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[soundwave05]

Combination of GC and Gameboy = GC chipset + GBA screen/cartridges

That's still my bet

That could be a possibility also. I think GB Evo will definitely be close to the GCN in terms of power, if not flat out equal or even better.

 

[john tv]

I don't want a portable GameCube. That sounds lame. I want something new and designed for portable gaming from the get-go. And it DAMN WELL BETTER BE AT LEAST AS SEXY AS PSP IN ALL WAYS WITH A WIDESCREEN AND OPTICAL MEDIA AND WI-FI AND MOVIES AND MUSIC AND SEX AND NINTENDO ARE YOU READING ARRRGGGHHHH

Otherwise don't bother. PSP is gonna kick your stuck-in-1989 ass.

 

[Kobun Heat]

It would have to have a big-ass screen.

 

[Speevy]

The PSP has a big-ass screen.

 

[soundwave05]

If Need for Speed: Underground Rivals is a must have PSP title, why aren't all three other games from the series must haves?

Yeah not to mention ahem Game Boy Evo would have better versions of Madden NFL, Splinter Cell, NBA Live, Soul Calibur 2, Prince of Persia, etc. than what the PSP could do.

Fuck, Rockstar might finally release Grand Theft Auto on the GameCube if this were the case.

 

[Acosta]

Which is to say that if these games couldn't make the console a huge favorite with consumers, what good will it do for the handheld version? Is it worth it to spend all this time and money engineer a way to make it handheld?

Added value. If they are not "huge favorite" with consumers (that is something that could be discussed IMO) is because GC competitors were Xbox and PS2. For for a portable, the competitor would be PSP, and having some graphical jewels like RE 4 from beginning, sure it sounds attractive for anyone that didn´t have a GC, don´t have key games of it or just want to play his games on the go. I´m not a fan or anything like that, but I´m a gamer and I can say I would like the idea.

And it´s not only about having a portable GC, you would see lot of new games from that point.

 

[yodandy]

While I don't think the design of that is that great, it's a nice mock up. Who made that?

Im fairly sure it was Paladin69 from the IGN boards, same guy who did the nexus...

 

[ImNotLikeThem]

but..... what if!
what if it had the OPTION of playing gamecube games, like the DS can play GBA games, but that it had several new features that were only compatible with the "GBE" features? or if every new nintendo conosle from here on out were to feature backwards compatibility, sideways compatibilty, and yes even... fORWARD compatibilty with the next system after it??

 

[john tv]

I dunno. GC seems pretty forgettable to me. I'd rather it was N64-compatible, if anything.

I want something new, powerful, asskicking and relevant. In other words, I'm dreaming.

 

[Monk]

Meh, the n64 was forgettable for me. The GC was too. To this day i cannot find what the hell was special about OoT.

 

[soundwave05]

I dunno. GC seems pretty forgettable to me. I'd rather it was N64-compatible, if anything.

I want something new, powerful, asskicking and relevant. In other words, I'm dreaming.

Uh you do realize the GameCube is considerably more powerful than the PSP right?

 

[john tv]

 

[border]

It would have to have a big-ass screen.

Yeah, you might run into the problems that people did with the Nomad, where putting games intended for a TV onto a tiny LCD makes the text size so small that game HUDs and text-heavy titles become a nightmare.

Yeah not to mention ahem Game Boy Evo would have better versions of Madden NFL, Splinter Cell, NBA Live, Soul Calibur 2, Prince of Persia, etc. than what the PSP could do.

All those games will be pretty old by then, though. Nintendo will have to convince 3rd parties to continue supporting a platform that they haven't been very hot on in recent years. They will need Madden 2007, not Madden 2005.

 

[Speevy]

EA puts games on toasters. If there's one third party that no hardware manufacturer has to worry about losing support from, it's EA.

 

[Amir0x]

Uh you do realize the GameCube is considerably more powerful than the PSP right?

See, john tv said NEW first and POWERFUL thirdly, so since GAMECUBE PORTABLE does not fit that prerequisite of being 'new' I'm supposin' that's what he meant

 

[john tv]

I also said relevant. That's the most important.

 

[soundwave05]

You do realize they would make "new" games on this Game Boy Evolution.

Mario 128 anyone?

So Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, Madden NFL 2006, NBA Live 2006, Winning Eleven, Resident Evil 4, Splinter Cell, Soul Calibur 2, Tales of Symphonia, F-Zero GX, Prince of Persia 2, would not be "relevant"?

 

[JackFrost2012]

I SWEAR TO GOD CAN WE BAN THE REPOSTING OF IGN MATT'S OPINIONS!

