Next Gameboy backwards compatible with GCN?
- Thread starter GSG Flash
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soundwave05
Member
I've long suspected this.
Even if you look at some of the comments Nintendo made when the GCN was unveiled way back in 2000, some of them were downright bizarre.
Like Miyamoto saying the GC would be a platform that would exist for 7-10 years or something and Nintendo saying one of the reasons mini-discs were chosen was because they don't skip as easily.
I think the "DS/Nitro" was one of the chipsets (they likely have several at any given time) hanging around their R&D offices. When PSP was announced they decided to fast track this chipset and add a touchscreen in hopes of slowing Sony down.
Even if you look at some of the comments Nintendo made when the GCN was unveiled way back in 2000, some of them were downright bizarre.
Like Miyamoto saying the GC would be a platform that would exist for 7-10 years or something and Nintendo saying one of the reasons mini-discs were chosen was because they don't skip as easily.
I think the "DS/Nitro" was one of the chipsets (they likely have several at any given time) hanging around their R&D offices. When PSP was announced they decided to fast track this chipset and add a touchscreen in hopes of slowing Sony down.
soundwave05
Member
Legend of Zelda and Resident Evil 4 on the go and you'd complain?
If GB Evolution is a portable GameCube it may also explain why Nintendo is continuing to support the GameCube with so many new projects.
If GB Evolution is a portable GameCube it may also explain why Nintendo is continuing to support the GameCube with so many new projects.
soundwave05
Member
If you read the technical specs of the GameCube, you'd note that the unit has the ability to upgrade its A-Memory.
What this would do is significantly reduce load times, but Nintendo never released a RAM upgrade for the GCN.
I wonder if they incorporated that into GB Evo, couldn't that save battery life on loading times?
I think what would happen is older GCN games would probably suck battery life quickly, but newer GCN games made with this GB iteration in mind would be more energy efficent.
What this would do is significantly reduce load times, but Nintendo never released a RAM upgrade for the GCN.
I wonder if they incorporated that into GB Evo, couldn't that save battery life on loading times?
I think what would happen is older GCN games would probably suck battery life quickly, but newer GCN games made with this GB iteration in mind would be more energy efficent.
dynamitejim
Member
It'd be cool, but I doubt it's possible. How small could the GC's CPU and "Flipper" be shrunk down with today's processes?
Bluemercury
Member
Azrael said:
Yes because PSP is full of original titles....
I know the IGN mailbag crap is old ... but there at least seems to be some decent info posted on new systems once in a while ... so here's stuff from the latest one...
matt you seem down on the ds but what about the next game boy do you think that could compete with PSP?
Matt responds: Don't let my rants fool you. I'm not down on the DS. I'm just waiting to see its true potential realized. As for the next Game Boy, which I'll call Game Boy Evolution since this seems to be the popular title for it, I'm extremely optimistic.
Actually, based on things I've heard, the paths of the DS and GBE have intersected already. Sources claim that the idea for the next Game Boy took flight right about the same time GameCube launched. The device was merely supposed to be a portable GameCube. Nintendo was hoping to create a synergy between the two platforms. However, for whatever reason -- probably an inability to miniaturize the GameCube at a consumer-friendly price -- the Game Boy successor was abandoned. Instead, Nintendo opted to use an old piece of tech: a hardware dubbed Nitro that was originally developed to be an update to the Game Boy line during the PS1 era. At former NCL president Hiroshi Yamauchi's suggestion, the tech was enhanced with a second screen and later a touch-sensitive interface. Thus, the DS was born.
What's interesting is that work on Game Boy Evolution is allegedly further along than most of us would probably guess. And more intriguing still, sources claim that Nintendo is once again trying to make the machine a portable GameCube.
If that comes to fruition, I will likely be singing the praises of Game Boy Evolution from the very start. It would be an amazing accomplishment. The machine would have a potential library of 500 games from launch. Imagine being able to play Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Wave Race, and Pikmin on the go. It's a Nintendo fan's dream come true.
EDIT: shit late ...
matt you seem down on the ds but what about the next game boy do you think that could compete with PSP?
Matt responds: Don't let my rants fool you. I'm not down on the DS. I'm just waiting to see its true potential realized. As for the next Game Boy, which I'll call Game Boy Evolution since this seems to be the popular title for it, I'm extremely optimistic.
Actually, based on things I've heard, the paths of the DS and GBE have intersected already. Sources claim that the idea for the next Game Boy took flight right about the same time GameCube launched. The device was merely supposed to be a portable GameCube. Nintendo was hoping to create a synergy between the two platforms. However, for whatever reason -- probably an inability to miniaturize the GameCube at a consumer-friendly price -- the Game Boy successor was abandoned. Instead, Nintendo opted to use an old piece of tech: a hardware dubbed Nitro that was originally developed to be an update to the Game Boy line during the PS1 era. At former NCL president Hiroshi Yamauchi's suggestion, the tech was enhanced with a second screen and later a touch-sensitive interface. Thus, the DS was born.
