daher,dass sie von anfang an schon gefallen an der Idee einer 3D Projection gefunden haben an der sie seitdem unabdingbar festhalten.

Ich muss gestehen,am anfangen war ich sehr zufrieden mit Ihrem Blog.Sie hatten was zu bieten.Da wären z.B. die exclusiven Kommentare vom Black and White und Sonic Macher,die gut analysierten Patente und das ein oder andere Schmankerl natürlich..
Zweifelsohne Volltreffer die ich Ihnen auch wirklich gönne.
Andererseits,geht es mir so dermaßen auf die Nerven dass sie immer wieder auf Ihren 3D Geheimnis
Film zurück kommen und darauf hängen bleiben!Da frägt man sich schon woran man ist.Mir kommts echt vor als würden sie mit Tomaten auf den Augen rumsteuern.
Hören sie Herr Garbe ein für alle mal.
ALLE representativen Persönlichkeiten von Nintendo haben abermals betont dass DAS was die Konsole abhebt und einzigartig macht der Controller ist und sonst nix!
Also warum zum Teufel interpretieren sie immer das 10 Welt Wunder in jede Nuance,in jede Pore,in jede Silbe mit ein?
Warum suchen sie immer nach einer Hinter Tür um Ihre Vermutungen zu rechtfertigen und ihnen Nachhalt zu verteilen?
Leiden sie an einer Journalisten Krankheit?
Ist das der Grund warum wir Mittlerweile alle zwei Tage BREAKING
NEWS auf NTV zu Gesicht bekommen,die keine sind?
Es ist wirklich anstrengend auf Dauer.
Hören Sie,ich habe kein Problem mit Ihnen, im Gegenteil,ich weiß das was sie hier tun zu schätzen, aber zu meinem Bedauern muss ich leider feststellen daß Ihre immer wieder kehrenden Entgleisungen und Traum-Außgüße einem echt extrem viel Geduld und Nerven abfordern.Es bleibt einem zum Teil nichts anderes übrig als zu schmunzeln.Von der Seite betrachtet könnte man sie glatt als Hochstapler
bezeichnen so leid es mir tut.
Ich lege es Ihnen ein allerletztes mal nahe: Es gibt keine 3D projektion mit der Kommenden Nintendo Generation.Stoppen sie den Hype.Jetzt.

Anonymous said...

Du hast zu viel Zeit, ripials. Und ein echtes Problem obendrei. Aber solange es Spaß macht, an dem Rätsel "Revolution" ... nun ja ... herumzurätseln, solange werde ich auch hier lesen und so lange darf der Garbe auch schreiben, was er will, solange es nicht völlig an den Haaren herbeigezogen ist. Und das ist das meiste nicht.

Also tu ihm und uns doch bitte den Gefallen und...nun ja...sei einfach mal ruhig und lass den Leuten diesen Spaß.

Anonymous said...

Khesrau, your contribution was not worth a straw.Its fun if you do it two months three months but not a whole frickin year.
I totally agree with ripials.The point is that speculating about 3D projection after all tzhe news is just redundant and so is your comment about "having fun" and what not.
Its about the facts not the fiction.Thats what he was getting at so stop insulting people who say things within reason.
I tell you I rather go out in a Blaze then giving people who spread this BS the glory..

Anonymous said...

@ripilas :

falafelkid ALWAYS says that there *COULD* be 3d projection and that we shouldn´t get our hopes up. he dosen´t genrate a hype about 3d projection or something.

___

for e3, i don´t expect to see anything as spectacular as the controller to be shown. if they still got something as impressive (or even more impressive) than that, that would be awesome but i don´t expect something so innovative anymore from revolution.

game on said...

Another amazing find! keep it up!

Anonymous said...

Our sites are NOT associated with "dice ventures."

Not sure how you came to that conclusion.

If you you have any questions about the interview please feel free to email me.

