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[ShadowFox08]

Wow.. What happened to this thread? Really slowed down today.

I'm not getting ME3 on the Wii U, simply because I haven't played the first two. I think it would be a great idea to offer downloadable versions of the first two ME games on the Wii U. I really don't think they have a whole lot to lose doing that. If they do this, I will be more likely to buy ME3, but start with the first game.


As or games I'm interested in on the Wii U:

1. Call of Duty Black Ops 2(which I'm fairly confident will be confirmed eventually). This is the only game I feel like I'm pretty much guaranteed to pick up in Nov around Wii U's launch. I've owned every CoD Wii game since WaW(WaW, MWR or COD4, BO, and MW3), and I'm excited to finally play CoD in HD with DLC and patch support, and with wiimote +nunchuck controls. Though I'm willing to give wii u pad a try(motion tracking + dual analogs + screen really sounds like a lot of potential.. Though I'm mostly worried about the width), and I really hope Treyarch pullls it off well. Seems like the new mode(strike force?) was pretty much made for the Wii U, and I'd be more surprised than not, if Treyarch doesn't talk about it. Just hope frame rate doesn't take a huge hit with the Wii U Pad for online multi.

Pikmin 3, P-100, and Zombie U are definitely on my radar, and I think I'll get Pikmin 3 eventually, if not on day one. Really hoping Nintendo Land gets packed in with the Wii U.

One thing I don't want to get into the mistake again, as I did with the Wii(after it was launched), is buy a bunch of games at once. I don't play games nearly as often as I did back in highschool and before.. And it's hard for me to juggle/multitask between games. There's still several wii + 3DS games I haven't even finished single player yet, because I bought them too close together(Skyward Sword and Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Starfox 3DS + Super Mario Bros 3D + Mario Kart 7).


Right now, I'm just imagining awesome ways Treyarch could take advantage of the wii u pad's screen for BO2. Anyone care to brainstorm with me? I have some ideas.. Is there a BO2 Wii thread btw?

 

[Pineconn]

What do you guys think the likelihood of HD'd N64, gamcube and Wii games coming to the Wii U eshop is? I think this could be a great thing for them to offer to really build up the library of games in a short amount of time. They dont have to offer a bunch of new content or any new content, just upres them. Sorta like the 3D classics on the 3DS, this could be the "HD Classics"

I'm sure they'll do something like that, but probably not too expansive. Heck, even the 3D Classics series has but a few games.

Xenoblade and Skyward Sword in HD....

 

[Terrell]

I was responding to the notion that because the Wii U has a gamepad that looks like a portable it will magically sell like a portable - when it's not a portable, and therefore doesn't have the ability to be a commuter device, which is one of the major selling points of a handheld. I don't see how or why anyone would dispute the latter notion.

It's not only now. The Game Boy sold 32.5M in Japan; roughly the same as the NDS (33M).

EDIT: As for the Miis, it's self explanatory. They're an aesthetic abomination.

The Game Boy numbers you have include the Game Boy Color. Even prior to the Game Boy Color's introduction, the Game Boy was on the market for 9 YEARS. With the Game Boy Color, that makes it 11-12 YEARS. Not exactly comparable to the NDS, y'know?


And no, you didn't explain anything, you added an adjective. As the appeal of Miis is subjective, it can not be self-explanatory.

 

[Trevelyan9999]

Good info. Hopefully this will stop some of whining about the CPU.

You mean to tell me that developers were not even able to use the DSP properly in the dev kits until 2 days ago??? No wonder they were having CPU issues.......goodness gracious.

 

[shinra-bansho]

The Game Boy numbers you have include the Game Boy Color. Even prior to the Game Boy Color's introduction, the Game Boy was on the market for 9 YEARS. With the Game Boy Color, that makes it 11-12 YEARS. Not exactly comparable to the NDS, y'know?

And no, you didn't explain anything, you added an adjective. As the appeal of Miis is subjective, it can not be self-explanatory.

I was just reading off of Nintendo's financial data. But I accept my mistake in taking it at face value.

That doesn't change the overarching point that the Wii U is not akin to a portable regardless of the GamePad's appearance, doesn't have the benefit of appealing to commuters and will not pull handheld/DS numbers in Japan simply because of better software support, when the PS2 which had the biggest and arguably the best 3rd party support barely matches handheld numbers in Japan and comes nowhere close to the DS.

Expecting such, is naive.

