Thursday, June 08, 2006

Rumour round-up



Recently, there has been a wealth of rumours concerning the Wii console. It´s hard to keep up with every single one of them, so I have summarized all of them here for your convenience.



1.) The Space World 2006 story

Perhaps the most spectacular, certainly the most outrageous one was originally posted on the Moz la Punk forums and republished almost everywhere. I will not quote it in its entirety, since it is obviously fake. Here´s why: The author claims that Nintendo will announce a whole wealth of new info at a Space World expo to take place in August. It mentions several new games which will be rated ´Adults Only´. Critics have claimed that Nintendo has never published a game that was rated such. Also, and more convincingly, developers can only aim for a certain rating. You can never know what rating you end up with.

It is further claimed that ´Sadness´ gameplay is to be showcased. No disrespect to Nibris and the best of luck to them, but I am sure they will not manage to get this game out for Wii, let alone be featured at a Nintendo show.

According to the post, Iwata was also supposed to introduce Hideo Kojima: "He will go on to explain the idea behind Elebits and then announce that a new ´disruption´ will take place." As far as Elebits is concerned, Shingo Mukaitoge is producer and Akihiro Ishihara is director. Hideo Kojima has nothing to do with this game and, thus, would not be on stage talking about it. Also, it would make no sense for Nintendo to introduce Kojima-San as "one of Nintendo’s newest best friends", since he has enjoyed a close working relationship with Nintendo for some time.

The claims concerning a ´Resident Evil´ Wii exclusive are even more ridiculous. Capcom will be more than hesitant about publishing a part of the series exclusively on a Nintendo console after the fourth installment did not sell as much as Capcom had hoped for. Also, a game that is slated for a 2009 release would not be discussed publically, let alone at an event like Space World.

I won´t even go into the hardware claims that follow. Just ask yourself the question: Wouldn´t developers that have been hard at work on the games you saw at E3 be a little pissed off to learn that they can pretty much start from scratch? Or do you really believe they would have toned down those demos to the graphics you saw, just as a smoke screen? Of course not. This guy is a notorious liar and a bad one at that. Don´t believe a word of this crap.



2.) The user profile / caricature story

First of all, let´s recap a little. This has been confirmed to some extent. Miyamoto said the following in an MTV interview at the end of May:
The "Wii Sports" series features these little models which you can put your own faces on ... and then you may start to see those characters, with faces you've created, appearing in different games on the Wii system.
Now, Digital Battle (through Codename Revolution) report about a Game Informer article to be published in the next issue. Apparently, the article will reveal exclusive information about this feature:

It seems that the Wii will feature a build in camera for snapshots so you can put your face on character models in the game. The ATi graphics chip is said to be quite powerful supporting HDR and bump mapping.

The Wii will also feature a hardware physics processor, with built in 32 Mb of dedicated RAM, enough to take the load of the IBM CPU. A headset will be available either included in the package or sold separately.

The article also mentions that Nintendo will sell SD memory cards ranging from 2 GB to 7 GB. No price has been mentioned.
Let´s leave the discussion about the GPU and physics to one side for the moment and concentrate on the caricature / profile aspect. This one is further supported by another source. The Game|Life blog interviewed Nintendo producer Katsuya Eguchi:
He told me that players would be able to create their own facial caricatures to put on the players in Wii Sports, then use them in other games. (...)

One of the most important parts of the story (is) the fact that the caricature-making and profile-storing process is part of the hardware.
This would suggest an internal camera, possibly hidden next to the SD card slot. I expressly asked Iwata why we haven´t seen what´s under the flap. He told me that he was sorry to disappoint and that there was only an SD slot underneath. Mind you, he would say that.



3.) The dev kit story


Go Nintendo has published a picture of what appears to be a black Wii console (still bearing the old Revolution logo on its side). Codename Revolution misquoted Go Nintendo and went on to call it an SDK. Just to clarify: It´s not an SDK. I have seen the dev kits that were shipped to Ubi Soft Paris in early April and they are about twice as big as the final console. It looks like one of those mini PCs, is also black but it has a conventional tray disc drive. It´s not self-loading like the Wii drive and it does not have that blue light. Instead, it has a small LED bar that is chasing around in a circle (if you can picture that). So whatever this is (fake or real), it is not an SDK. It´s not that important, but just so you know.