(sorry for posting in the comment section, but i can't seem to find another way to contact you)

Kind Regards
Ron
NintendoRevolution.ca

Anonymous said...

@anonym:

You do not have to read this site. You are a free man. And if my contribution was not "worth a straw" I wonder what yours is...

"Its fun if you do it two months three months but not a whole frickin year."

You can only know that if you belong to those people, who read falafelkids blog for more than "a whole frickin year". This is poor, man, really poor. (Some people call this "bashing"...)

Anonymous said...

When I read "touch-sensitivity", I imagine analog buttons and the like. Surely nothing new.... the harder you push on a button, the more effect it has
-MNT

Anonymous said...

I think this means just using the controller in 3d space a la the dentist from the TGS controller video.

Falafelkid said...

@Ripials: Just a quick word in German here: Deine lächerliche Phrasendrescherei beeindruckt niemanden.

And this is the last warning. From now on, any long posts in any other language than English will be deleted, so will unordered and pointless rants.

So, Ripials, your post fails on both counts. I will leave this one here, though. Just as proof that you have a dictionary and are not afraid to use it.

@Anonym:

Its about the facts not the fiction. (...) I tell you I rather go out in a Blaze then giving people who spread this BS the glory.

This blog is entirely based on facts. Are you accusing me of spreading bullshit? Then say so. But I´d like to see you back that one up.

To everyone else, especially Coldblooder: Thanks for taking the time to actually read what I write. I appreciate your support and that you understand my arguments. That is not to be taken for granted, as people like Ripials prove.

Anonymous said...

Ohoooo Phrasendrescherei oder was?
Das passende Wort nach drei Stunden Panik..
:)

Falafelkid said...

Anonym: English, please. What are you referring to?

Anonymous said...

Don't pretend to be clueless Mr. Garbe.
Its all good my man.

Falafelkid said...

You haven´t answered my question, which was quite reasonable: What are you referring to with ´three hours of panic´?

Anonymous said...

Again,the message was clear and unmistakable Mr.Garbe.There is really no need for further explanation.
Take it as you want..

Falafelkid said...

No, I insist. I am allowing everyone to leave their comments anonymously. But it would be nice if the majority of readers (including myself) would be able to participate. That is what this blog is about. So please elaborate.

Anonymous said...

with 3 hours of panic, he meant that it took you 3 hours to write something after ripials has posted his long long text.

you posted 3 hours and 1 minute later than him. obviusly he doesen´t seem to know that you have a job and a real life and that you don´t hang around in the internet 24/7

Falafelkid said...

Hi Coldblooder. Thanks for clearing that up. I never really look at the datelines. Those people really have too much time on their hands. They should go out and get a girlfriend. Again: thanks, Coldblooder.

Anonymous said...

Falafelkid

could you please contact me regarding your post.

Regards,

Ron
ronswerd @yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

@falafelkid :

no problem. it seems like there is always someone making trouble. it was quiet for a while after you had undeniable proof that you really are the person that you claim to be and now its starting again. without a reason.

hopefully they will get it, that you just want to discuss all the posibilities that are there. even if it turns out to be totaly false. i don´t think anyone would cry when there isn´t a 3d projection or something,

Anonymous said...

Falafelkid,Coldblooder möchte dass du du ihn ab jetzt James nennst! allesklar?

Anonymous said...

@truthkilla:

the revolution controller was shown on last years tokyo game show. for more information (and pictures of it) heck out ign : http://revolution.ign.com/articles/670/670518p1.html

Falafelkid said...

@Truthkilla: The original interview did say "at E3", though that doesn´t make sense, of course. Refer to the Google cache for proof.

Anonymous said...

Touch snesitivity in this case brings me back to that old rumor that some PC website started, saying that the controller would have force feedback. You know how devs have been wondering about how you swing your arm and your sword hits the wall, but your arm keeps going? Force feedback would fix that. I was disappointed when I read that before I knew the real controller, but now it makes perfect sense.

