Wii U Speculation Thread 2: Can't take anymore of this!!!

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I know that is the case, but I was under the impression/assumption that something as fundamental as memory access was exempt from 'hacks'. If Dolphin implements the GC/Wii memory system well enough without game specific hacks, then that would make a case for the Wii U not needing to have access to a low latency memory pool.

Also, how does 1T-SRAM latency compare to GDDR3/DDR3/GDDR5 latency?
 
I know that is the case, but I was under the impression/assumption that something as fundamental as memory access was exempt from 'hacks'. If Dolphin implements the GC/Wii memory system well enough without game specific hacks, then that would make a case for the Wii U not needing to have access to a low latency memory pool.
Dolphin makes no guarantees about keeping the original game's timings (fps, input, etc). It sort of hopes for the best. If the game is playable - fine. If not, try to patch aspect of the emulation, rinse, repeat. Thus Dolphin works with whatever ram characteristics the system provides.

MS and Sony did that with their BC this gen (Sony - with their recent PSN PS2 classics, which is essentially a VC service) - in both cases it's a subject to extensive re-QA-ing of every title which might be a candidate for BC compliance. Nintendo has never done that when implementing BC - the closest thing is Wii's and 3DS's VCs, which have never been marketed as BC (and they shouldn't - you cannot use your original game media).

Also, how does 1T-SRAM latency compare to GDDR3/DDR3/GDDR5 latency?
Latencies can be of various kinds and cumulative effect (intra-page, cross-page, CAS/RAS, etc) but 1t-sram, by virtue of being a static-like memory, has latency characteristics much closer to contemporary L2/L3 cache memory. Basically, you can think of cube/wii's 1t-sram pool as the equivalent of 24MB of L3 cache in contemporary PC. You can afford to do random accesses to L3 without much headache. You cannot do that to main ram (not if you care about performance, anyway). Code's performance nowadays is largely an exercise in optimal data locality. Now, image what would happen with performance of code which was written to meet its deadlines when working off L3, but you suddenly removed that from underneath its feet.
 
I see. I can imagine it being quite a pain to have the EDRAM accessible by the CPU though, especially in such a way that it achieves as much performance as the Wii does. I wonder how they are going to pull that off.
 
Well, I don't consider myself a graphic whore, but I want my favorite series to be up-to-date in terms of graphics.

So you want Nintendo to publish games for the highest spec pc? :P

Yeah, but there is resentment towards Europeans from people in the US because of it. It's understandable I guess, but since the latter doesn't get screwed over quite as much it probably comes as more of a shock. Europeans are used to being screwed over so we are probably more apathetic; the whole early release (even if a few days) and exclusives is a pretty new/rare thing.

I don't want anyone to get screwed over :(. I lived through the Gamecube 'NOE sucks' period so I can empathise with our cross Atlantic brethren now that NOA has taken on that mantle :/.

Well, I miss the custom soundtrack from Truck, but Bots is a ton of over the top fun.

The default soundtrack for Truck was soooo bad it became good so I never even bothered with the custom soundtrack option :). Still need to homebrew my Wii so I can import and play 'Bots though :/.

I still crave a game where you swing a big hammer with motion controls.

Ah. I was going to say that MHTri was your friend but the motion controls in that are limited IIRC. I still heartily recommend the game though. It was my first MH and it was an amazing experience. So much so that I am eagerly awaiting news that the 3DS iteration is being localised for Yurop.

Haters gonna hate.

I wouldn't get too fond of those sort of meme comments if you value your GAF account young padawan. If you haven't already I would suggest a good read of the GAF FAQ section as comments like that are frowned upon in these parts and a ban as a Junior is a perma-ban here. I only just got de-juniored myself so I wouldn't want you to not get there too.