4.) The instant messenger story

Codename Revolution has come across a patent that specifies a messenger service like AIM or MSN for Wii. Here is their story:
According to the latest United States patent (7056217) filed by Nintendo (planned six years ago) and is now published on June 6th, 2006 it states the following:

Title: Messaging service for video game systems with buddy list that
displays game being played

Description: (...) The messaging service client provides the user with an opportunity to create a user profile that is stored in the memory of network server…The user profile may contain any desired user-specific information including, but not limited to, an alias, first name, last name, gender, age, city, state, favorite game, favorite food, favorite sport, hobbies, recommended URL and notes. (...) Users may also be provided with the capability of including in their profiles customized faces (images) made up of various user-selected features (e.g., a particular nose, mouth, mustache, etc.) in order to enhance the “persona” of the user. These customized faces may be included with messages. Users may even be provided with the capability of including in their profiles digital images of their own faces generated, for example, using a digital camera…
This would further support the profile story above. The patent can be found here.



5. The browser details

This isn´t rumour, it´s proper news. But all the better, right? Cubed3 has interviewed Scott Hedrick from Opera about their browser´s inclusion in the Wii.
The Opera browser is saved to the Flash ROM on the Wii console, and does not require a separate memory card as Opera for DS does. The browser can be launched in only a few seconds, immediately delivering a great user experience. (...)

Opera has worked closely with Nintendo to achieve a breakthrough experience, especially in terms of incorporating the revolutionary Wii remote into the browsing experience. (...)

Nintendo’s network-centric approach with WiiConnect24 will enable rich new services and capabilities, the full extent of which Nintendo has yet to reveal. For Opera, WiiConnect24 presents more interesting opportunities rather than challenges.

Opera has long been working with set-top box manufacturers, for example, that use Opera to create Web-based user interfaces. These IP-based set-top boxes are always connected, like Wii, and can be easily and dynamically updated with live content or new menus. (...)

The latest version, Opera 9, even includes small Web-based applications called Widgets. We have announced that Opera Widgets will be available on devices and it would be cool to see them on Wii. (...)

Navigating the Web with Opera on the Wii will be as easy if not easier than using Opera on a desktop. For Opera desktop users, surfing on the Wii will be a very familiar experience. Opera will be integrating its unique rendering technologies to compensate for the lower resolution of TVs and the added distance of the user from the TV screen.

Nintendo’s vision is to expand the appeal of its products to as large of an audience as possible. We aim to make a browsing experience that leverages the intuitive capabilities of the Wii remote, ensuring that anyone from an experienced gamer to your grandma can surf the Web on Wii. (...)
Based on Opera 9 for Devices, the Wii browser will be not only able to
surf the full Internet, but execute Web applications using technologies such as AJAX. In addition to the ability to use advanced services such as Google Maps, third parties could theoretically develop Web applications specifically for the Wii. (...)

In addition to being a full Web browser, Opera also serves as a presentation engine for devices, such as set-top boxes. This means that you it is possible to create dynamic Web-based applications and user interfaces using Web technology running on Opera – avoiding the use of native code such as C++ Nintendo has not released information on its specific use of Opera, but one can imagine the possibilities of what a browser can deliver to a game on a console that is always connected beyond simply browsing the Web.

I believe Nintendo announced that Wii will be available in November 2006 and will cost less than $250. You will not have to buy Opera as an external item, as it will be available within Wii upon purchase. There is not a separate cartridge as there is for the DS.
It is just possible that Mr. Hedrick told us about Wii launching in November there. He might have meant to say ´no later than November´, but November itself would be in keeping with Iwata´s comments during my E3 interview. He said that Nintendo is in no rush to launch the console and that they would only release it once the launch library is sufficient.



