IGN Confirms a 6 inch Screen on Project Cafe Controller, Can Stream Entire Games

While still technically a rumor, IGN is essentially claiming as fact that the new screen on the controller is indeed 6 inches wide, and essentially turns the controller into it’s own handheld gaming device. They wont name their sources, only that they have personally confirmed the original “rumor”. This of course brings up the entire prospect of 3D gaming, something Nintendo has said may not be the right direction for the next console. If there is a 6 inch screen built into the controller, this essentially brings up the prospect of 3D gaming. I couldn’t understand the initial reasoning for the screen, but with confirmation games can be streamed from the console to it (meaning, technically, you may not even need a TV to play the system), this brings the prospect of it being a full 3D HD screen to the forefront of my thoughts. More after the jump.

What could this possibly mean for gaming? Is this even worth believing? We’ve heard a ton of rumors the last couple days surrounding the supposed “Project Cafe”, but when we start to hear words of confirmation from a site like IGN, it begins to leave the realm of rumors and starts entering the severe possibility of truth. After all, this isn’t like our E3 debacle last year: IGN is at the top of the mountain and has much to lose at claiming validity if it’s false.

The more I think about this (and yeah, this controller will most likely be pretty large, but not any more so than a tablet) the more I understand how this is the next great console innovation – it’s taking gaming to the next level by allowing maximum at home flexibility. Playing the game on your parents 50inch and they are kicking you off to watch the news? No problem, switch the game to the screen built in screen and you both can still have what you want. This of course brings up the prospect of how both screens could work in conjuction, but the fact it’s been practically confirmed it can stream full games really makes Nintendo’s new console the most mobile at home gaming console to ever exist.

In a day and age where people bring their laptops to any room and use internet everywhere, having a console that you can play in possibly any room in the house without unhooking it is impressive. We don’t know the range on the controller, or the battery life, but we have to assume it has a charging station just like the 3DS. This could either be completely brilliant, or give out the too soon feeling the Dreamcast did. Either way, there is enough buzz from third parties right now to be very open minded about it. Nintendo has the most space right now to really make a bold move like this, and the fact it supposedly returns to the GCN style of controller should bring third parties back in the fold regardless.

We’ll see what happens, and you can choose to not believe this, but IGN doesn’t run around validating parts of rumors lightly.

Source: IGN