Topic: The OFFICIAL Big N rumor thread *bring your own salt*

[BlackNMild2k1]

Because this rumor just sounded crazy and no one was even sure if it was possible physically or financially, I went to see what kind of tech IBM could use to even make such a rumor plausible.

I'm no computer scientist and not really a techie either, but I did manage to come across this
10 IBM Breakthrus in the last Decade (It' s from 1997 - 2007)
http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/us/chips/102207/index.shtml
But only really pay attention to those since 2007 (the last 4)

High K - new material that means smaller, more efficient and less power hungry chips
EDRAM - new RAM type to replace the SRAM on die. They c an now fit more than 3X the amount in the same space
3D Chip Stacking - using a silicon glue IBM can stack the chips on top of each other for more power and less power usage
Airgap Tech - Nanotech that provides for better cooling to allow better chip efficiency and less power usage.

I didn't find anything that listed other break throughs since then as plainly listed as that, but even combining those 4 techs, is it possible to stack the RAM on the chip to reach 768MB of eDRAM or would that no longer be considered "embedded"?

[Ceric]

Anyone remember the slot chips from the late 90's they were huge.  The point being that physical size really isn't a real design limitation with a fully custom system. 

[MegaByte]

High K and eDRAM have been used for a while. eDRAM and 1-T SRAM (which is actually DRAM) that Nintendo already uses are basically the same thing. I think chip stacking/channel cooling would be what would be necessary to achieve that density... and so far nothing is using it to that extent. At 45nm, IBM is actually pretty far behind state of the art when it comes to density. It's far more plausible that the RAM is in the same package, but not on the same die.

Anyone remember the slot chips from the late 90's they were huge.  The point being that physical size really isn't a real design limitation with a fully custom system. 

Yes it is. The larger the chip is, the less you can make and the more chance there is for a defect, meaning even less that are usable.

[Chozo Ghost]

The Wii U should go with isolinear chips, like those used on Star Trek.

[MegaByte]

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2011/12/ibm-racetrack/
There's a conference this week covering the upcoming memory technologies, including the 3D stacking and much cooler stuff, though if it's showing up there, that implies that it's not ready for commercialization yet.

[BlackNMild2k1]

But maybe it will be by mid next year....

just maybe. Hopefully mid next year isn't too late to mass produce it though.

[MegaByte]

Very little chance.

[nickmitch]

WiiU officially from the future! You heard it here first, folks.

[Chozo Ghost]

The Wii U will probably just barely miss that boat. Sadly, the competition will have plenty of time to cash in on it...

[Enner]

Ah, 768 megabits of eDRAM sounds much more plausible than 768 megabytes.

While it would be cool if Nintendo made one of the first consumer products to use those new chip technologies, it just doesn't seem to fit their style.

[Kytim89]

Club Nintendo points used to buy Virtual Console and Wiiware games? If so, call me excited:
 
http://kotaku.com/5866899/club-nintendo-coins-will-soon-buy-virtual-console-games
 

 
NeoGAF user Spike took that screenshot before the news was taken down. In addition to the VC Super Mario Kart and the 3D Classic Xevious, the WiiWare title Fluidity and the DSiWare title Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! were also touted at values ranging from 100 to 150 coins. The selection will be chosen based on member feedback, and will include a "surprise selection" each month.

[nickmitch]

Start of convo in other thread:

CN just got a redesign for North America - and a Zelda poster set - AND DOWNLOAD GAMES.

3D Classics Xevious, Mario Kart and Fluidity are on the list, the selection changes monthly. Notice they put download code support in the 3DS update? This is probably why.

Photo evidence:

I've been to the site, but I have yet to see this:



it seems to cheap to be legit though. But I an't complaining.

