Gaming The rumor bin... Where nobody knows what they're talking about.

[2010DigitalBoy]

I have heard many video game rumors and I want share them.

1. The Revolution: I read somewhere that the Nintendo Revolution will have a controller that is a great big touch screen. This would be interesting for Adventure games, bad for first person shooterss, and the best thing to happen to RPGs since Chrono Trigger. I could imagine a revolutionary menu system and a lot of cool new features. I just hope theres an analog or two on the side, for other games. A really interesting idea is that the controller could be like a GBA with a touch screen.

Another rumor about the ravolution is that even if it isn't a touch screen, they have decided to completely annihilate the cross pad.

2. Nintendo Virtual again?: I once heard, quite a while ago, that Nintendo's reason for saving so much money because they want to expand into virtual technologies. Because of the expences, this should take a lot of saving up.

3. Xbox bomb: Rumor has it that the Xbox looses around 100,000 dollars a day on their console. Because of this the Xenon or Xbox 2 should cost around 700 dollars.

But, I have also heard that they are planning 3 different versions of it! First, is one that is just the normal system. Second is one that is actually an Xbox 2 integrated into a PC with a screen and everything! This way people could play PC games and Xbox 2 games on the same console, use the internet, and more! I havent heard anything on the third version.

So... Comments? Rumors? Anything?

[Gavin]

[QUOTE=ThatOneOddDude]I have heard many video game rumors and I want share them.

1. The Revolution: I read somewhere that the Nintendo Revolution will have a controller that is a great big touch screen. This would be interesting for Adventure games, bad for first person shooterss, and the best thing to happen to RPGs since Chrono Trigger. I could imagine a revolutionary menu system and a lot of cool new features. I just hope theres an analog or two on the side, for other games. A really interesting idea is that the controller could be like a GBA with a touch screen. [/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1]Well from what I've heard on the Revolution front, Nintendo is supposed to be using Wavebird technology for all it's controllers, which should be great as it'll get rid of annoying extra wires. I haven't heard anything else about it's controllers but adding a screen would almost definitely increase the overall mass of the unit and bring us back to N64 styled ones which I don't miss. Still it'd be a neat little function if it was true.[/SIZE]

[quote name='ThatOneOddDude']3. Xbox bomb: Rumor has it that the Xbox looses around 100,000 dollars a day on their console. Because of this the Xenon or Xbox 2 should cost around 700 dollars.[/quote]

[SIZE=1]It pretty much common knowledge that Microsoft sold the XBox at far below the cost of making the actual unit. To cope with the losses on the original console, the Xbox 2 is going to cost a bit more to try and cover those losses, and the figure I remember being quotes was about $750, which really does put it out of the price range of most gamers. With that sort of money you'd be as well off to save further for a PC and get the whole nine yards, either that or buy one of the other Next Gen consoles and a few games.[/SIZE]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]*fixes the grammar in the title* Yeah, nothing important, but I'm funny like that. ^_^;

But anyway, it's been confirmed that Nintendo's Revolution will be backwards compatible with GameCube games, so I think we can kiss the "no control cross" rumor goodbye. If it's going to be backwards compatible, I'd think the controller would need at least everything the GCN pad has.

I think it was also announced that Revolution controllers wouldn't feature a screen at all, though I can't remember if that was official. I'd think they'd leave the dual/touch screen thing to the DS, seeing as that's most of what makes the DS special. There'd be a bit too much market overlap between the two systems for their own good, I think, since all the DS would have going for it then would be portability.

Virtual reality would be awesome, and the way technology is going, it's sounding like it may not be too far down the road. I just wonder how long it would take for it to be marketable, though. As we've seen with a lot of "cutting edge" game consoles that cost more than the standard $200-$300, it has to be affordable in order to sell, no matter how good the tech is.

And I think Microsoft is fooling itself if it thinks jacking up the price of the Xbox 2 is going to make it profitable. See the above paragraph for that. Personally, I can't see many people dropping $700 on an Xbox 2. I sure wouldn't, when I could upgrade my PC way beyond what the Xbox 2 will feature in the way of hardware for the same price.[/color]

[James]

[color=#D6A204]Hm, interesting.

1. On this point, several things can be said. Firstly, Revolution's controller will definitely not have a touch screen. As far as I know, Nintendo itself has confirmed this not long ago.

The common rumor is that the system's controller will feature one of two new features. Either a) gyroscopic technology (gyroscopes are what keep the Segway HT from falling over, despite having only two wheels), or b) touch-sensitive surfaces.

The latter would involve the whole surface (or perhaps just the prongs) being "rubbable". So depending on how hard you grip, or where you "rub", you could have different in-game effects.

