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Comments made by Nintendo Exec hints at possibility of external hard drive for next-gen gaming console

With new game consoles there is always a concern with the pricing of the systems and games themselves and with the announcement of Nintendo porting older NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64 games for their to distribute electronically have raised some new questions, specifically about where/how the games will be stored if they exceed the gaming console's onboard flash memory size.

In an interview of Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata tells CNN/Money that the new console will be more affordable than the other next-gen consoles such as the XBOX 360 and Sony's PS3 and games Nintendo develops will follow the same plan. Though 3rd party developers may ask for more money per copy of game, Nintendo will not charge above the standard $50 price point for games developed in-house in order to gain customer loyalty.

The other topic brought up during the interview was the concern over storage space provided by the console and how 512MB of flash memory would be sufficient to store updates and even the older Nintendo, Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx 16 games which Nintendo is planning to offer for download through their online service.

Iwata mentioned that the console will feature SD memory card slots for virtually unlimited storage but also pointed out that the console will feature USB ports and hinted that they would not be limited to input devices but may, in fact, support other types of storage devices as well.

Iwata said there would be more announcements made regarding the "Revolution" during E3 2006 in a few weeks.

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Keeps getting better!
By bpt8056 on 3/29/2006 6:59:46 PM , Rating: 2
The Revolution just keeps getting better and better when more details are released. I can wait to see it in action at E3 in May.




RE: Keeps getting better!
By Mitul89 on 3/29/2006 7:54:28 PM , Rating: 2
totally agree with you. Although this is not surprising because I already knew that Rev is going to have 2 usb ports, so it was just matter of time for Iwata to say it to those who dont understand...


RE: Keeps getting better!
By Trisped on 4/4/2006 12:54:56 PM , Rating: 2
The PS2 also had USB ports, but you could only use PS2 accessories in them. So just because Nintendo says there are ports dosen't mean that it will support USB storage devices or that you will be able to save games or game data to them. That is why the storage statment is so interesting.


RE: Keeps getting better!
By amish on 3/29/2006 8:08:21 PM , Rating: 2
i really want to by one now. the only thing that worries me is:

quote:
It's entirely possible that some downloads might not be permanent, either, making additional storage space less important.


i want to be able to keep the roms that i pay to download. to me, it would be like iTunes letting you listed to the music for 9 months and then taking it away.


RE: Keeps getting better!
By hyperbolicparody on 3/29/2006 10:53:20 PM , Rating: 2
I highly doubt that Nintendo would just TAKE IT AWAY. I believe he is probably refering to a just-in-time service. I envision I can buy 10-15 ROMS, and fit 5 of them to my machine at a time (Say, Megaman 1-6). When I want to play one of the other ones (Duck Hunt) I just delete one of my current ones (MM3). When I want my old one (MM3) back I just delete one of the 5 currently on my machine (MM4). As long as I retain the ability to download or back it up I'm happy.

I read from that little bit that there might not be a need for the downloaded files to stay on my machine forever. I mean, how big is one of these ROMS anyway when looked at in terms of Cable/DSL/FIOS?


RE: Keeps getting better!
By Samus on 3/31/2006 4:09:52 AM , Rating: 2
Purchasing roms is a subscription service. When you buy it, your account is credited the ability to download and play it over and over. It is never permenantly stored on your Revolution.

The REAL beauty of this is that you can sign into your account from someone elses revolution (a friends) and play the rom there. They don't need to purchase it. This will also make 'online rentable' games because you can rent the rom that will expire in 5 days.

Since its all server based, its secure and virtually unhackable.


RE: Keeps getting better!
By Trisped on 4/4/2006 1:09:43 PM , Rating: 2
I think you are confusing this with the 360 system. The Revolution is suppose to offer all games from Nintendo through the N64 for free. The stuff from the other platforms will probably cost, but that isn't such a big deal.


RE: Keeps getting better!
By thilanliyan on 3/29/2006 8:10:52 PM , Rating: 3
Totally agree....This is the one console from this generation I WILL get...don't want PS3 OR XBox360. Last console I had was an N64...mmmmm....Goldeneye was so fun.


RE: Keeps getting better!
By Eris23007 on 3/29/2006 9:03:34 PM , Rating: 2

Definitely - Goldeneye was the defining game of its generation, much like Zelda on SNES (though some would argue Super Metroid was the SNES's defining game..... whatever, they were both awesome).

I remember many a night huddled around the N64 my frosh year of College, playing Goldeneye or MarioKart.