[Louieturkey]

So the site that first revealed Project Cafe aka WiiU has come back with a doozy. Get your salt licks ready, folks.

http://www.01net.com/editorial/537862/nintendo-l-and-039-envers-du-decor-confidences-d-and-039-un-employe-de-big-n/

Translation follows, some parts bolded for emphasis:

We are lucky to count among our –mostly anonymous - sources several foreign correspondants, some of them at key positions in the global gaming industry. We owe them, among other things, our early coverage of the Playstation Vita and Wii U hardware. One of them, who happens to be one of the very few Nintendo employees to dare break the code of silence, recently gave us a sobering account of the state of affairs inside the Big N structure.    More than any other sector, beit the music, motion picture, luxury or automotive industry, gaming is synonymous with emotional attachment to brands, devices and companies. And among all studios, publishers and makers, Nintendo enjoys by far the most sincere and dedicated following. Its logo, its many characters and IPs, its leading figures, like Shigeru Miyamoto, are the object of passionate scrutiny all around the world.
   01net. writers are true Nintendo fans. One of us, William Audureau, recently published one of the most careful studies ever about the company’s most celebrated character (in French only so far). Our source has lived for, and eventually thanks to Nintendo, for most of his/her life. What s/he told us sounds like a wake-up call, inspired by the many troubles threatening the institution to which s/he has dedicated his/her life. For the same reasons, we decided to publish this information, as a five-part series running all week.
Part 1/5
3DS: the early bird who couldn’t catch the worm
We have known for a long time that the 3DS had been launched early to undercut the mobile industry, and the upcoming next-gen Playstation Portable. But this rushed release, probably partially responsible for its technical limitations and a disappointing battery life (when compared to past performance), will eventually have much graver and far-ranging consequences.

 
Ooops… I think we forgot something
It’s a mistake beyond belief, but Nintendo honchos finally had to admit, after the 3DS went through the mass production and release stage, that they had made a terrible omission: a right analog stick was a requirement to provide a superior gaming experience. According to our source, right as you read those lines, Nintendo engineers are spending many sleepless nights working on an additional device, which should be sold separately for about 10 dollars. Its shape and fixation mechanism are still unknown, but it needs a tight grip on the right part of the console. Will it have to be removed everytime you want to close the 3DS?

 
Feeling the pressure
Very recently, Nintendo asked a select group of developers to create titles specifically designed for two analog controls… even if that will entail an additional cost of 10 dollars per console to be played on currently available hardware. Although such noises rarely if ever reach the higher strata of the company, most Nintendo employees working with third-party developers are indeed feeling the heat, as disgruntled studios and publishers become more vocal in their disappointment.

 
Developers stand in line
Third-party support is key to the 3DS’s potentiel success. Only they can enrich the software line-up,
suffering so far from a relatively low volume of fresh titles, which makes Nintendo’s ongoing policy towards developers all the less coherent. The submission and approval process is described as very costly, time-consuming and often arbitrary in nature. Worse even, dev kits are still extremely scarce. Although no longer produced by Intelligent Systems – Nintendo’s hardware R&D arm – but outsourced to Tokyo Electric and Marubeni, dev kits are still produced at a ridiculously slow pace (300 units per month), and sold for a hefty price. As a consequence, even six months after the release, the waiting lists are getting more crowded, and many studios are still waiting for a chance to develop on the 3DS. This erratic situation is described by our source as a good example of serious management mishaps inside the Big N, that act as an impediment to developer relations and hardware adoption by consumers.

 
What you can’t see…
According to our source, Nintendo is well aware that it has so far failed to convince the public that its 3D display technology was harmless. Many parents are refraining from buying the console for fear of adverse effects to their children’s eyesight. This innovative “glasses-free” 3D display technology, the console’s main selling point, could well prove a major stumbling block. The advertising issue, despite a vast deployment of demo units at the point of sale level, remains: how do you sell something you can’t show? In the wake of the early price-slashing and “3DS ambassadors” (20 free VC games) program announcements, Iwata’s welcoming of 2D (totally free of 3D content) games on the platform smells like capitulation.
This information corroborates several elements we obtained very recently from various sources. According to them, Nintendo is currently preparing a new 3DS for a 2012 release. This new version would radically tone down the whole “3D“ angle, with a new design and even probably a different name. In that perspective, the radical price-slashing, touted as a measure to boost sales, would also be a way to liquidate current stocks to make way for the sucessor…