In all honesty, the former is the most reliable rumor. The story about gyroscopes began with an article that myself and another N-Sider colleague wrote a while ago. However, unlike most rumors, it actually had a basis in fact - a specific alliance between Nintendo and Gyration Inc., who produces this very type of hardware.

However, it's still speculation at best. Anyone who tells you that it's a known fact is lying.

2. This rumor is definitely not true. Nintendo maintains large cash reserves because it is run conservatively - the company has zero debt.

Most large companies have some kind of debt that they are always paying off. This is also why some large companies sell off large batches of shares now and then - to raise capital that can be invested into research and development.

Nintendo's cash reserves are there for many reasons. But primarily, they exist for a rainy day. If Nintendo is ever in serious trouble, it is sitting on giant mounds of cash that it can use to bail itself out.

To my knowledge, these cash reserves are barely touched when it comes to investing in new technology and software development. The costs associated with hardware and software production are largely covered pre-profit. What I mean is, the overheads involved in R&D are factored in before Nintendo starts talking profit. So profit is profit - it is the money that remains [i]after[/i] R&D budgets are factored in.

In regard to virtual reality...I think it's generally accepted that the traditional view of VR isn't going to happen. Don't forget Virtual Boy and the various attempts by other companies to introduce VR technologies in the 1990's. Both Sega and 3D0 were also trying to become pioneers in this field.

The problem is partly a technological one. But it's also a simple convenience one. People don't want to wear bulky head sets to play games. They don't want to dress up in suits or wear gloves just to play a game - although various peripherals over the years have been a success (things like Power Glove and Super Scope), VR itself has never been particularly attractive to consumers. Even large and properly-equipped VR systems in arcades were big flops when they were introduced.

So, if VR ever becomes a reality, it won't be anything like what we've seen so far. It would need to be cheap and extremely useable. It would need to be akin to wearing light sunglasses or something. But even that raises a problem - it eliminates the social aspect of gaming in some regards. You can't have spectators and you can't have people sitting around you having a shared experience. There are potential ways around that, but then you start getting into very expensive territory.

3. I doubt that Xenon will be very expensive. Technologically, it should be on par with Nintendo's Revolution system. So I expect it to be relatively mass-market friendly in terms of price.

In regard to versions, I think that's totally up in the air at this point. My gut feeling is that Microsoft won't release multiple versions of Xenon - once that is done, it automatically divides the Xenon market into several components. If you divide it equally, you may have only a third who have a hard drive...or only a third who can actually view games in high resolution. This creates an absolute headache for game developers.

If I am a game creator, why should I make a high resolution game that uses the hard drive if only one third have that capability? If anything, that kind of situation would only further drive up development costs and discourage developers from making games that truly push the system.

The popular rumor is that Xenon will not have a hard drive, but that it will be able to connect to a PC and use the PC to store data. In many respects, I think that's a far more logical approach.

[i]However[/i], Microsoft has gone to great lengths to seperate Xbox from the traditional PC. They have stressed the idea of "leaving cords behind" and they have said that connection should be quick and easy. It seems to me that requiring the use of a PC hard drive is a step backwards in that regard.

The most realistic thing that I imagine happening would be higher-capacity memory cards for Xenon. That, or a modest hard drive, which isn't too expensive.[/color]

[Semjaza]

The last Xbox 2 rumor I heard involving hard drives was actually pretty interesting. It basically involved a portable hard drive that would sit inside a shell you could carry around. You could just insert it into your Xbox 2 or someone else's, as if it were a normal memory card. It'd obviously be larger and hold far more, however.

I don't remember much more about it. There was discussion on it being a flash drive of sorts, instead of a normal hard drive like in the current Xbox. Who knows.

I guess we'll find out when they show the system for the first time on MTV in May... lol.

There are supposed prototype pictures of the Xbox 2 controller floating around too. They're kind of in tune with the official pictures of the controller that have been leaked off of ourcolony.net (which is an Xbox 2 related official site). It also goes along with the rumors of there being no white and black buttons. You can see them here: [url]http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000263039584/[/url]

Still, I hope there is more to them that this because they've basically taken the PS2 approach: making controllers that are almost exactly the same as the last generation.

[Sandy]

I thought it is hilarious when currently some people are spreading a rumour of a new member of the FFVII Compilation: Eternal Curse. The rumour originated from an April Fool's joke (AC, BC, CC and DC are all announced titles of the compilation, so of course EC would be the next in line ;) ), and has now gone out of proportions. Hopefully in time those people realize the bad joke...

