Revolution to use attachable DVD drive?

by Blake Snow { Mar 9th 2006 at 8:30AM }

Many have assumed that the Nintendo Revolution's DVD playing capability would be modeled after Microsoft's original Xbox, that is unlocking DVD playback via a separately sold dongle. However, IGN references an earlier Nintendo press release citing the use of a "self-contained attachment" to play DVD's. From the 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."

Attachment or not, we say let the DVD be free. Free the DVD, Nintendo. It wants to be free.

[Thanks, groovy guy]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Spiffae @ Mar 9th 2006 8:55AM

Wait, I don't get it. Why does "small self-contained attachment" rule out xbox-style dongle? A remote is certainly small and self-contained, and the little IR Reciever that I plugged into my Xbox would definetly qualify as an attachment.

This seems like much ado about nothing.

bd @ Mar 9th 2006 9:03AM

This issue was solved already... after E3 2005. lol

I mean, it's obvious you'll load the DVDs inside the revolution, maybe with a controller or a cable or dongle or something.

Who cares anyway? Who doesn't have a DVD? And if you do, why would you buy an expensive DVD player when you can get it for a third or fourth the price? (and that's exaggerating)

The time DVD was important for a console is over. Nintendo lost the DVD train, just as 360 lost the HD-DVD train (out of the box).

masterpaul @ Mar 9th 2006 9:04AM

Exept that nintendo clearly stated that it would an enternal atachment.

J B Cougar @ Mar 9th 2006 9:14AM

Who cares. It's going to play games, right? Good. Controversy over.

DCFC Fan @ Mar 9th 2006 9:16AM

Remember Nintendo had mentioned the dongle (was it at E3 or TGS?) and mentioned it was required as a seperate purchase to play DVD movies. Someone had inquired as to why and they basically said they wanted to stay completely out of the royalties to the DVD people with their main console. By buying the dongle to play the dvd's in the original machine, you are effectively paying your own license fee to watch dvd movies. It cuts their production cost per each unit.

Riou @ Mar 9th 2006 9:16AM

QUOTE "masterpaul" : 3. Exept that nintendo clearly stated that it would an enternal atachment.

Enternal being what? Internal? External? Or something in between?

I'm not too surprised, seeing how having every single thing as an add-on product seems to be Nintendo's policy. Next we'll get to assemble the whole machine from components, licenced by Nintendo.

SP @ Mar 9th 2006 9:19AM

Sometimes, you need to bust out your common sense factor. "Small, self-contained attachment" can easily just be a poor choice of words. But what would be the reasoning behind an entirely seperate DVD movie drive when the game drive supposedly plays games on DVD discs?

Insane in the mainframe @ Mar 9th 2006 9:24AM

"Who cares anyway? Who doesn't have a DVD? And if you do, why would you buy an expensive DVD player when you can get it for a third or fourth the price? (and that's exaggerating)"

Maybe the person wants a console-dvd player so you can best of worlds, doesnt think he or she should buy an attachment after spending $150-250.

Justin Reese @ Mar 9th 2006 9:32AM

they wanted to stay completely out of the royalties to the DVD people with their main console

This is the main point. I used to gripe about MS making me pay another $30 to play DVDs on my exie, but when I found out about the licensing fee it made more sense. Yes, it does inconvenience those who want to use their Revo for DVD playback (and I don't for a second think that by "external attachment" they mean "separate optical drive") but conversely it trims out an unnecessary cost for the rest of us. I already have a DVD player. Why should I foot the bill for all the people who don't?

knight37 @ Mar 9th 2006 9:35AM

This is a good move, anything to cut back costs, because really one of the best things going for the Rev is a significantly lower opening price compared to the competitors.

Personally I think adding DVD playback for the Rev is pretty useless. I already own 7 devices that can play DVD movies if I want to. Xbox, PS2, a Sony DVD player (for the bedroom TV), a Samsung living-room DVD player/writer (hooked to the main TV), and two PC's, each having a DVD-writer and one with a DVD-rom/CD-writer. DVD players are ubiquitous in the extreme. You can get stand alone DVD players for well under $50. No one is going to buy the Revolution for DVD playback. And I bet this dongle thing sells about as well as a buggy whip.

Gino Elias @ Mar 9th 2006 9:42AM

in this day and age where I can look at my TV/Games hookup and see no less than 4 devices able to play DVDs, I can settle with any system getting rid of it... Hell, I got 6 people living at my house and 9 DVD playable devices, so it doesn't even matter to me... This is one of those things that mattered last generation (remember the fallout when the GC didn't even play CDs?)... It doesn't even matter now...

