Sylvrfonic
Member
It's possible that a successful Wii U will signal to developers that there is no need to spend extra money developing games that take advantage of the alleged power of post 2012 consoles.
Totilo article on Wii U's power. New rumors, analysis of getting PS4/720 ports
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Even if it was, it would still have BIG storage and BIG controls problems. I'm also doubtful it would offer an AAA dual screen gaming experience, which is an edge Wii U has over anything on the market.
I don't expect Ubisoft to be the only 3rd party that will add value to Wii U games, leveraging the console strengths (GamePad, amount of controller options, built in social network).
Gahiggidy
My aunt & uncle run a Mom & Pop store, "The Gamecube Hut", and sold 80k WiiU within minutes of opening.
I don't know exactly, but there is a photo of it that was posted in the WUST thread.
The only news in there to me is the suggestion that WiiU could have 2GB ram. If true, 8gb in next-gen consoles sounds more feasible than initial rumors.
As for "Killzone-level detail", while I'm sure the hardware is capable of such performance I'm skeptical that Nintendo will attempt it any time soon.
I love it when "efficient" enters the technical discussions on GAF. Unless you're talking about power-efficiency, what the hell could you possibly be talking about? Yeah, those other consoles are fast, but look how much they waste! Great indicator that a poster doesn't know anything about the subject.
As for "Killzone-level detail", while I'm sure the hardware is capable of such performance I'm skeptical that Nintendo will attempt it any time soon.
I love it when "efficient" enters the technical discussions on GAF. Unless you're talking about power-efficiency, what the hell could you possibly be talking about? Yeah, those other consoles are fast, but look how much they waste! Great indicator that a poster doesn't know anything about the subject.
Fourth Storm
Member
I'm not sure what you're going for here, but I find that it's a lot more comfortable to hold Vita for a few hours than 3DS.
Do you work in marketing?
Betta Lines
Member
That's... not the point? All they said was that the Wii U is likely to be closer in power to the next iPad than the 720/PS4. That is what is not unreasonable. I don't think anyone is arguing that the Wii U is gonna be matched or beaten in power by the next iPad, just that it'll be nowhere near the 720/PS4.
Gahiggidy
My aunt & uncle run a Mom & Pop store, "The Gamecube Hut", and sold 80k WiiU within minutes of opening.
It will be closer to 720/PS4 than 360/PS3. We can be sure of that.
Actually, I'm at this point 95% sure this will not be the case. And all rumours point to the same conclusion. What are you basing your statement on?
Betta Lines
Member
Can we? I've seen no evidence that suggests it's much more powerful than 360/PS3.
Sony and Microsoft are bound by what's possible in electronics, not by a minimum multiplier of whatever Nintendo does.
2GB is pretty insane in an otherwise conservative console. It might not all be fast memory though.
Aren't these core strengths of Wii U, just like graphical power is the core strength of a high-end PC? Every bit of Wii U positive talk does not need to be labelled as marketing.
To be successful on Wii U, 3rd parties need to leverage what it does better than other platforms. Power is not the only way to please people, far from it from a broad market point of view.
AndyMoogle
Member
I meant heat wise. Some smart phones can get ridiculously hot.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Article makes it sound like PC Engine a bit comparatively ("last gen" CPU, "next gen" GPU, big memory boost). At least it's not another Wii then.
What's possible for electronics? I've had 8GB DDR3 in my laptop for over a year. It didn't stretch the budget either
I'm not saying MS/Sony have to respond to Nintendo. Only that if "conservative" Nintendo opts for 2GB, less conservative consoles may prove even more capable than expected.
It's been suggested that the Wii U OS has a huge memory footprint, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them go the same route that they did for the 3DS in which they add 25% more RAM specifically for the OS. The rumors have been pegging the usable RAM capping at 1.5 gigs, which would gel well with that assertion.
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
You do have to keep in mind, though, that we really haven't yet seen a game built ground-up for the system that isn't a 2D game like Mario or Rayman, have we? Pikmin 3 started on the Wii, 3rd-party games are ports, etc.
It's very possible you're right, but let's wait until we see something built specifically for the system that takes advantage of its tech before we go there.
I believe you have this backwards.
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
And here we go. Every time.
gamergirly
Member
This "marginally more powerful than 360" and "performance orphan" stuff is BS until the hardware is taken apart and confirmed. All of this talk about power. No talk about how great Wii U games will look and play in HD. If I was so concerned about having the biggest bragging rights in technology, I wouldn't be buying a Wii U in the first place. From some of these replies, there's definitely some who care more about power than video games
Gahiggidy
My aunt & uncle run a Mom & Pop store, "The Gamecube Hut", and sold 80k WiiU within minutes of opening.
One... Wii U is being released in 2012 and the 720/PS4 in 2013, a one year gap, while the previous hardware was released 6-7 years ago.
Two... bgassassin's assessment.
"but the rams are not the same!"
True, but we're talking about consoles releasing over a year from now.
Majmun
Member
I'm sure Myamoto also visited the X360 demo showings before Wii was released.
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Sorry--it's a ludicrous thing to bring up. It just is. Ask anyone.
I don't know why people mock the article because it hasn't any brand new information in it. Compared to most articles about Wii U/Nintendo this one is well-conceived and has something called "factual accuracy" which seems to be too hard to pull of for many other journalists.
