The "Revolution" Starts at an Undetermined Date in 2006

E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo, I believe), the video game industry's big shindig to show off shwag, is over. Has been for a while, in fact. Granted I haven't followed every update or kept up with every revelation. But what I did see was pretty interesting. There's a lot of games coming out, like "Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess, Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts 2, Nintendogs, and a bunch of other games that I'm either very interested in or definitely going to buy someday.

But of course, the big news was the next generation consoles. The first story to break was the XBox 360, followed by the PlayStation 3. And last but hopefully not least, there was Nintendo. Along with a new iteration or two on the GameBoy, Nintendo gave the public a preview look at its new system, codenamed the Revolution. Now it doesn't seem like the Revolution is quite as far along in development as its competitors; fans mostly got a looks at the box and a few tantalizing bits of info about what it's going to be able to do. From what I've seen and read, this has the potential to be a big step in the right direction for Nintendo, but there's still a few things that may end up holding it back.

The Good:

Backwards compatibility, All the way backwards - In what may be their smartest move with the Revolution, Nintendo announced that not only will the new system be able to play GameCube discs, it will also give you access to N64, SNES, and NES games. Through the Revolution's online capabilities, players will be able to download older games to play on their new system. Nintendo is reportedly even talking to other companies in an effort to get non-Nintendo titles made for the old systems into the library of available games. There's no word yet on what, if anything, this service will cost. But if Nintendo can keep the price reasonable, it'll help to take a big bite out of the emulator market.

It's Online - The GameCube really got left behind when it came to online gaming, with essentially only one title to make your modem worthwhile. But no more. The Revolution will be able to go online and the only title announced for its launch - a new version of "Super Smash Bros." - will make use of this feature. (Kim, if we both get the system and this game, we can play "Smash Bros." together all the time!!!

Normal Sized Discs and DVD - finally. The shape of their software was another problem that held Nintendo back in the console wars. While the first PlayStation doubled as a CD player and the PS2 and XBox could both handle your DVDs as well, Nintendo brought up the rear with cartridges and mini-discs. Now Nintendo has shown that the Revolution will take full sized discs and - with the aid of a separately purchased peripheral - be able to play DVDs as well.

Wireless Controllers - This looks like it's going to be the standard for next-gen systems; XBox 360 is definitely wireless out of the box and it looks like the PS3 will be as well. But after Nintendo missed out on so many opportunities in the past, it's nice to see them getting in on the ground floor with their competitors.

It's Cheaper (Maybe) - One of those most tempting tidbits about the Revolution is that Nintendo is going to try to launch it at under $200 retail. This could give the system a major boost if the 360 and the PS3 debut at higher prices. I'm not going to hold my breath on this one, but it'll be pretty cool if they can make it happen.


The Bad:

Timing - XBox 360 us due out sometime this November. PlayStation 3 is supposed to come out in March of next year. The Revolution . . . well, we're not quite sure yet. Like I said, Nintendo's newest system still seems like it has a ways to go before it's really ready for the public. So it's a good guess that the Revolution will be the last of the next-gen consoles to debut. If gamers decide that they want a new system sooner rather than later, Nintendo could get burned.

The Dumb Hint about the Controller - probably the biggest mystery surrounding the Revolution is its as yet unseen controller. Nintendo says this is the feature that will really make the Revolution revolutionary. But details on what makes it so special are few and far between. Which is fine. But Nintendo's on hint about the new controller strikes me as kind of dumb. They're saying we should think about the fact that it needs to be able to play games from all of Nintendo's past consoles. Well guess what? I can already do that on my GameCube controller! So it's hardly a helpful hint. (Andrew however, has made a guess that it's going to be an LCD touchscreen that can show any number of different button configurations. Just a guess, since neither of us know anything more than the general public.)

It's a Smaller System - By Nintendo's own admission, the Revolution is just not going to be as powerful as its competitors. It's designed to be a smaller, more affordable system that's accessible for the whole family. If Nintendo can keep the price low at launch, this might work out for them. But still, potential buyers may be tempted away by the 360 and PS3.


So that's my layman's view of the Revolution, from what's been said so far. There's a lot of factors that are still up in the air that could tip the scale in one direction or the other: launch titles, prices for downloading old games, third party support, and what that mysterious controller ends up being. I'll keep you informed if I hear anything new. But for now, the Revolution is looking interesting at the very least.