I DO NOT GIVE A SHIT WHAT THIS MATT THINKS.

HE IS WELCOME TO POST HERE HIMSELF BUT IF I WANTED TO READ IGN MAILBAG I WOULD READ IT AT IGN.COM. WHICH I DON'T. SO STOP POSTING IT.

 

[Rhindle]

I don't think they mean literally backwards compatible, in terms of being able to pop GCN discs into the next gameboy. For one thing, it would be impossible to exactly replicate the GCN controls, so you would have to tweak the coding for the games. More importantly, Nintendo would of course want to sell you the same GCN games all over again.

But you could make a pretty close approximation of the GCN specs in the GB hardware, such that it is easy to port GCN games over.

 

[soundwave05]

Yeah, you might run into the problems that people did with the Nomad, where putting games intended for a TV onto a tiny LCD makes the text size so small that game HUDs and text-heavy titles become a nightmare.
All those games will be pretty old by then, though. Nintendo will have to convince 3rd parties to continue supporting a platform that they haven't been very hot on in recent years. They will need Madden 2007, not Madden 2005.

And that's exactly why EA would continue to support the platform. That'd be a hell of a reason, I'd say actually. EA and Nintendo have a good relationship to boot. Also Nintendo could launch whenever they want (not neccessarily football season) and still have a Madden game which is better than the one on the PSP availible to them.

 

[border]

Madden is just the example. It would be about making sure that every company is willing to develop concurrent versions of recent games.

I imagine that it would end up a lot like this generation, where PSP/PS2 becomes the target platform, and then everything gets ported over to CubeBoy with little optimization. And ironically, a portable Cube would leave the system with a RAM deficiency (when compared to PSP), so you would still see some cop-out excuses about why games can't get ports.

 

[Speevy]

Why would it be impossible to replicate Gamecube controls? It's been done before with a console.

 

[soundwave05]

Madden is just the example. It would be about making sure that every company is willing to develop concurrent versions of recent games.

I imagine that it would end up a lot like this generation, where PSP/PS2 becomes the target platform, and then everything gets ported over to CubeBoy with little optimization. And ironically, a portable Cube would leave the system with a RAM deficiency (when compared to PSP), so you would still see some cop-out excuses about why games can't get ports.

They already have a team that works on the GCN version. They already have the GCN dev kits. They already have the game engine built for the GameCube.

Why would they switch? If anything the GB Evo using the same chipset as the GCN makes it easier for companies like EA, not harder. They basically just have to continue doing what they're doing already.

The PSP is not powerful enough to develop concurrently with the PS2, why do you think the PSP versions of NBA Street and what not had to be developed seperately? The PSP is not powerful enough to run NBA Street Volume 3 the way the PS2 does. The GameCube can.

If anything its kind of attractive to third parties, for the price of one licensing fee, they get to make a game for two userbases (GCN and GC Evo) at the same time.

 

[Acosta]

But John, imagine exactly a PSP, just GC compatible. Sounds a good deal to me, from that point can appear new games in the same way that PSP.

Maybe I´m pushing too hard the idea of GB Next today and I doesn´t want to sound a Nintendo fan, it´s just that given the situation it´s seems logical to me. I´m sure Nintendo can do their own business better than I (well or wrong, it´s something we will see ).

it would be impossible to exactly replicate the GCN controls, so you would have to tweak the coding for the games

Why? it´s nothing special. I am sure this would be the easier part

 

[Duck of Death]

:lol :lol :lol

 

[Monk]

The psp is too big to fit in my pocket just like the GBA. It should be flip top like the GBA SP.

 

[border]

The PSP is not powerful enough to develop concurrently with the PS2, why do you think the PSP versions of NBA Street and what not had to be developed seperately?

Sorry, I wasn't meaning to say that games were developed with the same code or anything. I just mean that the next handheld generation would be like this console generation. Sony's platform becomes the "target" and everything else gets imported over to other systems with minor upgrades.

 

[God's Hand]

Yeah, the PSP and DS are not portables. They just do not fit in my pockets at all. They're useless as far as I'm concerned.

 

[soundwave05]

Sorry, I wasn't meaning to say that games were developed with the same code or anything. I just mean that the next handheld generation would be like this console generation. Sony's platform becomes the "target" and everything else gets imported over to other systems with minor upgrades.

Yeah except all those big third parties would already have GCN dev kits/knowledge of the hardware/GCN engines.

It would actually be a big benefit for them to directly be able to use those engines on GB Evo software.

For instance, a company like EA which already has the Madden NFL engine on the GameCube technology, they could easily just update those rosters, add a few new specific features every year and they're set.

Capcom could do a Resident Evil 4.5 for instance using that same philosophy.

