Nintendo to announce Revolution in May 2006

[korsjs]

Nintendo will announce its next-generation games console, Revolution, next May, the company has revealed.

The full disclosure will take place just ahead of the E3 games industry bash in Los Angeles, where Nintendo this year gave a glimpse of Revolution's design but provided few hard details.

In September, Nintendo unveiled the movement-tracking controller the console will ship with.

With the Xbox 360 now on sale in the US, and coming to Europe this coming Friday - the Japanese debut will take place later this month - attention is turning to rival products from Sony and Nintendo.

Sony's PlayStation 3 was announced last May, and is expected to start shipping at the end of Q1 2006 at the earliest. Even then it's likely solely to target the Japanese market, if past PlayStation launches are anything to go by.

Nintendo's pre-E3 announcement suggests Revolution will appear later in the year - presumably, like the 360, timed for the Thanksgiving and Christmas buying period. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/29/nintendo_may_revolution/

 

[Purogamer]

Nintendo will launch in the very near proximitiy to the PS3 launch, which will kill them. Nintendo just doesn't make any sense. They can't compete with Microsoft, let along Sony...and at the same time...Idiots, get out of the console race already please...Imagine how much more money they'd make if pokemon and mario were on ps3 while zelda and metroid were on 360...I realize they make money off consoles, but they're limiting their audiences. They'd sell 5x as many copies of zelda if it was on another console.

 

[korsjs]

i am going to get the new nintendo just to be able to play the classic games.

 

[mwgiii]

That is why Nintendo is going in a different direction with the Revolution. Looking at the rumored specs, the Revolution will not do HD only 480p and is nowhere as powerful as the PS3.

They are positioning Revolution as a completely new way to play games. Much like they have done with the DS & Nintendogs. They are going to try to be the 2nd console for the hardcore gamer while bringing people who don't play games into the fold.

Risky strategy, but if it works, it would expand the total gaming population. If it doesn't work, then Nintendo will become a very niche system.

 

[Neutron]

Didn't Sega do the same damn thing with the Saturn and the Dreamcast?

Look what happened to them.

 

[mwgiii]

One more point:

The rumored launch price will be $199, compared to the $399 for the 360 and the rumored $499 for the PS3. A lot of casual gamers just might pick up the Revolution, assuming Nintendo markets it correctly.

 

[korsjs]

don't forget microsoft will have a price cut right before ps3 is released.

 

[riffjim4069]

The Maxtix Revolutions was a big disappointment and I predict the same for the Nintendo Revolution. We shall see...

 

[mwgiii]

Didn't Sega do the same damn thing with the Saturn and the Dreamcast?

Look what happened to them.

One big difference was Sega was loosing their a** where Nintendo made approx. $732 Million last year.

Sega was also completely overwhelmed by the Sony PR machine with people upgrading from the PS1 to PS2.

 

[jbcheshire]

Why would M$ have a price cut on the 360 if the PS3 is expected to start selling at a higher price than the 360 is going for? If Sony prices the PS3 as rumors state, then Microsoft probably won't drop their price by more than $50, if any at all... IMHO..

 

[korsjs]

i have read many times that they want to do a price cut and release halo 3 right before ps3.

i posted an article on the strategy somewhere in the video game forum.

 

[angiodan]

Nintendo does what it does best, sits back, doesn't even try to get into these console battles, and caters to kids (and parents who won't plunk down more than $200 for any console), as well as the hardcore players who want to play the Zeldas, etc. that are exclusives as mwgii said.

Yes, they would sell more software if it was on other platforms, but I feel they are proud of the fact that their biggest games are their exclusives. You can't say that about too many other titles that are worth a damn in todays world.

Their software titles are their cash cow, along with the handhelds. And as long as they make a profit on the consoles, they'll keep making them.

I do think their controller will be a revolution in gaming. Out of the box thinking and design, I can't wait to try one.