6.) The tip of the iceberg story

Now, you all have read this by now, I guess. GameDaily Biz interviewed an ATI spokesperson and got some pretty cryptic replies:
Wii games will (not) simply look like GameCube titles using a unique control method. Nintendo already told us that the hardware being used at E3 was not finalized. Moreover, during the show GameDaily BIZ met with ATI, which is providing the "Hollywood" GPU for the Wii, and John Swinimer, Senior Public Relations Manager of Consumer Products, emphasized that the Wii architecture is capable of producing far better results than what we've witnessed thus far. "I think what you saw [on Wii] was just the tip of the iceberg of what the Hollywood chip can bring to the Nintendo Wii," he said.
Now this is a truly weird quote. Swinimer might have been keen to emphasize that the Wii GPU is a significant advance on the Gamecube´s chip. After all, he is an ATI PR exec. But this comparison goes far, far beyond that. What could he possibly mean by that? Again, take into account that Wii game development has been well under way for about a year, so the E3 versions cannot be too far off from the final product. So, in my mind, this could relate back to the alleged physics processing capability of the ATI chip, see point 2.) above. Of course, this could also relate to a different means of displaying those graphics. But I would like to make this absolutely clear again: I do not regard such technology as likely. It´s merely a possibility.



7.) The PS3 architecure flaws story

Of course, this is not a Wii rumour story. But The Inquirer carried a story that, if true, would greatly affect the Wii´s future. As such, it was met with shock, disbelief and cynicism by other media outlets. I am in no position to take sides here, not being too technically minded. But here is the upshot of the story:
On the flight to Japan, my row-mate said (...) that the RSX can only write about half as much vertex data as it can fetch, not an ideal situation by any stretch, but survivable. Then came the horrible news, RSX appears to be limited to setting up 275 Million triangles/second, anemic compared to the 500+ million in XBox360. When asked about this apparent thumping dished out by MS, the reply from one notable ISV relations boffin was a terse 'What a Piece of Junk'. (...)

Cell appears to be pretty badly broken. For main memory, it looks like Cell has about 25GBps of main memory bandwidth, and RSX is about 15-20GBps. Achievable bandwidth is between about two thirds of that and nearly 100%, clearly the elves in the caves surrounding Rambus central did something right with XDR. That is the happy news.

For local memory, the measured vs theoretical bandwidth is missing, I wonder why? RSX is at a solid 22.4GBps for both read and write, good job there green team. Then comes the blue team with Cell. Local memory write is about 4GBps, 40% of the next slowest bandwidth there. Then comes the bomb from hell, the Cell local memory read bandwidth is a stunning 16MBps, note that is a capital M to connote Mega vs a capital G to connote Giga. This is a three order of magnitude oopsie, and it is an oopsie, as Sony put it "(no, this isn't a typo...)".

If you can write at 250x the read speed, it makes Cell local memory just about useless. That means you do all your work out of main memory, and the whole point of local is, well, pointless. This can lead to contention issues for the main memory bus, and all sorts of nightmarish to debug performance problems. Basically, if this Sony presentation to PS3 devs shown to us is correct, it looks like PS3 will be hobbled in a serious way.
Harsh words that are reminiscent of former Sony developer Josh Robinson´s critical review that got him fired. In my interview with Factor 5´s Julian Eggebrecht, I was assured that all the talk about PS3 development being unnecessarily difficult was grossly exaggerated. He might have to say that, of course. However, there was not even an off-the-record indication that there was anything to those rumours. That is all I can say about this story.





In my mind, the rumours about the Wii containing both a camera and microphone must be true. I am also inclined to believe that the camera will allow for mugshots that are then turned into caricatures and integrated into certain games. Such a visualized profile system makes a whole lot of sense for a console that is meant to be used by up to four people at one time, who may be of greatly differing ages.

A messenger system makes just as much sense and goes some way to explaining the still largely mysterious standby mode. The possible browser functions that do not have directly to do with browsing are an interesting hint in this respect, too.

Finally, I believe that we are finally getting closer to the ´last secret´ that I, for one, still expect and it most likely has to do with the functions just mentioned. In fact, when some people speculated after E3 that the Wii will double as an Voice over IP video phone, I immediately thought: "That´s it!" And I may very well still be correct on this one, in one way or another.

Sources: Moz la Punk forums, Digital Battle (through Codename Revolution), MTV, Game|Life, Go Nintendo, Codename Revolution, Cubed3, GameDaily Biz, The Inquirer

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, I really enjoyed that article man. Wii is already as it stands a great console. If we get anymore surprises then thats a big bonus!!!

