2-3 times more powerful than Gamecube, now basically confirmed

[Marshmellow]

Can you say fake!

 

yeP!

[Anakenobi]

Fact: PSP more powerful than the Nintendo DS.

 

And yet the DS is kicking the PSP butt as a gaming handheld system all over the world. And as a Media system, the Apple i-Pod is doing the same to the PSP.

 

Have we learned nothing at all?

 

In the end, it will be about the games.

 

That's why the PS2 was able to rule. Because the system had the games MOST people wanted to play, regardless of the fact that the PS2 was the console with older and weaker hi-tech compared to the Xbox and GC.

 

It ended up being about the games with the PS2 and the Nintendo DS... why are some thinking it will be any different?

[Darv]

Oh, I realise pretty well what 2-3 times means. Look, the Xbox 360 is theoretically about 20 times more powerful than the Xbox, and due to it's efficiency problems it may be only 10-12x more powerful than the Xbox. Now look at the visual improvement. It's clearly visible, but it's not big is it? The power gap between Cube and Rev is four times smaller than that - in visuals it's not an improvement at all and I wonder if we could even see it.

 

RAM amounts matter so much more than you say. There's a reason why modern gaming graphics cards have a minimum of 128 MB - and still need the PC's main memory - you know. Yeah, the latency and speed will matter but I'm not worried for that considering Nintendo's partnership with MoSys so they can use 1T-SRAM. Apparently you don't get the difference - the 360 and PS3 will have 4+ times as much RAM. 4 times! If developers want to port games they'd have to shrink down the texture resolution by four, but that doesn't matter, because the GPU can't take those resolutions anyway, and neither can it take the polygon count.

 

This is getting worrying - the controller is just fantastic, but if the graphics on other consoles are so much better, what will happen to the mass, and what will happen to 3rd party plans?

 

- Edit

Before I make a wrong impression - it doesn't matter much to me that it's just plain weak. It's just worrying how Nintendo seem to be so far behind te competition it gets me upset sometimes

 

The Xbox is nothing liek that poweful. If you were to run some benchmarks do you seriosuly think it would get scores 10-12x better than before. A simple benchmark like Super Pi will show you that processors have barely got 2x faster in the same time span.

 

As for comparing a PC to a console. They are somewhat different. A PC needs to be running background software while a console doesn't. They are less specialised and need to take a lot of differently coded things. A game for a console uses the hardware far more efficiently and won't need the extra leg room.

 

4 times the amount of RAM does not equal 4 times the power. If it is high latency it won't matter how much of it you have. Even if they were the same speed the performance is exponential. The greater the amount of RAM the less performance increase you get. And don't forget the Xbox is running it's background software all the time. Judging by how much RAM windows uses how much of the Xbox RAM is being used just for that.

 

Textures won't need to be reduced by 4 because that's not all of what the RAM is needed for and in the Rev's case there will probably be more free. You don't know what kind of compression they will be using either. An efficiently compressed small texture could look better than an uncompressed large one.

 

I'm not saying the Rev will be a powerhose but all this comparing things in terms of number of times more powerful is complete bullshit. You could never accurately work that out because of all the variables. You need to break it down into different parts and even then you don't get a very clear picture.

[DCK]

Nintendo doesn't know where to put their priorities it seems. Putting in 256MB of 533 MHz laptop RAM should cost them about $10-15 per console at launch, while they do put in 512 MB Flash ROM which costs about $20. It seems so strange to me

 

People wake up here. Any PC you'll buy new today, any at all, will be more powerful than the Revolution. In comparison, you have to spend €1500 to outmatch the 360 in a PC. And it'll only be released next year.

 

The Xbox is nothing liek that poweful. If you were to run some benchmarks do you seriosuly think it would get scores 10-12x better than before. A simple benchmark like Super Pi will show you that processors have barely got 2x faster in the same time span.

 

4 times the amount of RAM does not equal 4 times the power. If it is high latency it won't matter how much of it you have. Even if they were the same speed the performance is exponential. The greater the amount of RAM the less performance increase you get. And don't forget the Xbox is running it's background software all the time. Judging by how much RAM windows uses how much of the Xbox RAM is being used just for that.

 

Textures won't need to be reduced by 4 because that's not all of what the RAM is needed for and in the Rev's case there will probably be more free. You don't know what kind of compression they will be using either. An efficiently compressed small texture could look better than an uncompressed large one.