[2010DigitalBoy]

[QUOTE=Generic NPC #3]The last Xbox 2 rumor I heard involving hard drives was actually pretty interesting. It basically involved a portable hard drive that would sit inside a shell you could carry around. You could just insert it into your Xbox 2 or someone else's, as if it were a normal memory card. It'd obviously be larger and hold far more, however.

I don't remember much more about it. There was discussion on it being a flash drive of sorts, instead of a normal hard drive like in the current Xbox. Who knows.

I guess we'll find out when they show the system for the first time on MTV in May... lol.

There are supposed prototype pictures of the Xbox 2 controller floating around too. They're kind of in tune with the official pictures of the controller that have been leaked off of ourcolony.net (which is an Xbox 2 related official site). It also goes along with the rumors of there being no white and black buttons. You can see them here: [url]http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000263039584/[/url]

Still, I hope there is more to them that this because they've basically taken the PS2 approach: making controllers that are almost exactly the same as the last generation.[/QUOTE]

I have a weird feeling the white and black buttons are going to be like the PS2s R2 and L2 buttons. Those are some interesting pictures, but Im not believing anything until I know for sure.

That new FF7 joke is pretty bad. What is CC? Lets see... Advent Children, Before Crisis, Dirge of Cerberus, whats the other? Wouldn't it be interesting if we keep going up until Zeapon Cruisers, the FF7

[Sandy]

Just to clear up things, here are the titles of Square Enix's [B]Final Fantasy VII Compilation [/B] project:
* [B]Advent Children (AC)[/B] - a FMV movie situated three years after the original game
* [B]Before Crisis (BC)[/B] - a mobile game involving the Turks and the Shinra Corps six years prior to the original game
* [B]Crisis Core (CC)[/B] - just an announced title, no other information about the contents or anything else (it has an official website, though)
* [B]Dirge of Cerberus (DC)[/B] - a game located a year after the events of Advent Children, it features Vincent Valentine as the leading character (it is rumoured that it would be an action game, but it's not official yet)

I sincerely hope they'd end the "Polymorphism" (read: money milking) of the Oh So Sacred FF7 to these four titles, but nowadays it's the money that talks, unfortunately.

[Tatsubei Yagyu]

God, just remake FF7 and we'll be happy!!!! But I'm actually interested in Advent Children and I like Vincent, so Dirge of Cerberus maybe cool to, but a Cell Phone game? That's kind of weird... :animedepr

I hear a rumor that the Xenosaga Series is going up to Episode Six!!! That's crazy. I don't like games that make you wait 5 years and spent 300 Dollars to see how a game you played 5 years ago... But I did like Xenosaga(chaos 4 eva!!!! :catgirl: ).

All the same goes for Advent Rising. It looks really and no doubt it should be a awesome game, but I don't to see the sequel that I pretty much have to play to understand the prequel in 2010. :animeangr

I'd still buy it, though. :animeswea

[Sandy]

Actually, I'm baffled that people are crying for a remake of FFVII, when they can still play the original game. Are flashy graphics really [I]that[/I] important? Everybody should realize that no matter how well they would re-make it, it couldn't give the same experience as the original.

I can understand a remake of, say, FFIII, since it has never hit the stores in USA or Europe, but FFVII was released not ten years ago! Luckily Square Enix has said that they won't make the remake because people can play it with their PS2 (and PS3 in the future). I just don't see any need for it! In my opinion, SE should concentrate on releasing FFXII first before any "polymorphic" rehashes.

Besides, people are giving a bad message to game designers, like the only thing people would want are remakes and sequels. Sure it's fun to see your favorite videogamecharacters prance around in new adventures, but soon we'll have Halo 18, Jak: Daxter's Grandsons Adventure and FF X-7, and where's the fun in that? I, for one, want new experiences from games, and in most cases those come from new and original games.

[DeadSeraphim]

[COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=1][FONT=Arial][quote name='Sage]Actually, I'm baffled that people are crying for a remake of FFVII, when they can still play the original game. Are flashy graphics really [I]that[/I'] important? Everybody should realize that no matter how well they would re-make it, it couldn't give the same experience as the original.[/quote]
No, but seeing the game's visuals fully realised as opposed to the chunkiness that it possesses on PS1 would be nice. Consider the scope of the game, and how much it pushed the (understood) graphical capabilities of PS1 at the time, then think of what's possible now. Updating it for PS2/3, with the much more powerful graphics engines would not only do the original vision more justice, but also introduce a whole new generation of gamers to a game that they wouldn't look at it otherwise. Not to mention there's a lot of people who *do* want to play it, but can't get a copy cause it's out of print. But yeah.

*drops 2 cents in the basket* =P[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]