Revolution could start in US.

[Guest Greg]

Nintendo Europe's Jim Merrick: "There are no rules that [launch] must be Japan or US first."

There must be something in the water over at Nintendo. With its upcoming Revolution console, the company is taking innovation to the next level and rethinking its normally rigid methodologies. It started with the unveiling of the console's controller, which has garnered equal parts cheers and jeers. Just last week, at the North American Nintendo press summit, company exec Reggie Fils-Aime explained how Nintendo will be imploring "disruptive technologies" akin to those of industry shakers Apple and Dell Computers.

Now another executive is saying that the Revolution might not even launch in Japan. Nintendo Europe senior vice president of marketing Jim Merrick told Eurogamer that the US, or even Europe, may get the Japanese-made console first.

"We're very serious about trying to be a more global company and not follow the stereotypical formula of Japan first, then the US, then Europe some time later," Merrick told Eurogamer. "Anything's possible. There are no rules that it must be Japan or US first."

Such a move would be very un-Nintendolike. The Kyoto-based company is well-known for taking care of its countrymen first, then sharing the wealth with other regions later. Whereas Nintendo has slipped in popularity in the US and Europe, it still holds a rabid fan base in Japan.

Regardless of who gets the Revolution first, the company is making an effort to see that it goes global faster than any other Nintendo console before it.

"With DS, we were 14 weeks, which was the tightest Nintendo has ever been with a console launch, and that was an achievement," said Merrick. "But with Revolution, we expect to do better than that. That certainly is our goal."

The Revolution will also be backward compatible with the GameCube without the aid of an adapter, according to Merrick. Even though the GameCube used the small 3-inch discs and the Revolution will use the full-size discs, both media will be read through the same slot-based disc drive.

Merrick also answered questions about Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima's contributions to the console. When asked simply if the game vet is working on a Revolution game, Merrick said, "To my knowledge, yes."

Nintendo is targeting the Revolution's release date sometime between April 1, 2006, and December 31, 2006.

[Myrak]

Cool. Hope Australia is one of the first to get it :o

Regardless, I'm gonna buy it. Been supporting Nintendo for as long as I can remember :o

[Guest Greg]

I didn't like the Gamecube it was popular for about 4 months, but then the game needs and visuals started to fade. I still have my NCG but I intend to purchase the XBox 360 and a PS3 in time :o

[nsane]

yeah, i have to agree with ya there, the gcube was a big dissapointment. i mean, using those Mini-DVDs was the stupidest idea of all time, that's why no good games were on gcube btw. all the good games needed like 6GB+ but those tiny disc only offered like 4GB (so we were SOL there). however, the gcube did have better hardware than the ps2 or xbox. example, the gcube had an internal lighting engine as a part of the gekko cpu it used. meaning, when programming a game the makers just have to tell the system "this object lights up". where as, the ps2 and xbox programmers had to manually code a software lighting engine for the game to use (which used up valuable cpu power). why do you think it took almost 2 years just to port RE4 onto the PS2? :rolleyes:

any ways, i'm prolly just ganna be getting a ps3 and maybe the revolution. i hate anything with a m$ tag so suxbox360 can, well, blow me...

[myidisbb]

yeah, i have to agree with ya there, the gcube was a big dissapointment. i mean, using those Mini-DVDs was the stupidest idea of all time, that's why no good games were on gcube btw. all the good games needed like 6GB+ but those tiny disc only offered like 4GB (so we were SOL there). however, the gcube did have better hardware than the ps2 or xbox. example, the gcube had an internal lighting engine as a part of the gekko cpu it used. meaning, when programming a game the makers just have to tell the system "this object lights up". where as, the ps2 and xbox programmers had to manually code a software lighting engine for the game to use (which used up valuable cpu power). why do you think it took almost 2 years just to port RE4 onto the PS2? :rolleyes:

any ways, i'm prolly just ganna be getting a ps3 and maybe the revolution. i hate anything with a m$ tag so suxbox360 can, well, blow me...

isnt it sad that the best hardware console usually fails

[Guest Greg]

I agree nsane, I was going to get the pre-release copy from America when my parents went over. It's available at Factory Outlets 3 days before it's official launch, but I said forget it. After Microsofts revault against us.

Anyway, yeh, back on subject, the Nintendo Revolution is defently a console I'm going to be atleast picking up of the shelves and trying sometime after it's out.