| Nintendo | April 1999 |
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64DD Compatibility Rumor April 30, 1999 - Gaming site The Magic Box reports that sources from Japan say that the 64DD will be compatible with Nintendo 64 and N200X. Nintendo is also purportedly planning to release a new form of the 64DD media that allows for writing on the entire disk, as opposed to the current design which only allows 1/3 of the disk to be written on. This new media is supposed to be available after N200X's release. OperatioN2000 already did a great job of striking this rumor down, so I'll just offer some of my own thoughts. First off, I must say that I am not a fan of the 64DD. 64 MB is a ridiculously small amount of storage space and cartridge size will soon be meeting and surpassing that number. Granted it's more than sufficient for any kind of game-saving (it's certainly enormous compared to what can be saved on EEPROM), but if N200X is to have internet-surfing capability, Nintendo will want a rewritable drive that can compare with Dreamcast's 100 MB Zip drive or the high density disks that Sony is rumored to be considering for use with Playstation 2. Besides, those 64DD disks are enormous (physically)! I would prefer to see a more space-efficient design. The 64DD will never be released in the United States anyway, so there's the problem of actually getting the machine to consumers. What is more likely, however, is that the research gained from developing the 64DD will make its way onto N200X (either included in the box or as an add-on) in a more sophisticated form. If the new machine is indeed employing a dual-medium system, Nintendo will certainly want to use technology that they have already developed, and 64DD fits the bill nicely (though, as I stated earlier, I would like to see more storage and a smaller physical size). Like OPN2000 said, someone probably heard that the new Nintendo would employ 64DD technology and the rumor was then exaggerated as it moved about.
Nintendo's earnings for fiscal year 1998 rose 20% from the previous year at about 155 billion yen ($1.287 billion). Even factoring out additional earnings from a change in corporate tax laws, Nintendo still increased its profits by a very respectable 10% (read the full story here). In similar news, Sony's profts from Playstation amounted to 137 billion yen ($1.2 billion) for the fiscal year, comprising 40% of Sony's total operating profits. Profits for Sony Corporation as a whole dropped nearly 20% (read the full story here). As you can see, Nintendo is hardly in any financial trouble. IGN64 once said that developers they spoke to indicated that if Nintendo 64 did poorly, the next generation Nintendo would launch in Japan in October 2000 as planned. This doesn't look like the case, so a Japanese launch probably will not occur until around Summer 2001, like the N64 before it. On another note, E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) is coming next month (May 13-15). Anyone who expects Nintendo to announce the specs for the next Nintendo at this expo will be sorely disappointed. The line-up of Nintendo 64 titles this year is exceptionally strong, and Nintendo won't want to divert any attention away from their current flagship console just yet. OK, sorry, one last thing. I know for a fact that most of the visitors to this site are from the United States (or a similarly affluent nation), and I assume that your possession of or access to an internet connection puts you in a somewhat middle class bracket of society. Please try to remember how lucky we are to be able to dream about such things as 128-bit Nintendo goodness and not have to worry about food, shelter, and clothing. Obviously, everyone should always be thankful for what they have, but recent events in Kosovo and Littleton, Colorado bring such sentiments further into the forefront.
A cross between Resident Evil and Zelda, and Nintendo is sponsoring its development? Granted these titles aren't being developed by Nintendo themselves, but they were probably responsible for ordering these games' production (after all, when the game is published, Nintendo's name will be shown most prominently). With Eternal Darkness clearly being made to fit in the horror adventure category, and Riqa looking to match Perfect Dark's maturity, we can see that Nintendo of America's obsession with the super-cute is beginning to fade. While I'm told that some Super Famicom games published by NCL (Nintendo Co., Ltd.) contained swearing and some mature themes, NOA has consistently catered to the very young, counting on their games' quality to sell themselves to an older market. By releasing these games, Nintendo has finally shown some committment to the 16 years and older market (or 15+, or whatever), and is preparing to rework the company's image before launching N200X. Although Nintendo 64's utter loss to the Playstation is discouraging to Nintendo fans, I have always maintained that Nintendo's defeat by Sony is the best thing that has happened to our favorite video game company. What we've seen lately is a humbled company that is now committed to reclaiming its lost market share. Nintendo has regrouped and refocused, and quite frankly, it looks as if they're doing everything right. No longer arrogantly proclaiming that a Nintendo system could survive on first-party games alone (or that third-parties needed Nintendo, not the other way around), they are now actively seeking third-party developer support and designing N200X to be as developer-friendly as possible. No longer blatantly ignoring demographics that showed an older video game-playing audience, Nintendo is now beginning to broaden its target group. Add these changes to the tried-and-true hallmarks of the Nintendo gaming experience, namely the highest quality games and the most innovative technological advances, and you have one hell of an effective strategy. Welcome to the new Nintendo.
