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The whole article can be found here:

http://cube.ign.com/articles/624/624200p1.html

Chris_D

If the Revolution doesn't support HD I'll eat my gamecube game collection. More likely they just won't enforce HD on revolution games.

Josh H

Yeah, I'd be surprised if it didn't support HD either.

But personally I couldn't care less as there's not a snowball's chance in hell that I'll have an HDTV anytime soon as I'm a poor grad student and not a videophile anyway.

Hell, if no HD support meant a cheaper console I'd be all for it.

darkside

I'm not expecting Revolution games to be anything more than 480p. There is a very good chance Nintendo won't even support that. Sony and Microsoft are both trying to push the limits of the technology and Nintendo is trying to create an affordable small console. No way they bother with 1080i games on the Revolution. The Revolution is going to be mostly aimed at kids, older non gamers and as a second console for PS3 and Xbox360 owners. That is why they are making it so small and why it will probably be very cheap. Things like HD that only appeal to a small percentage of possible buyers are going to get sacrificed to lower cost.

If HD games are important to you then the Revolution is not going to be your console. Is Nintendo making a fatal mistake doing this? Maybe, but their reputation in the US is never going to change so they probably feel matching technology and cost with Sony will just lead them to disaster that much faster.

Josh H

I doubt it would be a fatal mistake this gen. Not enough people have HDTV's especially when you factor in all the gamers in the kid to early 20's range who are even less likely to have one than the average person.

Of course kids parents might have one, but if they're not into games odds are they have the kids consoles hooked up on another TV (in kids bedroom or something).

It would definitely discourage some people from buying it (a lot of people on this site obviously) but I don't think it would have much impact overall, especially given the younger demographic of Nintendo gamers and that a lot of older gamers will buy one for the NES/SNES downloads.

darkside

But I want to play Super Metroid in HD dammit.

Yeah, honestly it will probably have a minor impact with most buyers, however, I expect all the gaming sites to beat Nintendo up pretty bad for it and many people that probably have no intention of even owning a HDTV will probably bash the console just because it lacks a feature they can't use anyway.

Adam Tyner

Now...? I'd agree. In 3 years, when these consoles are hitting critical mass...? I dunno. I think it won't really matter until further on in the life cycle, but in a few years when people are buying HDTVs in large numbers, I'd imagine new users would be more likely to grab a console that supports their shiny new TV than one that doesn't. The fact that the other consoles support HD could be good from a marketing standpoint too, swaying end users who don't even have HDTVs.

Homer Simpson

I just got an HD TV a few months back and Paper Mario is stunning on my Cube anyway. I'm not sure HD quality graphics would improve things much. I'm not looking for realism when I play my games anyway, I'm looking for a good game.

Goldberg74

I thought this was going to be another "Hard Drive" thread. Too many anagrams acronyms in this world!

I'm two years away from owning anything Hi-Def so maybe by then I'll care. Right now I could care less.

DarthMarino

Acronyms, damnit! The downfall of civilization.

Gallant Pig

HD = High Definition
HDD = Hard Disc Drive
Hi Def = too long an anagram

msdmoney

I agree, it will get played up big time by Sony, Microsoft and the media, and people buying a console will have to have it (much like computer future proofing) even though they may have no intention of ever buying an hdtv.

I hope hd is not the next big thing in gaming. I mean it's not a bad thing, but it's just a minor feature. HD being the next big thing just screams lack of innovation.

Michael Corvin

Do I have an HDTV? Yes

Does HD gaming sound appealing? Definitely!

Will Nintendo not supporting hold me back from buying the Revolution? No.

I think Nintendo has it right. It costs money to provide such a feature, that is why it was an extra on the GCN. They are looking for a solid next gen system at an afforable price. The percentage of people that own HDTVs is small and I'm sure the percentage of those people that are hardcore gamers are even smaller.

I think it won't be a factor at all. Maybe a tiny factor in 4 years in that last year of the systems life cycle.

Josh H

I think HDTV is much further than 3 years away from getting mainstream. Probably 10. You have to consider that the bulk of the country is joe six packs that only buy a new tv when the old one breaks.

But even if it did take off, the first year or two of a consoles life is the most important in terms of success.

If it sells well then, it will get good third party support, more exclusives etc. and thus sale more consoles and be in good shape. If it doesn't sell well the first couple years, it will get few good exclusives and sales will continue to suck.