Back seat modding is a bannable offence here too so I hope a Mod doesn't consider my 'word to the wise' here to be that! :(

I really don't know where to ask this, but this is the coolest and most active Nintendo thread here, and I don't really want to make a thread for this so bear with me, please.
Is there any way to know if my Wii Remote+ is a counterfeit model? I was pretty sure it was an original one but I have my doubts now. I bought Red Steel 2 and the speaker makes a nonstop buzz sound, even if I lower the volume completely. A bit of googling seems to indicate that it's because it isn't an original controller but I didn't find many similar cases. This is the only game where this happens, I bought this remote a month ago with Skyward Sword and WiiSports Resort. Now, the remote works well, aside for this issue on Red Steel 2 but I'll be pretty pissed if this isn't an original one as I got this from a retailer I've been buying from for a long time. The box says it comes with 2 AA batteries and it didn't come, and now that I think about it, it seems very plasticky, but maybe it's me being paranoid.
Here's a couple of pics with it and the box, can't take more right now, anything I should be looking for?
http://i.minus.com/iyv7P9026hHU8.JPG
http://i.minus.com/i3RxEJUZWagAQ.JPG
Thanks a bunch and sorry for making this post in this thread!

Does the controller have the "engravings" that the official remotes do? Check the rear of the controller immediately above the battery cover release. It should have the Nintendo logo 'engraved' there. It is also underneath that on the inside body of the controller just below the right hand battery.
 
Dolphin makes no guarantees about keeping the original game's timings (fps, input, etc). It sort of hopes for the best. If the game is playable - fine. If not, try to patch aspect of the emulation, rinse, repeat. Thus Dolphin works with whatever ram characteristics the system provides.

MS and Sony did that with their BC this gen (Sony - with their recent PSN PS2 classics, which is essentially a VC service) - in both cases it's a subject to extensive re-QA-ing of every title which might be a candidate for BC compliance. Nintendo has never done that when implementing BC - the closest thing is Wii's and 3DS's VCs, which have never been marketed as BC (and they shouldn't - you cannot use your original game media).


Latencies can be of various kinds and cumulative effect (intra-page, cross-page, CAS/RAS, etc) but 1t-sram, by virtue of being a static-like memory, has latency characteristics much closer to contemporary L2/L3 cache memory. Basically, you can think of cube/wii's 1t-sram pool as the equivalent of 24MB of L3 cache in contemporary PC. You can afford to do random accesses to L3 without much headache. You cannot do that to main ram (not if you care about performance, anyway). Code's performance nowadays is largely an exercise in optimal data locality. Now, image what would happen with performance of code which was written to meet its deadlines when working off L3, but you suddenly removed that from underneath its feet.

Skip to 14:00.
 
Ah, I never watch those in full. Oh well, I blame Iwata's English ; )

Seriously, though, as much as they may have planned to 'redefine the term BC', I don't think that succeeded. If anything, people now have a new term - VC, and it's something else. Maybe back in the day they wanted to introduce VC in familiar terms and BC was the natural choice.

Anyhow, I stand corrected re 'VC never been marketed as BC'.
 
But NMH should be the Grasshopper's most profitable (own) game/IP or did I miss some others? Plus it seems like he asks the PR girl in the video for permission to talk about it. Some positive signs for me. Though I could live without a NMH3, because NMH2 ended it pretty well.

That's because Suda explicitly intended NMH2 to be the conclusion to Travis's story. He's implied that if NMH3 were to ever be made, it would start it's own original plot thread.

Speaking of NMH2, I should really finish the game sometime. Didn't get very far in it.
 
I wouldn't get too fond of those sort of meme comments if you value your GAF account young padawan. If you haven't already I would suggest a good read of the GAF FAQ section as comments like that are frowned upon in these parts and a ban as a Junior is a perma-ban here. I only just got de-juniored myself so I wouldn't want you to not get there too.

Back seat modding is a bannable offence here too so I hope a Mod doesn't consider my 'word to the wise' here to be that! :(

I'd say that I appreciate the warning, but if I do something wrong then I would think that a mod could at least give me the courtesy of a warning first, but if I get banned then I suppose it was nice while it lasted. *shrug*
To be honest I don't expect my Gaf account to last all that long. I just want to enjoy the ride. I've got bigger things to worry about these days.

