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AMN's Nintendo Revolution FAQ

There are a lot of rumors and questions out there about Nintendos next-generation console, tentatively titled Revolution. With that in mind, weve put together our in-depth and comprehensive FAQ (frequently asked questions) about Nintendo Revolution.

In it, youll find a constantly updated list of the most frequently asked questions about the system with detailed answers. Hopefully, this will clear up any confusion about Revolution. Additionally, any time new information comes to surface, youll be able to find that information right here. So, if youre unfamiliar with Nintendo Revolution, then this is a great place to start learning about Nintendos highly innovative system.

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Q: What is Nintendo Revolution?

A: Nintendo Revolution is Nintendos next-generation home console.

Q: Will Revolution be the final name for the console?

A: No, it is not the final name of the system. It is tentative for now.

Q: When did the name Revolution announced and by who?

A: Nintendo president Satoru Iwata first referred to the console as Nintendo Revolution at the companys pre-show conference at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo, held in Los Angeles, California, on May 11, 2004.

Q: What did Satoru Iwata have to say about Nintendo Revolution at E3 2004?

A: "Different also defines our approach to our next home system. It won't simply be new or include new technologies. Better technology is good, but not enough. Today's consoles already offer fairly realistic expressions so simply beefing up the graphics will not let most of us see a difference. So what should a new machine do? Much more. An unprecedented gameplay experience. Something no other machine has delivered before.

"The definition for a new machine must be different. I want you to know that Nintendo is working on our next system and that system will create a gaming revolution. Internal development is underway.

"I could give you our technical specs, as I'd know you'd like that, but I won't for a simple reason: they really don't matter. The time when horsepower alone made all the difference is over.

"Work on Revolution is well underway. When you see it you will be excited because you will experience a gaming revolution.

Q: When will the final name of the system be announced?

A: It is expected the official title for Nintendo Revolution will be revealed sometime by the end of the year.

Q: How long has Nintendo Revolution been in development?

A: Nintendo has said in the past that it started thinking of ideas for its next-generation console Nintendo Revolution right after it released its current-generation console, Nintendo GameCube. It was around this time that the initial design for the system began.

Q: Will Revolution be more powerful than GameCube?

A: Although Nintendo has said that hardware and technology is not all that matters, Revolution will still be a capable console, and at the very least, it will be more powerful than GameCube.

Q: What are Revolutions technological specifications?

A: Nintendo has yet to officially announce the final specifications of Revolutions hardware. However, between many statements from the companys president, Satoru Iwata, we can deduce a basic idea of how powerful the system will be.

Nintendo has in the past said that the goal with Revolution is to create a small, quiet and affordable console. This statement from Nintendo probably reflects the systems overall power.

While there isnt a 100% Nintendo-confirmed list of specifications, heres what we know.

• Its backwards compatible with Nintendo GameCube games.
  
• Revolution software itself use proprietary 12cm discs that can be dual-layered for up to 8GBs of storage capacity.
  
• Two USB 2.0 ports located on backside of the console
  
• Does not feature an Ethernet jack. Nintendo Revolution connects to the Internet using 802.11b and 802.11g Wi-Fi wireless
  
• One component/digital out located on the backside of the console allows Revolution to connect to a PC monitor
  
• GameCube dock station features inputs for four GCN controllers and two GameCube memory cards
  
• Utilizes up to four wireless controllers
  
• Two front slots for 512MB flash memory cards
  
• MoSys-developed 1T-SRAM solution (amount of memory to be announced at a later date)
  
• Custom-built ATI-GPU, codenamed Hollywood - details to be announced at a later date
  
• Custom-built IBM CPU, codenamed Broadway details to be announced at a later date
  
• Nintendo online download service allows you to download classic NES, SNES and N64 games

Q: What do we know about Revolution development kits?

A: Not all that much yet.

All thats been confirmed, really, is that developers can use the existing Nintendo GameCube development kits to create Nintendo Revolution software. The future Revolution kits will share a similar architecture with the current GCN kits that developers have been using since 2001.

Shigeru Miyamoto said on October 3, 2005 in an interview with Engadget.com, The one advantage we have in this area is that the Revolution development can actually be done on the Game Cube development environment. So the development kits are going to have a very similar structure to the Game Cube development kits, which makes it very easy for people who have started projects on the Game Cube development kits to just switch over the interface and continue working and have those games ready for the Revolution. Were thinking that were going to be able to have a pretty strong launch.


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