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[ecosse_011172]

Someone just told me Nintendo will not be supporting backwards compatibility with the WiiU. Has anybody else heard this?

That's nonsense.

 

[beje]

Someone just told me Nintendo will not be supporting backwards compatibility with the WiiU. Has anybody else heard this?

As far as I know, Nintendo has stated that it will be backwards compatible with Wii (with no IQ improvements, probably because it will work in a sandbox mode a la DS on 3DS to avoid piracy "slipping through") and will probably include Gamecube in the Virtual Console.

 

[Terrell]

Sure, but we have also had no one saying Wii U is jaw dropping, which I'd imagine they would if it was an HD7770 right?

These are western devs who cut their teeth on PC hardware. NOTHING is "jaw-dropping" to them, as they are impossible to satisfy. Plain and simple.



And now we have a rumor that PS4 will be anti-used games like the rumor for the next Xbox. Won't this make for an exciting generation? The stars seem to be aligning in Nintendo's favor if that pans out.

 

[DrWong]

The stars seem to be aligning in Nintendo's favor if that pans out.

 

[EDarkness]

I can't shake the feeling that if a chip even close to an underclocked HD7770 providing say 700-800GFLOPS was the target then the possibility of the console being just a 360 1.2-1.5 would never have been mentioned by anyone as the jump is far too great for any dev to make that kind of suggestion.

WRT the apparent Vigil change in stance from last year, we can only assume that either
a) the initial target spec has been lowered (even if there were some later improvements from v3 to v4 or whatever) since then or
b) due to a lack of confidence in the initial user base/projected sales or other external influences, they have decided to spend as little as possible on the port and not take advantage of the additional horsepower.

However, as they are producing a PC version and will have higher res textures available it seems odd that they would choose b).

Don't get me wrong, I want the machine to be as powerful as possible but I can't help but think that the higher expectations in this thread just can't be true :-(

I don't understand this kind of talk. What change in tone? The guy who would know better said the system is pretty powerful and is capable of higher res and such. The Director says the system is on par (which doesn't mean anything about power) and they're not going to up res the game. There can be any number of reasons for this, but I'd put money on none of them being about the hardware itself. We don't know how the console code is laid out or how easy it would be for them to tweek that code to up the resolution or textures. Not that it can't be done, since we all know the Wii U can do these things. There may only a couple of guys working on the Wii U version and they simply don't want to commit to doing more "graphic" work than they have to. Getting the controller working seems to be the biggest priority.

I'm not saying that the Wii U is going to blow everyone away, but people shouldn't expect much from ports. That's just the bottom line. I mean, what did Vigil do for the PC version of Darksiders 1? We all know that PCs have consoles beat in power, yet that didn't seem to mean much when it came to porting the game.

 

[Kjellson]

or if mario ever fell into the hands of a western dev:

http://www.8bitengine.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/fireflowermario_small.jpg

Does anyone have a link to that mature Mario thread? Lol.

 

[DCKing]

What change in tone?

It's not tone. It's factual statements that nothing is done to make a reasonable improvement on the Wii U versions of games, which is weird if it did have the power to do so.

The guy who would know better said the system is pretty powerful and is capable of higher res and such.

Which makes it even weirder to that they're not uprezzing.

The Director says the system is on par (which doesn't mean anything about power) and they're not going to up res the game. There can be any number of reasons for this, but I'd put money on none of them being about the hardware itself. We don't know how the console code is laid out or how easy it would be for them to tweek that code to up the resolution or textures.

Given that they're working on a PC version in which this sort of stuff can be done on game startup, there's really no valid reason to not do it on the Wii U if it's capable.

Not that it can't be done, since we all know the Wii U can do these things. There may only a couple of guys working on the Wii U version and they simply don't want to commit to doing more "graphic" work than they have to. Getting the controller working seems to be the biggest priority.

That last thing could explain it. It means they never want to go beyond a straight 360 port, and it would be very lame. Given Vigil's stance on the Wii U so far and the fact that they're actually working on using the Upad, you would expect that they'd show a bit more ambition. It wouldn't only be Vigil doing that, but also that (probably Ubisoft) game IdeaMan was talking about.

Another explanation is that a big chunk of development was already done on earlier devkits that had less power than recent ones. Vigil had the game running on the first available devkit already.