What's strange is that's probably one of maybe five times in my life on the net that I've ever used that meme; I prefer not to rely on them anyway. In fact I'm often more guilty of putting way too much effort into posts. I'm actually trying to be more concise and easy going these days.

I'll have to say something like "your dissentive opinion is unattractive" from now on, lol.


On topic, I know that it's generally reviled, but I'd love another Pokémon Colosseum styled game, but maybe with a different setting. As an example, again knowing full well that it is reviled as well, for some reason I can't help imagining a 3D game set in the Orange Islands where you take a boat (or ride a Pokémon, whatever works), and visit populated and unpopulated islands and catch Pokémon and compete in battles. The difference would be that unlike the Orre games, you could freely explore the overworld and maybe the battles could be more dynamic i.e. you run through grass and then a battle triggers and instead of the screen fading or whatever the area around you dims and you fight the opponent in a more active setting and to run away you literally have to have your character run away. Controls could be on the UPad and your character could have a device shaped the same way, kind of like gadgets in past games that resemble hardware. Unlike the Orre games you can catch a mixture of wild Pokémon from every game, train and battle them in tournaments. Stuff like that.
 
I'm still waiting for John Williams: The Experience

Hum famous film music themes, conduct an orchestra with the Wii Remote Plus, play the piano and furiously compose a melody before a deadline, and as a bonus act out famous scenes from Steven Spielberg films.

That was the reason I bought a Wii, for Wii Music. But alas, Wii Music was nowhere near what I wanted it to be.
 
I'll have to say something like "your dissentive opinion is unattractive" from now on, lol.

:) You would be pretty unlucky to be banned for just that meme so I'm sorry if I was a bit too alarmist. However, there are plenty of things here that could get one banned and they are not always readily apparent, even in the FAQ. I lurked here for years before joining so hopefully I am aware of most of them. I was just trying to look out for you as from what I have seen of your posts you seem a decent poster so I wouldn't want you to be banned unnecessarily :).
 
Some random thoughts:

PSN recently just changed its name to SEN and Kaz has emphasized that he wants SONY to be less fragmented and give customers better experience. Some rumor also suggests that next Xbox may be Windows 8 related. All these things make you wonder if Nintendo being a solely gaming company will become a disadvantage in the long run. I mean SEN may become an integrated entertainment system including all SONY's Music/Movie/Game. I have faith in Nintendo Network and I believe it will turn out to be a nice gaming network. But after several years maybe Nintendo need to compete not only a gaming network from MS and SONY but an "Entertainment Network".
 
Some random thoughts:

PSN recently just changed its name to SEN and Kaz has emphasized that he wants SONY to be less fragmented and give customers better experience. Some rumor also suggests that next Xbox may be Windows 8 related. All these things make you wonder if Nintendo being a solely gaming company will become a disadvantage in the long run. I mean SEN may become an integrated entertainment system including all SONY's Music/Movie/Game. I have faith in Nintendo Network and I believe it will turn out to be a nice gaming network. But after several years maybe Nintendo need to compete not only a gaming network from MS and SONY but an "Entertainment Network".

The way i see that, is that Nintendo will become more "hardcore" without actually having to do anything for it, lol.

To be honest, what is there for them in that market? MS has software all over the place, Sony has hardware, music, movies etc... Nintendo just has games. Two things to consider: their games are reason enough for people to buy Nintendo, but they have to make sure their future games will still be relevant in 10 to 20 years. An other thing is, they might be better off with a partnership than trying to play MS' and Sony's game.
 
So you want Nintendo to publish games for the highest spec pc? :P
I want Nintendo to publish their games on a hardware that's on par with the competition. Because, in the end, graphics do matter when it comes to games like Zelda and Metroid. So, if I get my new Zelda in 2014, I want it to look like a 2014 game. :p
 
No, it is not.
In my understanding ExciteBots was really awful, unlike ExciteTrucks and ExciteBike, not to mention Wave race, that were pretty decent at the very least.

