Tag: Technology

  • News Even When Under Pressure The Nintendo Switch Isn't Too Hot To Handle

    Cool runnings

    We're a bit late to the party with this one, but for anyone who was worried that the Nintendo Switch might run quite hot during prolonged gaming sessions, this will come as welcome news nonetheless. Imgur user throwmeawaywouldyoukindly helpfully took a thermal imaging infrared camera with him to a Nintendo Switch hands-on event (as...

  • Weirdness Hackers Use NES Pad To Drive Car

    All those hours on Rad Racer might come in handy after all

    Security experts Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek have demonstrated a method which allows hackers to control a car using a laptop and NES joypad. The pair have created a system which enables them to connect to a car's electronic control unit (ECU) via the on-board diagnostics port and...

  • News The North American SNES Almost Shipped With Super FX Built-In

    Idea was scrapped to keep costs down, says Jez San

    The polygon-pushing power of the Super FX chip might seem humble in modern terms, but back in the early '90s it was a seriously potent piece of kit and allowed the SNES to produce games like Star Fox, Stunt Race FX and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island. The chip — which was conceived by British...

  • News GPU Images Reveal Wii U Graphical Power

    If you're into that sort of thing

    Since before it even hit stores, much speculation has swirled over the graphical power of the Wii U, by which we mean how many polygons, shaders and effects it can push all at once. The launch window line-up includes exclusives that look gorgeous, others that have modest visuals, as well as ports and multi-platform...

  • News Your Wii U GamePad May Be More Responsive Than Your HDTV

    Latency tests show that Nintendo's streaming tech is rock solid

    One of the first things many people will question when picking up the Wii U GamePad for the first time is the quality of the streaming. With no wired connection between the console and controller, many make the assumption that the delay must be greater than when playing on a standard...

  • News Molyneux: Wii U Is Good, But It's Not Great

    Industry veteran has "unbelievable respect" for its creator, though

    Co-founder of 22 Cans and industry legend Peter Molyneux has already spoken out a few times saying he doesn't think modern day consoles are equipped properly for the ever-changing gaming market. Recently the former Bullfrog and Lionhead boss said he "struggles to see anything...

  • News Hacker Claims To Have Deciphered Wii U CPU and GPU Speeds

    Info apparently obtained from Wii U hacks

    For plenty that aren't merely interested in playing games on Wii U, but also want to know about its capabilities under the hood, the past few weeks have been full of claim and counter-claim about various aspects of the system. The CPU has been at the forefront of the debate, with negative and damning...

  • News Take An In-Depth Look At What's Under The Wii U's Shiny Exterior

    What silicon treasures lie beneath?

    Are you curious about what's inside the Wii U? Users across the web have been discussing the system's technical specifications for months, but now that it is finally available in North America, many folk are seeing first-hand what Nintendo has to offer. However, few (if any) observations are as thorough and...

  • News Rayman Creator Says Wii U is "Surprisingly Powerful"

    Developing titles is easier than expected

    We already know Rayman creator Michel Ancel is a big fan of Wii U, as last week we reported his praise of the GamePad, saying it's "more advanced than what people might think". He's also stated how surprised he is at the console's power, and that developing Rayman Legends for Wii U has been easier than he...

  • News Ubisoft States That Wii U GamePad Latency is "Just 1/60 of a Second"

    GamePad is "more advanced than what people might think"

    Nintendo's most recent systems, particularly from DS onwards, have succeeded on the strength of unique selling points rather than raw power, even if some label these as "gimmicks". DS introduced dual screens and stylus-based touch controls, 3DS was initially marketed on its glasses-free 3D...

  • News Sony: Wii U Offering "Something That Vita and PS3 can do Quite Easily"

    Ding Ding, FIGHT!

    What do you get when a Nintendo system's big selling point is innovative dual screen play — with a GamePad featuring its own screen — and a competitor's handheld and home console systems also offer various dual-screen connectivity options? You get a lot of corporate boasting and big talk, that's what, and the Nintendo vs Sony...

  • News Programmer Shares Experiences of Developing on N64 and GameCube

    'N64: Everything just kinda works'

    There may be some who read this article that are aspiring game designers, possibly playing around with PC development tools or maybe even a Raspberry Pi device — that's a super-cheap computer, for those that don't know. Beyond that group there are surely plenty of gamers curious about how a game goes from code to...