B1gC72 @ Mar 9th 2006 9:50AM

well i guess this isnt a bad thing since it can cut production cost and in turn make the console even cheaper at launch. which is a good thing.

but at the same time, how much could the production cost possibly b 4 a DVD player? the royalties thing makes the most sense as mentioned in #5.

and i mean DVD players are kind of common now so im sure that "most" everyone has one that wants one (not being ignorant to peoples financial situations). u can pick one up 4 like $20 if u look hard enough so a DVD isnt exactly a big factor in selling game consoles anymore.

i have like 7 DVD players neways on various tvs, computers, and game consoles so not having 1 on my Revolution is something i think i can deal with.

Princess Zelda @ Mar 9th 2006 9:59AM

I don't need another DVD player I have 5 devices that play DVD's in my house and 2 hooked up to my TV right now. I do not want to pay extra for my Revolution for the licensing fee because it can play DVD movies. I won't ever use it to play DVD's. If you want the DVD player function you can buy the attachment and do it.

PsyClerk @ Mar 9th 2006 10:05AM

The first release of the Revolution won't have the DVD capability. But one of the following releases (Revolution 2/II/Two, Rehashalution, Revolution Lite or whatever clever marketing names they come up with) will likely have it. And it'll be available in 17 different colors.

John Holmes @ Mar 9th 2006 10:05AM

We don't want another DVD player.
It's simple: The Revolution is for playing games and the PS3 is for watching movies (in HiDef).

mocax @ Mar 9th 2006 10:06AM

who wants DVDs when you have mp4 AVC?

Moogle @ Mar 9th 2006 10:08AM

I think I've said this before, but I'm happy it has DVD playback. I never needed it on the GC, but when I moved out of my dorm room my TV was no longer close to my computer. My overcompensating Monster 12' svideo cable doesn't reach from the study to the living room. I don't own any other dvd player, but when I get my rev, I might start subscribing to netflicks.

But then, I would have bought a rev regardless. Heck, if it's under $200, I might just buy one for my parents, brother, etc. Go go Nintendo marketshare! :)

And yes, the added dongle for DVD playback is a neutral issue. No kudos, no flames. Otherwise it's $50 (or whatever the license is) for every user regardless of their use. It has nothing to do with trying to sell peripherals, it's the end result of stupid dvd license scheming.

(straying off topic...)
I actually just signed up for GameTap. It's amusing, but most games are kinda crappy. My GF's comments were to the tune of "I want to play *insert old nintendo game*, do they have that?". I'm going to love me some nintendo library gaming.

me @ Mar 9th 2006 10:08AM

yeah, you can get a cheap dvd player, but maybe you will need the hardware in the revolution to be able to watch the 3d movies it will play (speculation). www.in-three.com

Captain X @ Mar 9th 2006 10:17AM

Again, who cares if the Revolution will play DVD's. Why waste any of the lifespan of a gaming machine watching movies on it? Personally I buy Nintendo consoles for the first party games. I have my 360 for everything else. Nintendo makes the best games and if you look over lists of the best games of all time you will see the majority of them are Big N originals. Mario,Zelda,Metroid. So really who cares if my video game machine which plays classic nintendo games a la Live Arcade, plays my current GC titles and opens the door to more Nintendo original goodies and a neat new way to play games. Good games not gimmicks. So the PS3 can scramble your eggs and wipe your butt all while playing a DVD on one TV and yet another sequal to some played out game on the other. Whoopie, long live good games, down with gimmicks.

Sockatume @ Mar 9th 2006 10:19AM

Even if it's a dongle, the disks will still go in the machine. A "self-contained" attachment suggests either:

1) Something with its own casing
2) Something contained inside the Revolution and they just borked their language

Neither of those imply that the disks go outside the machine.

C-Dub @ Mar 9th 2006 10:31AM

It's an internal dongle that adds the ability to playback DVDs. It isn't included with the system because the DVD forum people slap all DVD players with a licensing fee. By making DVD playback an option, Nintendo is able to lower the cost of their system.

Tony @ Mar 9th 2006 10:36AM

Really, considering the size of the system to begin with, how could a completely separate DVD drive be considered a "small attachment"?

I don't know what IGN is going on about here and they really haven't magically discovered anything most Nintendo fans hadn't read/noticed already.

J B Cougar @ Mar 9th 2006 10:36AM

""It's simple: The Revolution is for playing games and the PS3 is for watching movies (in HiDef)""

John, good point, but I'd argue that not even Sony knows what the PS3 is supposed to be used for at this point in time.

flyNN @ Mar 9th 2006 10:45AM

Nintendo broke the mold with GameCube in that it was the very first, and to date, only, optical drive system that doesn't play redbook audio (CD). I believe Nintendo is going to continue with this tradition and you will not find any type of attachment to play neither CD nor DVD formats.

dotun.o @ Mar 9th 2006 11:17AM

After already having a dedicated DVD player as well as a high-performance PC that plays, edits, copies, and burns DVDs, I could not care less that my console does not play DVDs out of the box. If this function being optional means a cheaper console price, then it's a smart move in my book. Just give us games as you do so well, Nintendo.