You're overestimating things here (so was I), but an any rate it won't possibly be able to compete graphics wise at all, and that's just so damn frustrating. I mean come on, the gap between launches Cube <> Rev is five years and they only double the power? That's just unbelievable.

[Eenuh]

I'm amazed how one little article with a bunch of numbers thrown in can make people lose faith so easily. You're all acting like this is the end of Nintendo (or the end of the world, in some of your cases).

 

Seriously, what does "3 times more powerful" tell us? Nothing. They just put in a number there because people like you guys like to hear numbers. Xbox360 20 times more powerful than Xbox... uh huh, right. Seriously, numbers these days mean nothing anymore. And like has been pointed out already, it's not because you have "inferior" hardware that you won't be able to sell a ton of games and appeal to the masses.

 

Try to focuse less on (rumored) specs and more on what might be possible on the Revolution. Like I said to someone yesterday, I don't care if all of a sudden all the games were back in 2D, as long as those games are -fun-.

[Jamba]

I found this news a little depressing at first too.

 

Then I realised that this really means nothing. If the deal over the tech specs for the GCN didn't teach you anything then this situation will. Just wait til E3 people. Stop acting like a bunch of cry babies.

 

Just because some "partially breifed" people say a few things doesn't mean anything. We don't know about the GPU or the possibility of extra components to deal with physics or AI (remember this?).

 

This techno-speculation is just time wasting and uninspired cos it's just people voicing their opinion and very little fact or knowledge being passed around. Put your imaginations (or lack of them) to better use and come up with some game ideas. Be creative!

[Myke Greywolf]

Nintendo doesn't know where to put their priorities it seems. Putting in 256MB of 533 MHz laptop RAM should cost them about $10-15 per console at launch, while they do put in 512 MB Flash ROM which costs about $20. It seems so strange to me

 

You DO know why they're putting the 512MB of flash memory, don't you? To compensate for the lack of a hard disk, that's why. If it wasn't present, people would rant on how they aren't able to download their favorite NES, SNES and N64 games without being forced to buy expensive memory cards.

 

The relative lack of memory would make it unable to process HD textures. However, the GameCube has the fastest memory in the present generation (1T-SRAM) and large CPU caches, which enabled it, performance-wise, to surpass the PS2 and almost match the XBox, even having less RAM than its competitors. An evolution of those designs and technologies is expected to be used in the Revolution, in order to enable the Revolution to achieve next-generation visuals without being too expensive, noisy and volumous - 3 things that the XBox 360 is, and that Nintendo is trying to avoid.

[system_error]

Alright IGN "anonymous" developer versus:

 

Geremy Mustard - Co-Founder (Advent Rising)

November 26, 2005

“The Revolution will be much more powerful than the GameCube. I think people will be surprised at how many games will continue to be made across all three consoles."

[Pit-Jr]

I was playing Chrono Trigger yesterday and it hit me. This primitive game trounces most games ive played in the current generation, and in fact i feel the same way about many SNES games. Like Nintendo always does, Square really pushed the old system and created a gem.

The lesson here, dont blame the hardware if you get a shitty-looking or awful-playing game, blame the developer.

 

How long will it take for people to come down off the buzz of HD and realize theyre playing the same old shit they played this generation, with the same tired control schemes. No matter how pretty it is, youve done it all before.

[DCK]

I'm amazed how one little article with a bunch of numbers thrown in can make people lose faith so easily. You're all acting like this is the end of Nintendo (or the end of the world, in some of your cases).

Will you please stop calling it faith? That brings up wrong associations.

 

I'm not worried about 2-3 times more powerful. It's been said many times and it doesn't mean sh*t. What I am worried about is the 'souped up Xbox' comment and the comment that it only has <128MB memory. This means that effectively it can't be considered next-gen but this gen because of its power.

 

You don't understand quite what's happening - it's like the GameCube fighting up against the 360 and PS3 but now with a fantastic controller which every Nintendo fan or Japanese loves but you don't know how conservative US or EU will take.

 

What worries me that any way you put it, there'll be no more direct competition between Sony Microsoft and Nintendo. It'll just be Sony and Microsoft fighting over the powerhouse multimedia device with HD capabilities market, and Nintendo having a cheap, small, quiet toy. This is all very black and white but this is what this news means to me. The GameCube wasn't even taken half seriously, and now this...

[Myke Greywolf]

What worries me that any way you put it, there'll be no more direct competition between Sony Microsoft and Nintendo. It'll just be Sony and Microsoft fighting over the powerhouse multimedia device with HD capabilities market, and Nintendo having a cheap, small, quiet toy.

