During his keynote speech at GDC, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata made a number of important announcements regarding the next Nintendo home console as well as the Nintendo DS online service.

First and foremost, he revealed that the next Nintendo home console, code-named “Revolution,” will be backward compatible with GameCube software and will be the first Nintendo home console to include Wi-Fi support out of the box. In addition, the new Nintendo console is set to have a processing chip developed with IBM and an ATI graphics chip.

"We're excited to be developing the graphics chip set for Revolution, which continues our longstanding relationship with Nintendo," said Dave Orton, ATI Technologies Inc.'s president and chief executive officer. "As the leading graphics provider, ATI is committed to delivering exceptional visual performance that enables consumers to interact with new and visually compelling digital worlds. ATI is proud to support Nintendo's innovative contributions to gaming."

On the topic of the much-awaited Nintendo DS online service, Iwata-san stated that the upcoming Nintendo DS online service will allow players around the world to connect to the service wirelessly at Wi-Fi hotspots.

One of the first Nintendo DS titles to make use of the online service will be Animal Crossing DS, which has now been confirmed for global Wi-Fi play.

Iwata-san also revealed that shipments of the Nintendo DS have surpassed an astonishing 4 million units in North America and Japan since launch.

Expect to hear more details about both Revolution and the Nintendo DS online service as E3 draws nearer.

Ramzy Philip