Although I don't visit Kotaku anymore: great job, Stephan.
Can't wait for "iPad 3 = 3x WiiU?" threads :lol
And "Perfomance orphan" is here to stay
Although I don't visit Kotaku anymore: great job, Stephan.
Can't wait for "iPad 3 = 3x WiiU?" threads :lol
And "Perfomance orphan" is here to stay
Unfortunately, I think Wii U's third-party support does look like it may resemble the Wii's in some ways, particularly with western publishers. They simply want more horsepower that will let them create bigger, beautiful and more immersive an cinematic game worlds instead of neat but non-essential and mostly gimmicky second-screen functionality. I just don't think most developers want to think outside the box when it comes to creating gameplay ideas based around the controller. Not that they have to, but what other incentive would there be in supporting Wii U if you didn't ? We'll get adequate get third-party multiplatform support, but I fear that Wii U owners will be treated like second-class citizens. As we know, some big developers already seem to have made up their minds about not offering serious support for the platform (like Rockstar). It's unlikely that they'll change their decision even if Wii U does have a larger core gamer user base than the Wii did.
That's what some people have been saying since the very first "next-gen" speculation threads. And now it seems like MS will ship a system with tons of DDR3 memory. I wonder what's "ludicrous" now.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Memory is one area Nintendo tends to be less frugal on though. Wii and 3DS both certainly could've gotten away with smaller amounts of slower RAM than they did.
Mario is starting to lose relevance, so I don't see Nintendo surviving without 3rd party in the coming generation. Hardware power is extremely important for gaming consoles, as already shown in the current generation. It's a well known fact that the first thing most customers ask is what kind of a GPU is installed.
Nintendo never cuts back on memory. The 3DS has memory modules the Vita would be jealous of. Memory was the only upgrade the Wii had over the GameCube except for some overclocks.
Consoles aren't equipped with memory sticks like your laptop. They have memory chips soldered on the motherboard. That means that motherboards increase in complexity the more chips you add to the machine. Therefore, costs rise steeply for each memory module added to the package, as well as failure rates. Any 360-sized console can have about 8, maybe 12 memory chips. The 360 has 8.
Currently, the fastest available memory is GDDR5. That comes in 256MB memory chips maximum. 8 memory chips would then give you 2 GB of memory. Only the slower DDR3 is currently known to come in 512MB chips. Realistically, the next Xbox and PS4 could use newer generation 512MB GDDR5 chips, but that would still have them top out on 4 GB, or maybe (unlikely) on a really expensive 6 GB. I think that Nintendo is using 4 512 MB DDR3 chips in the Wii U.
Majmun
Member
The first thing that came to mind on reading this was the "PS3 is just hitting its stride" comments by Jack Tretton. :lol
...What.
radioheadrule83
Banned
Next gen will be really nice looking with hella choppy framerate?
test_account
XP-39C²
I assume the "Wii" is a typo for WiiU, but what are these numbers based on? Which rumors?
Well the 720 is allegedly a media box so you can probably guess where a lot of that 4-8GBs is going, particularly considering the PS4 is still apparently targeting 2GBs.
A couple people(or rather insiders) have posted similar numbers on gaf and b3d I believe. Although I think he is exaggerating the WiiU numbers a bit, since the range is supposed to be like 600-800 or something iirc.
Betta Lines
Member
How can you use that as a reason? If that meant anything, the Wii would have been closer to the 360/PS3 than the Xbox/PS2. But it wasn't. Nintendo are once again being very conservative with power. It appears that they're doing the bare minimum to 'tick the box' of HD graphics.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Mario games are selling more than ever now. Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 are doubling sales of their DS predecessors according to NPD. Even legacy games still sell, Mario Galaxy 1 (a 2007 release, in the less popular platforming subseries) still moved over a million copies last year.
edit: lol, didn't make it past the first statement. Well done.
I think I need to stay out of WiiU threads until we can start talking about the actual games.
R
Rösti
Unconfirmed Member
Nintendo has abandoned the 1T-SRAM technology by MoSys for Wii U though, so you could wonder what kind of memory they have chosen this time. Is it something as conservative as DDR3 or something exotic like TTRAM by Renesas (that is only an example, don't expecting something like it)? I don't doubt Nintendo will incorporate a good design when it comes to memory, but to what degree?
True.
coughlanio
Member
I actually think the opposite, 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 were both innovative titles, compared to their predecessors. I agree than New Super Mario Bros. 2, and New Super Mario Bros. U is going a bit too far though, they should just release one, and save the other for next year.
The next series (6) for PowerVR used in iPads and Vita will support DirectX 11.1
This is the opposite of the truth. Chips are soldered on the board to save money. It's cheaper and easier to print them right to the board than to expose sockets.
Your other bit about DDR5 is closer to the mark, and to that I say: We're talking about consoles launching over a year from now.
Neko Mimi Mode
Member
The latter he's based on vague statements from a few GAF posters who claim to have insider knowledge. The former he pulled out of his ass. Both are equally unreliable and in no way contradict the plethora of evidence/statements, including the OP of this thread, which suggests the Wii U will be closer to the 360/PS3/2005
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