ExciteBots was every kind of awesome.
It was way more zany, as already mentioned, which could put off some. But the core mechanics were improved from the already-excellent Truck in pretty much every way. Online play cemented its legendary-ness. The only thing missing was the MP3 soundtrack feature (nothing beat doing a 5 star jump with Van Halen or Deadmau5 or something playing in the background) and lots of non-zany vehicles. You had to get used to the bug vehicles. But once you did, it was a better game overall. A recommended pickup for anyone who loves arcade racers and has a Wii with the game in their region.

In hindsight I reckon Nibris did never open in the first place, they were essentially broken as they were begging for funds, I wouldn't be surprised if that was only a well organized scam.

We can make fun of 'scams' like Nibris all we want, but honestly... we should probably support *actual* attempts at indie development. Everyone needs to start somehow, and it's possible that 1 or 2 of the 14 people at Nibris were actually people looking at a way to break in.

I'll keep an eye on Lollipop Chainsaw, but right now it feels like something that rather should have been a special stage or two in No More Heroes 3. (Which hopefully is already in the works for WiiU, I neeeed it)

Dual Analog NMH? Eww.

That was the reason I bought a Wii, for Wii Music. But alas, Wii Music was nowhere near what I wanted it to be.

I must've been the only one on this entire board that found Wii Music plain ol' stupid fun.

I want Nintendo to publish their games on a hardware that's on par with the competition. Because, in the end, graphics do matter when it comes to games like Zelda and Metroid. So, if I get my new Zelda in 2014, I want it to look like a 2014 game. :p

What is a "2014" game?
FYI, this is a 2011 game:
Rayman-Origins-005.jpg


and this is a 2003 game:
donkeykongjunglebeat_000.jpg
 
Your "Home" button is blue instead of white, unfortunately. Looks like a fake.

EDIT: Though I know nothing about the fakes. All I'm saying is the home button is suspicious.

EDIT 2: The power button is also white instead of red.

Thanks a lot, yes. I noticed that after looking at more pictures on the web. Oh well, not a biggie as it works great with Zelda which was the only reason I bought this. But definitely not buying accessories from that retailer again.

Does the controller have the "engravings" that the official remotes do? Check the rear of the controller immediately above the battery cover release. It should have the Nintendo logo 'engraved' there. It is also underneath that on the inside body of the controller just below the right hand battery.
Yes it is engraved, but compared to a couple of other remotes I have, it doesn't have a small circle engraved above the "o" which I guess is the copyright sign :/ It's most definitely a fake.
 
Thanks a lot, yes. I noticed that after looking at more pictures on the web. Oh well, not a biggie as it works great with Zelda which was the only reason I bought this. But definitely not buying accessories from that retailer again.


Yes it is engraved, but compared to a couple of other remotes I have, it doesn't have a small circle engraved above the "o" which I guess is the copyright sign :/ It's most definitely a fake.

This may sound stupid but can't you just go to your retailer/send the company an e-mail and express your "feelings" toward its "sale tactics"?
 
When was the last time a part of any conference was focused on numbers and sales? I didn't see a single number in years.
 
When was the last time a part of any conference was focused on numbers and sales? I didn't see a single number in years.

I swear Sony did last year.

Or possibly the year before.

I'm sure Microsoft will focus on it this year just to brag. But then again, they have to demo all that Kinect stuff in 2 hours.
 
Since, we're kind of in a loop

Was thinking, the Mario series has spun out several franchises (not counting the Karts/sports/party), we gotten Luigi's Mansion, Wario Land, Super Princess Peach and Yoshi's Island/Story.

So was curious, which other Nintendo franchise would you like to see a spin-off of, and what genre?
 
Since, we're kind of in a loop

Was thinking, the Mario series has spun out several franchises (not counting the Karts/sports/party), we gotten Luigi's Mansion, Wario Land, Super Princess Peach and Yoshi's Island/Story.

So was curious, which other Nintendo franchise would you like to see a spin-off of, and what genre?

Waluigi's World.
It would be a platformer, the best platformer.
 
