And then there were three: Nintendo shows its hand

May 18, 2005 Nintendo last night unveiled its contender for the heavyweight clash of the games console – called Nintendo Revolution. Surprisingly, very few specifics of the Revolution internals were disclosed – there will be wi-fi networking, wireless controllers, two USB 2.0 ports, and DS memory card slots but no details of the processor and graphics chips upon which the machine is based other than that the microprocessor will be an IBM developed with Toshiba. Like the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3, the Nintendo Revolution will be backwards compatible with previous game systems though the unlike Sony and Microsoft, the Revolution will be able to play Nintendo games from the last two decades. The company was also clear to point out that unlike its competitors, it does not seek to be the centrepiece of the loungeroom. The Revolution is the successor to the Nintendo GameCube that finished a distant third in a field of three in the current generation of game consoles and the company’s future is dependent on the success of the machine. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2 billion video games and more than 336 million hardware units globally, creating enduring industry icons such as Mario and Donkey Kong and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid, Zelda and Pokemon. Nintendo appears set to continue to target a younger audience than its competitors and the Revolution looks set to have a lower price point too.

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