Project Café Details: Estimated Pricing, Release, Console Design, Processing Architecture, and Name

IGN is sure throwing around their resources to uncover anything and everything about Project Café, and it appears they are getting in on some juicy details (assuming they are correct, of course). For starters, it appears people with knowledge of the console have estimated the pricing to be between 350 and 400$ according to the latest reports on manufacturing costs.

The earliest the units will begin shipping is October this year from a Taiwanese manufacturer, Foxconn. This means the earliest the console could arrive is this holiday season, though it’s likely to be more of a early 2012 release assuming they stay the course. The reasoning to delay to 2012 is so allow Nintendo to try to build up stock of the console now so as not to run into shortage problems like they had with the Wii. Also going back to price, it has apparently been discussed Nintendo may take a small hit on the cost of the console at launch and thus lose money to help build the base, and hope to make it all back on the software side.

The earthquake in Japan will have no effect on the manufacturing of the console, which is one reason Nintendo is centering production in Taiwan.

Getting into the juicy technical side of things, the console will be based on a revamped version of the AMD’s R700 GPU architecture, which reportedly is outperforming what the Playstation 3 gpu is presently able to do. Possibly to reduce costs, the cpu (processor) will be a custom-built triple-core IBM PowerPC chipset, which is pretty close to what the Xbox 360 uses (if you’re looking for a comparison). However, it is reportedly clocking in at higher speeds than the 360 version.

The aesthetic design of the console presently is about the size of the original Xbox 360 and will look like a modernized version of the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Also of note, the final name is has not yet been decided, but one possibility is “Stream”. You can naturally assume this is in reference to the fact the video screens are able to “stream” games.

As always, this is a rumor, as we cannot confirm IGN’s sources, though IGN themselves seem to be pretty sure about this. It’s extremely interesting when you think about all of this information. I had never thought Nintendo would consider going towards the 400$ mark, and I never really believed the initial reports that it’s more powerful than the current gen. While it is apparently, it may not be “that” much more powerful – but more power is just that… more power. I’m honestly super excited about this and I hope it’s true. I mean, is Nintendo honestly still going to push the Wii hard this year beyond Skyward Sword, or are they more likely to focus the 3DS hard this holidays with an eye to 2012? After all, Nintendo wants to get Mario out for the 3DS this year, so one would guess they are pushing the 3DS this year and gearing up for Project Café next year.

With the deluge of information leaking out in regards to Nintendo’s Project Cafe/Wii 2, many are bound to wonder who these mysterious tipsters are. We, of course, can’t say, but I wanted to comment more directly on the matter of today’s post, Project Café: The Tech Behind Nintendo’s Next Console.

What it really comes down to is trust. You trust IGN as a reputable resource for gaming news, features, and reviews, and we do everything we can to maintain and preserve your trust. Though some may claim otherwise, every story published citing an anonymous source is based on information we believe to be credible and true from reliable, trusted sources. If a story or tip seems flimsy, we don’t run it, or do our best to indicate when a story seems questionable.

It is also important to keep in mind that information, specifically that which pertains to pre-release technology, is always subject to change. While the information we receive may be true at the time it is given, manufacturers may change their plans drastically before public release, which we also make an effort to emphasize.

I, of course, would love to explain why I know the information we received about the Wii 2/Project Café is legitimate, allowing you to share my excitement for knowing it to be true, but I can’t.

Scott @ IGN