New Nintendo console - Wii U

Originally posted by General Kaliero
Do you have a source for Sony starting development on the PS3 before 2000?

Who do you think develops all those firmware upgrades? Why, R&D of course. How do they know what their goals are? Working with the network coordinators and public relations to determine the problems that need fixing. These teams don't have just one job, and the work on a console doesn't end at launch. After launch the jobs for everyone in the console division of the company shift from creation to refinement and maintenance.

It's been a long time but it was said back when there was all that hubbub about IMB showing Microsoft the specs for the PS3s Cell in like 2002.

Surely some sort of IT department works on firmware upgrades? R&D is like a hands on think tank, it's their job to research and develop new technology and brain storm new ideas. I'm pretty sure Dr. Richard Marks (SCEAs head of R&D) said that R&D doesn't even end up working on the final stages of a products (let alone something already on the market). What they do is mess around with new tech and create mock ups, they aren't patching firmware.

Nintendo speaks up about the third party issue.

http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/116/1165674p1.html

Rumor: Project Cafe has 8GB of on-board flash memory

An unnamed source tells Kotaku that Nintendo's upcoming console, codenamed Project Cafe, will not have a hard drive. Instead, it will feature 8 gigabytes of on-board flash-based memory, and that will likely be used for game storage. That's not a lot of storage, but it's far more than the Wii offers. Beyond this, the system is also said to support saving to SD memory cards. Of course, Nintendo is not commenting on this.

It seems that the new disc format for Project Cafe will hold 25GB of data. That's huge! There's no copying of your games to local storage with discs of this size...

No HDD... they serious? 😐

Originally posted by S_D_J
[b]Rumor: Project Cafe has 8GB of on-board flash memory

No HDD... they serious? 😐 [/B]

Seems alright.

Yes, if they have a high capacity optical with decent load times, then why bother with the HD?

Why bother?

This console is supposed to cater the hardcore crowd, No HDD is a big NO NO to that same audience.

The business model is skewering towards digital distribution (as much as I hate it, I prefer physical stuff I can share with friends. Not trade, mind you), and that's just releases, then there are arcade-like games, DLC's, demos and not to mention videos and music (to me those 2 are irrelevant)

As anyone who owns/owned a 20gig 360 could attest, is aggravating having to clean the fridge when you want some new dlc and there's no room

Originally posted by S_D_J
[b]Rumor: Project Cafe has 8GB of on-board flash memory

No HDD... they serious? 😐 [/B]

Originally posted by AsbestosFlaygon
Methinks its a strategy to prevent piracy.

Me thinks is a strategy to stay in 2006

Having no HDD doesn't prevent privacy.

Having only an 8 GB Flash memory is a very bad decision if that's the case. SDJ is correct, if they want this to cater the hardcore crowd, they need to have a bigger HD box.

Also, think about how 3rd party developers would feel? Most of them are on the DLC bandwagon now and having a console that won't cater to DLC is probably not going to work for them.

Considering how cheap HDD space is these days, not having at least 20 GB's is dumb.

In my opinion, for these console to make money and challenge Sony/MS, they need two things. Hardcore games and amazing online play. Not having a big HDD will seriously hurt this.

I'm not actually convinced they need a huge DLC capacity to win a large market.

I'm DEFINITELY not convinced that the margin is larger than the sales they would gain in this making it cheaper.

Still, let's see how it turns out. Only a rumour so far.

I think DLC is a bigger deal than you think. It's a dumb decision by Nintendo if the rumours are true.

If Nintendo does what Nintendo always does, then this console will be last.

I highly doubt that.

That's absolutely true. I didn't even consider that.

To paraphrase, it's a trade-off between reducing cost and increasing utility.

I think the 'gamble' towards a lower-cost has been proven in the market, already, with the current gen consoles. They can always do what Nintendo and Apple are best known for: selling tons of "additionals." Who's to say external storage is not possible? What about cloud storage with a subscription? AHA!

Originally posted by dadudemon
That's absolutely true. I didn't even consider that.

To paraphrase, it's a trade-off between reducing cost and increasing utility.

I think the 'gamble' towards a lower-cost has been proven in the market, already, with the current gen consoles. They can always do what Nintendo and Apple are best known for: selling tons of "additionals." Who's to say external storage is not possible? What about cloud storage with a subscription? AHA!

Nintendo can't even get online play right, let alone have anything to do with cloud storage.

This is funny. Everybody assumes this console will do well because the Wii sold like crazy but everybody forgets that Sony is in the same position right now. Who would of thought that the PS3 would be trailing the Wii and 360 after the PS2 did so extremely well?

It probably will do well but Nintendo cannot do what they always do and that is too expect consumers will buy their consoles on the strength of their first party titles.

No-one is assuming anything.

And everyone would agree that Nintendo needs to up their game online- likewise their front end interface.

Definitely.

oh, the rumor mill

Report: EA Developing For Microsoft's Next Xbox
Will the successor to the 360 be on display at E3 2011?

Citing an unnamed source, UK-based video game industry magazine Develop is reporting that Microsoft has provided Electronic Arts with development hardware that will become the next Xbox as early as 2012.

According to the report, the hardware is housed in a PC shell, a common practice for early console development kits. Develop's source, described as a "senior, trusted, well-placed" person who works at neither EA nor Microsoft, told the magazine an E3 2011 reveal is likely.

We've reached out to Microsoft and EA for comment.

🙄

EDIT: And...

Rumor: Project Cafe to be Nintendo FEEL

If you thought the Wii was a silly name, what do you think of the rumored moniker for Project Cafe? The latest industry mutterings suggest that Nintendo's HD console will be called Nintendo FEEL, with a name that seems to nod toward the rumored touch-screen controller.

According to the newest reports, FEEL will actually be able to simulate textures on the controller using haptic technology. Nintendo's goal is to create a console perfectly balanced for both casual and hardcore players, with a console as intuitive as the Wii with the kind of games "core" players are used to.

As always, this is not confirmed. It's looking like E3 will reveal all, though!

Update 3: Electronic Arts' director of corporate communications Jeff Brown said in a statement to IGN, "This story is a total fabrication – 100 percent not true."

Update 2: A trusted development source tells IGN, "To the best of my knowledge no one here knows what [the new Xbox] will be. Only that it will probably drop in 2013."

Update 1: An unnamed source tells Eurogamer an E3 2011 reveal for Microsoft's next Xbox is "highly unlikely," putting Develop's E3 rumor to rest for now.

The initial story sounded better

😛

Nah, they shouldn't rush production to catch up. I hope they just go balls out though, 360 has 512mb ram and a 500mhz GPU, beef those suckers up link-rape