Viva la revolution!!!

Shoxware Games said...

About the "Tip of the Iceberg"... Why is that a weird quote? I mean it's obvious, that the Wii can handle much more than what was shown on E3. For example look at Pokemon Battle Revo. the graphics are very, very nice.

Falafelkid said...

Hi Shoxware. That´s a very weird quote because it goes much further than simply defending Wii´s graphics against the two competitors. I would have expected them to talk about how the graphics will look better, maybe even significantly better. But speaking about the tip of an iceberg means that we have seen only a fraction of the final graphics. That means the graphics will look something like eight times better than they do now. Of course, there is PR talk involved here. But even taking this into account that statement is very, very bold.

Anonymous said...

Agreed, the Pokemon screen looks gorgeous, as do the MP£ game graphics.

A very cool round up there Falafelkid, cheers. What does hit me as interesting again is this whole tip of the iceberg comment. I cannot help but wonder if that has something to do with MMORPG/Opera browser applications. Also could the Wii have a 32Mb PPU and still be relatively cheap?

Anonymous said...

eh, i dont think its very bold at all. tip of the iceberg, its just pr. and 8 times better graphics than now? get real, you'd need a supercomputer to do somthing like that. you're reading way too much into this quote.

Anonymous said...

I'm more inclined to believe that the caricatures are going to be created using a "Mr. Potato Head" style face creator rather than from a camera (at least in the Wii Sports titles). I think that there may be some kind of camera in the sensor bar, though, that can be used as a video-phone type device or for motion-sensing such as used in early PC USB cameras that would allow a person to pop bubbles or "throw" a basketball. A microphone, however, is more than likely, since the controller uses a speaker and any speaker can double as a microphone. (if you don't believe me, plug a pair of headphones into a microphone jack on your computer and turn up the sound.) The inherent problems with having both active at the same times is that the sound from the speaker would be picked up by the mic. This can be removed using software (sort-of, with significant sound degredation), but I think that it's more likely that only one will be allowed to function at a time, hence my belief that the Wiimote speaker will double as a mic.

-fyter

Anonymous said...

mr. selfproclaimed rumor-policeman pretending to be the only one in the know again. this is really not very interesting. at the same time older false pretences come to my mind, like the one where falafelkid proclaimed the final name of revolution would be something that's causing a revolution "(i like he mentioned "shift" as an example). now see what we got....

Anonymous said...

First rumour say Launch date is Nov. 10

... Last news I get is Wii will hit the market in September (AP)

September ... 10 november

First rumour = Fake

Anonymous said...

Nice article. Just my two cents:

- What if that camera is used together with wiimote and nunchaku to take absolute control on the game?

- I don't think voice over IP video phone will be THE secret, because THE secret is supposed to please hard core gamers, as Perry Kaplan suggested.

- Julencin2000

Metaldave said...

I had a really good comment but blogger.com died on me. Oh well, good points Fala.

"Never underestimate Nintendo"

that looks like it might be more true now than before.

Anonymous said...

Excellent post falafel.

Anonymous said...

GameSpy: There are many rumors that Nintendo has been working on a new way to render amazingly lifelike graphics without actually rendering anything using new graphics technology. Are there any truth to any of these rumors and what can we look forward to?

Martin Hollis: Well…(smiles) I really can’t go too much into any of that kind of stuff. Nintendo has almost been overkill about not letting any screenshots or trailers leaked to the press. But as to what you are referring to like NURBS or depth-mapped cube maps or the spec of the technology, Nintendo will make those announcements along side our trailer at E3 06’. Just be ready to be completely shocked…I can guarantee that the smokescreen will be blown away come next E3.


GameSpy: Some gaming fans are claiming that Nintendo will not show a screenshot or trailer because the graphics are simply not on par with the other two consoles. Is this speculation without merit or could this be the case?

