Rockstar Rumored as Nintendo Next-Gen Developer
Grand Theft auto 5 is reportedly heading to Nintendo's next-generation console during in 2012.
Following reports that the next-gen Nintendo console will feature a controller with a built-in high-resolution screen, additional news has surfaced that Nintendo approached Rockstar directly as part of its campaign to "win back" the hardcore audience that has snubbed its nose to the highly-successful "social" console, the Nintendo Wii.
The news isn't surprising to say the least. While the Wii was highly popular with the general mass market, titles specifically targeted to the hardcore gamer didn't sell well. Sega, determined to reach the hardcore market with the release of The Conduit, MadWorld and House of the Dead: Overkill, dropped plans for future attempts. Even the highly-popular Dead Space franchise did poorly on Nintendo's current-gen device.
Last week brought reports that Nintendo will reveal its next-generation game console-- aka 'Project Café-- at E3 2011 this June "if not sooner." Previous unnamed sources said it will be comparable in processing power to Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, (finally) support HD graphics and launch sometime in 2012. If this is indeed true, this may be a bad move on Nintendo's part given that the typical console lifespan is around five years.
But sources are claiming that Nintendo is reportedly showcasing the new hardware to developers now. One unnamed source said the company is "doing this one right," that it's "not a gimmick like the [Nintendo] Wii." It's also supposedly more powerful than Microsoft's and Sony's current offering, sporting a custom 3-core IBM PowerPC CPU, a GPU from the ATI R700 family with a shader unit at version 4.1, and 512 MB of RAM at the very least.
Additional reports claim that the next-generation Nintendo console will be backwards compatible with Wii and GameCube titles, supporting the peripherals from each console. There's also reportedly an HD projector for high-quality wall-based gaming and the possibility of a Blu-ray optical drive. The controller that supposedly comes packed with the 2012 console will feature a 6-inch touchscreen, a front-facing camera, a D-pad, two thumbsticks, two trigger buttons and more. Who wants to bet this peripheral will work as a separate handheld gaming device for digitally-downloaded DS, GBA and other older titles?
Naturally all of this is pure rumor, so take it with a grain of salt. But as Nintendo has stated in the past, it's not going to produce a "Wii 2," an "HD Wii" or a "3D Wii 2." Nintendo won't won't reveal the next console unless it can truly set itself from its market rivals in a surprising way-- just as the Wii did. And as the specs convey above, it will be an entirely new feature set... and apparently will have the goods to support Grand Theft Auto 5 next year.
"At Nintendo we always have the obligation to surprise users with a new game console," Yoshio Sakamoto said in a recent interview. "We have never done what others have. We prefer to create something new that catches attention, and I think this will continue this time as well. Surely the new Nintendo machine will leave you all with your mouth open."
"It is really important for our business to positively surprise people," Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata previously said. "Will you be surprised by our completed product if we told you how it is surprising three years in advance? Therefore, we basically disclose information on our products as late as possible."
My bags are already packed for June. Such a long wait...
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It will also contain a sample of Chuck Norris' DNA and bake small, cardboard flavored pastries and cakes using a 70 watt light bulb.
I will be thoroughly upset if Microsoft and Sony's next-gen consoles don't have at least 2GB of RAM. A Wii HD with 512mb will suffice until then.
If we can get some more details, Ill buy it. Hopefully this "more powerful" unit is "significantly" more powerful than the current gen. Some devs have stated that it is...so we will see...
It will also contain a sample of Chuck Norris' DNA and bake small, cardboard flavored pastries and cakes using a 70 watt light bulb.
You forgot the kitchen sink
If all the rumors are true, then Nintendo lost it. Why would they put an HD screen on a controller when their freshly launched 3DS doesn't even have one.
Many developers have complained about PS3 and 360 not having enough RAM. So far it's looking like Nintendo's also going with 512MB. They'd put themselves way ahead if they at least did 1GB.
And R700? That's the Radeon 4xxx line, why not go with the 5xxx line at least for the GPU. They're more powerful, efficient, and Nintendo would have the advantage of DX11.
If they upped the RAM and GPU a little bit it would only add probably $50 to the price tag, but make it a much more powerful console.
This is what i want out of WiiHD or Cafe. I never bought a wii because it was SD.
