IGN on GameCube 2

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Sprite Scaler - 27 Jun 2003 19:15 GMT

http://cube.ign.com/mail.html

GameCube 2

'Dear Matt, What have you found out, if anything, about the successor
to GameCube?
Matty'

Matt responds: A fine question. Well, I don't have enough to run with
a news piece, but after talking to several insider pals around the
industry here's what I've been able to come up with:

*The console is being referred to as GameCube 2 internally
*ATI has been in development with a graphics chip for "GCN 2" for more
than a year; it's supposedly coming along very nicely
*Several games are already being designed with the system in mind,
though no hardware is yet available
*The hardware is expected to ultimately ship at a $299 price point --
directly against Xbox 2 and PS3
*The CPU partner has not been set, though the obvious choice is IBM
*2005 release is likely as Nintendo wants to beat the competition to
the gates

"I hate to lend credit to this ongoing rumor, too, but I figure I
can't ignore it. At least one industry insider I spoke with brought up
the whole Microsoft/Nintendo union; apparently Microsoft -- more than
Nintendo -- is interested in some kind of partnership.

There are a few other smaller bits here and there, but I don't feel
comfortable posting them yet. Note that while I do trust my sources on
this information (they've come through dozens of times in the past),
it's still so early on that anything can happen."

Sprite Scaler responds :)
Ok, I hope that GameCube 2 is really more powerful than PS3 and rivals
the XBox2. ATI is currently *has* the Nintendo GPU contract and *is*
the frontrunner for the Xbox2 contract. having a $299 pricepoint for
GameCube 2 is f.cking exellent. Hopefully that means LOTS of main
memory, powerful CPU, powerful GPU, on par with the upcoming R500
(year 2005 PC VPU) or better, backwards compatability with GCN 1,
built in network card/modem, as well as built in GBA/GBA 2 player,
etc.

hopefully there will be some info on the GBA 2, soon too. hopefully
the GBA 2 will out-power the PSP. remember the PSP is ment to be
in-bewteen PS1 and PS2 in power. the CPU, GPU, SPU and memory of PSP
is ment to be a SoC
(system on chip). If that is the case, then GBA 2 needs to be based on
GCN 1, with full GCN 1 ability. not meaning GCN 1 compatability
necessarally, but capability, meaning performance. like GBA has SNES+
capability, except in sound and resolution. GBA 2 needs to match GCN 1
in every area, except perhaps resolution. but then again, PSP will
have high resolution, so GBA 2 needs even higher.

It seems ATI could truly be instrumental in both GCN 2 and GBA 2.
they should be able to blow away the combined CPU+GPU of PSP with a
mobile-Flipper or Flipper 1.5!

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SnowRabbit - 27 Jun 2003 19:32 GMT

> hopefully there will be some info on the GBA 2, soon too. hopefully
> the GBA 2 will out-power the PSP. remember the PSP is ment to be
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> in every area, except perhaps resolution. but then again, PSP will
> have high resolution, so GBA 2 needs even higher.

If they could get that performance in a handheld, and there were no
technical reasons (battery life, heat dissipation etc.) it would be pretty
cool to have a GC-compatible GBA2. The GC discs are just about small for a
handheld, although I'm not sure if a mechanical storage device like a disc
drive would be appropriate in a handheld (we'll see what it's like in the
PSP, I suppose.) Although GB/C/A compatibility would also be important IMO.

I was interested to read that MS being interested in a partnership with
Nintendo, just imagine, Nintendo first person games and controller design
combined with MS's vast marketing budget :) (Although somehow it wouldn't
feel "right" to play Nintendo games on a non-Nintendo system. That said, I
expect a lot of people said the same thing about Sega....)

Matt

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J - 28 Jun 2003 03:12 GMT

I think when the dust has settled, the mass market will not percieve that GC
has been a success. It probably wouldn't make sense for Nintendo to heavily
promote a handheld as being connected to it.

I'm not talking about the kind of person who is in this group, or in a
general sense regarding the actual capabilities of the handheld. I'm just
talking for a marketing perspective. I really don't think it would be good
for them to push a "handheld gamecube" would make much more sense for them
to bank on the huge dominance of the gameboy name in the handheld market and
call it that, and keep the gamecube compatability down the list of USPs...

J

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Robert P Holley - 27 Jun 2003 20:47 GMT

> http://cube.ign.com/mail.html

Hello Cygnus.

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Turd Ferguson - 30 Jun 2003 00:16 GMT

I hope that don't make the Gamecube2 and team up with MS. One less system to
buy, plus as a team they would put much more competitive pressure on Sony.

> http://cube.ign.com/mail.html
>
[quoted text clipped - 53 lines]
> they should be able to blow away the combined CPU+GPU of PSP with a
> mobile-Flipper or Flipper 1.5!

Reply to this Message

El Guapo - 30 Jun 2003 03:27 GMT

The question is, can Microsoft be trusted? You would seriously have to
think twice about that if you were in Iwata's position. I think that's what
will keep such a deal from happening.

> I hope that don't make the Gamecube2 and team up with MS. One less system to
> buy, plus as a team they would put much more competitive pressure on Sony.
[quoted text clipped - 56 lines]
> > they should be able to blow away the combined CPU+GPU of PSP with a
> > mobile-Flipper or Flipper 1.5!

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Thelma Schoenleb - 30 Jun 2003 14:20 GMT

> *2005 release is likely as Nintendo wants to beat the competition to
> the gates

Wasn't this the thing that did Sega in? Releasing a powerful console,
only to have the competition releasing something more powerful?

> "I hate to lend credit to this ongoing rumor, too, but I figure I
> can't ignore it. At least one industry insider I spoke with brought up
> the whole Microsoft/Nintendo union; apparently Microsoft -- more than
> Nintendo -- is interested in some kind of partnership.

Does that mean Rare will be making games for Nintendo again?

> backwards compatability with GCN 1,

That would be a nice feature, but not vital.

> as well as built in GBA/GBA 2 player etc.

I've never understood the point of playing gb/gbc/gba games on a telly.

> hopefully there will be some info on the GBA 2, soon too. hopefully
> the GBA 2 will out-power the PSP. remember the PSP is ment to be
> in-bewteen PS1 and PS2 in power.

Does that mean there are going to be ports of all the piss poor ps games,
and bad ports of the good ps games?

> then GBA 2 needs to be based on
> GCN 1, with full GCN 1 ability. not meaning GCN 1 compatability
> necessarally, but capability, meaning performance. like GBA has SNES+
> capability, except in sound and resolution. GBA 2 needs to match GCN 1
> in every area, except perhaps resolution. but then again, PSP will
> have high resolution, so GBA 2 needs even higher.

Eh?
I predict N64 alike capabilities for gba2. And a nice screen at launch
this time would be very good thank you very much.

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Preston Crawford - 30 Jun 2003 14:34 GMT

Oh sweet lord. I guess I'm going to have to buy all the GBA games I can. I
rather like the GBA because it's kind of old school and the games focus on
gameplay and not just graphics. I, personally, was hoping that Nintendo
*DIDN'T* try to compete with Sony in the handheld arena and continued to
do what they do now. I like my GBA. There's not a minute that goes by that
I wish I was carrying around a portable Gamecube. How could they even
realistically handle genuine 3D graphics in a screen that small. They'd
have to make the screen gigantic. No thanks. I like the SP.

Preston

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