If anything, if Nintendo went with a propietary chipset for the Game Boy Evo, then the scenario you're describing might be more of an issue. Then it would force devs to either port "up" their PSP engines or make new engines for the GB Evo from scratch.

All these companies already have all these GameCube engines/art work/etc. finished. EA again, already has all those NBA Street models done and even has the Mario characters there. Making a NBA Street Vol. 4 on the GB Evo would be easy as cake for them and for a portable product, it would be absolutely cutting edge. There'd be no point in using the PSP version, since there'd be a better looking GameCube engine of that same game already there for most companies.

 

[john tv]

But John, imagine exactly a PSP, just GC compatible. Sounds a good deal to me, from that point can appear new games in the same way that PSP.

Maybe I´m pushing too hard the idea of GB Next today and I doesn´t want to sound a Nintendo fan, it´s just that given the situation it´s seems logical to me. I´m sure Nintendo can do their own business better than I (well or wrong, it´s something we will see ).



Why? it´s nothing special. I am sure this would be the easier part

Believe it or not, it doesn't sound appealing to me, at all. I don't want to play old GC games I've already played. I don't want hardware that's going to be limited by the past. I want a new Game Boy that can do everything my PSP can do and more, plus play games made by Nintendo (if they still have anything decent left, the hits have sure been wearing thin the past couple years). It should have not one, but two analog sticks. It should have as many buttons as PSP, only pressure sensitive as well. It should play music, movies and so on, and it should have a better media format than UMD. And it should have the one or two features of the DS that are actually worth something (touch screen and mic port). If it's got all that, and THEN it can play GC games too, then great. Otherwise, I'd rather they forget about the past and start thinking about the future for a change.

Also, Nintendo CAN'T do their own business better than you, or me, or anyone else with half a shred of intelligence. That's why their market share keeps getting cut by half each generation and their image keeps sinking lower and lower. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE DOING, and that's the problem. Once they realize this and start taking the necessary steps to dig themselves out of the enormous hole they've put themselves in, then maybe they'll have a chance of competing against Sony. But only then.

 

[G4life98]

In one of the older rumours about GBE there was talk of the unit having some type of internal storage and a way of downlloading your gb,gbc, gba and maybe even ds games onto the system as a way to facilitate the full BC that has been the staple of the gamboy line.

this would be a good way of cutting down how much space is wasted for cart slots.

 

[john tv]

The psp is too big to fit in my pocket just like the GBA. It should be flip top like the GBA SP.

PSP fits in my pocket just fine. Have you even tried?

 

[aoi tsuki]

Combination of GC and Gameboy = GC chipset + GBA screen/cartridges

That's still my bet

The GBA screen is fine for 2D, but it's rather lacking for 3D. Same with the DS screen, which has a resolution only marginally higher than the GBA. Filtering would've definitely helped.

The concept of a portable Gamecube has been around for a while, starting with the small size of the GCN discs and then revisited at a past E3 where Nintendo demoed the machine with a slick LCD. Among other issues i have, just how portable could such a device be? The GC disc is roughly the same depth as the DS and the SP. Add in GC control and screen large enough to make text discernable and you have a device with roughly the same volume as the DS, if not greater. Portable, but not pocketable, and likely not very comfortable for extended periods of play.

And then the real question is, would a GB Next/Evo really look all that much better than the PSP, which would have a 18-month lead if not greater by the time it's released?

My position hasn't changed since it was first rumored. A Gamecube SP (slimmer design) aside, a portable Gamecube in the form of a handheld likely won't happen.

Edit: Photo comparison: GOD (Gamecube Optic Disc), DS, and SP

i'd love to see Nintendo come up with with a slot mechanism that uses minimal space, and give it some sort of name like "Slim Optic Disc Mechanism" , but ironically that's the sort of thing Sony does.

 

[Speevy]

Hold on. People want to play console-ish games that are at most 75% of what a console version of the same game would be, but actual Gamecube games aren't worth playing on the go?

 

[Monk]

I dont have a psp. But judging by the size it is as big as the GBA. Th GBA was the biggest regret of my life as a gamer. I am not going to make the same mistake again. It fit into the pocket but it was hella uncomfortable.

The SP is more comfortable than my wallet due to its size. One the other hand the GBA felt like an extra penis with a hardon growing out of my leg.

 

[Speevy]

I know this is going to sound insane, but what if the Revolution was an updated DS that did exactly this?

