N-Sider Q&A
September 12th, 2000
Hey there, hope you got rested up from your trip to Japan! I was wondering about something.
Remember awhile ago it was reported that the ArtX GPU (called Flipper) could handle 30 Million textured polygons per second with all effects turn on? That I guess, was the maximum amount it could do. Nintendo stated 6-12 Million polygons with textur and effects displayed. Meaning in a game. I feel, along with many others, that this figure given by Nintendo was very conservitive. Also, IGN64 reported that the RAW number was around 90 Million pps without effects. Might the actual performance be closer to 24-30 Million polygons/sec with all effects, maxiumum, when developers can ring all the performance out of it?
The 6-12M number might be for any average developer, right out of the box, with no trouble, at launch right? Thanks and keep is site going
-Aaron
Pete: It's very hard to gauge specifics on the Gamecube hardware design. The 6-12 million polygons per second figure is rather vague. Nintendo's spec sheet says the polygon count is based on:
"Display capability assuming actual game with complexity model, texture, etc."
Honestly, no one but Nintendo knows exactly what kind of benchmarks were used to get those figures. You'll notice the spec sheet also makes mention of "x8 hardware light". If they're referring to 8 local lights, then 6-12 million polygons per second is actually quite amazing, considering Xbox has been documented to push 8 million polygons per second under similar circumstances.
Also NOA's Jim Merrick did recently state Nintendo had been conservative with the Gamecube specs. I wouldn't be surprised if those poly numbers are actually based on the real time demos they had at Space World (roughly 6 million polys per second for the Mario 128 demo to 12 million polys per second for the Star Wars demo). We'll have to wait and see until 3rd party's get full kits before making real judgments, however.
Where are the pics of Banjo running on gamecube? Does anyone have pics?
-AL
Pete: My good pal Carl Johnson has pics of the Banjo-Kazooie demos over at Nintendo Web. This was probably the least impressive Gamecube demo, but then again, Rare probably didn't have too much time to get stuff together.
Will you only need one cart for M-player on GBA?
-NT
Pete: Looks like certain GameBoy Advance games will indeed be able to run multiplayer by using only one cartridge (hello Mario Kart). However, given the GBA's limited on-board memory, don't expect every game to support this feature.
Can you guys at N-sider please go over the system specs and power and explain? The specs sheet is very confusing!
1. I thought the system was going to have more Vram than PS2's? Now it has about 3MB?! What the heck? People complained about the PS2's low VRam, now how about NGC's low Vram!
2. Whats the 24MB of system Ram for? And whats the 16MB of A-Ram for?
3. Explain how the flipper chip setup works? The audio is on it?? Not again, like the N64 I hope!
4. What's with the 6-12 Million pps figure? Isnt that lower than PS2's and XBox's? Please explain.
Thank you for addressing this issues.
-jarr
Pete: 1. The embedded VRAM is quite interesting. From what I understand, it's just a "buffer", and the main 24MB of high speed 1T-SRAM can also be used for textures. With S3 texture compression, theoretically you can have 100MB for textures. The Gamecube has some insane texture capabilities from what I'm hearing.
2. The 24MB is the main RAM for all intents and purposes. It can also be used to for textures (which of course can be compressed at a 6:1 ratio). The 16MB RAM is for sound and other features that don't require the high-speed main 1T-SRAM. Because the main RAM is all MoSys 1T-SRAM, it is extremely fast and will allow the Gamecube to run without the bottleneck problems that have arisen on PS2 and seem likely on XBox.
3. There is a separate custom designed sound DSP chip integrated onto the System LSI. It supports 64 simultaneous sound channels. Combine that with the mini-DVD format and you have a very strong combination for some terrific audio. We also know that Dolby Surround should be a standard for all Gamecube titles.
4. It's very hard to measure exactly what Nintendo meant (see Aaron's question above). Personally, I would take a look at that Rogue Squadron 2 and Zelda real time demos. Both have some very smooth poly models, and it's only going to get better.
I'd like to start off by saying that you guys are doing a very good job at keeping n-sider away from copy-paste news. Now that we have seen some spaceworld footage on gamecube we can all watch and contemplate the future of the console. If you have seen the demo screens of luigi's mansion you can see that although the textures are nice they are not of the highest quality. Obviously this could be becuase these projects are very early (and I feel rather stupid concerning myself on a non-issue). If you look at Luigi himself he seems to almost lack textures himself.