Martin Hollis: As I said before I really can’t comment on the graphics technologies of the console’s hardware. But rest assured that Nintendo has never manufactured the weakest powered hardware and that won’t change this go around. As to the speculation…did Nintendo not show off the DS’s graphics because they were afraid that it would look underpowered in comparison to the PSP…no. Nintendo was not afraid in the least to showcase the DS’s graphics. Even though they were certainly not as grand as the PSP. Nintendo is definitely not holding back the graphics because they don’t look as good. They just at least for the time being…want for the controller and innovative features to be the prime focus, so the press and what not doesn’t get too hung up on polygon count or dynamic lighting or bump mapping. So the claim that they aren’t releasing screenshots or trailers because they are ashamed of the graphics power is completely absurd


IBELIEVE!!!

Anonymous said...

Interview proven fake months back.

Enjoy believing in that garbage.

Anonymous said...

"Tip of the iceberg"

Well, compared to Resident Evil 4 I would say in Wii Tennis ( the featured game ) and in some other games the E3 media appeared to be "Tip of the iceberg".

I chalk it all up to promotional speak.

People who have read my comments know I am confident in the quality of graphics for hard-core Wii games. I do not compare it to 360 or PS3 and accept it for what it is.

D-Bone

P.S.

Microphone and camera in the Wii-mote...finally something we agree on. I posted a comment about it in your may 25th post...to which you never replied.

Anonymous said...

Yeah its totally FAKE, some PR person said so. Thats proof enough!

Anonymous said...

god i cant wait for xmas.

Anonymous said...

Everything points at stereoscopic 3D, and falafelkid even knows this. I'd guess he's not allowed to talk about it due to NDAs.

Anonymous said...

After what I've read, maybe I'm alone in my thoughts on this subject.
I fully believe that there is no camera in the wiimote nor under the flap. It would make a whole lot more sense if you were to take the SD Card from your OWN digital camera (since a lot of them do use SD Cards) and simply inserted it into the SD Slot located under the front flap of the Wii. From there you could download your picture from the SD Card and do everything that Iwata said.
Only this way it would cost a whole lot less then including it into the console or wiimote, since most people own digital cameras anyway (yes, not all use SD Cards, which would make things more difficult for those people).

Shoxware Games said...

Guys... don't count on stereoscopic 3D... not again! It's more likely that a camera is under the frontflap, more than a projector. What are you guys thinking? A super-duper graphics beast, with built in PPU, decent Resolution Camera and a progressive-scan enabled projector, housed in a case as big as 2,5 DVD Cases... going on sale for $249,-.

DREAM ON!

Anonymous said...

shockware, i'm in REM

Anonymous said...

The first Wii Clip!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_drrgyeA5U

RGB said...

Anonymous said...
Everything points at stereoscopic 3D, and falafelkid even knows this. I'd guess he's not allowed to talk about it due to NDAs.

He doesnt know the last secret.

Anonymous said...

NO stereoscopic 3D. Yes still sonething we don't know. But no stereoscopic 3D.

1. It too easy to copy.
2. It it too expensive.

Anonymous said...

@Pi
Stereoscopic 3D is cheap as hell -> new developed glasses (look at In-Three)

Anonymous said...

Hello Falafelkid,

I have an observation about the Wii, apart from the guts of the console I question the shipped hardware. They cannot ship the Wii with simply the the Nunchuk unit if they hope to launch with the virtual console. There must be a classical package that enable gamers to play with older games. Also, if they were camera on the Wii console it would greatly remind me of the MacBook where this feature was built in(apposed to being sold seperately)increasing the retail price point.Doesn't seem very likely to me....However, is the blue light next to the eject button any indication of this camera you speak of??? Finally, if a mic were possible it would have to be another add-on to the existing Wii-mote. Again, having this feature built in on increases the final price point. I would really love to see all features added that I read daily on many forums and would have no trouble paying for it simply cause like everyone I LOVE NINTENDO. just doesn't seem likely...

Anonymous said...

Jo Falafelkid,

ich hatte gerade einen bei unserem lokalen Falafelkid-Joe, wie Alex und ich ihn nennen! Somebody here articulated the assumption that you could know sth. about the final secret, if so, would you be so kind to at least give us a hint what it could be... You must have heard about that new blog from this Japanese guy who in all probability works for Nintendo. He uses the term "big secret"... WHY? I mean, I didn't wait for the E3 F************ 9 months for Nintendo not to talk about the secret. I mean, is there sth we could or we ought to believe!
FALAFEL... In the name of our common desired FAST FOOD, PLS. SPEAK!

