RUMOR ZONE - Nintendo's Project Cafe

There have been may rumors in the last two weeks that the next Nintendo console will be announced at this June's E3.

Kotaku has also reported that the system my have two controllers depending on the game. One will be like the current Wii remote and the other will be a controller with a camera and a 6.2" touchscreen that will have 8 buttons with 2 analog sticks.

IGN has learned that the system will be based on a new version of the AMD R700 GPU, not the AMD's Fusion like the last few systems released by Nintendo. That is more powerful then the PS3's current NVIDIA 7800TX processor. Also taking a notes from the 360 it will use a custom-built triple-core from IBM, based on their PowerPC chipset, but the clock speeds will be faster. The new system will also support 1080p HD as well as stereoscopic 3D (the kind the 3DS uses). But it is also rumored that the 3D will not be a main part of the system but rather an add-on. Reports also say that they will be moving to DVD format for their discs The system is also said to be backwards compatible with Wii games and maybe GameCube as well.

The system is currently described as the same size as the old 360 but in the shape of the SNES. (Maybe the Super Wii?) Nintendo is also currently thinking of naming their console, “Stream”.

Since Nintendo's hardware is made in Taiwan so the recent events in Japan will not affect their manufacturing process.

The new console is expected to be between $350-$400 and will be release some time in mid-October.

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Final Words - Well it would seem that with the improvements in hardware, modern controller, and a basic format such as DVD, Nintendo really wants the third-party developers to jump on this new platform. In the past most would claim that the system was underpowered and as a result most big titles only ended up on the PS3 and 360. This is nice and all but their are other rumors that the next PS and Xbox will not be out until 2014. Does that give Nintendo a great lead, or does that mean that they are going the same path as SEGA? Not so crazy. SEGA had a system that launch a year before the others and with a screen in their controller and look what happened to them! What will really matter is if Nintendo can bring the XBox Live experience to the new platform. Let's hope.