Nintendo grabbed the E3 stage by showing off the new Nintendo Revolution game console due out next year. Competing with the Sony PS3 and the Xbox360 from Microsoft, Nintendo needed to offer something new and improved and it looks like they might have done it.
The new games console will be quite small, the size of 3 DVD cases stacked onto one another. Revolution will have WiFi compatibility and will handle all the GameCube games as well as the standard sized disks. It will have Internet access and the coolest thing that will give it a nice oomph is the ability to download games from the past. Nintendo will open a library of 20 years from its consoles of the past to allow a whole new generation of console gamers to experience its wonders. It includes the original NES, the SNES and the Nintendo 64.
“We will show the world what a next-gen system can be. Revolution marries the strongest heritage of innovation to the future of gaming,” says Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. “With backward compatibility and the ‘virtual console’ concept, the stylish, compact body provides maximum gaming power. It will not only take home entertainment into another dimension by expanding the definition of video games, but it also will give you access to the great history of gaming.”
This new Nintendo system packs a lot of features in this console including wireless controllers, an SD memory card slot, processor chip developed with IBM and a graphics chip from ATI. Nintendo also has a wireless gaming service that will work in tandem with some of the new wireless games to be used with the WiFi feature. The cool thing will be taking your Nintendo to your buddy’s house and plugging up to the TV and continuing the wireless gaming.
“Our next console proves small in size but big on ideas,” says Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales & marketing. “We’re throwing open the doors of gaming to wider audiences, from casual players to hard-core gamers who live for the thrill of defeating an endless army of wireless opponents.”
Nintendo’s All-Access Gaming philosophy covers the spectrum. The next console fits anywhere. It brings together new games and old. It gives people worldwide access through wireless Wi-Fi connections. And it opens the world of video games — to everyone. Software for the new console will even attract people who don’t consider themselves players. Adults, kids, men and women around the world will have access to the most popular video game characters, the best game franchises and the most engaging experiences yet developed only with Nintendo.
The strongest feature of the console is most certainly the access to the huge catalog of Nintendo’s many years of game consoles. They will incorporate all their old characters like Zelda and Donkey Kong and Mario and plan on introducing a few new ones as well. The game console market continues to heat up. One can only wonder what comes next.
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