What's interesting is that work on Game Boy Evolution is allegedly further along than most of us would probably guess. And more intriguing still, sources claim that Nintendo is once again trying to make the machine a portable GameCube.
If that comes to fruition, I will likely be singing the praises of Game Boy Evolution from the very start. It would be an amazing accomplishment. The machine would have a potential library of 500 games from launch. Imagine being able to play Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Wave Race, and Pikmin on the go. It's a Nintendo fan's dream come true.
EDIT: shit late ...
soundwave05
Member
dynamitejim said:
It would have to be a system-on-chip design. The Gekko isn't really the issue, that's already tiny as hell. The Flipper would be tougher, but ATi has lots of experience making their GPUs smaller for use in devices like notebooks. That experience would come in handy here.
The nice side-effect of this is that if Revolution is backwards-compatible it means you could also play your handheld games on a TV as well.
Completely exposed GC discs would hardly be the most practical format for a handheld though. Even UMD's look sensible compared to that ...
Completely exposed GC discs would hardly be the most practical format for a handheld though. Even UMD's look sensible compared to that ...
Really revolutionary battery tech is probably a long time off....there aren't the same sort of exponential performance leaps as there are in microchips. All they can do is produce lower-power-consumption chipsets....which will be nice, but if the disc drive is constantly spinning then there's nothing they can do.Monk said:
soundwave05
Member
Nash said:
I don't think Revolution is the one that's going to be backwards compatible. I think that's gonna be the catch, the GB Evolution will be the one that's backwards compatible. With Revolution they'll probably do something entirely different.
soundwave05
Member
OmniGamer said:
True, then again, really all the GCN has which the PSP doesn't is a Z-button and a second analog joystick.
It still has four face buttons (just in a different config). They'd have to slim down those analog triggers considerably, but that's doable.
Keyser Soze
Member
teepo said:
It will be holograming-gryoscoping on the top left of the unit
soundwave05 said:
Yes that's what I was thinking too, maybe they can make the sticks smaller and make the buttons of the gamecube into a regular circle shape so that it can easily be on a handheld. I'm guessing that both the Z button and shoulder triggers can coexist on the handheld in the same layout as they are on the cube.
soundwave05
Member
It'd be interesting if they could make the analog joysticks "retract" into the system, assuming it has a fold-out design like the DS does.
That'd be a pretty simple solution for the whole analog debate.
Would the screen be 4x3 or 16x9 though?
That'd be a pretty simple solution for the whole analog debate.
Would the screen be 4x3 or 16x9 though?
soundwave05
Member
f_elz said:
Yeah I agree but most older GCN games are 4x3.
Although, if the screen was 16x9, and say the screen was a "swivel" design (like some Sony CliEs are) so it could be positioned vertically along with horizonally ... theoretically that'd be perfect for DS backwards compatibility.
Dynamite Shikoku
Congratulations, you really deserve it!
I don't think it will be backwards compatible with gamecube, but rather just have a bunch of gamecube ports on it.
AndoCalrissian
Member
Nash said:
Just make it a slot that the disc slides in, rather than a tray or something that flips open.
soundwave05
Member
I think Nitro (sans the touch screen) may have been possible around 1999 or so, but not before that.
When did the ARM9 chipset come out again?
But still, yeah, its a pretty poorly kept secret that Nintendo keeps more advanced portable hardware locked away in their R&D in favor of milking the current product line.
Game Boy Advance was in development (Project: Atlantis) like around the release of Donkey Kong Country.
When did the ARM9 chipset come out again?
But still, yeah, its a pretty poorly kept secret that Nintendo keeps more advanced portable hardware locked away in their R&D in favor of milking the current product line.
Game Boy Advance was in development (Project: Atlantis) like around the release of Donkey Kong Country.
AndoCalrissian said:
Loading it would be fine, carrying the games around would be a right bugger though. As anyone with a PSP will tell you, optical discs that are exposed in any way are not ideal. Completely exposed GC-style discs would be nightmare, and not a very Nintendo-type thing to do.
Actually, even loading them on a handheld would be fingerprint-central.
soundwave05
Member
Nash said:
Why not just start selling future games with a thin plastic cover? Then you could just throw them into your pocket or backpack without having to have the entire DVD-sized case in tow.
I mean if you're retarded enough to damage your games in the five seconds it takes to pull them out of the case and load them into your Game Boy, you frankly deserve the scratches you get on your discs.
AndoCalrissian
Member
If they did this, allowed it to still hookup to a TV (with some sort of controller multi-link or Wavebird compatibility, and added wireless play, I would be all over it.
soundwave05
Member
GSG Flash said:
Yeah basically that's what I was saying. I remember those plastic covers they used to ship old Game Boy cartridges with.
How soon could they have this hardware ready (software really isn't an issue though)?
Is this why Mario 128 is still scheduled for the GameCube?
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