It sounds almost as if Miyamoto is trying to say that hardware power isn't that important, perhaps preparing the public for the realization that N200X will not be able to match Playstation 2's specs. On the other hand, nah... Nintendo has already announced that their machine will be more powerful, and turning back on that statement now would be suicide. Miyamoto is probably just reminding gamers that Nintendo makes the best games in the business. With people like Miyamoto on staff, Nintendo can safely and accurately make such claims.
While I usually like to be dubious but hopeful, this time around I have to say that these pictures are definitely the work of "some punk". Nintendo is most certainly not going to have a final case design two years away from the machine's launch. In fact, I think it's extremely safe to say that they haven't even begun thinking about the machine's exterior design yet. Playstation 2 has already been announced and is set to arrive in about a year, and its case hasn't even been finalized at this point. The board picture is fake too. Again, the final design is not yet known (ArtX is still continuing research). Besides, it looks far too cluttered to be the work of former Silicon Graphics employees. Considering the very elegant design of N64's board, we can probably assume that the new Nintendo will sport similar engineering. Oh, and those renders? I'm told that the Antz scene, if done in real time, would require 20 million polygons per second, within reach of Playstation 2 and (if Nintendo's PR talk is true) certainly within N200X's power as well. Are you drooling yet?
Whether this is true or not, remember one thing: It's only a code name! It's amazing how worked up some people can get over a code name. I repeat, "Dolphin" is not the actual name for the new system. If it were, then people would have something to complain about. "Dolphin" doesn't exactly exemplify cutting-edge technology.
Rumors persist that Nintendo has already chosen DVD for N200X's storage medium, and this little insider information adds credence to those rumors. If accurate, this information suggests that rewritability will not be part of Nintendo's next generation strategy. Many people theorize that Nintendo could employ a dual-medium system, using DVDs primarily and a Zip-like storage system to write on. I personally think that would cost too much. Hopefully Nintendo will surprise us with something revolutionary.
Before anyone complains that 4MB isn't enough RAM, remember that this is only the RAM embedded on the graphics chip. IGN64 likens it to a cache of sorts, so imagine (sort of) a Pentium II or III w/ a 4 MB L2 cache. Having a cache of RAM right inside the graphics processor cuts down on access time and should improve performance. This news doesn't mean much to the average gamer, but if it equates to greater power, developers will be happy, which of course, benefits everybody.
