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Broadcom to Enable Wireless Connectivity on Nintendo’s Revolution Console.

Category: Multimedia

by Anton Shilov

[ 04/21/2005 | 12:51 PM ]

Nintendo revealed some more information on its forthcoming gaming console code-name Revolution. It turned out that Broadcom will enable wireless connectivity for the gaming machine, but the details are still shady.

Nintendo’s next generation console code-named Revolution will “feature an advanced wireless platform that integrates multiple technologies to enable a new and exciting gaming experience,” according to the company.

“By integrating Broadcom wireless solutions into our next-generation systems, we can provide the high performance gaming and connectivity capabilities that will delight users of Revolution,” said Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director, General Manager, Integrated Research & Development Division for Nintendo.

At the Game Developer Conference (GDC) 2005 Nintendo officially unveiled plans to launch its next-generation console code-named Revolution with IBM’s code-named Broadway processor and ATI’s code-named Hollywood visual processing unit. ATI and IBM also developed the core components for Nintendo’s GameCube console. The console will be backwards compatible with the currently shipped GameCube and will also feature trendy Wi-Fi features. It is unknown whether the console will feature any other wireless technologies apart from wireless networking.

Technical specifications or capabilities of the Revolution’s technological heart – IBM’s microprocessor and ATI’s graphics processor – are not clear, but Nintendo claimed they had been designed “to deliver game experiences not possible to date”.

According to market share results from Forward Concepts, Broadcom’s 54g chipsets are the industry’s leading Wi-Fi solutions. Additionally, Broadcom is a leader in the Bluetooth market featuring high performance Blutonium chips and the industry's most widely deployed Bluetooth software. Broadcom also offers advanced processors for cellular handset and data card applications supporting 3G EDGE and WCDMA networks, as well as high performance mobile multimedia processors.

Nintendo will announce more information about both Revolution and the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi service at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in May, 2005.