Also, machs gut. Wenn Du mal in Hannover bist, Lister Meile gegenüber vom Mezzo (kennt jeder dort) da ist unser Falafelkid-Joe!

Bis denne, Antenne!

Anonymous said...

" Anonymous said...

The first Wii Clip!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_drrgyeA5U "

Wow, that's REALLY unfunny.

-mntfrt

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see 9 on wii!!!

Drew Olanoff
Best Damn Tech Show, Period.
http://www.BestDamnTech.com
http://www.SoFastItSings.com

Anonymous said...

Afier some "Part" of Wii getting copy. Sure thay will keep "big secret" hiden a little longer. Thay can't let it copy again.

I belive it's kind of cube mapping. since in E3 Reggie say "what you seeing. is not alway what you get" at the begin fo E3 press conf

After that nearly end of E3 Perrin Kaplan say some thing like Wii have a little more information. And hardcore gamer will like it.

And ATi say "I think what you saw was just the tip of the iceberg"

Sure something still keep secret. but i don't think it's some thing 3D

Anonymous said...

Are you saying that Capcom would not publish a Wii exclusive Resident Evil or a not publish an RE one at all because Capcom did announce during E3 that they are developing an RE game for the Wii.

People are assuming that is is not a port of RE 5 because it would be highly unlikely that a game made for next gen would be ported to technologically inferior system which is why people are assuming it an exclusive that would be tailored to the Wii experience.

And I hardly think the shortcomings of the Gamecube would have that much of an effect considering the market is starting from nothing again. If anything, there is advantage for Nintendo because they are giving an experience that can not be duplicated.

Best,
Nick

Tortus said...

Falafelkid, you have to see this blog (another Insider appeared, and this seems to have some credibility):

saruwatari-wii.blogspot.com


BTW, to all people:
You can join the ultimate Wii-Team of info about Wii (news, rumours, opinions, speculation and all related Wii) in this blog:
http://wiintendo.blogspot.com

only send me a mail to famicomtortus@hotmail.com or well, left your mail in the comments of my blog. All people can comment. you're welcome.

Anonymous said...

wow... full-color HD capable mini laser projectors:

http://www.engadget.com/2006/06/08/mini-oem-laser-projection-display/

now THAT'S a revolution :/

-"superfan" tactics.

Anonymous said...

@tortus.

Do you really think this guy is on the level?

A lot of what he says is already common knowledge but there is also some very teasing tidbits as well. I for one hope that some of what he says is true.

Apologies but it was an interesting read.

Anonymous said...

I don't know...
A camera doesn't make much sense. It is a one-off with very limited usage. Additionally there is great potential for misuse, which I think N would want to avoid.

e.g. Capturing pictures of the anatomy.

VOIP is likely with the addition of WiFi chat on the DS.

I like to think that it could be a small portable projector. It would make sense to have a cheap WiFi console that you can take anywhere without needing a TV.

This company already makes a matchbox sized one:
http://www.lightblueoptics.com/
Light_Blue_Optics_PVPro.pdf
..and you can find the original speculation over at Yanko's blog:
http://nrevolutiona.blogspot.com/
(3rd post down as of 6/12)

Anonymous said...

Hey this is a little off topic guys, but i just came across a new blog site which is starting up. Its almost like a Go nintendo 2 in a way..heh

Anyway back on topic,

NOT ANOTHER INSIDER!! lol


www.tendo-gamer.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

this is a very good interpretation of the name wii.

http://theboard.zogdog.com/index.php?s=067321ed403703276cbf6a05172bf9ac&showtopic=11718

Anonymous said...

Ill ask everyone here a very simple question, and that includes you Falafel.

Where the #@!% is the revolution? We were given clear information through insiders, nintendo corp. qnd your "contacts" that something BIG was coming up (bigger than the controller), and that it would be unveiled at E3. Why was the ONLY new information really not cool: Connect24 is nifty, but hello! huh, was I the only one surprised that we didnt see the interface, the online, the virtual console???