This could be because it is sloppy to give mario and luigi high detailed textures because they are just plumbers and all they need are solid colours on their clothes, but still. Look at link on the Zelda cube screens. almost lacking of textures completely. Even link on ocarina of time, an n64 game, has more textures on him then the link shown in the footage. Now i'm not complaining about the software because I know it's not far into development so they need more time but why did Nintendo not show something to flash around the gamecube's S3TC feature (high quality textures and compressed) which many of us were excited to see used on demos/software?
-Generaltao j_nuyens@yahoo.com
Pete:Well, take a look at the Rebirth screens and videos at IGNCube. If Mix-Core is right and Gamecube can do even 1/2 that quality of texturing in real-time...I don't think anyone will be complaining.
I herd that you can use your N64 Controllers on Game Cube is that true? or is it unconfirmed or what? please let me know.
- Mad Dog
Pete: That's a new one. No, don't expect to be able to use your N64 controllers on the Gamecube.
First thing's first. Great site. It must've taken long enough. Actually, how long did it take?
Anyway, onto my (other) questions, all of which involving something I've wondered about for all next generation consoles: their 2-D capabilities (SNK and Treasure are related to 2-D things also).
First of all, SNK. I know I'm not the only one who loves this developer. They make great arcade games, and some of the best fighting games ever made. The Metal Slug series is one of the best series ever made, and the third is in the top five for side scrollers.
But their quality could not save SNK. As we all know, SNK has fallen through in the US. But since then, I have not heard anything from them.
1st Q: Can we expect them on the Gamecube/Game Boy Advance at all? Personally, I think Game Boy Advance is the perfect system for them. It has four buttons, and is highly skilled in the arts of the Two Dimensions.
2nd Q: Is it more powerful than the age-old Neo Geo? I don't honestly know. Neo Geo is pretty old, and is weaker than the Saturn, which I heard GBA is pretty close to.
3rd Q: What is there relations with Nintendo? Is it possible for Nintendo to "court" them, since they are on a state of collapse?
I think it would be a smart move by Nintendo, as it drastically improve the GBA's software lineup.
Next up, Treasure. According to what I've heard, they made Sin and Punishment for Nintendo. And now, Nintendo is promoting it a whole lot.
1st Q: If it sells well, could this mean the start of a relationship between the two?
2nd Q: Do they have a kit for GBA?
Finally, the Cube itself. 1st Q: How well can the Cube handle 2-D? I heard it's unusual architecture isn't as ideal as other set-ups would be.
I just got off a rush of Metal Slug and Mischief Makers, and couldn't help but be concerned about the troubled realm of 2-D. It's unfortunate this realm was cut short before it was fully explored. Perhaps GBA will continue the evolution of this side of gaming.
Thanks, Mark Mullin
Pete: Whoa! Lots of questions there. For starters, N-Sider has been in development for many months and we're still fiddling with the design. SNK would be great on the GC/GBA, and the GBA might be up their ally (cheap, easy development). I wouldn't say it's a given, but stranger things have happened.
Secondly, yes, GameBoy Advance probably would be close to Neo-Geo, as it is above the Super NES. I'm honestly not sure about Nintendo's relationship with SNK, but I think Nintendo will probably focus on other developers (ahem, Enix) first.
Funny you mention Treasure, because I think they'd make a great 2nd party team. Then again, Treasure is also working on the PS2 version of Silpheed, but Silicon Knights was working on Too Human for PSX when Nintendo acquired them. As for Gamecube's 2D abilities, it's really unknown how that will work. I think the high-speed 1T-SRAM will be a dream for 2D games, however.
Hi!
This is an absolutely brilliant site! Where else would I find out that Intelligent Systems are actually making Mario Kart Advance and not EAD? However, what I've really enjoyed was the feature on Nintendo's 1st and 2nd parties. I've been after something like this for ages. What I was wondering is, can you do a feature on the development teams within EAD? I always assumed that the Mario and Zelda teams were one and the same, yet an article on IGN indicated otherwise. This might take a lot of work looking at game credits etc, but you're the only site I would trust with the task!
Thanks!
Tim
Pete: Tim, thanks for the comments. N-Sider's own Jeton Grajqevci was at Spaceworld and he has one of Nintendo's press packages for the GC/GBA, so that's where we got that info from. A feature on EAD you ask? We'll see what we can come up with...
Do you think there is any chance of Gamecube being released in North America any earlier than October,2001?
-Tommy D.
Pete: Knowing Nintendo, I wouldn't expect it to be released earlier than October. Hopefully we'll get the machine in early October at least.
Wow, that was a huge first Q&A! Keep those questions coming this way.