First and formost, I just want to say that I'm by no means a "fan boy" of any system, wheather it be from MS,Sony or Nintendo. I've owned systems from all three companies at one point or another and currently own an XBOX/GC/PS2 (among many of their previous consoles) so this post is not meant as a put down to Nintendo.
This post is to express my concern for Nintendo's future in gaming consoles. I'm really worried that they're heading in the completely wrong direction with their next console, the Revolution. Here's why.
Let's start with technology. I'm sure many of you will argue that it's the games that make a console successful and to an extent, you're absolutely right. But let's not kid ourselves. How powerful a system's graphics capabilities are, play a major role in whether or not that console is successful. "Technology" and "great games" go hand in hand. Think about it
The most "revolutionary" games of the past decade were all made possible by improvements in technology. Games like FFVII, MetalGear, Mario64, and Halo (just to name a few) are examples of how powerful new technologies changed the way we looked and played video games. None of those games would have been possible on the older 16-bit systems no matter how creative/talented game developers were. Games like Mario 64 changed the way we played videogames. They opened up whole new doors and possibilities and inspired a whole new era of gameplay and level design.
Advancements in technology is what allowed these games to be created. Advancements in technology allowed game designers - for the first time - to realise their dreams of creating "virtual worlds" for gamers to play in. I believe that, while it's great games that are the most important reason to buy a new game console, it's technology that allows these games to be made in the first place.
This is what brings me to my biggest problem with Nintendo. Their total "lack of interest" in designing/producing a true "next gen" console to compete with the 360/PS3 in regards to technology.
Now, granted, the system's not even out yet and hardware specs haven't been finalized either, but based on reports and interviews from game developers and even Nintendo officials themselves, I've got a pretty good idea of what to expect from their upcoming "Revolution".
From all the information I've read thus far, the Revolution will be 1.5 - 2x more powerful than the GC which was barely as powerful as the original Xbox at best. What that means is that the graphics and gameplay as well as the games themselves (in terms of level design) will be pretty much the same to what is currently available now on older consoles like PS2/Xbox/GC because the technology simply isn't there to allow developers to "push the envelope" - sort of speak with newer games. You're basically going to see remakes of older games that won't look any better than the games currently available. There's nothing "Next Gen' about that at all.
At least if the Revolution was able to display games in HD, that would at least be something. I wouldn't mind seeing games like RE4 in HD, but the Revolution can't even do that. Not being HD like the other consoles is going to be Nintendo's downfall. Mark my words.
Why is HD so important?
In my opinion, I feel that the jump from standard definition to HD (720P/1080i) is every big a jump as 3D gaming was over 2D. There in lies the biggest problem with Nintendo "Revolution". Not only will it not be able to compete with Sony/MS in terms of raw power and performance but it won't even be able to display games in HD !! Here we are in (almost) 2006, HD televisions are flying off the shelves, HD-DVD and Blue ray are just around the corner, most manufacturer's have already opted to discontinue production of analog televisions and concentrate on replacing there entire line up with HD. Satelite and cabale companies are expanding there HD content almost on a weekly basis. The "HD" era is about to explode into our living rooms and here comes the big "N" with it's so called "next gen" system and they have absolutely no intention on making it HD compatible. WTF ??? Am I the only one who thinks that's a very dumb move on Nintendo's part? I though this was supposed to be a "next gen" console :? Sorry but a controller that looks like a fisher price vcr remote isn't my idea of the "future" of gaming.
HD is not a "trend". HD is here, and it's here to stay. I'm the proud owner of a Sony 60" Grand Wega HD television. I own a HD satelite, an up-converting HDMI dvd player, and own a collection of WM-HD movies I've purchased throughout the years to take advantage of my HD television. I'm not the only one to have this kind of set-up either. There are many, many others with the same. For those of you who haven't seen true HD, trust me, once you've experienced it, there's no turning back. The downside of coarse, is that unless the video source is capable of outputting a signal in 1080i/720p the image quality looks terrible on these new HD sets. All my old game system's (including GC and XBOX) look awful on my new set, simply because they don't display games in HD. I want my next system to take full advantage of my television's performance and the Revolution, sadly, isn't the system that's going to do that.
The Revolution (from a technoligical stand point) seems to be from an entire different decade than the 360 and PS3. For that reason alone, there are going to be many games released for the other two systems that simply won't be possible on Nintendo's console. The crappy one's, I don't care about. It's the good games like Metal Gear, Resident Evil 5, Halo 3, Final Fantasy and Project Gotham City Racing I'm worried about.