 

[soundwave05]

Believe it or not, it doesn't sound appealing to me, at all. I don't want to play old GC games I've already played. I don't want hardware that's going to be limited by the past. I want a new Game Boy that can do everything my PSP can do and more, plus play games made by Nintendo (if they still have anything decent left, the hits have sure been wearing thin the past couple years). It should have not one, but two analog sticks. It should have as many buttons as PSP, only pressure sensitive as well. It should play music, movies and so on, and it should have a better media format than UMD. And it should have the one or two features of the DS that are actually worth something (touch screen and mic port). If it's got all that, and THEN it can play GC games too, then great. Otherwise, I'd rather they forget about the past and start thinking about the future for a change.

Also, Nintendo CAN'T do their own business better than you, or me, or anyone else with half a shred of intelligence. That's why their market share keeps getting cut by half each generation and their image keeps sinking lower and lower. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE DOING, and that's the problem. Once they realize this and start taking the necessary steps to dig themselves out of the enormous hole they've put themselves in, then maybe they'll have a chance of competing against Sony. But only then.

So, uh what's the problem?

You'd splooge your self on a half-assed version of Soul Calibur on the PSP, but the real deal Soul Calibur 2 on the GB Evo doesn't work for ya?

Most of the software on the PSP is derivative of existing console engines anyway, the GB Evo would simply just be the better hardware.

And it would also still get new games, its not like they'd stop making new titles. As for MP3/MP4 playback, if Nintendo goes for a Panasonic SD Card slot on the GB Evo, I don't see why this isn't possible.

They're already planning to sell a SD Card adaptor for the GBA SP/DS which plays MP3s/MP4s, its certainly possible the Game Boy Evo will have this feature built right into the hardware.

If the GB Evo was GCN compatible the screen would have to be 640x480 resolution I believe, which would ensure a higher resolution display than the PSP to boot.

As for two analog sticks, have you looked at your GameCube controller recently? I'm pretty sure there's two analog sticks there, not one half-assed semi-analog nub. If anything, making the GB Evo GCN compatible would force them to have dual analog control.

 

[bridegur]

As long as it has at least one screen as big as the PSP's, real analog and a Mario game to use it with, I'm sold.

 

[seismologist]

Yeah, the PSP and DS are not portables. They just do not fit in my pockets at all. They're useless as far as I'm concerned.

DS goes in the front pocket (with trumb strap hanging out so you look cool)

 

[explodet]

I want something new and designed for portable gaming from the get-go. And it DAMN WELL BETTER BE AT LEAST AS SEXY AS PSP IN ALL WAYS WITH A WIDESCREEN AND OPTICAL MEDIA AND WI-FI AND MOVIES AND MUSIC AND SEX AND NINTENDO ARE YOU READING ARRRGGGHHHH

That means Nintendo will have to go into some uncharted waters.

Sony's had the last decade or so to learn the ropes of the gaming world - they learned it so well that they're pretty much on top now. They used this knowledge, tossed it into a blender with their resources and their electronics and media know-how, pressed MIX, and poured out a PSP.

Nintendo, on the other hand, only has primary experience in electronics that are used in devices that play games. Hell, they're still getting used to the online thing. They've never made a music player, an image viewer, or a movie player.

If they want to play on the same field as Sony, they'll going to need to get more equipment, or go play a whole another game.

Right now I believe they're going for the latter approach.

 

[soundwave05]

And then the real question is, would a GB Next/Evo really look all that much better than the PSP, which would have a 18-month lead if not greater by the time it's released?

So you're saying Game Boy Evolution has to be even more powerful than the GameCube? Interesting.

 

[soundwave05]

Nintendo is making a MP3/MP4 player for the Game Boy Advance.

Maybe that's their way of "testing the waters" as it were.

Really though if the GB Evo is GCN-level in terms of raw horsepower all they have to include is a SD Card slot, because the hardware itself would be powerful enough to run MP3s/MP4s with some minimal type of OS.

 

[john tv]

As long as it has at least one screen as big as the PSP's, real analog and a Mario game to use it with, I'm sold.

It'll never happen. They could've had a screen like that for DS, hell there's plenty of room for it and they knew the spec way before they started finalizing the DS hardware. But they didn't. Cause they're Nintendo. As for analog, same deal. Sony's analog stick was there since E3, Nintendo could've easily wisened up and offered some kind of analog control stick on DS instead of just a d-pad and that retarded thumb strap. But they didn't. Cause they're Nintendo.

So now, logic indicates that Nintendo's next handheld should totally own the PSP, seeing as how they've got plenty of time to plan for it and get it right and they can't afford to lose any more marketshare to Sony. But it won't. Cause they're Nintendo.

 

[seismologist]

I have no interest in a portable Gamecube. If I wanted portable current gen games I'd get a PSP since it has better 3rd party support. This is where the DS comes in. It's really the best Nintendo can do at the moment by offering something completely different.

