Revolution's Secret Shared 360 Shame

Generation Megabrick Phase II

Posted by Staff
Revolution's Secret Shared 360 Shame
It would appear that the Nintendo Revolution shares something with Microsoft's Xbox 360 – namely a massive unwieldy power supply for people to complain about and feature in unfunny PhotoShop designs.

The Revolution's power supply secret is actually something of a shocker. You know that nifty little stand the console sits atop? You thought it was an optional extra probably, destined for the back of the cupboard as you snuggle your new Revolution into your home entertainment set-up. You guessed it – that stand is actually the power-supply, at least according to the recently-relaunched Nintendo Official Magazine in the UK.

However, the magazine does read across its cover “World's first hands-on session with the Revolution controller!” which is a lie purposefully designed to mislead consumers into believing something that the staff of the magazine know for a fact to be false. As to how printing a lie on the cover of a launch magazine impacts on the reliability of the content to be found within remains to be seen.

Our glass house now in pieces, we'll leave you with a promise to get a full skinny on how the power supply works and whether it can be hidden away as soon as possible.

The Revolution has taken a few steps backwards in recent weeks. The first third-party game to be unveiled turned into something of a farce, even triggering conspiracy theorists to suggest Microsoft was behind the news. Things are looking better for the GameCube however, with the ever-wonderful box of tricks slated to cough up its new Zelda offering in a few month's time.

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Comments

irishjackal 20 Feb 2006 16:51
1/11
I think it shows a bit of creative flair to incorporate a power supply in this way, you get a hidden supply and a stand, I thought Spong would have thought this was a good idea..
RP 20 Feb 2006 17:17
2/11
Since when is Autumn "in a few month's time" from February?
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majin dboy 20 Feb 2006 17:21
3/11
not that big a deal,its still going to look really sleek.
hmmm,i wonder wha the PS3 one will be like...
jadnice 20 Feb 2006 17:23
4/11
If this turns out to be true, then it's a very creative and unique way of attaching the power supply.It’s brilliant. Nintendo have without a doubt grown up. The system has best design in my eye of the next generation systems, I will be affordable, present new and exciting gaming play style and with the ability to play 20yrs of Nintendo/3rd party gaming. Priceless!!!

Microsoft should take note of how design a gaming master piece. That power brick and the noise pollution from the 360 are just not cutting it.
LUPOS 20 Feb 2006 17:35
5/11
didnt the game cube actually start of the external brick fiasco?
no one seems to notice... maybe cause you havent touched your game cubes in so long... but that thing has a power brick about 1/4 the size odf the actual system hanging off the back... if ps2 had had an external power supply it woudl have been just as small if nto smaller than the cube... and the xbox 1 internal power supply probably makes up about a 1/4 of the systems size.
i know this is an issue logn over but this always anoyed me when people attributed the systems poor sales in japan to its size when the game cube comes with a bick black box hanging off the ass of it and no one minds. honestly though up to the 16 bit era all power converters where external... the ps1 was one of the first internal ones... and the 64 had the quasi in/out latch on the back thing that everyoen made a fuss over when it was first revealed.

anyway, as per usual i have no point, just looking to further the discussion :)
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ozfunghi 20 Feb 2006 21:00
6/11
I call bullshit on this one.

If that's the power supply, how will the Rev get power when set flat, instead of upward?

Like i said: BS.

And even if it were true, i would think this were a great move (except for the fact that you couldn't set the system horizontally). Form follows function, spong.
lozbag 20 Feb 2006 22:48
7/11
I like 'spong'. It's a pretty good site.

But this feature is about the most dim-witted thing I have read in a long time. How any self respecting journalist could look an image like this and assume that one of the two components shown is doing absolutely nothing is beyond me. Doesn't the complete absence of a power cable, or the way one half of the console is being placed into the other raise any questions at all? Perhaps if the console was only ever shown in it's housing you wouldn't be panicking. Separation can be hard to take.

Just because the collective imagination of 'spong' is made to look rather limited, does that constitute 'a few steps backwards' for a company that goes out of its way to alter preconceptions on a regular basis.

Like I say, I love the site, but not this.
TigerUppercut 21 Feb 2006 02:08
8/11
lozbag wrote:
I like 'spong'. It's a pretty good site.

But this feature is about the most dim-witted thing I have read in a long time. How any self respecting journalist could look an image like this and assume that one of the two components shown is doing absolutely nothing is beyond me. Doesn't the complete absence of a power cable, or the way one half of the console is being placed into the other raise any questions at all? Perhaps if the console was only ever shown in it's housing you wouldn't be panicking. Separation can be hard to take.

Just because the collective imagination of 'spong' is made to look rather limited, does that constitute 'a few steps backwards' for a company that goes out of its way to alter preconceptions on a regular basis.

Like I say, I love the site, but not this.


Thanks for the kind words. Allow me to explain.

During E3 2005 Phil and I were taken behind closed doors with Nintendo to get some hands-on time with the Revolution hardware.

We were told that the actual console design was near enough final - at least all the ports were in place etc. At that time the machine was taking power from a standard GameCube power supply. We specifically asked about this and we were told that it would indeed use the GC unit.

We also asked about the stand. We were told it is a stand, with no additional tricks/secrets/features.

That's why we were 'a bit surprised'.
GeoThermal 21 Feb 2006 10:09
9/11
To be honest when I read this I thought of Apple. "If" it is the power supply then it's a great piece of design. No need to try to hide an ugly block of plastic behind the TV somewhere. Regarding the comment about the Revolution running on a GC supply, maybe that's all it is, but repackaged to remove one piece of clutter.
SilverDogg 21 Feb 2006 11:07
10/11
isnt it in fact so that the stand could double as a powersupply? thats the way i understood it when reading it on every other page out there.

i think its a great idea anyway, and i doubt this is the only way to get power to the revo. spong makes it sounds like its teh d00m.
Ditto 21 Feb 2006 21:12
11/11
SilverDogg
i think its a great idea anyway, and i doubt this is the only way to get power to the revo. spong makes it sounds like its teh d00m.[/quote wrote:


Agreed.
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