I would go further to say that no home console is going to pull PS2/PSP numbers in Japan in the foreseeable future, let alone DS numbers.

------

It's a subjective opinion that the Miis are an aesthetic abomination. They are ugly even in HD. What more do you need to know?

 

[ShadowFox08]

What do you guys think the likelihood of HD'd N64, gamcube and Wii games coming to the Wii U eshop is? I think this could be a great thing for them to offer to really build up the library of games in a short amount of time. They dont have to offer a bunch of new content or any new content, just upres them. Sorta like the 3D classics on the 3DS, this could be the "HD Classics"

I don't think Wii games in general are likely to be available on the Wii U eshop, (though I think they should for imports), because the Wii came out fairly not long ago, and you can still find games(minus MP:Trilogy). Didn't Nintendo make a comment months ago, saying they won't upscale Wii games?

I can definitely see Gamecube and past generation support. Dunno about upscaling past games to HD, considering Nintendo hasn't done that with VC games for the Wii, IIRC, and preserving classic games in black and white for handheld ds portables, instead of coming out with their colored ones. >_> But it's possible, and I think it's much more likely than upscaling Wii games.

 

[Roo]

You mean to tell me that developers were not even able to use the DSP properly in the dev kits until 2 days ago??? No wonder they were having CPU issues.......goodness gracious.

Well, better later than never, I guess
Did any developer complain about this before?

 

[JordanN]

Well, better later than never, I guess
Did any developer complain about this before?

A better question is who is complaining?

Haruda only mentioned a low CPU clock (which is irrelevant and already said the game isn't even that far behind the other versions). Anonymous janitors don't count till proven otherwise. So that leaves none.

 

[lherre]

Alright, let me put it this way. It would be bad business and shear stupidity for SE to not put a main numbered final fantasy on the Wii U and if they don't put one on there, it won't be because of the consoles specs.

Are you sure? As I said before, depends on the level S-E want to achieve visually with the next FF entry using luminous.

@bgassassin

Speaking of middleware, here is an example mentioned by a developer, Crytek in this case.

This is what I was talking about why 3rd-party middleware may not be necessairly that critically important because the top engines don't even rely on them.

http://www.vgleaks.com/e3-2012-cryengine3-and-crysis-3-dx11-demonstration-leak-out/attachment/004/

If you want to see more of this just modify the numbers in the URL from 001 to 011

Also keep in mind this is a SPOILER so if you want to see the great trailer keep you're fingers off this link leak article.

There is no reason why Crysis 3 can't make it on WiiU. Some of the feature intensity would be lowered, as well as other sacrifices, but none of such features would be cut completely, except the hardware-driven ones which are tesselation and other performance-costly stuff, in favor of getting more in the scenes and luckly 60FPS.

Yes, but think that (as far as I know, not 100% sure) Crytek didn't port CE3 to Wii U, the responsible is one of the CE3 licensees and it is not available for anyone (other developers) and it hasn't "official" support by Crytek. So with this info I doubt too much about a Crysis 3 port right now.

 

[AzaK]

While doing some random searching I came across this interesting little tidbit.

Since we've seen a heavy emphasis on lighting from Nintendo with last year's demo I wonder if this will how they accomplish this. Here are a couple of things you can read on it. The second link comes from the first link.

http://www.pjblewis.com/articles/tile-based-forward-rendering/

http://aras-p.info/blog/2012/03/02/2012-theory-for-forward-rendering/

Also if some of you have the computers to handle it, AMD has the Leo demo available.

http://developer.amd.com/samples/demos/pages/AMDRadeonHD7900SeriesGraphicsReal-TimeDemos.aspx

Thanks bg, some good reads there.


BTW: Any big devs use FMOD?

 

[bgassassin]

I forgot to mention that RawMeatCowboy posted this and I didn't see it mentioned.

Wii U O-Live?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxa3kBgr1pw&feature=player_detailpage#t=724s

Are you sure? As I said before, depends on the level S-E want to achieve visually with the next FF entry using luminous.

If it will make them money, they will do it.

You bastard! How are we supposed to coerce people to the Dark Side without cookies?!?!??

Uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh... *runs*

 

[Roo]

A better question is who is complaining?

Haruda only mentioned a low CPU clock (which is irrelevant and already said the game isn't even that far behind the other versions). Anonymous janitors don't count till proven otherwise. So that leaves none.

