Saturday, March 11, 2006

IGN takes dev kit for a test-drive


IGN has just had some hands-on time with an earlier type of Revolution development kit. Here´s the rundown:
Revolution will definitely operate as an extension of the GameCube hardware. These preliminary kits include only a wired Revolution controller, a wired nunchuck attachment and a wired motion bar, which some studios have labeled the "wand." (...) The wired Revolution controller is inserted into a control socket on the GameCube hardware. The nunchuck unit connects to the freehand-style controller via a makeshift Ethernet cable. And the so-called wand plugs into a Memory Pak slot on the GCN development hardware. A software solution undoubtedly resolves any initial compatibility issues. Studios have been told by Nintendo to experiment from there.

The freehand-style remote included in the preliminary kit is neither as well produced nor as finalized as the slick hardware Nintendo has showcased in official photos. It's not wireless, for starters. But even from a visual standpoint, it's different, sporting a grayish color and a flimsy, plastic-like design. It's much lighter in the hands than we had anticipated, which makes sense given that it doesn't use batteries. The unit is powered through its wired connection to the GCN development hardware. The final, wireless controller will need batteries, which should give it some weight.

One attribute about the controller that may be difficult to ascertain from photos is its size. For as many times as we've seen it in various videos and pictures, we're surprised at how tiny the device feels in the hands. The freehand unit is much smaller than the remote that ships with the premium package of Xbox 360, by comparison. Despite how small it is, it's very natural to hold. The peripheral offers extremely intuitive access to the A button, D-Pad and underbelly B-trigger, all of which are properly labeled. Interestingly, the A and B buttons located beneath the mysterious home key are labeled twice: A and B in capital letters and again in lowercase letters. We're not sure why. The buttons themselves are clicky, not unlike those found on a Game Boy Advance SP.

The nunchuck unit is snugly held in the opposite hand and the Ethernet wire connecting it to the Revmote is obviously far from final. The two shoulder buttons on the development nunchuck unit are not labeled.

Finally, there's the motion sensory bar, which is a thin black device in the shape of a baton that sits on a tiny stand near or on a television. Nintendo has stated that this bar is a prototype and therefore the unit that ships with the basic developer kit shouldn't be considered final in any way. It is about a foot long and relatively unobtrusive, except for a wire that extends from one side and plugs into the GCN dev kit's Memory Pak slot. (...)

Most software houses working with this kit have only a vague idea about what to expect from Revolution where horsepower is concerned. Studio sources regularly reiterate previously reported projections that the hardware will be roughly twice as powerful as GameCube. Development insiders we've spoken to seem unconcerned with power and instead focused on the gameplay possibilities that the new controller may help realize.

Unfortunately, they were unable to test any games. Sorry for the recent lack of updates, by the way. I am quite busy and preparing for the Miyamoto interview next week.

Source: IGN
Thanks to: Product_Number_18

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

My big question with these dev kits is where they got the hands on. Namely, what studio gave them access. I do not think it was any of the big name ones, because they would already have the newer dev kits. I really have no idea.

Jon Gardner said...

It probably was a larger developer actually. All of the smaller ones probably didn't get the early SDK that was actually just a modified cube. That, and seeing the old control kit is no big deal, since it doesn't show off any capabilities of the software.

game on said...

good luck with the interview

Anonymous said...

They should have coded up a quick version of Pong or something to try it out. That's what I would do if I could get my hands on a controller kit like that. Wow.

Jon Gardner said...

oh man! What a great idea! I think that all of the systems should come with a copy of Pong on the memory card. Just so people could already have a game to showcase the control style.

Anonymous said...

Where and when can we read the Miyamoto interview?

Anonymous said...

Miyamoto...what extraordinary experience it will be!

Anonymous said...

Check GAF !

Iwata een bom zal droppen !

Anonymous said...

Ive got a question for Myamoto if you have the time to squeese this one in -
What guitars is he playing?

Anonymous said...

there are strange people in here Oo

ask him for a release date :D

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update

BTW can you make a question (even if not direct) about the micro and other periphicals (like cameras) to Mrº Miyamoto?

Anonymous said...

i hope hes in a revealing mood

Anonymous said...

Revo-Launchtitle announced! ;-)

Tingles Adventure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3a_
ludDZw0&search=nintendo%20revolution

Anonymous said...

www.powerweb.nl has spoken with Reggie!