Since, we're kind of in a loop

Was thinking, the Mario series has spun out several franchises (not counting the Karts/sports/party), we gotten Luigi's Mansion, Wario Land, Super Princess Peach and Yoshi's Island/Story.

So was curious, which other Nintendo franchise would you like to see a spin-off of, and what genre?

Zelda. I would like a Hyrule Universe true RPG. It would be in the vein of an open world Elder Scrolls game but with proper Dungeons (puzzely affairs with special items!) and as you get special items you are able to do more and more in the rest of the world. Leveling, stats, upgradeable weapons etc. I would love combat to be a mix of Kingdoms of Amalur and Monster Hunter. Graphics should be realistic but with a great fantasy twist, like Dark Crystal or Labyrinth.
 
Paper Zelda? Make it something like AoL w/ sidescrolling dungeons. I don't know how they'd handle the overworld, though. That was kind of annoying even back in the day.

Edit: Here's a completely absurd one. Starfox Airlines. Fox retires from the force and takes up a job as a commercial pilot. In theory, it would play like Crazy Taxy...but with planes. :D
 
That's because Suda explicitly intended NMH2 to be the conclusion to Travis's story. He's implied that if NMH3 were to ever be made, it would start it's own original plot thread.
Ah, yeah. I remember it.

Speaking of NMH2, I should really finish the game sometime. Didn't get very far in it.
DO EEEEET. The only real downside I remember is that some of the characters in the middle of the game are not as good introduced as the rest of the bosses.
 
I don't care about state-of the-art graphics, I'm perfectly fine with what a console can offer. I don't want Zelda to be on par with the PC graphics, all I said, was that I want it to be on par with what I see on the other consoles.
 
I don't care about state-of the-art graphics, I'm perfectly fine with what a console can offer. I don't want Zelda to be on par with the PC graphics, all I said, was that I want it to be on par with what I see on the other consoles.

You're probably going to be disappointed despite diminishing returns hampering how much better something can look from one powerful box to another far more powerful box.

Even if Sony and MS do less massive jumps this time around (and they will) the Wii U is still going to be the weakest console of next generation.
 
I'd love to hear Reggie or Iwata try to sell a Waluigi game at E3 on stage :lol
I wonder how the media briefing actually will be deployed. The premises are vastly different to when Wii was fully revealed at Nintendo's E3 2006 media briefing. For instance, the Wii U remote is not even close to featuring the same mobility as the Wii remote. Sure, Wii U has support for both controllers, but Nintendo will probably seek attention only for its new controller instead of displaying a "legacy" format. And thereby it ought to be rather difficult to interweave the audience with a presentation of something like Wii Sports, as demonstrated by Mr. Iwata and Mr. Miyamoto at E3 2006. What could spark excitement here when it comes especially to multiplayer, in what scenario could Nintendo at the stage engraten the Wii U remote in the best possible way?

What first came to mind is Iwata, Miyamoto, Reggie and Bill Trinen each equipped with a controller, playing some typical multiplayer game like F-Zero, Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros. (unlikely to be on stage though, but perhaps revealed at a developer event just like Brawl was). As some people have been concerned regarding how many of the new controller Wii U will support, Nintendo could benefit by showing you can connect more than one controller. Whether the support will be for two our ≥four controllers I won't comment on. But this is anyway what I can think of as best subsitute for a Wii tennis match. Other important things to narrate for are equivalences to Excite Truck, Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, WarioWare: Smooth Moves and of course third party games as well, shown both within and outside software reels. We also mustn't forget that Bill Trinen and Nate Bihldorff demonstrated The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess very intuitively. While I doubt any demo will be present for a Wii U iteration of The Legend of Zelda franchise at E3 2012, perhaps another big IP could fill its place. Whatever Retro Studios is working on could probably function as a great way to show the new system, the same goes for Pikmin 3.

The single most important thing for Nintendo to do at E3 2012 however, unless they do it prior to the expo, is to define the key message(s) of the Wii U. While many did not find yesteryear's presentation that confusing, even Mr. Iwata agreed that more could have been done to emphasize that they were about to launch an entirely new system and not just an add-on controller for Wii. To communicate this more broadly and clearer this time around I believe is crucial for Nintendo's success at E3 come June.

