Matt reveals more about Revolution in a forum!

These are questions from a topic called: "Welcome Matt #3: Awakening the Sleepy Giant" from the IGN Revolution forum. Matt's answers are in bold. Take a long look:


Harvex_hunter posted:
Matt, I do have one question Nintendo kept the controller under raps, because of competitors copying them and there keeping the specs under raps because they are not something nintendo wants us to focus on. So why do you think nintendo's keeping everything else under, such as games that are in production, and the ports at the back of the rev, these are small harnless things so why can't they just tell us to satisfy are curiosity. Your thoughts on this

The Big N works in mysterious ways. It's a paranoid company. I guess it's just waiting it all out until E3 so that it can show working, ready hardware with polished-up software. It's an admirable goal and I'm willing to wait, as much as it sucks to do so.

Matt

rpawson posted:
On the off chance you're looking at this Matt... What did you hear from developers about the controller dev kits? Reggie recently heard to say that (paraphrase) "over 1000 controller dev kits have been sent to developers". Is the controller easy to work with? Are people wrapping their heads around it and getting into it, or poking and prodding it with detatched curiosity?

Hmm. I think there is a bit of a process, based on what devs tell me. You don't just dive in and it works. There's a ton of tweaking involved. I heard Retro struggled to get Prime working with it, but that once it finally did, it was easier to go on. Clearly some of the results speak for themselves. Every dev who has a kit and a controller seems very excited about the possibilities.

Matt

ssppiizzaa posted:
rpawson changes his tune, ha... Its interesting to me that they called these controller dev kits. I'm guessing the final hardware is still not out then. Did these controller devkits come with the same hardware that you reported on earlier that was just slightly upgraded cube hardware? My question would be on the downloadable games. You have a remix section about the chances of same games being available. I understand that some games have license issues, but why would developers not make the games available? All they have to do is give nintendo permission. It seems that having it available online should cost them nothing to implement. Even if they are selling portable versions, why not offer a downloadable version for what would be the same profit? And since it ties in, have any 3rd parties commented on how much they would like to charge for nes/snes/n64 titles?

Good questions. No concrete details there yet. Although I should have a related story in the next day or two.

Matt

norfair18 posted:
One question Matt: Since there is virtually no news coming from Nintendo, what do you think about the competition, PS3 and 360? Has 360 impressed you or disappointed you? What do you think about the high development cost of the PS3 (some now say $900!)? Thanks.

I really like my 360. I think Live is an amazing service. I picked up Fight Night Round 3 today and going to play Peer in a few online matches shortly. I've been fairly impressed with the presentation of some 360 games and disappointed with others. Rare's titles in particular have under-whelmed me, mostly because I had such high expectations. Looking forward to GRAW and Oblivion. As for PS3, not too excited yet, but I expect I will be come E3. For the record, I'm most excited about Revolution.

Matt

MichaelVash7886 posted:
I have a few questions as well for you Matt. 1. What do you think the launch price for the Rev will be? I'm guessing $199. 2. Can you put to rest the whole projector in the Rev. theories? (Not that I dislike them, just that I don't really think they will be true.) 3. How much more do you know about the Rev. that you can't tell us? 4. Ballpark: How many first party launch games will we see, and what do you think they will be? 5. Do you think we will finally see another Pilot Wings game on the Rev.?

1. $199. Some devs I chatted with recently are hoping for $149 or $199 with a pack-in. I think $199 without a pack-in is more likely.
2. I don't place much faith in those rumors.
3. I know much more about some games than I can say. I still don't know everything there is to know about the hardware -- particularly the "home" button and the front flap, which houses the SD Card bay and possibly other stuff.
4. Don't know. I expect at least two. My guess would be Smash Bros. and Metroid Prime 3. A new IP is also planned. Oh, and I'm still holding out for Zelda to be compatible. 5. I think Pilot Wings will return, absolutely. It's just a matter of time.

Matt

cherishspirit posted:
Matt, It's been said by Reggie that Nintendo's Revolution will exceed everyone's expectations. What are YOUR theories as to how this will be accomplished. There are some very well thought out ideas on the IGN forums and I'd like to get your input on them. Thank you, and keep up the great work. Antonio.

I think it'll happen in the same way that it has for DS. As some of you know, I wasn't a big DS supporter. Thought it was going to fall -- and quickly -- to PSP. But despite the fact that it lacks the horsepower of Sony's handheld, the DS has really rocked the competition. Not with fancy graphics, but with great games. I think Revolution will have some pretty games -- maybe even some that look nearly as good as 360 or PS3 powerhouses -- but I also think it will truly bring about new methods to play software, possibly improving the experience in dramatic ways. Nintendo can market this machine to anybody and if it succeeds in that regard, it will take off. Targeting the Oprah audience with DS is just the start. The Big N is going after the real mainstream -- not some term we use whenever the new Halo or GTA sell three million copies.

Matt

Lance_Dirk posted:
1. What type of game to see benefitting most from the Rev controller? 2. Do you think Rev will get more 3rd party support than GC? And do you think that Rev will succeed in having more mature themed games with or without 3rd party support? What has Matt done to anger you guys? EDIT: Paratroopa!! Edit those = out of your post! I hate page stretching!

1. FPSs. God games. Games with swords. These are the most obvious, but even so, I can't wait to play games of this type on Revolution. Meanwhile, Wario Ware-style software will also rock. I'm probably most excited about the new genres -- the software we can't predict; the stuff that surprises us and innovates.

2. Yes. And yes.

Matt

bigmakstudios posted:
1. Taking today's news into consideration, what do you think the chances are for a Geist sequel/prequel/whatever? 2. Have you gotten any other comments on the revolution from devs? 3. Do you think that the short Metroid Prime 3 video clip from E3 05 was representative of what the Rev's graphics will be like or do you think it will be better?

1. I'm not holding my breath for a Geist sequel. I like the franchise, but it hasn't sold well.

2. Yep.

3. I think it'll be much better.

Matt

DrTre8119 posted:
Oh Matt expain something for us please. You had an article about three months back saying the devs you talk to were experimenting with the rev dev kit and that they think they can get about twice the powermance as the cube. Now in your new article you admit that the dev kits sent out only a month ago include only minor power uprgrades and that the 1st two kits were basically GC dev kits with a rev controller attached. The devs you talked to a few months ago really only had GC dev kits huh? Admit it!

I should have probably been a bit more clear. Certain AAA publishers gain access to hardware before anybody else. Dev sources who were experimenting with hardware months ago would obviously fall into this category. A company like EA will have Revoulution revision 3 hardware before a smaller studio gets revision 1.

Matt

DrTre8119 posted:
So are you saying that the dev you talked to was EA? EA LA perhaps?

Nope. Merely suggesting that some of my sources happen to work for or at the bigger publishers, like EA. Or Activision. Or Ubisoft. Or Midway. And on that note, I am done for the night. Later guys.

Matt

I think its really cool that Matt took some time out to answer a lot of questions on a Revolution forum. These answers were much better in my opinion than the regular N-Query, that usually answers nothing. He knows a lot more now than he did a month ago, its safe to say.

We know he has talked to Retro Studios, since when he was asked about the Metroid Prime 3 trailer being proof of the Revolution's graphics ability he said that he thinks they will be much better. I don't think he would just say that. In IGN's Revolution podcast recently, Matt had said he talked to someone "close" to Retro and that the "game" they were working on was going to look fantastic and that Matt shouldn't worry about the graphics. Everything else Matt answered was pretty useful as well.

Great news!

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