If this site is trustworthy, the first
revolution-games will be shown at GDC!

(BTW: They can´t varify that `Tingles
Adventure´ is under development) ;-)


german source:

"Neue Infos und erste Spiele auf der GDC?

Laut der holländischen Seite powerweb.nl, wird Iwata am 23. März auf der GDC eine Bombe platzen lassen. Die Seite beruft sich auf Insider-Informationen von Reggie Fils-Aime höchstpersönlich.


Außerdem schreibt Matt Casamassina von RevolutionIGN im IGN Insider board, daß bereits vor der diesjährigen E3 erste Spiele für den Revolution vorgestellt werden könnten.

Quelle: Go Nintendo"

Source: http://n-revolution.de/portal/html/index.php

Anonymous said...

Theres nothing strange about guitars, he plays them and it would be cool to know which ones he has..

Anonymous said...

Reggie on graphics of the next-gen.
(Hasn´t Kaplan mentioned, that the
revolution-console is the new-gen?)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-
3523670659115894947&q=nintendo+revolution

Anonymous said...

http://tinyurl.com/hhepv

cool little forum post speculating on some comments made by nintendo execs and metroid prime 3... they also cover the animal crossing HMDs and that old mario demo video with the guy jumping around and stuff... cool post.

-tactics

Anonymous said...

here's a shiggy (haha i almost typo'd "shitty") quote from that forum post that i dont seem to remember hearing before... pretty friggin awesome when you think about the (possible) implications...

“Nintendo is always trying to be on the forefront of control innovations, like the analog stick, rumble or wireless. As soon as these are available, our competitors snatch them up. Because the user interface is going to drive the Revolution software design, that’s what’s going to make our software stand out. Nobody else is going to be able to do what we do with next-generation game software. So, I can’t reveal anything. It’s under wraps because it’s the big gun.”

there's your "big gun" falafelkid.

how do you like that one, IALS? sucker.

-tactics.

Anonymous said...

Good luck for the interview!
Three long days to wait!
Luca S. (Italy)

Metaldave said...

Things will pick up soon, the last few days have been extremely boring.

Anonymous said...

old?

http://www.f7c-network.com/
data/media/1137/revolution.jpg

Anonymous said...

Fanmade video

http://www.codenamerevolu
tion.com/revolution.htm

Anonymous said...


http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=29&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=Nintendo.AS.&OS=AN/Nintendo&RS=AN/Nintendo


Falafelkid, You might have already seen this patent before but I think you should reread this one closely. Here's some interesting tidbits that I think some might have overlooked:

"[0020] In one embodiment of the present invention, the specific object includes a light source and the parameter changing means changes at least the brightness of the light source. More specifically, the specific object includes a light source and the parameter changing means (36, S21) changes at least the brightness of the light source. Therefore, it is possible to generate such a screen where light from the light source shines from behind an object. This makes it possible to achieve a more real scenic effect."

"[0021] A storage medium according to the present invention stores a three-dimensional image generating program, and the three-dimensional image generating program is executed by a processor of a three-dimensional image generating apparatus. The three-dimensional image generating apparatus comprises an operation input detecting means, an object data storing means, a displaying means, and a depth value storing means. The operation input detecting means detects an operator's operation input. The object data storing means stores object data for rendering objects forming a three-dimensional image. The displaying means displays an image projected onto a projection screen within a virtual three-dimensional space. The depth value storing means stores a depth value of each pixel of the image."

"[0106] In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to production of CG movie films, not limited to generation of game images."

Falafelkid, I think this patent backs up your 3D projection theory. I also think that this patent backs up the old conspiracy that Nintendo has beaten the movie industry to a new 3D projection technology. Who knows? We'll find out at either GDC or E3 I bet.

Good Luck for your interview with Miyamoto!

Anonymous said...

If the previous link didn't work here's the Patent Application number:

20050237323

Tortus said...

It's NEAR

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your interview Falafelkid.qkmoc

Blizz419 said...

@ Tactics

playbomb is not worth the webspace it takes up.

Anonymous said...

that's a little harsh... what's your grudge? thought_epiphany? i think he's pretty cool.
regardless, i really love their forums. they're small, not full of trolls, and we have a lot of fun discussions there!
you should check out that post, blizz, its really cool :)

Anonymous said...

I agree with Blizz on that, Playbomb is a waste of space.

Blizz419 said...

looks like i pissed of someone from playbomb lol