  • Feature GameCube - GBA Connectivity and Wii U

    Blazing a trail

    Nintendo has been known to dip into its past when looking for the future. The 3DS is a good example: while the handheld may be the first glasses-free 3D video game system, it's hardly the company's first foray into the third dimension. The forgotten Famicom 3D System brought pop-out graphics to Nintendo's original home console in...

  • News 3DS XL Represents 'The Progress of Technology'

    More than just a super-sized 3DS

    3DS XL lands in Europe and Japan a week from now, with North America joining in on 19th August. There's been a justifiable temptation for some to readily dismiss the new model as a re-scaled 3DS with no actual technological improvements. While that's a true comment in terms of processors and graphics chips, the new...

  • News Wii U Power Lacks a 'Generational Leap'

    Eurogamer gets technical

    Debate about the technical capability of Wii U has been taking place ever since it was revealed at E3 2011, but we're now in a better position after seeing plenty of game footage at E3 2012. The Digital Foundry team at Eurogamer.net has been picking apart footage from the event and assessing the power that Wii U is...

  • Rumour Wii U Components Cost $180, Will Retail at $300

    The money merry-go-around

    While nobody can seem to agree on exactly what's inside the Wii U, one anonymous tipster has told Forget the Box that the console's components will cost around $180 USD. That figure supposedly comes from sources "closely involved with manufacturing and distributing Nintendo products." The $180 number includes the...

  • News Nintendo: "Experience of Playing", Not Tech Specs, Key to Wii U

    It worked for Wii

    As the release of Wii U approaches, much focus seems to be on its technical capabilities, particularly its graphical prowess. Comments from anonymous developers that Wii U is less powerful than PS3 and Xbox 360 have raised the issue about how capable the machine 'needs' to be in terms of the graphics it's producing: we've already...

  • News Michael Pachter Suggests That Wii U Could Struggle

    Too early to know

    Earlier today we reported that the Gears of War developer expects Wii U success, so it would be remiss of us to not report the alternative viewpoint of well-known Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. On his regular GameTrailers show, Pachter answered a question about whether Wii U would face a similar fate to Dreamcast, an...

  • News Havok Physics and Animation to Power Wii U Games

    Some of them, anyway

    Havok will provide its physics and animation tools to developers working on Wii U. Havok Physics is arguably the most recognisable in-game physics engine — a small field, admittedly — and has powered games including Half-Life 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and more. Managing director David Coghlan is very excited: We are...

  • News Nintendo Considered a 3D Screen on Wii U

    A tablet-sized 3DS?

    Nintendo's next home console, which may or may not be called Wii U, is due before the end of the year. While Nintendo is gradually unveiling details about the console and its tablet controller, the recent appearance of the console's patent filings has provided an interesting insight into what the machine could potentially...

  • News Would You Trust a Goomba to Clean Your House?

    The uprising starts now

    Goombas are so much more than their common portrayal as easily vanquished stomp cushions would have you believe: they have other skills, like cleaning the house. That's right: someone made the inevitable leap and combined the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner with the Goomba and created... well, the Goomba Roomba, presumably. The...

  • News Nintendo Faces Lawsuit Over 3DS Screen Patent Infringement

    Here comes the science

    The whole 3D-without-glasses deal is still pretty impressive several months after the 3DS launch, but Tomita Technologies isn't happy about seeing the tech turn up in Nintendo's latest portable, taking the company to court with claims of patent infringement. Seijiri Tomita, a veteran engineer who worked at Sony for 30 years,...

  • News Wii U Touch Screen is Resistive, Not Capacitive

    Lost? Let us explain

    The 6.2" screen in the centre of the Wii U controller is likely to use the same resistive technology that features in the DS and 3DS consoles, rather than the more advanced capacitive system used in modern smart phones and Apple's iDevices. Hardware images released by Nintendo show a stylus being used on the touch screen,...

  • News Wii U's IBM Power Processor Means Business

    Companies hook up again

    IBM has been providing chips for Nintendo consoles for years and will continue to do so, as the two are joining forces once again to power next year's Wii U. IBM's Power microprocessor will run the console, though neither IBM nor Nintendo has given any clock speeds or solid figures, other than stating it's a bespoke chip for...

  • News Nintendo has 3D Demos of Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy

    Part of experiments

    Nintendo's experiments with 3D go right back in time: there was 3D Hot Rally on the Famicom Disk System, a 3D GameBoy Advance SP and every GameCube has 3D-capable circuitry inside it. Despite the company's dabbling, not everyone was convinced that the new 3DS would be a success, so Nintendo set about changing their minds. 3DS...

