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http://revolution.ign.com/articles/673/673578p1.html
Revolution Tech Details Emerge
Devs give us the scoop on performance power and RAM capacity. Exclusive
information revealed.
by Matt Casamassina
December 5, 2005 - Nintendo has during recent months remained publicly
quiet on its next-generation console, codenamed Revolution, but even so
the company has taken behind-the-scenes steps to prepare development
studios for the platform. We spoke with multiple software houses either
creating software for or experimenting with the machine in its still
incomplete stage and have been able to compile some new technical
details.
Readers are advised to make two notes before continuing with this
article. The first is that developers are still working with incomplete
Revolution hardware. Most studios are, in fact, developing on
"GameCube-based kits," according to major software houses we spoke to,
which have asked to remain anonymous. The second is that developers are
still without final specifications for Revolution's ATI-developed
graphics chip, codenamed Hollywood.
That stated, many third parties have been partially briefed by Nintendo
representatives about the Revolution hardware, its overall horsepower,
and the Big N's plan for the console. Based on the information studios
have relayed to us, Revolution is truly poised to cater to an
altogether different game market than either Microsoft or Sony with
their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles respectively. Nintendo's
machine will simply not deliver the same graphic horsepower as its
competitors. Revolution is all about the controller and what it can do
for gameplay experiences.
When Revolution was initially unveiled, a Nintendo executive said it
would be "two-to-three times more powerful than GameCube." The company
never commented on Revolution's horsepower again and we were later told
that the initial statement was incorrect. However, according to
development houses, that description accurately sums up Revolution's
power.
"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.
Metroid Prime 3 for Revolution as shown at E3 2005. A giant leap in
graphics or a marginal improvement over GameCube?
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."
Finally, quizzed about publishers' internal reaction to the device, a
source responded: "People are interested, but they're still taking it
all in at the moment. I'm sure [Nintendo is] going to get a fair amount
of support. Probably a lot of people will initially look at existing
franchises and whether or not they can kind of do customized versions
for Revolution using most of the assets they've got. But whether
they'll say, "Okay, let's do something completely original for it,"
that's the other question because it could be quite expensive to do
that. Not as expensive as doing a PS3 or Xbox 360 game. But if you're a
third party and you want to do cross platform, if you're doing a game
on 360 you can do it on PS3 or PC using the same assets and that does
make it a bit easier."
Nintendo has consistently downplayed the role of horsepower with
Revolution, often saying that graphics have reached a "saturation
point" in today's games. Nintendo bigwig Shigeru Miyamoto has suggested
that players might not be able to tell the difference between the new
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and some high-definition games.
The Big N will reveal much more about Revolution beginning early next
year, according to company executives, and will show first games at the
Electronics Entertainment Expo 2006 next May in Los Angeles. Stay tuned
for more.
Revolution Tech Details Emerge
Devs give us the scoop on performance power and RAM capacity. Exclusive
information revealed.
by Matt Casamassina
December 5, 2005 - Nintendo has during recent months remained publicly
quiet on its next-generation console, codenamed Revolution, but even so
the company has taken behind-the-scenes steps to prepare development
studios for the platform. We spoke with multiple software houses either
creating software for or experimenting with the machine in its still
incomplete stage and have been able to compile some new technical
details.
Readers are advised to make two notes before continuing with this
article. The first is that developers are still working with incomplete
Revolution hardware. Most studios are, in fact, developing on
"GameCube-based kits," according to major software houses we spoke to,
which have asked to remain anonymous. The second is that developers are
still without final specifications for Revolution's ATI-developed
graphics chip, codenamed Hollywood.
That stated, many third parties have been partially briefed by Nintendo
representatives about the Revolution hardware, its overall horsepower,
and the Big N's plan for the console. Based on the information studios
have relayed to us, Revolution is truly poised to cater to an
altogether different game market than either Microsoft or Sony with
their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles respectively. Nintendo's
machine will simply not deliver the same graphic horsepower as its
competitors. Revolution is all about the controller and what it can do
for gameplay experiences.
When Revolution was initially unveiled, a Nintendo executive said it
would be "two-to-three times more powerful than GameCube." The company
never commented on Revolution's horsepower again and we were later told
that the initial statement was incorrect. However, according to
development houses, that description accurately sums up Revolution's
power.
"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.
Metroid Prime 3 for Revolution as shown at E3 2005. A giant leap in
graphics or a marginal improvement over GameCube?
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."
Finally, quizzed about publishers' internal reaction to the device, a
source responded: "People are interested, but they're still taking it
all in at the moment. I'm sure [Nintendo is] going to get a fair amount
of support. Probably a lot of people will initially look at existing
franchises and whether or not they can kind of do customized versions
for Revolution using most of the assets they've got. But whether
they'll say, "Okay, let's do something completely original for it,"
that's the other question because it could be quite expensive to do
that. Not as expensive as doing a PS3 or Xbox 360 game. But if you're a
third party and you want to do cross platform, if you're doing a game
on 360 you can do it on PS3 or PC using the same assets and that does
make it a bit easier."
Nintendo has consistently downplayed the role of horsepower with
Revolution, often saying that graphics have reached a "saturation
point" in today's games. Nintendo bigwig Shigeru Miyamoto has suggested
that players might not be able to tell the difference between the new
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and some high-definition games.
The Big N will reveal much more about Revolution beginning early next
year, according to company executives, and will show first games at the
Electronics Entertainment Expo 2006 next May in Los Angeles. Stay tuned
for more.