The Revolution's ability to play games from the Nintendo's 20+ year library seems like a great idea at first until you realise that they too ( the older games) will look as bad on a new HDTV as they would if they were being played on the original hardware. This "feature isn't so great when you consider that you can just use an emulator and download virtually every Nintendo game ever made onto your computer.
Also, - so long as your Graphics card/CPU is powerful enough- you can play them at HD resolutions with surround sound, improved colours/contrast and graphics and all the other bells and whistles. Super Mario Bros. and Double Dragon never looked so good! I've got just about every NES/SNES/N64/MasterSystem/Genesis?Mame game worth playing all on my laptop hooked up to my t.v displaying all my old favourites in 32bit colour in 1920x1080 resolutions. Why would I (or anybody else) buy the Revolution for it's "backwards compatibility" if it can't even clean up the graphics to work better with our HD sets? (By the way, I also own the origional systems and games so it's okay that I own the roms
)
I think Nintendo has become a very arrogant and over-confident company. They seem to think they're still at the top of the gaming industry as they were back in the 16-bit days when they released the SNES. Those day's are long gone and Nintendo is loosing ground and loosing fans with every system they've released since the SNES. They're in no position to be so confident. If it weren't for the sales of there Gameboy, they would have turned into a software-only company like Sega did, a long time ago. Even their software as of late, is leaving a lot to be desired.
How many games has Mario been "featured" in? Jesus, I'm seeing him in tennis games, soccer games, "party games", racing games etc. etc. Nintendo's run out of ideas and they're milking poor Mario for all he's worth. Not only that, but with each new system, it's always the same line up. Mario/Zelda/F-zero. Same franchise's over and over and over again. I think it's time Nintendo woke up and smelled the crap they're shoveling. If they don't come out with a more competitive technology with the Revolution to compete with Sony and MS, Their franchise games - no matter how good- and there controller- no matter how quirky- won't be able to save them, at least not in North America anyways.
At this rate, I'm almost certain the Revolution will be Nintendo's last console. Too bad. I used to love Nintendo.....
Nintendo= R.I.P. :-[
This post is to express my concern for Nintendo's future in gaming consoles. I'm really worried that they're heading in the completely wrong direction with their next console, the Revolution. Here's why.
Let's start with technology. I'm sure many of you will argue that it's the games that make a console successful and to an extent, you're absolutely right. But let's not kid ourselves. How powerful a system's graphics capabilities are, play a major role in whether or not that console is successful. "Technology" and "great games" go hand in hand. Think about it
The most "revolutionary" games of the past decade were all made possible by improvements in technology. Games like FFVII, MetalGear, Mario64, and Halo (just to name a few) are examples of how powerful new technologies changed the way we looked and played video games. None of those games would have been possible on the older 16-bit systems no matter how creative/talented game developers were. Games like Mario 64 changed the way we played videogames. They opened up whole new doors and possibilities and inspired a whole new era of gameplay and level design.
Advancements in technology is what allowed these games to be created. Advancements in technology allowed game designers - for the first time - to realise their dreams of creating "virtual worlds" for gamers to play in. I believe that, while it's great games that are the most important reason to buy a new game console, it's technology that allows these games to be made in the first place.
This is what brings me to my biggest problem with Nintendo. Their total "lack of interest" in designing/producing a true "next gen" console to compete with the 360/PS3 in regards to technology.
Now, granted, the system's not even out yet and hardware specs haven't been finalized either, but based on reports and interviews from game developers and even Nintendo officials themselves, I've got a pretty good idea of what to expect from their upcoming "Revolution".
From all the information I've read thus far, the Revolution will be 1.5 - 2x more powerful than the GC which was barely as powerful as the original Xbox at best. What that means is that the graphics and gameplay as well as the games themselves (in terms of level design) will be pretty much the same to what is currently available now on older consoles like PS2/Xbox/GC because the technology simply isn't there to allow developers to "push the envelope" - sort of speak with newer games. You're basically going to see remakes of older games that won't look any better than the games currently available. There's nothing "Next Gen' about that at all.
At least if the Revolution was able to display games in HD, that would at least be something. I wouldn't mind seeing games like RE4 in HD, but the Revolution can't even do that. Not being HD like the other consoles is going to be Nintendo's downfall. Mark my words.