 

Nintendo has already stated that this is exactly what they want. Strategy, you know.

[Eenuh]

Will you please stop calling it faith? That brings up wrong associations.

 

I'm not worried about 2-3 times more powerful. It's been said many times and it doesn't mean sh*t. What I am worried about is the 'souped up Xbox' comment and the comment that it only has <128MB memory. This means that effectively it can't be considered next-gen but this gen because of its power.

 

You don't understand quite what's happening - it's like the GameCube fighting up against the 360 and PS3 but now with a fantastic controller which every Nintendo fan or Japanese loves but you don't know how conservative US or EU will take.

 

What worries me that any way you put it, there'll be no more direct competition between Sony Microsoft and Nintendo. It'll just be Sony and Microsoft fighting over the powerhouse multimedia device with HD capabilities market, and Nintendo having a cheap, small, quiet toy. This is all very black and white but this is what this news means to me. The GameCube wasn't even taken half seriously, and now this...

 

Well, isn't this what Nintendo has been saying? That they do not want to compete with the other two over who has the more power, but that they want to take a different road and attract more and other people.

And don't tell me that I don't understand what's happening. I know very well what's happening, but you just seem to want to focus on that one thing called power, while in this generation, that just doesn't really quite cut it anymore. You need more than just power to deliver great games.

People were so sceptical about the DS at first too because of how it had two screens, of which one was a touch screen. New way of playing. And look how conservative US and Europe are embracing this new way of playing games. Don't you think the same could happen to the Revolution?

[Noku]

Nintendo has already stated that this is exactly what they want. Strategy, you know.

 

And the really cool thing is, if everything goes accordingly, years later they'll be fighting each other once again, as Nintendo will have opened the eyes of both Microsoft and Sony, who'll want a piece of the pie - as ever.

[DCK]

The point is I hate it when Nintendo isn't taken seriously, when they are not considered one of the big boys. They goddamn made the industry - and now they're back to making 'toys' again. That's why I'm so frustrated by this news. I want Nintendo to fight a console war.

[Charlie]

Just for some further thought about the "3x" thing...

 

3.2Ghz Pentium IV does not equal a Athlon running at 3.2Ghz

3.2Ghz Pentium IV does not equal a PowerPC running at 3.2Ghz

[DCK]

Do you know that all next-gens are running PowerPCs?

[FreeRadical]

The point is I hate it when Nintendo isn't taken seriously, when they are not considered one of the big boys. They goddamn made the industry - and now they're back to making 'toys' again. That's why I'm so frustrated by this news. I want Nintendo to fight a console war.

 

Fight? Eh, good ole Ninty are still fightin, but they're making the fight bigger, more "people" to fight for. Which in the end is a good thing, is it not?

[Dilli Gee]

If the deal over the tech specs for the GCN didn't teach you anything then this situation will. Just wait til E3 people. Stop acting like a bunch of cry babies.

 

Just because some "partially breifed" people say a few things doesn't mean anything. We don't know about the GPU or the possibility of extra components to deal with physics or AI (remember this?).

There's no point beating around the bush - it's quite clear Revolution is the poor man's Xbox 360.

 

AI and physics have nothing to do with it - the fact is, according to IGN's sources, that Revolution doesn't have that much of a leap in graphics and that it's just GameCube2 with a new controller.

 

Now, you can try to do the whole "gameplay over graphics" speech on me, but you know it, I know it, that's the only way you can reassure yourself at night that this system won't suck.

 

The fact is games were made to have great graphics WITH gameplay. Nintendo should not be making that decision of having the audience choose one over the other.

 

This is why PS3 will win, and why Xbox 360 will win over Revolution - even if you don't want it personally, they still provide the option for it, as a gamer.

 

e.g.1 - HD set up. If you have a plasma, you obviously want to play the game in HD. It doesn't cost the developer anything to have the HD option - it costs just as much as a game in 60Hz, which it practically nothing. And there's also the fact that if you don't have a plasma, you can still play the game in Standard Definition, ignoring the HD part.

 

It doesn't cost Nintendo anything to do it, yet they'd rather the rival systems have a marketable feature over their system. They ignore the fact some big game companies, like EA, now make all their new games in HD first, then downsize it to SD. They ignore the fact that developers can choose to make a game in HD or SD, providing that option for them. Nintendo also forgets that all new LCDs and Plasma TVs are HDTVs, and that television/DVD/computers are now going to be HD in the next few years too.