84531.png


Ah, the good times.
 
I want Nintendo to publish their games on a hardware that's on par with the competition. Because, in the end, graphics do matter when it comes to games like Zelda and Metroid. So, if I get my new Zelda in 2014, I want it to look like a 2014 game. :p

Oh, so a high end pc then!

:P Just teasing sir; I know what you mean.

However,

You're probably going to be disappointed despite diminishing returns hampering how much better something can look from one powerful box to another far more powerful box.

Even if Sony and MS do less massive jumps this time around (and they will) the Wii U is still going to be the weakest console of next generation.

has nicely expressed my thoughts on the matter already.

However, as long as the Wii U is not disadvantaged by not being of a comparable architecture to the next consoles from Sony and Microsoft [as the Wii was] then it should get many of the same games even if the Wii U version has to be downgraded to some extent.

Hopefully!

Thanks a lot, yes. I noticed that after looking at more pictures on the web. Oh well, not a biggie as it works great with Zelda which was the only reason I bought this. But definitely not buying accessories from that retailer again.

Yes it is engraved, but compared to a couple of other remotes I have, it doesn't have a small circle engraved above the "o" which I guess is the copyright sign :/ It's most definitely a fake.

Sorry :(.

I believe it's an R to be pedantic but it matters not.

However, given that the box it came in has the Official Nintendo Seal you could theoretically accuse the retailer of selling counterfeit goods as the genuine article. What you do about that is up to you. You could report the retailer to the appropriate authorities that deal with such matters and/or you could demand a refund/compensation from the retailer. Now the retailer could have genuinely sold this to you unknowingly but that does not absolve them of legal and/or ethical obligations.

Or you could do nothing because you consider it not worth the hassle. At least you have answered a nagging question so at least there is at least that :).
 
I was having a similar discussion with brain_stew several months ago (yes, the gpu can, and most likely does, keep other things in there besides fb), until he reminded me there was the uPad screen to be serviced (1.5MB minimum). So yeah, there's a sufficient number of 'distractors' that would hamper 2xMSAA@1080p.
haha and now you're reminding me.
 
I'm mostly interested in seeing how the Japanese and Indie development community takes to it, and that goes with all of the next-gen systems. I don't play western "AAA" games or "B" game wannabes... and as a new homeowner, don't really have a ton of money that I can throw around on buying every system known to man anymore :P

WiiU will almost assuredly be a purchase due to the core Nintendo franchises, though I'm hoping we get some new surprises from the big N (*cough*StarTropics*cough)...
 
WiiU will almost assuredly be a purchase due to the core Nintendo franchises, though I'm hoping we get some new surprises from the big N (*cough*StarTropics*cough)...

I'm hoping that it's enough that I can be a one console gamer next generation. I don't care much about Sony and MS's typical exclusives, but Resident Evil made me buy a 360, and bad judgement got me to buy a PS3. I've barely even played it.
 
You're probably going to be disappointed despite diminishing returns hampering how much better something can look from one powerful box to another far more powerful box.

Even if Sony and MS do less massive jumps this time around (and they will) the Wii U is still going to be the weakest console of next generation.

Oh I know that, I'm just hoping for a PS2/GC/XBOX situation. I'd be perfectly fine if the next Zelda looked as good as God of War did back in 2005.
 
I'm hoping that it's enough that I can be a one console gamer next generation. I don't care much about Sony and MS's typical exclusives, but Resident Evil made me buy a 360, and bad judgement got me to buy a PS3. I've barely even played it.

As long as console prices get down within a reasonable time frame, I have no problem being a multi-console owner. But, seriously, the record for longest time before first price drop was beaten twice, but two consoles. The only console that didn't beat that record was priced obscenely high even after its first couple drops.

I'd still like to get the PS3, but it's somehow still at what I consider a launch day price, and I'm just not as hyped about buying consoles when they're above a certain age. :|
 
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