1: HD 1080p (3d would be nice)
2. 6-8 Core CPU running at 2.6-3.2 GHZ
3. 1GB Deciated Ram CPU
4. 1GB Deciated Ram GPU
5. Backwards Compatibly as far back as Gamecube
6. 320GB Min HDD
7. A Great launch game like Zelda or Mario or Metroid
9. A solid controller, not like them waving your arms in the air ones. I hate motion control, That being said your old wii controller should work it with out of the box to keep backwards compatibly
10. 3DS And WiiHD to work together is some way manor or form.
The controller/HD and amazing system specs are my main goals with it. The rest should fall into place.
I dont get it...arent the X360 and PS3 closer to the END of their lifecycles? Why would Nintendo design a console only to match their performance?
Is that ps3 or ps3 using the CELL.
I somehow see GTA5 coming for the wii and PS3, but not the xbox.
If all the rumors are true, then Nintendo lost it. Why would they put an HD screen on a controller when their freshly launched 3DS doesn't even have one.Many developers have complained about PS3 and 360 not having enough RAM. So far it's looking like Nintendo's also going with 512MB. They'd put themselves way ahead if they at least did 1GB.And R700? That's the Radeon 4xxx line, why not go with the 5xxx line at least for the GPU. They're more powerful, efficient, and Nintendo would have the advantage of DX11.If they upped the RAM and GPU a little bit it would only add probably $50 to the price tag, but make it a much more powerful console.
Completely agree with your post. We already have an xbox 360 with a triple core cpu and gpu with 512 ddr3 of ram, we don't need a slightly better duplicate without tessellation as a slap on at least...
This thing should have something similar to a 5830 1gb ddr5 at the least for dx11 as you said, 2 gigs of ram as a bare minimum and at LEAST a quad core.
If not then at this pathetic rate PC's will have 32 core cpus at 4+ ghz with clocks 4x more efficient than the current sandy bridge, logical or not wtv, and 200$ gpu's with 400 gb/s of bandwidth and for all we know nvidia and amd will have invented quad core gpu's with perfect scaling by the time the ps5 comes out.
Wishful thinking? I'd like to hope not
I dont get it...arent the X360 and PS3 closer to the END of their lifecycles? Why would Nintendo design a console only to match their performance?
To make hardcore gamers lol, that's really all I can think of...
Although I whine needlessly that it doesn't look like it will be as powerful as I believe it should be, I will still probably get one to FINALLY hook up a console to my pc screen via hdmi and play my GC zelda games =D
I dont get it...arent the X360 and PS3 closer to the END of their lifecycles? Why would Nintendo design a console only to match their performance?
because clearly pure processing power without innovation just drives up price and is not in high demand. as the PS3
Did you guys choose that picture of Mario kicking SackBoy for the sole sake of inciting a flamewar? This article has nothing to do with the PS3, so why is the picture relevant?
Also, please explain how you came to the conclusion that a triple core processor from this rumored system can possibly be faster than the eight core processor in the PS3.
As long as the hardware runs well enough to play the games at 1080p, that's all that's really necessary. Consoles are meant to play on a television at those resolutions, they don't need to do any better. Even if PS3 CAN do 1080p and 3d, how many devs are actually putting out games at that resolution? There's about 20 1080p games, and most of them aren't even second tier titles.
Admittedly, the next gen Xbox/Playstation will likely have better hardware in a couple years, but when has hardware been the number one concern in consoles? If you want the best in graphics, stop playing consoles, the hardware will be outdated in a couple years anyway. PC is where you belong, just as long as you're willing to pay $500+. Nintendo can still woo hardcore gamers with good gameplay that doesn't involve spazzing in front of the screen. Gamers still like actual gameplay, right?
You guys who are arguing about the specs are missing the bigger picture. The specs don't mean crap it's all about the games. I still enjoy the old nes snes and n64 games as much as the newer stuff. If it's innovative and fun then I don't care. Nintendo is going the right route here I think with a very powerful machine if it matches the PS3 and 360 in power. It will be plenty powerful enough to make a killer mario game in hd ( mario galaxy 1 and 2 are beautiful in 480p ) if it has 512 meg of ram, triple core cpu, and a decent gpu. Just look at the 86 megs of ram in the wii and it has amazing games. Even more amazing is the ps2 with 32 megs of ram but it had some of the best games ever. I'm excited for this because I think the controller will feature some sort of inexpensive touch screen just to add some features to games as far as buttons and menus go ( think very fancy dreamcast VMU ) and I think it could incorporate something for virtual console games and mii's on the touch screen. Possibly even changing buttons positions for virtual console games on the screen. Either way nintendo will keep the machine at around $399.99 I believe (before 3ds at $249.99 I would have said $299.99 but let's face it the weak dollar makes this impossible) so I'm very excited for E3 because I know nintendo will suprise all of us.