N200X's Netscape Browser We know that Nintendo is working with Nexus on parts of N200X's networking component and we also know that Nintendo is very friendly with Netscape. Since networkability is such a top priority for the new console, that bit about the 56K modem is probably not very far off and neither is the rumor that Netscape may be developing the software for it (check out the March news for Magic Box's rumors regarding Netscape software). The screenshot, however, is almost assuredly fake. I'm told that it looks like nothing more than the Unix version of Netscape. It's irrelevant, actually. Even if it were real, N200X is two years away from release. Whatever form the browser may currently exist in will definitely change by then. Info on Rare's first N200X Game Rare is said to be working on two secret games. Whether they are Nintendo 64 projects or not isn't known so the breadth of speculation that you can make about those projects is very wide. Since this "source" is undoubtedly anonymous, nobody can vouch for his/her validity. Still, it's highly probable that Rare is indeed working on an N200X project, and a Killer Instinct might make sense. Jini N64 Underground once reported a rumor that the new Nintendo might use Jini as its operating system. Since Jini allows for easy networkability between electronic appliances (such as digital cameras and laptops), using that OS would allow the new Nintendo to expand the console's use. It's possible (and perhaps likely) that the new Nintendo may utilize Jini in some fashion, but I'm afraid that I'm very inclined to dismiss this source's claims as fiction. If you read the story, you'll see that it's quoted, and that the person speaks like someone from Nintendo (or at least someone very close to Nintendo). Sorry, but that doesn't happen. Nintendo's employees are not that loose-lipped. Besides, even taking into account N200X's expected internet abilities, what use would gamers have for a high-end printer (the Game Boy printer was different; it was a toy)? Nintendo is not out to create a set top box. They're a game company only. That's the bottom line. Psygnosis to Develop for N200X Umm... no. OperatioN2000 did a good job of debunking this rumor so I'll only cover the main obvious points and add a few comments of my own. First of all, Psygnosis is owned by Sony. Granted they're independent-minded and they produced two games for N64, but they didn't publish those games themselves and I hear that Sony was not particularly pleased with their actions. Furthermore, even if Psygnosis were to develop for N200X, they certainly wouldn't be doing it now. Right now Sony wants launch titles for Playstation 2, and they are definitely going to start with the companies they own. Another thing: I wrote above that the people at Psygnosis were "very impressed" with the N200X's specs. Actually, the article uses much stronger words, implying that the system specs are massively greater than Playstation 2's. While I'm sure Nintendo won't disappoint with the new Nintendo's power, don't expect it to completely blow away PSX2. In fact, there are a great number of people who don't believe that Nintendo can beat Sony's specs at all, despite its expected release a year after PSX2's launch. Nintendo does not have the ability to produce chips nearly as cheaply as Sony can. Push the technology too far and the cost will become prohibitive. N200X will probably be more powerful, but mind-blowingly so? Don't get your hopes up.
The poll is hardly scientific (a more accurate poll would probably have higher PS2 numbers), but encouraging nonetheless. Since Nintendo hasn't announced any specifications on their new machine, the 36% who are highly anticipating N200X are basing their judgment on Nintendo's name (and reputation, of course) alone. That's incredible considering Nintendo's stumble with Nintendo 64. Imagine how the polls will read when Nintendo does release specs and game information?
I was talking with a trusted friend, an employee of IBM's manufacturing plant in Essex Junction, Vermont, at work on Saturday and we got onto the subject of Nintendo and what they're planning for the next generation system. He mentioned that Nintendo had been in talks with IBM about using one of their processors. While he doesn't work directly in R&D, word has it that Nintendo is looking into a custom chip, and they're currently toying around with one running at 400mhz. He emphasizes that this is only a "word of mouth" rumor, but if a trusted publication like Business Week has also reported the same rumor, the likelihood of it being true is a little higher (at least to me). An e-mail to IBM resulted in nothing more than "IBM is not affiliated with Nintendo at this time." That doesn't necessarily mean much. If Nintendo were talking with IBM about developing one of N200X's chips, I doubt that a customer service representative would be one of the first to know about it. Nintendo's response was also typical, stating that they are "continually researching new technology" and that "plans will continue to change as our development continues." That's important to remember. Right now there are probably few aspects of the new Nintendo that are set in stone, so rumors that you hear today may amount to nothing in two years. Still, everyone loves a good rumor, and hopefully, someone from Next Generation or IGN64 will be able to coax some more statements out of second- and third-party developers and maybe Nintendo themselves.
44% is an incredible number (read the full article for comparisons). So incredible, in fact, that I doubt the survey's validity. Video games are not yet mainstream, and though many people have heard of the Sony Playstation, I doubt that very many have read about its successor. My guess is that some of the respondents heard the name "Playstation" and answered yes. The other numbers, however, seem realistic and even encouraging. Given that Nintendo has said very little about their new console (in fact, as far as an average person is concerned, they've said just about nothing!), 22% is very decent. |