 

[EDarkness]

It's not tone. It's factual statements that nothing is done to make a reasonable improvement on the Wii U versions of games, which is weird if it did not happen.

Nothing wierd about it. They didn't want to bother with it, so they aren't. I seem to recall people jumping on their case with the last game, too.

Which makes it even weirder to that they're not uprezzing.Given that they're working on a PC version in which this sort of stuff can be done on game startup, there's really no valid reason to not do it on the Wii U if it's capable.

Again, that doesn't mean anything. We don't know how their development environment works or how easy it would be to convert the 360 code to up res the Wii U. I get the feeling they're using that version for the PS3 and Wii U since they're consoles and so they may not want to deal with the possible back end problems.

That last thing could explain it. It means they never want to go beyond a straight 360 port, and it would be very lame. Given Vigil's stance on the Wii U so far and the fact that they're actually working on using the Upad, you would expect that they'd show a bit more ambition.

Lame? Sure. Again, no one should expect more from ports and people seem to have it in their head that some company would do everything they could to make a port better when there is a lot of evidence out there to the contrary. Even with Vigil themselves. So they won't be lighting the world on fire with this port. Everyone should come to grips with this. They can up res, yet they aren't. That's simply on them.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

I don't see the issue.

Most first gen software is little more than a last gen game made with new age tech.

Gun for the 360. Just a higher res Xbox game.

There's nothing exactly wrong with that kind of software. Even titles like Gun can help breed a base that may pay off one day.

 

[ColdBlooder]

Wow, those last 2-3 pages make alot of sense.

wtf happened here? sane-GAF instead of INsane-GAF? Does the sun now move around the earth? Is hell frozen over?

Not that i didnt enjoy these last 2-3 pages, but its a unknown experience, lol...

 

[ecosse_011172]

I don't understand this kind of talk. What change in tone?

IIRC They went from talking about using higher res textures and making it prettier to saying they'l do nothing apart from use the touchscreen.

 

[DCKing]

Again, that doesn't mean anything. We don't know how their development environment works or how easy it would be to convert the 360 code to up res the Wii U. I get the feeling they're using that version for the PS3 and Wii U since they're consoles and so they may not want to deal with the possible back end problems.

I know enough of game development that uprezzing in general is not a hard thing. At all. If the power is available, it's a matter of changing some constants and then it should be running. The PC version does not need some magic stuff to pull this off.

They can up res, yet they aren't.

You claim a lot of "we don't know this, we don't know that", but we don't know this either. This statement is based on nothing really. I'm not saying it's not true, but the statements made by Vigil and Ideaman are in fact pointing in exactly the opposite direction. We shouldn't ignore that, especially considering they give us the most concrete performance 'measures' available.

 

[Medalion]

Vigil as far as I am aware, don't have up to date devkits... this was completely ignored in the recent interview about the Wii-U's supposed performance... they said they were dissapointed Nintendo has been behind on giving them up to date resources for the Wii-U.

 

[ecosse_011172]

Vigil as far as I am aware, don't have up to date devkits... this was completely ignored in the recent interview about the Wii-U's supposed performance... they said they were dissapointed Nintendo has been behind on giving them up to date resources for the Wii-U.

That still doesn't explain their backwards move in terms of they approach to use of the horsepower.

I'm hoping that Nintendo have gotten everyone to play it down and will then blow us away at E3.

I'll be in tears, won't I?

 

[BY2K]

Oh God, GAF mutated while I was sleeping. It actually has sub-forums now.

D:

 

[Strife91]

Imagine the meltdown, when Nintendo shows us 360-graphics.

Seeing Nintendo franchises in HD is enough to give me boner though.

 

[joshwaan]

As far as I know, Nintendo has stated that it will be backwards compatible with Wii (with no IQ improvements, probably because it will work in a sandbox mode a la DS on 3DS to avoid piracy "slipping through") and will probably include Gamecube in the Virtual Console.

I hope they do upscale to 720P, I believe it was Reggie who said on in a interview with Geoff from Game Trailers that there will be no graphics improvements. But your proberly right they will just get it working and that's it

 

[NBtoaster]

I know enough of game development that uprezzing in general is not a hard thing. At all. If the power is available, it's a matter of changing some constants and then it should be running. The PC version does not need some magic stuff to pull this off.

