With IGN’s section for the Nintendo Revolution up and running, it has become monumentally simpler to keep aprised of all the latest gaming news. As a result, I can now have much more to comment on in regards to the Revolution and Nintendo’s blunders therein.

Nintendo’s official stance is summed up in the following text:

Our competitors would have you believe that the next generation of gaming will be solely defined by high definition graphics. High definition graphics look fantastic, but come at a price. To shine, high definition games must be played on high definition televisions, which aren’t cheap. Games with high definition graphics are expensive to develop because they must be developed in both standard and high definition formats. Those development costs are passed on to you in the form of more expensive software. Finally, playing games with high definition graphics requires a system with loads of RAM and costly high-end graphics chips, both of which make it prohibitively expensive for most consumers.

Sharper graphics are certainly part of the next generation. We know that games for the Revolution will look brilliant whether played on a standard television or on a high definition television. However, is that all there is to next-generation gaming? We feel that sharper graphics should be combined with a new way to interface with the game itself. Our controller is a sharp departure from the current standard, to be sure, but it will provide a level of interactivity you can’t get currently.

We believe in providing a single system that can play not only the previous generation’s titles, but also games from a massive library built over 20 years of creating innovative and exciting games. We also believe in providing a complete wireless online experience right out of the box.

Nintendo has created a gaming system that is sleek and compact in size, powers up quickly with minimal load times, makes game development easy and fast, is easy to use, and is affordable for everyone. We are confident that gamers and non-gamers alike will support the truly next-generation experience only Nintendo can provide. Once you have a chance to play games on the Revolution, we think you’ll agree!

Nintendo of America

Realism is key. Realism provides immersion, and immersion provides a truly rewarding gaming experience. The interface is an important development, but Nintendo’s advancements seem to be the tiniest of steps in what can possible arise.

Nintendo stated clearly that high-definition games and consoles will work on low definition televisions. So, purchasing a high-definition console at this point poses no problems. Nintendo does not even consider the declining prices of high definition televisions over the consoles life-cycle (which may be extended on account of the giant leaps achieved by respective companies). Is it poor to purchase a high-definition console in the event of a possible high-definition television purchase? Hardly.

Software sees a ten dollar raise in price. Of course you’d expect that. The same price gap is witnessed between Game Boy games and Gamecube games. No surprise there. Surely we cannot expect the Revolution’s games to be priced on par with the noble Gamecubes games. Unless Nintendo is telling us that there will be no improvement in graphic quality. In that case, why should I get a Revolution at all?

Once again, this article brings up Nintendo’s uber-backwards compatability promise. Of course, this is a service they have released no information about in reference to available games, prices, server loads, availability of games by location or anything important about the service. And online capability? They bring it up as if it is new and exciting, apparently not realizing the popularity of XBox Live.

And apparently, the Revolution”makes game development easy and fast”. This comment is troubling. Does it mean Revolution fans should expect a lot of poorly made games that are hurriedly pumped out of Nintendo’s think tanks? Are we in the market for a gaming generation without substance? And how can it be easy to develop a game with a bizarre new control mechanic? Honestly, that phrase sounds like a blatant lie.

And thus ends me trying to rip apart Nintendo…again.

Next post, I promise I’ll talk about something more interesting. I’m off to play Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.