RE: Keeps getting better!
By thilanliyan on 3/30/2006 12:11:14 AM , Rating: 2
Goldeneye was THE game for multiplayer...having 3 of your buds there trying to blow the crap out of you was surprisingly fun. I don't think I've ever nor since enjoyed multiplayer like I did then.


Umm have you guys seen THIS
By Sharky974 on 3/30/06, Rating: 0
RE: Umm have you guys seen THIS
By Johnmcl7 on 3/30/2006 4:30:16 AM , Rating: 2
I can't seem to get the link working but I'm guessing this is a link to the comparatively low specs?

If so, then I disagree about games not being worth the money - I would much rather companies focus on the game itself rather than graphics. It's something which concerns me about the 360, PS3 and PC - as hardware becomes more powerful, you need more programmers, more artists, longer development times and there seems to be a growing tendency for people to turn their noses up at games because they don't have fancy enough graphics regardles of the gameplay. My favourite games on the Gamecube also have some of the poorest graphics, Donkey Konga, Cubivore(N64 graphics) and Panel de Pon (Snes graphics) so I would much rather Nintendo go for something relatively simple for their Revolution to encourage developers onto it with good games, rather than just good graphics.

John


RE: Umm have you guys seen THIS
By RobFDB on 3/30/2006 5:36:32 AM , Rating: 2
It's a link to exactly that. It's a new article on the front page, detailing the exact stats of the Revolution. Nothing terribly helpful, as they draw comparisons between the GCN, XBox, and Revolution citing various CPU and GPU speeds.

Of course none of that actually matters considering the GCN was fairly competative with the Xbox perforance wise.


By kelkins on 3/30/2006 2:47:02 PM , Rating: 2
I have the GameCube or lamecube whichever you want to call it and even though it makes the PS2 look sad it has NO support. The Resident Evil games look great but are so hard to control it isn't funny. Sorry I got burned buying once don't think I will repeat the same mistake. Oh by the way the best of the old generation was the Xbox it still has legs and can cream both the PS2 and Gamecube in performance.




By amish on 3/30/2006 4:28:32 PM , Rating: 2
true, the GC has no support at all. i bought one since it was cheap, but i have yet to completely finish a game that i've bought (except for f'n mario party). to me, the games weren't that fun, engrossing, or easy to use. hopefully, the revolution will change a lot of the problems that i had with my GC


Viva La Revolution
By sotti on 3/30/2006 6:07:02 PM , Rating: 2
When it comes to games

Art > Graphics

Nintendo has some great artists so even with a less powerful machine they will probably still make some of the best looking games.




RE: Viva La Revolution
By Blackraven on 3/31/2006 10:45:49 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah.

I'm hoping to buy a Revolution as well. Perhaps for Christmas next year (when prices go down drastically)


I'm in!
By josh609 on 3/29/2006 8:32:02 PM , Rating: 2
I agree. The Revolution sounds Very interesting. I'm sure i'll be picking one up on launch day. If they have a new mario, zelda, or metroid, I'm all over it!




Most likely
By jimmy43 on 3/29/2006 8:48:27 PM , Rating: 2
The internal 512 flash ram would be used for saving games and preloading content off of real storage ie sd cards or a hard drive.




Cant wait
By DangerIsGo on 3/29/2006 11:56:32 PM , Rating: 2
I really cant wait for this system. What else will nintendo think of! I honestly think that nintendo is the most innovative company out there and that if game manufacturers took advantage of nintendos potential, that nintendo would easily be on top. Like the GCN, which was nintendos fault for not doing more with the network adaptor.




By joey2264 on 3/30/2006 12:12:39 AM , Rating: 2
Uhm, big whoop?

Microsoft first party titles have kept at $50 too, and they are truly next generation titles.

With real whoppers coming too soon from Microsoft Game Studios, like Too Human, some great $50 gaming will be had.




Revolution is looking better
By OrSin on 3/30/2006 8:47:41 AM , Rating: 2
I not a huge consol fan but I iwll be getting at least 1 this generation and the Revolution is looking better and better. Sony MS console is all about graphics. Whena game budget is 50% graphics and the interface and gameplay sucks you notice it. Nintendo has always been about game play. I know about will think the graphics will suck but I doubt it. The reason is they console will still ahve twice the power of PS2 and Xbox (current generation). Thier graphics are fine. It could be better but the revolution will have the power to be better. Give me good gameplay and well thought out interface and I can take ok graphics.




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