 
There’s a war raging on out there…
 Some of the problems alluded to by our source could find a happy resolution, but let’s not forget the unrelentless assaults from the mobile industry, with its breathtaking race to the heights of computing power. Phone makers, like LG with its Optimus 3D smartphone, are even coming up with their own “glasses-free” 3D displays. If John Carmack’s predictions – of smartphones outgunning current last-gen home consoles in “a very short time” – ever came true, the 3DS’s future could seem bleak at best… but let’s not forget there’s always the next brand new PokĂ©mon around the corner!

 
Copyright 01net – 2011

Just thought I'd relink this page as the circle pad came true.  So it is very likely they are correct about the 3DS redesign in 2012. 

[BlackNMild2k1]

Even if a redesign is planned, I wouldn't expect them to announce it until around TGS of 2012.

[Ymeegod]

TGS is in the fall?  i expect to see it at E3 myself.  I'm expecting they are going target the battery issue and have the dual analog as a complete system.

Also expect them to release it at current prices with the orginal 3ds dropping to $130-150 range.

[TJ Spyke]

Since the CCP is just an optional add-on (and from all we have seen, that is all it will ever be), I don't see it being put into the system itself (and it doesn't make the 3DS a complete system, it already is complete).

[Adrock]

DS Lite was released about a year and a half after DS launched. I wouldn't be surprised if the same happened with 3DS especially with all of the handheld's shortcomings though Nintendo may not want to launch a 3DS revision at the same time as Wii U.

And the inevitable 3DS revision will absolutely have the right circle pad.

[TJ Spyke]

I have to disagree, unless a game gets announced before E3 2012 that REQUIRES the CCP to be used, I don't think it will be included with the system itself since it would be an unnecessary added expense for Nintendo.

[Adrock]

Making a Circle Pad add-on specifically for the revision would cost Nintendo even more.

[TJ Spyke]

Not really, and they could make money by selling them (assuming a 3DS redesign would change it in such a way that the CPP couldn't fit it).

[King of Twitch]

OMG what if the CPP could plug into the revised 3DS? TRIFORCE CIRCLE PADS.

[Adrock]

Not really, and they could make money by selling them (assuming a 3DS redesign would change it in such a way that the CPP couldn't fit it).

It's not much of a revision if it's the same size.

I think it's more likely that Nintendo builds the right circle pad in and never/rarely uses it themselves. This isn't even about streamlining the process for consumers. It's so much less of a hassle for Nintendo. They don't need the extra materials, assembly lines, shipping, marketing, shelf space etc.

And why stop at 3 circle pads? There should be at least 5 or 6.

[BlackNMild2k1]

TGS is in the fall?  i expect to see it at E3 myself.  I'm expecting they are going target the battery issue and have the dual analog as a complete system.

Also expect them to release it at current prices with the orginal 3ds dropping to $130-150 range.

Only problem is that they aren't gonna reveal it until they are just about to release it. And since the will probably want to save it for the holiday season, they won't announce it at E3 and then have people not buy 3DS's for the next 3-4 months while they wait for a revision.

[Ceric]

I doubt Nintendo would want to split its message with the Wii U coming out.  The New Nintendo Product should be the Wii U.  Not a 3DS Revision.

[Ymeegod]

Well you could play FPS on the 3ds by having the circle pad act as free aim and the touch screen as an directional pad but the reason for the second analog stick is for those of us that perfer to use what we are already familar with.  Two, not sure how many people can reach the touch screen without hand replacements?  Me, my giant hands have no trouble reaching the any part of the screen but if you have Japanese small features you wouldn't be able to do that all that well.