Depends what kind of "uprezzing". Changing resolution is trivial, but upping texture res and model quality take a lot of time, and have other limitations than just console 'power' (load times). And things like LOD and shadow quality can be hardcoded into the engine and difficult to change.

 

[DCKing]

Depends what kind of "uprezzing". Changing resolution is trivial, but upping texture res and model quality take a lot of time, and have other limitations than just console 'power' (load times). And things like LOD and shadow quality can be hardcoded into the engine and difficult to change.

Yeah, I was talking about simply changing the resolution which should be easy enough. Using a different set or resources should not be a trivial change too, again assuming the Wii U actually has the power to do it. Whatever the case, Darksiders II will run in 1080p on the PC, which is probably a 'lazy' port. It's not an intrinsic limitation of the game or engine to run only in 720p. If the Wii U has the power, it should be able to run in 1080p as well.

The most compelling reason for Vigil to not go beyond what is the 360 version is that the console's power is unpredictable and as such a source of possible bugs with devkit upgrades, and that they're trying to fix up a Wii U game while retaining a certain baseline. It's either that or the console just doesn't have the muscle.

 

[AceBandage]

Oh God, GAF mutated while I was sleeping. It actually has sub-forums now.

D:

Eh?
We've had Community for ages

 

[Roo]

Someone just told me Nintendo will not be supporting backwards compatibility with the WiiU. Has anybody else heard this?

Naahh.. it's a lie
BC is a priority for them.

Spoiler

right?.... RIGHT...?

 

[Krev]

Imagine the meltdown, when Nintendo shows us 360-graphics.

You're not going to have to imagine.

 

[AceBandage]

Naahh.. it's a lie
BC is a priority for them.

Spoiler

right?.... RIGHT...?

They already stated it'll be able to run all Wii games.

You're not going to have to imagine.

Especially since we saw meltdowns at the being weaker than 360 at E3.

 

[Roo]

They already stated it'll be able to run all Wii games

Being dramatic

 

[ultrazilla]

Randy Pitchford of Gearbox praises the Wii-U

Here's a fresh interview with Randy Pitchford talking about Aliens: Colonial Marines for the Wii-U from http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012...ands-gearbox-software-aliens-brothers-in-arms

Another aspect of the upcoming game's design Pitchford hopes will represent a significant advancement is Gearbox's heavy investment in the Wii U. Pitchford says he actually believes the Wii U version of Aliens: Colonial Marines will be the best version.

"The Wii U version has so much more to offer ... no other platform can do what the Wii U can do," he says. "If you love [Xbox] 360 games, you are not used to being in a world where you have this new interface. But once you get used to that, you imagine the possibilities; there are some opportunities that are just not possible on any platform that does not have that device."

Pitchford hints that using the Wii U controller as a motion tracker, or in other ways that evoke signature moments form the films will lure gamers to the Wii U for their Aliens fix.

"I don’t want to give spoilers away on some of things we are thinking of or things we have actually implemented already," he said, "but a lot of cool opportunities with that device that are going to make a very unique and compelling experience on that platform. We have given a lot of attention. I think it will not be too long [before] Nintendo opens up their kimono a little bit more about that platform and where it is going, we will be there right with them talking about how Aliens is using it.

 

[wsippel]

Someone just told me Nintendo will not be supporting backwards compatibility with the WiiU. Has anybody else heard this?

Maybe someone was just guessing based on the fact that Nintendo dropped the 1T-SRAM. Then again, I wouldn't be all that surprised if they dropped it. I think Wii hardware compatibility would be a waste of transistors, anyway - the die space could be used to add more eDRAM or shader units instead. They should do HD remasters on eShop.

 

[NBtoaster]

Yeah, I was talking about simply changing the resolution which should be easy enough. Using a different set or resources should not be a trivial change too, again assuming the Wii U actually has the power to do it. Whatever the case, Darksiders II will run in 1080p on the PC, which is probably a 'lazy' port. It's not an intrinsic limitation of the game or engine to run only in 720p. If the Wii U has the power, it should be able to run in 1080p as well.

