Revolution Claims Spur GameCube 2 Backlash – Full Report

December 8th, 2005, 20:34 Posted By: wraggster

Source - Spong

A report hitting IGN in the past few days has seen a backlash against Nintendo’s upcoming home console, codenamed Revolution, with claims touting the device as little more than GameCube 2.

The piece claims that development studios have warned that the Revolution will deliver 128MB RAM, perhaps even less. Bear in mind the Xbox 360 packs 512MB. This essentially rules out hopes of Nintendo reversing its stance on offering high-definition TV support, something of a bone of contention all of a sudden. Well, since Microsoft made it an integral element of its 360 console and subsequent marketing anyway…

“There is more RAM that you can use, but Nintendo is using that for general memory, like game saves and all sorts of other things. You could use it, but you can't rely on it,” said a developer in the IGN piece. We have no idea what that could mean…

A follow-up report claims that the Revolution will take the GameCube’s 24MB 1T-SRAM and 16MB D-RAM (40MB) and add 64MBs of 1T-SRAM, totalling 105MB core RAM. This does not include any additional grunt to be added by the Hollywood GPU, though again, rumour claims this will only add 3MB.

The report also claims the IBM-developed Broadway CPU is based on the GameCube’s Gekko processor - another reason fans of Sony and Microsoft’s consoles have seized on this opportunity to dub Revolution little more than GameCube 2 with some relish. It is rumoured that the Hollywood GPU is again a revision of existing GameCube hardware, namely the Flipper by ATi. “Basically, take a GameCube, double the clock rate of the CPU and GPU and you're done, says one source,” another claiming that, “The CPU is the same as Gekko with one and a half to two times the performance and improved caching. Our guys experimented with it and think they'll be able to get about twice the performance as GameCube”.

And now for some good news. Speculation puts the Revolution disc's storage at 4.7GB of data on a single layer or 8.5GB when double-layered on a single-side, a massive leap from the GameCube’s 1.5GB max. The suggested price is also something of a gem. We are told to expect between $99 and $149 at launch, astonishingly cheap and surely a must-buy price-point for any gamer.

The reports emerging at this stage have been dubbed ‘misguided’ by some sources we spoke to with bits and pieces of information cobbled together, and failed to produce a cohesive whole. Preliminary development units in circulation right now are PC-based and are backed by only the slightest briefing from Nintendo, much of which centered around the concepts underpinning the controller, with very little talk of the oft-mooted horsepower. Of course, it’s for this reason developers are left guessing at what to expect, though further updates from both IBM and ATi are expected to be released via Nintendo in the coming weeks. Following these updates, revised development kit guidelines will hit, followed in early February (we hear) by final SDKs

There are 0 comments - Join In and Discuss Here