Nintendo ON video
A fake, sadly. But nicely done.
So, all three next-gen consoles have now shown their sleek, shiny and in some cases removable faces, and though the jury's still out on who'll claim victory in the console war it's clear that Nintendo's offering isn't going to win in the tech specs category.
But could that be because its true next-gen machine is still being kept under wraps? And could it be that said machine is more than just another box to stick under the telly? Could it be, in fact, some kind of crazy new brain helmet that looks like it was made in space and, quote, lets “the eyes feel games”?
Well, a new video that's been doing the rounds would seem to suggest so - and it's now available on Eurofiles.
Sit through the rather dull opening minutes and next thing you know you're being shown close-ups of something called the Nintendo ON - the aforementioned space-brain-games-helmet, which appears to connect to your GameCube, PC, TV or what could possibly be a microwave to let you “play games”, “make games” and of course “the eyes feel games”.
It's got removable goggles, complete with “Environment Capture Eye” and “Proximity Radar Eye” that translate your living room into a game environment and makes your character move as you move, in a really rather exciting manner.
But, sadly, it's all a big fat hoax - and the creator of the video has already owned up on the Internet, according to US website GameSpot, saying he did it to protest at the eagerness of games companies to spew out new hardware.
"Commerciality forces companies to put out new consoles every 2 or 3 years with the only intent being to erase the limits (set by current consoles) for game developers,” says the hoaxer.
“This does not allow game developers to let their imagination run wild and delight us (the gamers) with transcendent new games.”
Well, he or she has clearly gone to a lot of effort to make their point - whatever happened to writing a very strong letter? - but we're not too surprised it's a fake, since Nintendo didn't do too well the last time they messed about with gaming goggles. Virtual Boy, anyone? Ouch, pass the ibuprofen.
Unless, of course, it is the real thing, and the mystery poster is in fact a Nintendo executive trying to play it all down... Oh, who are we kidding. But it's nice to dream. Come on, Science, invent this now!