Nintendo Expands On Revolution Details

At its pre-E3 press conference, Nintendo has revealed a number of further details regarding its Revolution console. In particular, pictures of the slimline console, which is approximately the size of three standard DVD cases stacked together, have now been released online, and a variety of prototype colors for the Revolution, which will come with a stand to enable vertical or horizontal positioning, are being showcased during E3. Once again re-confirmed is backward compatibility for the Revolution - the new console plays all games from the current Nintendo GameCube generation, thanks to its self-loading media bay that will play both 12-centimeter optical discs used for the new system as well as Nintendo GameCube discs. (Nintendo revealed that Revolution will have the option of equipping a small, self-contained attachment to play movies and other DVD content, in a similar way to the DVD addition option to Microsoft's current Xbox hardware.) But Nintendo also revealed what it describes as its "secret weapon" - the console also will have downloadable access to 20 years of fan-favorite titles originally released for Nintendo 64, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and even the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The Revolution will come complete with a SD memory card bay, likely for storage of both memory card data and downloadable games. It was also revealed that the console will come standard with 512 megabytes of internal flash memory, wireless controllers, two USB 2.0 ports and built-in Wi-Fi access. "Our next console proves small in size but big on ideas," says Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "We're throwing open the doors of gaming to wider audiences, from casual players to hard-core gamers who live for the thrill of defeating an endless army of wireless opponents."