 

e.g.2 - graphics. Does Nintendo really think its audiences don't want world class graphics. Heck, I think it's the main reason why the GameCube even sold as many as it did.

 

I, as a gamer, would like this "revolutionary" controller AS WELL AS impressive graphics. If Revolution is not coming out until well over a year after the Xbox 360, I would personally like AT LEAST the same graphical power. Period.

 

Yet, there's no choice in the matter - i mean, at least with PS3, they have it so companies can make "poor" graphic games as well as top graphic games. For Revolution, they're only limited to old Xbox graphics.

 

Nintendo are done for. I've really lost hope for them. They are snobby in that they don't share information, and they're trying to establish their own "laws" in the gaming business.

 

TBH, i more more frustrated than dissapointed. Why? That's all I ask. Why?

[Dilli Gee]

Fight? Eh, good ole Ninty are still fightin, but they're making the fight bigger, more "people" to fight for. Which in the end is a good thing, is it not?

Nobody's bloody grandparents are really going to sit down and play Revolution. And if some do, it's a very small number.

 

Revolution is going to be one of those things where people will walk by and say "hmmm that's interesting" and won't think much more than that. And those who buy it are going to be dissapointed by the lack of titles on the system.

 

When Resident Evil 5, the sequel to an originally-exclusive Nintendo game, is announced on every other system OTHER than the Revolution, Nintendo are truly fucked.

[The Peeps]

Nintendo are done for. I've really lost hope for them. They are snobby in that they don't share information, and they're trying to establish their own "laws" in the gaming business.

 

I don't think they're done for. Anyone who wants to play games in a different, more entertaining way will go with Revo.

 

And still nothing's been confirmed. I'm not saying IGN are wrong, they may very well be correct. But nothing has been officially confirmed.

 

Also, 'lack of titles'? Not only will they have a bloody huge amount of games from the past up for downloading but they also have good third party support.

[Twilight]

The point is I hate it when Nintendo isn't taken seriously, when they are not considered one of the big boys. They goddamn made the industry - and now they're back to making 'toys' again. That's why I'm so frustrated by this news. I want Nintendo to fight a console war.

Yeah, you can consider Nintendo products as toys if you want to. Why? Becuse Nintendo´s aim is people to have fun.

 

I´m more worried about games than Revo´s specs. I just played some Beyond Good & Evil and realized how absolutely gorgerous that looks. But if Nintendo can´t get some good 3rd party support, future doesn´t look too bright.

 

EDIT:

Nintendo are done for. I've really lost hope for them. They are snobby in that they don't share information, and they're trying to establish their own "laws" in the gaming business.

That´s what I heard when DS was announced almost two years ago...

 

Really, looks like you people always forget the fact that Nintendo is still one of the most profitable companies in the world.

[Noku]

Because you're obviously not - yet - part of Nintendo's target audience The graphics battle results in rather a downward than upward spiral of neglecting the essence of gaming, as Nintendo have stated many times. That essence being fun.

 

May I remind you, and everyone else raising the "HD!"-argument, that the penetration of HD in the market is not sufficient to provide support for it already. Confer the X-box-Live! thing. One generation too soon, and Nintendo are bound to do better this one.

[Dilli Gee]

I don't think they're done for. Anyone who wants to play games in a different, more entertaining way will go with Revo.

 

And still nothing's been confirmed. I'm not saying IGN are wrong, they may very well be correct. But nothing has been officially confirmed.

The editors swear their information is correct. That's why they made revolution.ign.com now - there's going to be a lot of press attention, and they don't want it all cluttering the cube.ign.com site.

 

I have a feeling Sony are going to use this information off of IGN to completely sink Revolution - expect a PS3 conference in the early new year, with launch game news and stuff. This will then lead to more buzz for the E3 conference, where people will be able to play the system.

 

Who wants a bet Revolution will not be playable at E3?

[Dilli Gee]

Also, 'lack of titles'? Not only will they have a bloody huge amount of games from the past up for downloading but they also have good third party support.

Old games! Wow! That's wonderful.

 

And you forget GameCube had a killer launch, with tonnes of 3rd party support - it all died down within a year.

[McMad]

Whoa i spent 10 hours at school today and come home to find everything has fallen apart!

 

Anyway when did IGN become a more credible source than Nintendo themselves, i say wait to hear what is exactly going on from the big boss himself.