It's time for another Nintendo Revolution rumour. Ah, feels like good old times, doens't it? Anyway, before we go into details, you have to know that it comes from SPOnG. Naysayers are quick to tell that when rumours like this come from SPOnG, they are usually wrong. Except they were right about the controller being unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show. So let's just say we'll judge the rumour when we have actual proof.
SPOnG claims they have heard from technology and manufacturing partners of Nintendo that Nintendo is planning a worldwide launch for their next generation console with the 'remote control controller' in the month June in 2006. Seeying as Microsoft is doing the same thing with the Xbox 360, Nintendo couldn't stay behind.
As of early October this year, we had agreed with all key partners that a global ship date of June 2006 was achievable, said one of SPOnG 's several sources associated with the Revolution manufacturing process. Nintendo will get the launch in Japan and America and Europe as close as possible. It will be like the Xbox 360 launch, only tighter.
Everyone at Nintendo in all territories is now focusing on a global launch in June of next year, another highly-placed source told us yesterday afternoon, under terms of anonymity. The European launch might slip into July, but thats it. Everyone at Nintendo has been briefed for this date and the official release schedule everyone is working to shows Revolution down for June 2006; this is simply a matter of fact.
Sounds good? No, sounds great. Let's hope there's some truth in this.
Computer And Videogames posted an article today outlining a registered patent by Nintendo. They believe it might have something to do with a hard drive for the Revolution. While Nintendo announced the Revolution will be packed with a Flash Drive, capable of far less the amounth of a harddrive, this might prove that Nintendo has changed it's mind.
According to Computer and Videogames, in this article, it might also be a hard drive for either the DS or a new Game Boy of sorts.
We'll keep you posted.
Source: SPOnG, Computer And Videogames
-Moz La Punk, head editor
UPDATE
A new article on Computer And Videogames seems to correspond with what Spong is saying:
Various areas of the internet are reporting this morning that, speaking to Japanese news outlet Nikkei Business, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has outlined plans for a possible simultaneous launch of their next-gen Revolution console some time after April next year.
Iwata reportedly states: "I want to put it on the market to as many countries as possible at the same time." However, Nintendo's president also confirms that we won't be seeing the console or its magical wavy wand of mystery until after April, suggesting that - as expected - the Revolution will be the last of the next-gen machines to spring onto shelves.
Interestingly, website Ars Technica (a name that still makes us giggle, pathetically) notes that the previously reported voice message on the official Nintendo Power hotline in the US has been updated. Rather than outlining a release "in the later half of 2006", the message now points to an "estimated for release in 2006." The site speculates that judicious juggling of numbers makes a May/June launch likely. However, we can't help but worry that Nintendo's relatively specific original announcement has been replaced by a slightly more vague and non-commital possible 2006 release.
Still, whenever it finally arrives, if Nintendo does a Microsoft and manages to pull a global release out of their mystical launch hats, that can only be a good thing - with its competitors massaging the thighs of a worldwide audience, hopefully Sony will buck up its notoriously lax treatment of you-know-where come the PS3.
Moz La Punk will keep you posted.