For months rumors have been swirling around that Nintendo would be unveiling a new console at this years E3. Everybody was wondering what the new console would be like. Would it be more powerful? What would it look like? How much would it cost? When would it be released? What would it be called? For years every time Nintendo would release a new console the would give it a working title before the would give it a final name. The Game Cube was known as Dolphin. The Wii was known as Revolution. This new console has been referred to as Project Cafe. Rumors have suggested that the final product name will be Stream.
The Wii by far was not the most powerful system on the block. The Xbox 360 and the PS3 were by far more powerful than the Wii. What the Wii brought to the table was innovation. The Wii was the first console to start using motion control. Many games were released that utilized this new technology very well and they were very fun to play. Some games on the other hand were made much more difficult with the motion control. First person shooters were among these games. With the new console many are hoping for a more powerful system with good game play. I would like to see more of the motion control that we have come to love with the option for a more classic control. As far as the systems power Nintendo has partnered up with AMD for its graphics processor, developing a chip featuring a custom version of the R700 architecture developing a chip featuring a custom version of the R700 architecture. The CPU will be coming from IBM. It will be a custom built triple core IBM Powere PC chip. It has been said that Cafe will be more powerful than both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. At this time nobody knows how much so. Cafe is also said to be able to support a 1080p display. Recently Nintendo released the Nintendo 3DS, a 3D portable gaming system. At this time we are not sure how much Nintendo will pursue the 3d technology for Cafe. As far as the new controller, the pictures that have been leaked show the controller as a more traditional controller with a touch screen in the center.
Now that Nintendo is releasing a new console does this mean you will have another console to find a spot for in your entertainment center? No, the word is that Cafe will be backwards compatible with not only the Wii but the Game Cube as well. As far as a release date, first it was leaked that Cafe would release as early as this October. Later information was leaked that Cafe would be released in the middle of 2012. The price is said to be set at around $400. This all being said as with all releases everything is subject to change.
All the loyal Nintendo fan boys are drooling over the information that has already been leaked. There are still many questions that remain. Will Cafe have a Blu-ray or a DVD player? What games will be available upon release? Will Nintendo’s new console appeal to more hardcore gamers? Will more mature titles be released for Cafe? Will Cafe support online gameply? So many questions are floating around with some leaked information. Who is to know what is fact and what is just rumors. Hopefully all the questions that we have will be answered at E3 2011 on June 7th. Until then we will just have to sit back and speculate.
