Revolution Looks Past Power to Games

New comments from developers paint the console as underpowered relative to its competitors and deliberately so.

If you want an idea of what to expect from home console gaming once Nintendo launches the Revolution next year, it might help to look at the state of portable gaming right now. While Nintendo has always said that it's not going to compete for raw power, it seems that the Revolution will be to consoles what the DS is to portables.

New reports from IGN have more information about the technology driving the Revolution. Developers revealed to IGN that the Revolution is essentially a speed-bumped GameCube, with similar graphics and system processors - albeit with a lot more memory.

Hard numbers are still elusive. Developers have alluded to Revolution coming in faster than its predecessor (which was no slouch itself) but slower than its next-gen counterparts.

"Our guys experimented with it and think they'll be able to get about twice the performance as GameCube," an unnamed developer told IGN.

Also, the prospects for a turnaround in Nintendo's stance on high definition content looks grim, as right now the system doesn't have the power to output the high-definition textures found in Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games.

This will be a disappointment to those looking for glitz, but it's consistent with Nintendo's mantra of gameplay over graphics.

Developers said that right now the Revolution is all about the controller - that enigmatic 3D-sensing wand that expands when games require it to.

"To be honest, [the Revolution] is not much more powerful than an Xbox. It's like a souped up Xbox," one developer said. "But it's the controller that makes the difference and the controller is really nice."

Nintendo showed off the Revolution controller to much fanfare at this year's Tokyo Game Show, but it seems that there are still some things about the stick that have yet to be uncovered.

"The controller still has another secret," Shigeru Miyamoto told a conference last week. "But it's something that we'll reveal next year."

One big draw for the Revolution could be the price.

The Revolution will be able to parlay its ostensibly inferior technology into a much lower price than the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Some developers are expecting Nintendo to release the console for around $150 (cheaper than even the GameCube was when it was released), while others say that a $100 price tag is not impossible.

Right now there's little solid information about when the Revolution will be released. Nintendo has said it would like to get it out around the summer of 2006, though the early stage of the hardware development suggests it could be later.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games