Anonymous said...

How can you not get this through your head: Sprechst nichts in Deutsch!

For goodness sake. Only like 10 percent of us speak german. The blog is published in english.

Personally I don't think someone from EA would make an NDA blunder so easily. It's probably just bad wording on her part. If there is a 'last secret', I surely hope it isn't a touch pad.

Anonymous said...

Hello Fal I have been an avid reader of your blog for just about a year now and have never posted anything but something has been bugging me. I was thinking about what you said about 3dh and all and couldent help but think about a clip i watched pre e3 last year about some guy that claimed to work for nintendo. Instead of showing 3d in front of you the clip showed the guy holding something in his hand and controlling like a plane or car on tv but there was a eyetoy like device that captured the room and this person could drive the car or plane around the room. and feedback on this could be helpful. anyone else seen this? thanks

Metaldave said...

falafelkid, do you think that the Revolution's final secret might not be 3D projection but making you see images in 3D on your TV screen?

Take a look at this:

http://www.revo-europe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1594&page=2&pp=25

Scroll down to the middle of the page and you will see an image that is moving back and forth "twitching".

By doing this it gives the image depth and makes it almost jump out at you in 3D. It may be old, but I think that this would be a reasonable technique for the Revolution to do in-game. What do you think?

Anonymous said...

Falafelkid, you should really read this interesting article about the Rev's power. It explains why the Rev can handle real next-gen graphics with twice the power of Gamecube:

http://www.armleg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3447&mforum=mozlapunkmessag

It might even be some sort of proof that the Rev will make use of Parallax Mapping or Displacement Mapping. The biggest worry with this techniques is the huge strain on RAM, but with 1T-SRAM and the Rev's resolution, it shouldn't be a problem.

Falafelkid said...

@Anonym: Hi. That sounds very interesting, but I haven´t seen anything like that. A link would be great, if you can find it again.

@Metaldave: Hi, good to have you back. That is an amazing effect, for sure. But I am wondering if that jigger might give you headaches after a while and might disrupt the flow of moving cameras in-game or in cutscenes. Still, an amazing effect for such a simple technology.

Anonymous said...

@falafelkid: read the post above yours in case you haven't seen it.

Metaldave said...

I know it would give me headaches! That is why it would have to be "twitching" so fast that your naked eye will not notice, and just see the 3D image.

Nintendo has patented a method that would give the player "a deep view of the happenings on screen"

This patent was released in January of 2005 but seems it could be easily associated with that 3D image I showed you before. Take a look falafelkid:

http://cube.ign.com/articles/583/583217p1.html

Falafelkid said...

@Stabby: Hi and thanks for the link. That was an excellent read, especially since I knew nothing about hardware and architecture, really. I would urge every reader to check out this great post as well. Again, thanks.

Anonymous said...

Bonjour, falafelkid.

Just to let you knowm that i love your blog and i'm supporting you. Enough of all those "Im an insider who risk to get in trouble for nothing and that post clues, and not fact, just so that you cant really tell if im fake or not ". I visit your place everyday, because i like how you pretent nothing. You speculate with the news. and thats just great.

I'd like to know, though, about your position in the industrie, if you have one and if its not too much to ask for. Not everyone can get into a dual with miyamoto over DS's wifi. Also, what are your thoughts about nintendo's secret? I think people are too over-hyped by other fans, and that , if its not 3d (displayed with any method), there will be a big let down, a big lost in interest in revolution.

I hope that it doesnt happen, but i cannot deny than im really worried about it.

It seems like revolution fanboys are
a bit ironic. They support the console because of its new gameplay elements, yet they dream of real 3d, bump maps, secret methods and such, so that the graphics could be compared to the 360, or the ps3.

Falafelkid said...

Hi Metaldave. As if you had guessed it, I was actually looking around for that patent recently, since I never examined it in great detail (it surfaced before I started my blog). There are two patents involved that are almost the same. They are here and here. I will examine them in detail as soon as I can. Thanks for the link.