The most compelling reason for Vigil to not go beyond what is the 360 version is that the console's power is unpredictable and as such a source of possible bugs with devkit upgrades, and that they're trying to fix up a Wii U game while retaining a certain baseline. It's either that or the console just doesn't have the muscle.

I don't think they're referring to resolution at all, but just asset and large tech changes. Though there are other reasons to stick with 720p. What's happening on the controller could be demanding, or they might achieve 60fps. Don't rule out resolutions between 1080 and 720 either.

 

[gamingeek]

Probably old:

Darksiders 2 art director Han Randhawa interview

Calls Wii U 'a pretty powerful machine, more resources, you can do a lot more'

Wii U talk Starts at 2 mins 53 secs

Darksiders 2 art director Han Randhawa interview

"There's not a lot I can talk about right now but I think Wii U's a pretty powerful machine which obviously means more resources, it means you can do a lot more, the Wii U teams been doing really really well, we've been working with Nintendo and I think it's going to be a very exciting version of Darksiders, but we want to keep the overall thing relatively consistent"

So there's the clarification, unless he's comparing Wii U to Wii 1, when he says "a pretty powerful machine which obviously means more resources, it means you can do a lot more " he's talking about how it's more powerful than 360 and PS3, obviously and he's obviously said that it's their intention to keep all the versions consistent with each other so the comments from the guy a few days ago were misintepreted by most people.

 

[AceBandage]

Here's a fresh interview with Randy Pitchford from http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012...ands-gearbox-software-aliens-brothers-in-arms

Probably old:

Darksiders 2 art director Han Randhawa interview

Calls Wii U 'a pretty powerful machine, more resources, you can do a lot more'

Wii U talk Starts at 2 mins 53 secs

Darksiders 2 art director Han Randhawa interview

"There's not a lot I can talk about right now but I think Wii U's a pretty powerful machine which obviously means more resources, it means you can do a lot more, the Wii U teams been doing really really well, we've been working with Nintendo and I think it's going to be a very exciting version of Darksiders, but we want to keep the overall thing relatively consistent"

So there's the clarification, unless he's comparing Wii U to Wii 1, when he says "a pretty powerful machine which obviously means more resources, it means you can do a lot more " he's talking about how it's more powerful than 360 and PS3, obviously and he's obviously said that it's their intention to keep all the versions consistent with each other so the comments from the guy a few days ago were misintepreted by most people.

Yup, both old (the latter actually had a nice topic about it ).

 

[Krev]

Probably old:

Darksiders 2 art director Han Randhawa interview

Calls Wii U 'a pretty powerful machine, more resources, you can do a lot more'

Wii U talk Starts at 2 mins 53 secs

Darksiders 2 art director Han Randhawa interview

"There's not a lot I can talk about right now but I think Wii U's a pretty powerful machine which obviously means more resources, it means you can do a lot more, the Wii U teams been doing really really well, we've been working with Nintendo and I think it's going to be a very exciting version of Darksiders, but we want to keep the overall thing relatively consistent"

So there's the clarification, unless he's comparing Wii U to Wii 1, when he says "a pretty powerful machine which obviously means more resources, it means you can do a lot more " he's talking about how it's more powerful than 360 and PS3, obviously and he's obviously said that it's their intention to keep all the versions consistent with each other so the comments from the guy a few days ago were misintepreted by most people.

Yeah, definitely sounds like he's comparing it to PS3 and 360 with how he justifies it with the comment about keeping things consistent.

 

[suracity]

BTW, did darksider I do well?

I bought it on PSN recently, and it got me feel like Zelda with more actions (But I only played a few of chapters). It's weird that the director of a game which is inspired by a famous Nintendo franchise made some weird comments on Nintendo's new console.. I mean I don't really feel surprised that Kojima makes excuses to not make games on wii U. Sometimes you have the feeling of certain people's stand and you can accept those kind of thing much more easily...
Ahh.. I hope I can express myself more clearly. >_<

 

[Rösti]

BTW, did darksider I do well?

In January, THQ launched new original game Darksiders&#8482;, which achieved an average Metacritic rating of 83 and delivered strong commercial sales, with shipments of approximately 1.2 million units in its first four weeks.

