Revolution's Attachable DVD Drive
Not a dongle, but an entirely separate piece of hardware? Full story.
by Matt Casamassina
March 8, 2006 - Nintendo revealed last year that its next generation console, codenamed Revolution, would be able to play back DVD movies, an option not available on GameCube. The company stated at the time that a small attachment would enable DVD movie-playback. Pundits assumed that the Big N would take a cue from Microsoft and release a separately sold dongle to unlock DVD movie options, as Bill Gates and company did with the original Xbox. This explanation seemed to make the most sense given that Revolution's self-loading media bay would play both proprietary GameCube optical discs and Revolution's 12-centimeter optical discs, which are the same size as standard CDs and DVDs.
But as it turns out, that may not be true.
We don't know if we simply missed it during the hustle and bustle of E3 2005 or of Nintendo has since updated its official documentation on Revolution, but recently discovered wording on the console's DVD solution suggests that it may not use a dongle after all. Take a look at the official description of the console's media capabilities, quoted verbatim from Nintendo's press release.
Two Disc Formats, One Slot: Instead of a tray, a single, innovative, self-loading media bay will play both 12-centimeter optical discs used for the new system as well as Nintendo GameCube discs. Owners will have the option of equipping a small, self-contained attachment to play movies and other DVD content.
It's the second sentence that threw us for a loop. A small, "self-contained attachment" to play movies and other DVD content. Unless we're missing something, a self-contained attachment seems to suggest that Nintendo might sell a Revolution DVD-drive separately.
An odd choice of words in the press release or a vague confirmation that a separate drive is in the works? Let the speculation begin.