Anonymous said...

Falafelkid: Here's another great article about Parallax Mapping:

http://www.armleg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3209&mforum=mozlapunkmessag

I know you've done a lot of research, but there might be something you don't know yet. Also this technique is low on CPU but puts a strain on RAM. However I think that's meant only for higher resolutions and since Parallax Mapping is a technique based around textures, it wouldn't be that much of a problem in lower resolutions. Also the 1T-SRAM may be much of a help, because it allows for faster transfer of textures (assuming that not the whole scene is rendered at once).

Metaldave said...

The patent sounds like it would be displayed on a regular TV. Deforming frames, line of sight, predetermined distances away from one side of the frame? If its what I think it is, Nintendo will win this next-gen race hands down. I will try not getting my hopes up yet.

Anonymous said...

Bad news ...

Both page of RTR was remove ... I say Both.
old one was lost.
new one ... everything except first one was remove.

... so rtr guy may found by ninntendo ... in bad case.

Anonymous said...

update ... the oldone was return
... sorry

Anonymous said...

Just came to my mind. Everybody's talking about the slot on the front of the Revolution and projection and all that. But didn't they say that the controler had a secret? (haven't read al the post, maybe someone already brought it up)

Anonymous said...

Check this article out: Nintendo Files Interesting Dual Screen Patent from Nintendo Now and the patent related to the article on "Game apparatus utilizing touch panel and storage medium storing game program". Maybe related somehow to Revolution...

Anonymous said...

hey, I know your interested in 3d virtual projection, so I have put a Nintendo patent up on my website to back up your theory, it was from oct 2005, and it shows the gamecube in pic 1 of the patent (red herring), but if you read on it confirms a projection screen, just go to http://www.nintendoinfo.com
its the top story today
hope this helps
sizcoz

Anonymous said...

1. Touch Sensitivity? (just a fake)

http://gonintendo.com/wp-content/
photos/revo_touch_screen.jpg


2. 3D after all?

Source:
http://boards.ign.com/revolut
ion_lobby/b8270/110757885/p1

Pictures:
http://www.3dh.net/pictures.htm


3. Leaked? Nintendo Revolution date. ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbRCNc9I_Ls&eurl=

Anonymous said...

Hey Fal,


I believe also that the interview with NIntendos own Mrs. Kaplan also mentioned of this "touch sensitivity" in the recen Next-gen.biz interview. Where she relates the success to the DS with bringing in a whole new demographic of gamers. Keep up the great work Fal. I enjoy reading your site daily.

Rafael Navarro
USA

Anonymous said...

Hello
My name is Thoshibi Inaka,
My cousins father works at EAD.
I gathered some interesting tidbits about Revoultion and new IPs:
1.Miyamotos new IP is called ZooCrew.The goal is to manage a zoo and interact with all sorts of
animals using the controller in unique ways.Also,the team behind it developed a new technique for the illustration of skin that makes it look very appealing and realistic.Unfortunatly thats all I know..

2.Nintendo apparently plans to aquire Valve.Both companies share similiar philosopies towards games.Nintendo appreciates the quality of Valves vivid games,so for them its a perfect opportunity to expand appeal in western terretories.
My cousin added that Nintendo is not confident with how things have turned out at 1st party Retro Studios since a majority of the core staff have left the company after Metroid Prime 1 was finished.Apparently they weren't contented with the second one.