Matthew @ Mar 9th 2006 11:23AM

I hope they don't include a DVD player. Like someone said, it'll cut back costs. But also, Nintendo wants the focus to be on the games. You really want a DVD player? Wait, you don't already have at least two? They're cheap y'know. But anyway, if you want a DVD player, your going to have to go through the trouble of buying one. The focus is on games. I'm not sure how this convergence effected the PS2 or Xbox, but we know what happened with PSP. And although the GameCube wasn't the best-selling hardware, the software did sell incredibly well. At least for Nintendo. Mario Sunshine sold more than half a million copies in 2005. The game was released in 2002. So at the very least, Nintendo has the security of knowing that for every person that purchased a Cube, their main intention was for the games.

Jay @ Mar 9th 2006 11:50AM

My PowerBook offers the best DVD viewing ability. as I use a lovely big monitor for TV (eyeTV), external monitor and gaming. DVI 1680*1050 deinterlaced DVD playing is brilliant as it is. My Xbox cant compete with S-Video. Even with the Rev's monitor (guessing VGA) output its still not quite DVI, now is it?

I'd like a free DVD player. Don't know when I'd use it though.

gotta love their drive though. a piece of bloody innovation right there. Slot drives don't take mini-CDs. How they've done it is a damn mystery to me. but kudos nonetheless.

Falsoman @ Mar 9th 2006 12:12PM

Well... i belive reading somewere that the GameCube disks sipin backwards so they can not be easly copied... i supose the revolution disks are going to be the same.. so, if the slot loading dirve spins backwards to read discs this is going to make dificult to read regular DVDs.. therefore the posible need of an atachment that has his own reader or that makes the drive spin on the right direction and detect wich kind of disc are you inserting.

GlitchCog @ Mar 9th 2006 12:29PM

I have a DVD player already, just like everyone else in the world. The Revolution is for gaming.

pennywise969 @ Mar 9th 2006 12:56PM

You guys are hypocrites. If it was Microsoft requiring an extra add-on for dvd viewing, you guys would throw a fit about the evil empire ripping you off.

Regula Oblique @ Mar 9th 2006 1:07PM

WORD

groovy guy @ Mar 9th 2006 1:20PM

GUYS!

I think we are missing the point on this one.

This is something that we know is not going to be done. Why the hell would IGN speculate on this kind of thing? It doesn't make any sense and would make no sense to the revolution form factor.

Instead of thinking "why would Nintendo do this", let's think "why would IGN write this?" This is yet another weird anomaly on IGN's pages. The fact that they would suggest an outside DVD player goes with other peoples theories that the Revolution we were shown at E3 is NOT the real revolution, but the server for backwards compatible games perhaps? When thinking about how they would fit all the electronics inside a system that is 3 DVD cases big, it does present a huge conundrum.

I'll let everyone ponder it.

Jay @ Mar 9th 2006 2:00PM

Because IGN are retards.

But to echo what some guy already said... who needs DVD playback when you have H.264 in 1080p, or in my case 2304p *hugs quad PowerMac* . BluRay and HD-DVD are already old.

Mullinator @ Mar 9th 2006 2:00PM

@pennywise969

If the Revolution cost as much as an Xbox 360 and still required us to pay more to allow DVD playback then yes we would be upset. Fortunately that is not the case. That is why people are not upset here.

Mikey @ Mar 9th 2006 3:23PM

2 words that make me cringe every time I read them:
Dongle and Widget.

Yech!

Brian @ Mar 9th 2006 4:08PM

A lot of people, including IGN, seem to be getting the impression that the addon will be a big honkin' device that hooks up to your Revolution.

I disagree. It is a small, "SELF-CONTAINED" addon, and thusly, I conclude that it will be no different than the Nintendo Gamecube's Broadband adapter/modem. You take off a cover for an expansion port, you plug it in, and it sort of becomes one with your gamecube. The only way you know it's in there is the little phone-line cable hole that is at the bottom-side of your GCN, as opposed to just being solid plastic.

x23 @ Mar 10th 2006 7:49AM

"Well... i belive reading somewere that the GameCube disks sipin backwards so they can not be easly copied."

wrong.

they are *read* "backwards" but they spin in the same direction just as any other disc would. by *read* i mean... the disc are written from the outer edge inward. vs. sprocket hole outward like most discs are written.

- - -

"but maybe you will need the hardware in the revolution to be able to watch the 3d movies it will play (speculation)."

uh huh... i bet. what is this? 1958? who the hell cares about 3D movies? Captain Eo anyone? even that last theater released one didn't exactly go gangbusters at the box office. it was so popular i can't even remember it's dumbass name.

- - -

"Nintendo broke the mold with GameCube in that it was the very first, and to date, only, optical drive system that doesn't play redbook audio (CD)."

MiniDisc? UMD? LaserDisc? PDD? most data MO drives? i'm sure there are more. those were the first i immediately thought of. most of those 'broke the mold' well before the GameCube did. nice try though!