 

[Bunkhouse]

Not that many people have an HD TV these days. I like the idea of not supporting it which reduces the system overall cost. I don't see HD TV's being mandetory untill the next generation of consoles, by which point about 1/2 of households should have them.

The biggest issue Nintendo has is Advertising, they do so litttle of it.

The system has some great selling points. low price, free internet play, only system with a built in flash & upgradable storage system (hard drives are slow). plays classic nes/snes/n64 games, plus gamecube games.

The controller might scare some people, but just like the DS, games don't have to use every feature of the controller. The DS has a touch screen, yet there are games that don't use it, other games like Feel the Magic could not have been made without it. It just offers more possibilities for developers.

Alot of people tend to downplay the system's graphics (even though no screenshots have been released yet, nintendo doesn't like revealiing too much too early), yet even the Gamecube had better graphics then PS2 and it was $100+ cheaper when it was launched and still is. People need to be weary of the specs Sony & Microsoft release.
Sony Claimed PS2 can do: 75 million polygons per second (always release theoretical limits)
Nintendo Gamecube claimed: 12 million polygons per second.
Xbox claimed: 100 million polygons per second. (always release theoretical limits)
All systems tend to have similar graphics capabilities each generation.
Don't believe these numbers? check out wikipedia.

 

[Purogamer]

Nintendo still thinks they're the big dog, and that's not accurate. They have the same fans they had 20 years ago. The new videogame players belong to MS and Sony. Why Nintendo caters to the old fans instead of saying "Hey, everyone take a look" I don't know. They could stop making hardware, sell 5x as many games to 5x as many gamers. Why they don't want to do that (From a financial aspect, or a respect aspect) I can't comprehend. They're intentionally limiting themselves because they don't have the brainpower anymore. You telling me zelda is really that good? of course not, but it sells. Nintendogs is so innovative? Of course not, but it sells. Nintendo's name is what sells, so why they can't leave that on the box and get out of the console race amazes me. They'd still be nintendo, they just wouldn't make hardware anymore.

 

[SatinKzo]

Didn't Sega do the same damn thing with the Saturn and the Dreamcast?

Look what happened to them.

The DC was a stellar system, just bad bad timing and little PR investment. I owned a DC and loved it, great games and gameplay. Just lost support down the road. I wouldn't call it revolutionary in any way though.

As for the Nintendo, I can see myself buying one as my kids will want to play it and I love the unique games Nintendo does. I mean who doesn't like to sit down for a little Mario Kart with the kids!

 

[mwgiii]

Why Nintendo caters to the old fans instead of saying "Hey, everyone take a look" I don't know.

Here is why Nintendo is going a completely different direction with the Revolution & DS to try to expand the market. Will it work for Revolution? I don't know, but it seems to be working for the DS.

From Nintendo's vice president of sales and marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime: "Look at this generation compared to the first one 15 years ago. Research today tell us that among those 52 million machines already sold, a full 24 percent are part of dual-system households, and eight percent reside under roofs with all three consoles. The math shows that our 52 million systems have only reaches a little better than 35 million discreet American households, about 31 percent of all current U.S. homes. Back in the 8-bit days, there was only one console -- the original Nintendo Entertainment System -- which meant there were no dual-households. So 31 million systems equaled 31 million homes. And that represented 33 percent of all American homes at the time. It's unsettling to see that in 15 years, we really haven't increased the percentage of game-playing homes. The population has grown, but our relative popularity really hasn't."

Nintendogs is so innovative? Of course not, but it sells.

I disagree. Nintendogs is something very different and is expanding the gaming market. Do hardcore gamers buy it? No, but people who don't usually buy games are buying it.

From Reggie: "Not only is the percentage of female players double with Nintendogs as with other DS games, but the number of new DS purchasers also features twice the previous percentage of women. This is a prime example of the idea of expanding a market to what might be considered 'fringe' players, but whose retail dollars are worth every bit as much as their hardcore counterparts."