  • Feature Retrofitting Your Console for the HD Age

    How to give your Wii and classic hardware a new lease of life

    While the relentless march of progress ensures that modern gaming consoles — and the televisions upon which they are played — are able to offer pin-sharp HD picture quality, it's worth sparing a moment to consider where this leaves older machines, as well as the humble Wii — which...

  • News Watch an NES Complete Super Mario Bros. All By Itself

    Like a robot

    Over the years we've seen people play Super Mario Bros. in some crazy ways: you can play Mario with Kinect, play Mario with your eyes and even, believe it or not, play Mario with your hands, like a baby's toy. They've all required some sort of human interaction, but not this latest Mario-related chicanery, which uses a robot to replace...

  • News Top Screen Backlight to Blame for 3DS Battery Life

    Too bright by half

    There's no dressing it up: the 3DS's battery life of 3 - 5 hours is disappointing. Ryuji Umezu, the system designer, talked to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata about the many features that sap away the machine's battery life, with the main culprit, as you would expect, the 3D top screen. Explaining that the most energy-hungry...

  • News There's a Limit on Transferring Software from One 3DS to Another

    Your games are going places... just not too many places

    While we've known about the ability to transfer DSiWare to the 3DS for a while now and learned today about transferring software between devices (DSiWare, 3DSWare and Virtual Handheld), we've just found out that there will be a limit to how many license transfers you can make. From Play.c

  • News So This is What a Naked 3DS Looks Like

    Machine strips off

    While we all know that the 3DS's technology isn't powered by wizards and warlocks, it's still surprising to see just how mundane the machine's insides are. Following the handheld's "vacation" from a Chinese production line, some enterprising console lover has taken the console apart and displayed its guts for all to see...

  • News 3DS Game Cards Could Reach a Mighty 8GB

    So expect huge games

    The new-style cartridges used by 3DS may look similar to those you currently slot into your DS, but they're actually bigger, on the inside at least. Manufacturer Macronix has confirmed that the game cartridges will start at 1GB capacity and run all the way up to a massive 8GB of storage, a huge increase over the DS, which...

  • News Watch Rhythm Heaven Played with Lasers and Japanese Swords

    Now this is technology

    The GameBoy Advance belongs to a simpler time, when buttons were king. That's why it's so great to see a video of GBA title Rhythm Heaven played in a way we're fairly certain the developers never considered. The video below shows a simple circuit involving a laser pointer, a prosthetic finger and, of course, a Japanese sword...

  • News Resident Evil: Revelations Uses a Version of Capcom's MT Framework

    The first title to use portable version of Capcom's game engine

    When it was revealed that what we saw in the Resident Evil: Revelations trailer at E3 was rendered in real-time, people had a hard time swallowing that nugget of information. Although Nintendo is tight-lipped about the technical specs of the wonder-machine, Capcom has recently touched...

  • Rumour Curious DS Motherboard May Reveal 3DS Widescreen

    Hold those horses, however

    Vague registrations for patents, trademarks and age ratings power the Internet Rumour Mill, particularly when there's a big announcement around the corner, and a recent filing over at the Federal Communications Commission may have the first photograph of a 3DS test kit. Why jump to the 3DS conclusion when the image title...

  • News Capcom Bringing MT Framework To Wii

    Game engine powers Resident Evil 5, Lost Planet 2 on HD consoles

    According to a report from today's edition of Japanese newspaper Nikkei Industrial, Capcom has plans to bring over a game engine normally used for Xbox 360 and PS3 to Wii with the hopes of shrinking development costs and time; specifically, developing simultaneously on all platforms...

  • News Wiimote Used For VR Research

    Is there no end to the versatility of the Wii?

    Remember Virtual Reality? Back in the ‘90s everyone thought it would change the way we played games forever, and thanks to (quite poor) movies like The Lawnmower Man we actually believed the hype. Then it just sort of died. Some argued that the technology wasn't powerful enough, but others pointed out...

  • News Disney Turn The DS Into An Interactive Tour Guide

    Never get lost within the Magic Kingdom again - whoopee

    Some interesting developments are happening in the Magic Kingdom. In a recent post on a Disneyland fan website (we don’t make a habit of visiting these places, honest), a recent vistor to Walt’s Wacky Wonderland reveals that they were asked if they would like to participate in a trial run...