And another thing, everybody saw that pokemon video and was like "OH DAMN!"... And look at tony hawk, that game is plain dowright dreamcast in terms of graphics. Its got some much aliasing it makes your eyes bleed.

WTF is going on?? By the way, stop believing in all that crap about superfast graphics, thats BS, same for stereoscopic 3D (although I was a believer at first, I even hoped it was the ON -oops, that name is taboo now, hee hee). Have you seen HD screens of zelda? DANG! thats hot stuff.

So to wrap up... what are your "very reliable inside sources" saying now fal? I hope that Connect24 wasnt the "secret bigger than the wiimote", and I REAAAALLY hope its not some cheapass, REAALLY GIMMICKY camera or some microphone thats supposed to quench all the hype around a "final secret", ooooooooh *pretends he's scary and mysterious- like a ghost, hence the "ooooh"*. I mean, no offense to homosexuals, but a mic and a camera isnt revolutionary, its plain gay.

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU RAPH.

-"superfan" tactics.

Anonymous said...

@ Raph

Nintendo could have changed their plans for the information they would show at E3 very quickly. If Nintendo knew that Sony was developing a motion sensing control don't you think it would be prudent to hold back the "bigger secret" until later? I agree the camera and mic as the secret would be very lame and im not getting my hopes up at all for anything else. I am happy with the system as it is - everything else is just a bonus.

In a few months we will find out which bloggers are total loons.

Anonymous said...

wow... reading those "Varian"-written forum posts on zogdog has been truly enlightening...

i still can't help but believe in another secret, though...

maybe i am a fool.

-"superfan" tactics.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Varians post on the meaning of Wii was simply great!
BTW I think the biggest "secret" are the graphical capabilities of the Wii.
I have watched several times the short sequences of the gametrailers shown at the pre-E3-show and I'm pretty sure that for example the Final Fantasy-footage was no prerendered movie. When the cam zooms in on the kiddy you can notice that he looks a bit edgy - why should the charactermodel looks not perfectly rounded when it is a prerendered movie? It's the same with SSB-Brawl: The characters look extremely polished, but for example take a closer look at Samus' hair or Wario on his bike - it all seems to be a bit edgy - so these are probably no prerendered movies. I also think that this ultra-short Disaster: Day of Crisis clip is actually ingame-graphics. The lighting of the explosions and the smoke seems comparable to the lighting and smoke of those used for the rockets' FX in Metroid Prime3.
And imho it seems to fit pretty well with the Wii's supposed specs.
I think the revolutionary aspect of the Wii is the quality of immersion it can produce to us gamers. With a gesture-based wireless controller with rumbleFX, a speaker (probably a mic) and the ability to save a personal profile to it, (probably) high-quality graphics on a regular TV, the Virtual Console, DS-compabilty, free online gaming, 24h connection for creating a unique network, strong 3rd party support and a nice price, the Wii will really kick some ass - and I think you all know the names...

-SuperUser

Anonymous said...

@ RAPH

Like is said in some of my very first posts here, Nintendo could crap in a box and would still speak of it as if it's the next coming of Jesus.

D-Bone

Anonymous said...

Anonymous,

How brave you are. Care to elaborate a little more on your concerns and opinions?

Anonymous said...

i dare you read this.

http://www.vgf.com/systems/n2k/0400/segacomp.htm

Anonymous said...

Yup, You sure showed me. Not much more I can say to that.

Anonymous said...

Nintendo is making a crap in the box?!
When and where can I preorder?

Anonymous said...

@Daedalus81

LOL...Just go to your local store and get a gamecube.

Just kidding.

I enjoy every Nintendo system and can't wait for the Wii.

All I'm stating is that Nintendo tends to overhype their products...but they aren't the only ones.

Case in point: Nintendo not showing their gamecube controller and Mario game because they didn't want the competition to steal their secrets. That got us all hyped up and then underwhelmed.

But, I guess that makes me a lil bitch. So be it.

D-Bone

Yanko Heinze said...

I have added a new article refering to the Wii´s CPU clockspeed.


Have a nice day!
http://nrevolutiona.blogspot.com
Yanko Heinze Yslas