Source: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/865570/000110465910004673/a10-3043_1ex99d1.htm

Not that well, in my opinion, for a multi format title, but that's only for its first four weeks of course. I suggest actual "sales" up to this date could equal something around 1.7 - 2.0 million units.

 

[AceBandage]

It did good enough for a sequel, which is all that matters.

 

[Aostia]

Randy Pitchford of Gearbox praises the Wii-U

Here's a fresh interview with Randy Pitchford talking about Aliens: Colonial Marines for the Wii-U from http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012...ands-gearbox-software-aliens-brothers-in-arms

I really like to hear those kind of comments by developers.
Interesting uses of the Upad is what I'm looking for.

 

[gamingeek]

Yup, both old (the latter actually had a nice topic about it ).

LOL you made a thread.

Well done.

 

[darthdago]

It did good enough for a sequel, which is all that matters.

It did not do really well at all...
From THQ point of view they are very sad with that sales and I can understand them,
cos what is even around 1.7m (maybe to date) broken down to 3 systems PC/360/PS3.

It is sad and thumbs up to THQ as publisher that they announced a part 2!!

 

[guek]

yeah 1.7 million probably didn't net THQ very much money after recouping costs. I think they have much higher hopes for DS2. I hope its a good game since it'll likely be a launch title purchase for me.

 

[DragonSworne]

Has vigil even worked on Wii before?

I interpret the vigil quote to be a comparison between the platforms that DS2 is on, meaning a comparison to PS30 and WiiU. I don't know why he would make a comparison of WiiU to Wii, especially when DS2 is not on Wii, and neither was DS1

 

[Sadist]

Just a random thought: I'd totally want to know what's happening at Nintendo of America/Japan right now in preparation for E3. It's only a mere 68 days away.

 

[Bagu]

Just a random thought: I'd totally want to know what's happening at Nintendo of America/Japan right now in preparation for E3. It's only a mere 68 days away.

Reggie is readying to release an army of bears while Iwata is prepping a bomb

 

[guek]

Has vigil even worked on Wii before?

No, which is why interpreting that comment as a comparison to the wii is incredibly imbecilic. It's utterly depressing how many people went straight to that line of though, and still somehow think it's a possibility even after being explained why it isn't.

 

[darthdago]

Has vigil even worked on Wii before?

I interpret the vigil quote to be a comparison between the platforms that DS2 is on, meaning a comparison to PS30 and WiiU. I don't know why he would make a comparison of WiiU to Wii, especially when DS2 is not on Wii, and neither was DS1

No they have only released Darksiders (PC/360/PS3), now Darksiders 2 (PC/360/PS3/WiiU) and in 2013 will release Warhammer 40k online (PC)

 

[Gillian Seed]

Nintendo better have a Achievment/Trophy System this time around!

 

[Bagu]

Nintendo better have a Achievment/Trophy System this time around!

They'll have hats, does that count?

 

[neeksleep]

They'll have hats, does that count?

I'll take facial hair over hats.

 

[capslock]

No, which is why interpreting that comment as a comparison to the wii is incredibly imbecilic. It's utterly depressing how many people went straight to that line of though, and still somehow think it's a possibility even after being explained why it isn't.

Let's hope so. I would be very happy to be wrong that Wii U is only XBox 360 level.

 

[Gillian Seed]

They'll have hats, does that count?

If it is similar then yes.........

 

[TheExplodingHead]

They'll have hats, does that count?

Fuck Hats! I want blinging nipple tassels for beating NMH3 on hardest difficulty!

Seriously though, if they want to give me some sort of OS featured loot in place of numbered/named achievements. It better not be a bunch of lame hats.

Why not a full Sims-esque house/yard/decoration building thing within the Wii U in place of the Mii Plaza. Deck out your place and show off in style. All of your "friends" could be in your neighborhood.

I'd laugh my ass off if Nintendo dubbed it the "Mii Crossing".

 

[nickcv]

i've been pretty busy in the last few days, did anything worth knowing happen?

if the answer is "no" what did you guys talked about for 20 pages? XD

 

[Sadist]

Why not a full Sims-esque house/yard/decoration building thing within the Wii U in place of the Mii Plaza. Deck out your place and show off in style. All of your "friends" could be in your neighborhood.

But how could they sell a new Animal Crossing after implementing this?

:'D