Just last week reports surfaced that Nintendo is planning to reveal its next console at this year’s E3. The Wii’s successor is now being referred to as Project Cafe, and more details are emerging.
Sources close to the project are saying the retail price of Nintendo’s next console will be between $350 and $400 based on manufacturing costs, with the system shipping from Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn this October.
That means gamers could see the new console as early as October or November of this year, though a launch at the beginning of 2012 wouldn’t be out of the question.
On the technical side of things, the system will use a revamped version of AMD’s R700 GPU architecture, meaning it will outperform the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. HD resolutions up to 1080p will be supported, and stereoscopic 3D may also be featured.
As far as looks go, the console will be similar in size to that of the original Xbox 360 and will likely resemble a modernized version of the Super Nintendo. Earlier reports said the controllers will feature integrated touch screens, and that is still holding true across reports.
Lastly, Nintendo is considering various names for the new console, but Stream was singled out as one possible choice. The fact that the touch screen on the controller will be able to stream games from the television seems like a likely source for that name.
Nintendo still has yet to confirm or deny any of these reports, but IGN is standing by its sources. Hopefully there will be a definitive answer by the time E3 2011 rolls around.
[IGN]
