Late Night Consoling

Matt Casamassina over at IGN has some unconfirmed but seemingly well-sourced news about Nintendo's upcoming Revolution console, elaborating on the details he posted yesterday with the launch of the site's Revolution channel. Nintendo has made it pretty clear up to this point that the system will end up with relatively low specs compared to Sony and Microsoft's machines, as well as a lower price point. If this new information is to be believed, both will be even lower than most have suspected. One source said, "Our guys experimented with it and think they'll be able to get about twice the performance as GameCube," noting that the CPU will probably be a little less than twice as powerful as the GameCube's. At this point it doesn't seem like any of IGN's sources have had hands on time with the ATI-designed GPU, though it is said to have a similar structure to the GameCube's. It seems likely that the machine has a similar programming environment (and by extension somewhat similar hardware) because Nintendo has been stating that one way they plan to keep costs low for developers is by having a familiar back end .

Another revelation of note was that all the developers questioned believe the system will launch at a price tag of around $149, with the possibility of $99. The latter figure seems just a tad unrealistic considering that's the GameCube's current discounted price and it wouldn't give Nintendo much room for price cuts later, but a $149 launch price point could easily justify the system's low horsepower compared to Xbox 360 and PS3, positioning the system as an easy sell to gamers who want an extra machine for less traditional gameplay. IGN points out that Nintendo has absolutely no desire to compete with the its fellow next-gen consoles, which has been a recurring theme on the part of outspoken Nintendo marketing VP Reggie Fils-Aime.

Speaking of gameplay, all sources indicated that's where the strength of the Revolution lie. "It's a gamble for the Big N," one said. "It's not about horsepower for them -- it's about innovation and gameplay." Considering the hype Microsoft has built around its HD Era marketing line, it's certainly a gamble, although there is that wacky controller. Nintendo design head Shigeru Miyamoto also recently hinted at additional unrevealed functionality with the machine, but it's anyone's guess as to what that is. At this point it looks like it's going to be all about the games, so roll on E3.

Though conclusive sales figures have not yet been released, it's looking like the Xbox 360 has become the fastest selling home console in the UK, beating out the GameCube, which set the prior record in May 2003. However, did not manage to capture the record for all consoles--both portable and home--as the PSP still holds the overall record in the UK with 185,000 units in its first week. In Europe overall, it seems the Cube will hold on to its title, as that machine sold out its 400,000 unit launch quantity, and the Xbox 360 only has 300,000 units total to go around. However, Microsoft has been repeatedly pledging to restock quantities worldwide, and hopefully the company will be able to compensate for the limited supply.

In an interview about his new King Kong remake, director Peter Jackson spoke very briefly about the upcoming Halo adaptation, on which he is serving as executive producer. It seems that he may have been considering taking the director's chair himself, but decided he wanted a break. When confronted with the rather meritous claim that "video game movies suck," Jackson acknowledged that "They do" and followed up with "Hopefully it won't suck." Last week it was rumored that Hellboy/Blade II director Guillermo del Toro has been approached by Jackson to direct the project, but Jackson did not comment on any specific names, only indicating that the team is "talking to some people."

Ubisoft's Montreal studio is apparently working on no less than four next-gen projects, though no details have been released on any of them. 1UP points out that despite Splinter Cell 4 shipping to Xbox 360 as well as current-gen consoles, it is not one of the four projects. Ubisoft frequently outsources even-numbered games in its various series to its Shangai studio, and the next Splinter Cell is no exception. Unsurprisingly, Ubisoft Montreal will be ramping up its staff count to compensate for the additional development requirements of next-gen systems. There were recent rumors that one of the projects is a first person shooter for Revolution, but Ubisoft has still yet to confirm or deny that speculation.

Electronic Arts has announced its plans to open a new development studio in Singapore made up of 20 developers from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and, rather bizarrely, Holland (hi, Maarten!). The studio will mainly focus on localization as well as online games.

With the recent release of Level 5's Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2), 1UP speaks with series creator Yuji Horii about the series' prospects in the United States.