3.The next Mario will be quite straight forward,meaning that it will go back to its roots, in 3D though.Its sort of like in the parallel worlds of Mario Sunshine, where your job is strictly to overcome the obstacles and reach the end.Of course this game will take great advantage of the controller as seen in the TGS video(the girl).Furthermore,they will take a
different approach as far as the graphics and audio are concerned.The
bright colours will be replaced by more complex tones,not neccessarly darker ones,but one could say definitly
more appealing or more edgy.What underlines this, is the fact that Nintendo is cooparating with Nike and thus Mario will wear Nike shoes in his next platformer!The Nike logo
will be on every Mario box!Very clever indeed.The music in the game will be arranged by a famous japanese "Trip-Hop" Dj called the Automater,he was responsible for some of the tracks on the first Gorillaz album(I know its hard to believe).Last but not least the Mario character will be upgradable sort of like in a RPG.

Thought you would appreciate this since the wait seems so long..

Bye.

Anonymous said...

its very brave to post that in falafelkids blog without having a solid proof that you really have contact to nintendo employes. as much as i would like to belive what you wrote, but after all those fakes that appeared already that claimed to know something, i won´t belive it until you have some undeniable proof or if it turns out to be true what you have said.

Anonymous said...

Strangely, I cannot find the Nintendo "fixation point" patent that IGN talks about here:

http://cube.ign.com/articles/583/583217p1.html

Does anyone know where it is?

I have tried searching at uspto.gov for patents applied for on 20040721 and Nintendo, and I have also searched for keywords "Nintendo" and "fixation". With the latter, I found a patent that cites Nintendo, but seems to have nothing to do with the Nintendo's work.

Does anyone know how to find the patent that discusses this "fixation point" technology?

FS

Falafelkid said...

Hi Thoshibi Inaka.

"Nintendo apparently plans to aquire Valve.Both companies share similiar philosopies towards games. (...)

Mario will wear Nike shoes in his next platformer!"


You don´t seriously expect us to believe any of that. It´s obviously made up.

In fact, so is the name you gave. In Japanese, there is no ´th´ in the beginning of a word, only ´t´. Further, Inaka means ´village´ and is an unheard of surname, according to a native speaker. You are obviously not Japanese and are not fooling anyone.

Holloweaver blog said...

i remember reading somewhere (think it was sometime round august-september...) that their were no plans to include touch-technologie in the revo, not in the controller neither on the box itself, ...or am I dreaming?

Blizz419 said...

you are partially correct i believe halloweaver, i think they said there would be no touch screen on the conroller or elsewere i believe, but also not this article said nothing about a screen either.

GWX said...

In game touch, someone said. I call it what I heard once before. The controller will have depth perception...you can "feel" when for example you cut through somthing, you can feel as if there is really an object there and that there is substance to that object, as if your cutting through its real life counterpart. A great example of such an object for example is a watermelon...you feel as if you are cutting through a real one!

Blizz419 said...

ya that aint happening gwx, not yet anyway

GWX said...

if the revolution controller has a SPECIAL kind of force feedback (which I think it does!) its already here!

Blizz419 said...

and i'm willing to bet it does not have any "special kind of force feedback" maybe in 5 years on nintendo's next system, but i dont think we will see it on Rev though i admit it would be cool, but it would i'm sure also use to much battery power.

Anonymous said...

On the net you can already find mockups by fans of the Nintendo Revolution controller with a touch sensitive area. Looks pretty cool. Although i do not think the controller needs the touch sensitivity and I also do no expect the controllers to have touchscreens.
I know what I'm about to say is to farfetched and to unrealistic to be included in a Revolutionset. But wat if the Nintendo Revolution came with a touchsensitive projectionscreen? Instead of projecting the images on the wall the Revolution device would project on a projectionscreen in front of the gamer and the gamer could interact.It would give a whole new twist about Nintendo's early comment over a build in touchscreen. Alright, enough of the lsd trip.
I did find a very cool nextgen interactive screendemo that shows a large screen that works with multiple inputs. Somehow similar with the new Nintendo patent for their next gen gameboy. But the size of this touchscreen makes it a very attractive interface for a gaming device a generation after the Revolution, I think.
Please check this demo of a large next gen touchscreen, it's real cool and very revolutionary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp-y3ZNaCqs