 

[Purogamer]

That's so bogus. Reggie just confuses you by throwing a ton of numbers at you. Back when NES was out you had atari's, Neo Geo, Master System. Did everyone have multiple consoles? No. Did plenty of people? Yes.

Female gamers doubled? What a broad statement to make with no way to be proven true. Women have been playing games forever. Are most customers of nintendogs women? I'd say so. Either they're playing it or buying it for their kids. Women are notorious for liking RPG's, to suggest that the way to get more women playing is to create more cutesy games is kind of insulting to any female gamer don't ya think?

He said it himself, only 8 percent of households have 3 consoles. Nintendo is #3 in america (I imagine he's referring to american households still). 52 million units sold in america. In order, i'd guess that broke down as 1) Super NES 2) NES 3) Nintendo 64 4) Gamecube, with 3/4 possibly switchable. Nintendo is a sinking ship in the hardware race. Their games/characters drive them. If they got out of the hardware race that they're clueless about, they will not be negatively effected. Every game will still say nintendo. They can release their wacky controllers (Namco releases their own GunCon, Dance Dance has their own pads, etc...), and greatly increase their profits and marketability. There is no bad part to getting out of the hardware race besides the pride of the old men still running the company.

 

[Stargazer]

So, how many bits is the Game Cube and the Revolution? I had always had a preference to Nintendo in the past because that was the only thing I had always gotten and the first system I ever bought. I guess brand loyalty means something to some but some like to also try new things. If they do have all of those games available as they said they would then that would really help them out. Just the price of the game system alone will help them. Most still do not have HD televisions so it would not hurt them in that aspect. I am guessing that the next system after Revolution would be HD though.

--NES = 8 bits
SNES = 16 bits
--N64 = 64 bits
Game Cube = 128 bits?
Revolution = 256/512 bits?

PS 1 = 32 bits
PS 2 = ? bits ?
PS 3 = ? bits ?

This reminds me of when I heard the 32 bit PS1 was just as good if not better than the 64 bit N64.

 

[mwgiii]

That's so bogus. Reggie just confuses you by throwing a ton of numbers at you. Back when NES was out you had atari's, Neo Geo, Master System. Did everyone have multiple consoles? No. Did plenty of people? Yes.

Female gamers doubled? What a broad statement to make with no way to be proven true. Women have been playing games forever. Are most customers of nintendogs women? I'd say so. Either they're playing it or buying it for their kids. Women are notorious for liking RPG's, to suggest that the way to get more women playing is to create more cutesy games is kind of insulting to any female gamer don't ya think?

He said it himself, only 8 percent of households have 3 consoles. Nintendo is #3 in america (I imagine he's referring to american households still). 52 million units sold in america. In order, i'd guess that broke down as 1) Super NES 2) NES 3) Nintendo 64 4) Gamecube, with 3/4 possibly switchable. Nintendo is a sinking ship in the hardware race. Their games/characters drive them. If they got out of the hardware race that they're clueless about, they will not be negatively effected. Every game will still say nintendo. They can release their wacky controllers (Namco releases their own GunCon, Dance Dance has their own pads, etc...), and greatly increase their profits and marketability. There is no bad part to getting out of the hardware race besides the pride of the old men still running the company.

Come on Purogamer, quit being a XBox fanboy. Atari basically died in 1983 & the NES was released in the US in '85. What % of the market did any of the other consoles have during the NES days? Little to none. I have not even heard of Master System. The number of multiple console owners back in the day could be counted on one hand. The number of female gamers compaired to male gamers is miniscule. You know that. Any company (Nintendo, Sony, MS) who can make inroads to bringing women (50% of the population) to gaming will expand their market share.

 

[Purogamer]

Female gamers play the same games you and I do. I hope you realize that. Men still outnumber women, but the ladies aren't still playing galaga and ms. pac-man, they're playing halo too...

Never heard of master system? This discussion is over...