 

[soundwave05]

It'll never happen. They could've had a screen like that for DS, hell there's plenty of room for it and they knew the spec way before they started finalizing the DS hardware. But they didn't. Cause they're Nintendo. As for analog, same deal. Sony's analog stick was there since E3, Nintendo could've easily wisened up and offered some kind of analog control stick on DS instead of just a d-pad and that retarded thumb strap. But they didn't. Cause they're Nintendo.

So now, logic indicates that Nintendo's next handheld should totally own the PSP, seeing as how they've got plenty of time to plan for it and get it right and they can't afford to lose any more marketshare to Sony. But it won't. Cause they're Nintendo.

Which is why the idea of a portable GCN should be appealling actually. It would force Nintendo to include a large 640x480 display screen for instance and have dual analog support.

Even if you don't like more than a handful of the existing GCN titles, it would basically by default force Nintendo to have a better piece of all-around hardware than the PSP by a good margin.

 

[john tv]

Threads merged. No sense fighting in two separate topics when we can do it all in one place.

 

[border]

For instance, a company like EA which already has the Madden NFL engine on the GameCube technology, they could easily just update those rosters, add a few new specific features every year and they're set.

The "engine" is just one part of the component, though. The "assets" are equally as important. Yes, they can use the same player models and stadium models year after year on a sports title, but what other genre allows for such laziness? Even extreme sports games like THUG require new skaters to be included and new arenas to be modelled. The new levels, textures and models for all this stuff will likely come from the PSP version. With dev costs rising they will cater to the lower spec rather than create two sets of art assets.

It's not so terrible or anything.....I mean, it's not like this sort of thing really hurt the Cube. It will just disappoint the hardcore tech-heads who would like to see the platform pushed hard by all developers. The increased resolution and framerate would help to make up for it, though.

In one of the older rumours about GBE there was talk of the unit having some type of internal storage

It would be cool they tried to sidestep the "streaming GameCube games" problem by just including some massive flash ROM drive (1.5 GB). The system would upload the entire thing to the drive and then stream it off of that.....or you could just play from the disc (at risk of your own battery life). The great majority of Cube games don't even require a full 1.5 gigs, so you could probably fit multiple games on the drive.

They could do a hard drive as well, but with Nintendo's focus on durability and kids, it's probably not an option.

 

[soundwave05]

Even extreme sports games like THUG require new skaters to be included and new arenas to be modelled. The new levels, textures and models for all this stuff will likely come from the PSP version. With dev costs rising they will cater to the lower spec rather than create two sets of art assets.

Who really cares how hard the programming staff works?

It means basically if Soul Calibur 2 Deluxe is on the PSP or GB Evo, the GB Evo version will be better looking and Namco will probably have to spend less effort on the GB Evo version.

I think that's a win-win situation for everyone.

Including a flash ROM in the GBE is interesting. I never thought of that.

 

[Up a RIVER OF TEARS without an account]

John, I respect you as a journalist, but I am dumbfounded by how you're acting here.

The PSP is a nice piece of hardware for sure, but do all consoles and portables have to be able to play music and movies now?

Forgive me for sounding like someone from 2001, but I am still confused as to why a GAME MACHINE'S ability to play NON-GAME RELATED SOFTWARE makes any sort of difference at all.

If I want to listen to music on the go, then I have a CD Player. If I feel the need to take hundreds of songs with me, then I'll get an iPod.

If I want to watch movies on the go, I'll get a portable DVD player. I'm not so sure that we'll see a lot of UMD movies that aren't from Sony's own companies.

This has been bothering me since the PS2 launched and I still have not recieved my answer. Why the hell does it matter if my games machine can't do something besides play games?

 

[soundwave05]

John, I respect you as a journalist, but I am dumbfounded by how you're acting here.

The PSP is a nice piece of hardware for sure, but do all consoles and portables have to be able to play music and movies now?

Forgive me for sounding like someone from 2001, but I am still confused as to why a GAME MACHINE'S ability to play NON-GAME RELATED SOFTWARE makes any sort of difference at all.

If I want to listen to music on the go, then I have a CD Player. If I feel the need to take hundreds of songs with me, then I'll get an iPod.

If I want to watch movies on the go, I'll get a portable DVD player. I'm not so sure that we'll see a lot of UMD movies that aren't from Sony's own companies.

This has been bothering me since the PS2 launched and I still have not recieved my answer. Why the hell does it matter if my games machine can't do something besides play games?

Because you can rip porn onto the PSP and watch it, uh, anywhere, which uh might be more convienant for some people. :lol