Why is HD so important?
In my opinion, I feel that the jump from standard definition to HD (720P/1080i) is every big a jump as 3D gaming was over 2D. There in lies the biggest problem with Nintendo "Revolution". Not only will it not be able to compete with Sony/MS in terms of raw power and performance but it won't even be able to display games in HD !! Here we are in (almost) 2006, HD televisions are flying off the shelves, HD-DVD and Blue ray are just around the corner, most manufacturer's have already opted to discontinue production of analog televisions and concentrate on replacing there entire line up with HD. Satelite and cabale companies are expanding there HD content almost on a weekly basis. The "HD" era is about to explode into our living rooms and here comes the big "N" with it's so called "next gen" system and they have absolutely no intention on making it HD compatible. WTF ??? Am I the only one who thinks that's a very dumb move on Nintendo's part? I though this was supposed to be a "next gen" console :? Sorry but a controller that looks like a fisher price vcr remote isn't my idea of the "future" of gaming.
HD is not a "trend". HD is here, and it's here to stay. I'm the proud owner of a Sony 60" Grand Wega HD television. I own a HD satelite, an up-converting HDMI dvd player, and own a collection of WM-HD movies I've purchased throughout the years to take advantage of my HD television. I'm not the only one to have this kind of set-up either. There are many, many others with the same. For those of you who haven't seen true HD, trust me, once you've experienced it, there's no turning back. The downside of coarse, is that unless the video source is capable of outputting a signal in 1080i/720p the image quality looks terrible on these new HD sets. All my old game system's (including GC and XBOX) look awful on my new set, simply because they don't display games in HD. I want my next system to take full advantage of my television's performance and the Revolution, sadly, isn't the system that's going to do that.
The Revolution (from a technoligical stand point) seems to be from an entire different decade than the 360 and PS3. For that reason alone, there are going to be many games released for the other two systems that simply won't be possible on Nintendo's console. The crappy one's, I don't care about. It's the good games like Metal Gear, Resident Evil 5, Halo 3, Final Fantasy and Project Gotham City Racing I'm worried about.
The Revolution's ability to play games from the Nintendo's 20+ year library seems like a great idea at first until you realise that they too ( the older games) will look as bad on a new HDTV as they would if they were being played on the original hardware. This "feature isn't so great when you consider that you can just use an emulator and download virtually every Nintendo game ever made onto your computer.
Also, - so long as your Graphics card/CPU is powerful enough- you can play them at HD resolutions with surround sound, improved colours/contrast and graphics and all the other bells and whistles. Super Mario Bros. and Double Dragon never looked so good! I've got just about every NES/SNES/N64/MasterSystem/Genesis?Mame game worth playing all on my laptop hooked up to my t.v displaying all my old favourites in 32bit colour in 1920x1080 resolutions. Why would I (or anybody else) buy the Revolution for it's "backwards compatibility" if it can't even clean up the graphics to work better with our HD sets? (By the way, I also own the origional systems and games so it's okay that I own the roms
)I think Nintendo has become a very arrogant and over-confident company. They seem to think they're still at the top of the gaming industry as they were back in the 16-bit days when they released the SNES. Those day's are long gone and Nintendo is loosing ground and loosing fans with every system they've released since the SNES. They're in no position to be so confident. If it weren't for the sales of there Gameboy, they would have turned into a software-only company like Sega did, a long time ago. Even their software as of late, is leaving a lot to be desired.
How many games has Mario been "featured" in? Jesus, I'm seeing him in tennis games, soccer games, "party games", racing games etc. etc. Nintendo's run out of ideas and they're milking poor Mario for all he's worth. Not only that, but with each new system, it's always the same line up. Mario/Zelda/F-zero. Same franchise's over and over and over again. I think it's time Nintendo woke up and smelled the crap they're shoveling. If they don't come out with a more competitive technology with the Revolution to compete with Sony and MS, Their franchise games - no matter how good- and there controller- no matter how quirky- won't be able to save them, at least not in North America anyways.
At this rate, I'm almost certain the Revolution will be Nintendo's last console. Too bad. I used to love Nintendo.....
Nintendo= R.I.P. :-[
The difference is every bit as big from HDTV and analog as colour was over black and white. Trust me. 
AND it will at least be 2x a Gamecube.