Point being HD taking off a few years into the lifecycle, wouldn't affect the overall success much one way or the other.


But I agree that not having it would lead to a lot of bashing. But the fact is the people bitching are people that probably wouldn't buy one anyway. Not the niche of young gamers and hardcore gamers that will buy everything Nintendo puts out and Nintendo has shown that they are more than happy to sit in third place make a killing off this niche will Sony and MS lose millions trying to gain marketshare.

Sony and MS want to rule the living room, Nintendo just wants to keep making money doing things there way.

Gallant Pig

Not true. I owned a Cube since release, and really enjoyed the early games a lot (Smash Melee, Jet Ski, Rogue). I've been saying for a long time that no HD is a deal breaker this time around. I'll probably still pick it up when it hits $150 or lower (not sure), but for launch consoles I'm officially an PS3 and 360 man. Oh well it just makes the choice easier.

When these consoles come out and are playable and on display at the store, the non-HD console is going to stick out like a sore thumb.

I also don't see how it would really cost more. Considering the Xbox was capable of it LAST GENERATION, I would think the GPU they use today could easily do it.

I was glad to hear the Revo would be supporting online gaming, but then to hear this... it's like 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

360 and PS3, here I come!

Oh, missed this, what does HD gaming have to do with ruling the living room? It's just a natural evolution of gaming systems, nothing more, but a huge step forward in looks none the less.

Goldberg74

If I walk into Wal*Mart and they have the consoles hooked up to HDTVs for the display I would be amazed, but I doubt Joe Six-Pack wouldn't know the difference.

Ask me again in 12 months when these things are a reality.

Gallant Pig

I was thinking more along the lines of Best Buy, Circuit City, even Target, but yeah Wal Mart sells HDTVs too now that you mention it.

Oh and the gov't is pushing for the entire country to switch

Adam Tyner

There are...what, 12 million HDTVs in homes now, with that number expected to be around 19 million at year-end? The Yankee Group is expecting that number to reach 59.3 million by the end of 2008. That's a lot of TVs that would benefit from HD-capable consoles.

Goldberg74

"... and in the 1950s they said by 2000 we'd all be driving flying cars." -- Monster Garage Narrator

Josh H

They have to win over the HT enthusiast to win the living room. Nintendo doesn't care about that market as that isn't a big part of their niche market of kids adn hard core gamers.

And I don't know of adding HD support does cost more. I was just assuming it does.

If not then this all of this is a moot point as there's no way Nintendo would leave it out if it didn't drive up costs to include it.

Adam Tyner

Dunno if that's supposed to be a jab at the numbers I posted, but HDTVs obviously exist today and are being sold in reasonably high numbers. I don't think it's at all unreasonable to expect that trend of more and more HDTVs sold every year to continue.

ETA:

Hmmm. This is admittedly anecdotal, but everyone I know that considers themselves a hardcore gamer has a pretty nice rig.

Gallant Pig

I remember in 1998, when people thought DVDs would never catch on and become popular/mainstream. Boy were they right!

Josh H

On the success of HD, it's just a wait and see. Your guess is as good as mine.

I see a lot in stores here and know a good bit of people that have them. But I live in a relatively wealthy metropolitan area (DC/Baltimore suburbs).

But if I go back home to WV I see much less emphasis on HD and don't know anyone back there in my parents circle of friends and relatives that has one.

Point being, based on anecdotal evidence I have a feeling that a lot of those 12 million HDs are concentrated in metropolitan areas, and it's getting them spread out away from them that will hold up full adoption.

I just don't care as I'm not a videophile and have no desire to buy a new TV any time soon until I have more money, more space and all the HD format stuff is stardardized and more programming is available for cheaper costs.

Gallant Pig

Seems like these rumors have been building and building, and if they weren't true, Nintendo would be shouting that from the rooftops. But maybe they are seeing what the general attitude is toward this rumor and will tweak their final machine based on it.

Josh H

Poor wording on my choice. Obviously not all hardcore gamers are into Nintendo.

Subtitute "older hardcore Nintendo fans" for hard core gamers in my post.

That's what I meant. Nintendo's market is 90% or more kids and older gamers like me who've loved their games more than any other companines since we were kids.

There's plenty of hardcore gamers that hate Nintendo, so just dumb wording on my part.