Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata recentlyshook the gaming landscape back to its senses by dispelling some myths surrounding the upcoming 3DS at an investors meeting in Japan. Among the rumors dismissed were higher development costs, the notion that 3D will magically make a game better, and that “3DS” is NOT what Nintendo’s new portable will be called when it hits retail shelves. Quote Iwata-san:
To which GamesRadar responded, “No duh!” Every Nintendo console – nay, every console ever! – has come attached with an informal working title that’s, almost always, subject to change. Brett Elston did an entire feature onConsole Code Nameslong ago that let gamers breathe a sigh of relief over the fact that 360 isn’t still called "Xenon," nor did the Nintendo 64 launch under the laughable monkier of “Project Reality.”
Above: If blurry polygons and a lack of dialog make up your “reality,” you may already have glaucoma!
Now, what makes Nintendo’s code names infinitely cooler, is that proof of their existence resides in every gamer’s collection. Peep the back of your Nintendo boxes and right at the bottom, where they keep the information that only robots read, you’ll find the evidence of abandoned names like Dolphin (GameCube) and Revolution (Wii) right in the ID numbers.
Above: A GameCube game
Above: A Wii game
Now that the historical schoolin' is behind us... What the hell are they going to call the new DS?!
Feel free to add your own in the comments below!
May 11, 2010
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