1,000 Revolution Development Kits Shipped

In the previously reported interview with Engadget, Reggie told us that developers around the world have been receiving an updated version of the development kit for Nintendo Revolution. This is prototype hardware the games developers can use to create and their new titles on.

"Developers we spoke to confirm that - at least so far - three revisions of the development kits have been sent out to studios. The first development kit was, quite literally, a GameCube console with a wired Revolution controller attached. The second was the same with a few minor tweaks. And the third prototype, which was shipped to most studios about a month ago, follows the same structure, but also shows some boosts in CPU power, according to sources."

IGN have also reported that the kits have gone down well with developers, with some saying the unique controller more than makes up for the lack of sheer horse-power when compared with the other next-gen consoles. Obviously, the proof will be in the games, its upto the developers to make the new controller work.

"Asked whether or not Revolution's horsepower was insufficient, one development source said no. "At first, we were discouraged that it would be less powerful than Xbox 360, but once we got everything working with the controller, our concerns faded," he explained."

It's widely accepted that one of Nintendo's flaws over the past few consoles has been third party support. This happened for a variety of reasons including technically difficult to create games to consoles all the way through to the licencing costs and fees.

Generally it seems developers are very happy with the Revolution, especially because the architecture is based upon Gamecube, its easier and cheaper to get a title working on the new hardware. Some developers have criticised Sony and Microsoft for making their new systems too complicated with such things like multi-threaded processors.