You guys who are arguing about the specs are missing the bigger picture. The specs don't mean crap it's all about the games..
got that right the PSone was way weak on the hardware compared to the N64. this gen is a prime example of that. Microsoft has the money so all they had to do is make an inferior console and buy up all the game developers.
Can Rockstar make the next Zelda game?
Pretty please?
That way it won't be all gay and shitty like the last three (don't mention the CDi).
Good to see a company try to win back hardcore gamers, even if its still a console.
Touchscreen controller is basically replacing one expensive useless gimmick with another, and will just raise the price of buying multiple controllers for family or friends to play. But, I suppose Nintendo is trying to differentiate itself in some way, since the name of the game these days seems to be all about gimmicks and not things that actually make for better games.
Can Rockstar make the next Zelda game? Pretty please?That way it won't be all gay and shitty like the last three (don't mention the CDi).
Twilight Princess - hardly "shitty". Easily stands up to recently released games.
Wind Waker - excellent in scope and difficulty, despite being cel-shaded.
Majora's Mask - probably the best Zelda game ever made (sorry Ocarina of Time fans, it's true).
6-inch touch screen? Then the controller must be huge!
ATI R700? So they are going with a DX10 based GPU instead of an ATI R800 based GPU with DX11. Think long run Nintendo. By the time the Xbox 720 (or whatever it will be called) and the PS4 comes out it will most def have a DX11 based GPU in it in which by then every game would have migrated to.
For full HD I would want 1gb ram at least. ram prices arn't that high and skimping in that area can really bite you in the ass. GTA4 was horrible due to the constant loading of textures especially when you started to outrun them which wasn't hard to do.
"Is that ps3 or ps3 using the CELL.
I somehow see GTA5 coming for the wii and PS3, but not the xbox"
Why not?It's already been mentioned that it is being devoloped for both ps3 and xbox.
PS3 and xbox360 are about on par with "graphics power" I have both and don't see a clear winner with one or the other.
If Nintendo goes with IBM processor then IBM will be sitting like a fatcat making CPU's for all 3 console makers.
I think...
The system should have more RAM. I know it's a console and that you can't directly compare the specs to a PC because they are designed to run games.
2 GB of RAM would really ward off frequent loading especially with games that have big environments like GTA.
The R700 is good enough for now an a few years ahead. People are being pessimistic about it because it's based on the HD 4xxx series. I don't know about the rest of you but I am still using a 4870 and playing most games maxed at 1080p resolution. Some people are saying what about DirectX 11? My question for those people is... When a game is made for this console will it use the DirectX api or perhaps DirectX desent matter and the GPU will be used to process the graphics using a different API. Also, I really don't care what anyone else says. The differences between DirectX 10 and 11 are very small and barely noticable. Compare DX9 vs DX10 and you can see a SIGNIFICATE jump in graphical capability the same is NOT true for DX10 vs DX11.
I for one can't wait to see the new Zelda in HD on this console.
I'm concerned that the HD screen on the controllers will increase the cost significantly.
So a developer that is best known for its games where you run around shooting hookers and cops is going to be developing for Nintendo? That is one bold move for the most conservative console maker on the planet.
theshonen889, the cell isnt an 8 core chip you twat. its a single core chip that hyperthreads with 8 coprocessors, 1 is disabled to improve yields and 1 is for the OS only. The main cpu controls the other 6 coprocessors which cant do as much, example they cant access the main memory and have to wait for the cpu to tell them what to do. and since your hung up on cell chew on this. the xbox 360s chip uses 3 of the cell cpus with no coprocessors. end result is about the same.
and you guys must not read the news too often. its been said for several months that all three next gen systems were going to be IBM / ATI powered. and nintendo also promised that it would never release a system that costs more than 250$. and so far they havent. so i expect the same price point for this system as well. so consider that in your design schemes. i dont see them coming out with a console that loses too much money after raking it in with the wii from day 1