Now that you mention it I think I remember he said it was on aPS360 level (or something between those lines)

And about annonymous complaints, yeah, if there's no name then there are no ears. Easy.

 

[bgassassin]

Thanks bg, some good reads there.


BTW: Any big devs use FMOD?

Here's a game and engine list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FMOD#Games_using_FMOD

 

[lherre]

If it will make them money, they will do it.

My point is that then they can do it for ps360 too.

 

[Roo]

I forgot to mention that RawMeatCowboy posted this and I didn't see it mentioned.

Wii U O-Live?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxa3kBgr1pw&feature=player_detailpage#t=724s

Ohhhhhhhhhh :O
why no one made a big deal about this!!! why!????

to be honest, I like it more than Nintendo Network BUT I can already hear "ohh, it sounds just like Xbox Live Nintendo is such a copycat" meh

Edit: maybe she just confused the names, I mean, if you google "Nintendo O-Live /O Live" nothing pops up =/

 

[bgassassin]

My point is that then they can do it for ps360 too.

But that wouldn't really matter since earning potential would outweigh visual quality anyway. They won't be that concerned about maintaining a certain level of visuals if it means taking a hit on what they can make.

 

[ShadowFox08]

For all those CoD Wii owners who are planning to get BO2 on Wii U..

Has anyone ever thought of the Wii U Pad as a hybrid of the wiimote+nunchuck and CC? Imagine the possibilities!

Motion sensing and dual analog, plus wii u pad screen, all used in the same time(or disabling motion sensing to make it ccpro like)!!! Wii U pad screen could be used for objective games(including the new one), a bigger radar mini map, kill cam, easier access to score screen/custom class slots. It could make kill streaks easier to use, and they could also borrow the idea from Zombie U of using ADS mode in the touchpad, while having 3rd person mode on the TV screen(or vice versa), but whichever screen is not on ADS mode--you could be able to see the mini map on that. Could be useful for snipers?

My only worries, is that... Besides actually thinking and implementing this successfully.. The width of the controller not hindering turn movement, and hopefully the screen doesn't take enough processing power to drop the framerate/reduce graphical quality significantly. Two handed feels like it's gonna be slower motion turning than just the wiimote.. Hmm

Anyway, I really think the Wii U Pad has a lot of potential. It can have the best of both worlds of both motion sensing + dual analog, as well as touchpad, being used at the same time. I really hope Treyarch pulls it off(they were known for revolutionary customizable FPS controls for the CoD wii games), so they can pave the way for future FPs games that other 3rd party devs normarly make on PS3/30-to use the Wii U Pad, instead of relying on CC pro.

 

[Terrell]

I was just reading off of Nintendo's financial data. But I accept my mistake in taking it at face value.

That doesn't change the overarching point that the Wii U is not akin to a portable regardless of the GamePad's appearance, doesn't have the benefit of appealing to commuters and will not pull handheld/DS numbers in Japan simply because of better software support, when the PS2 which had the biggest and arguably the best 3rd party support barely matches handheld numbers in Japan and comes nowhere close to the DS.

I would go further to say that no home console is going to pull PS2 numbers in Japan in the foreseeable future.

My response was not in opposition to your assertion that Wii U =/= NDS. That much is clear, they are different products. It was the part about why portables sold so much.

Part of the reason DS eclipsed the PS2 is easy to understand and doesn't hinge on this commuter culture aspect that people cling to so much.

I'm gonna go a bit Sales-Age on this thread, apologies in advance.

For comparable numbers and to show the circumstances more clearly, let's compare the DS to something that's closer in lifespan between predecessor and successor and share a sales timeframe within the same decade: Game Boy Advance.

The lifetime numbers of the Gameboy Advance, in all of its iterations, are just under 17 million units from 2001 until the line was discontinued in 2008, with most of those sales happening prior to the DS launch. If it was "commuter culture" that was the reason the DS sold so well, why did the GBA not benefit?

Because the market changed in a few appreciable ways:

1) The video game industry saw a large up-tick in growth near the tail-end of the PS2's lifespan, just as the DS was released

2) The DS was Nintendo's first experiment into selling their product into emerging markets like casual players

3) The console business in 2006 took a NOSEDIVE by introducing 2 platforms that Japan KNEW wouldn't repeat the PS2

The 3rd point is important. As a consumer, you want to play games. You go to a store in Japan. Here are your options:

a) A Nintendo console with a radically new way to play games but paltry support outside the platform holder's own content

b) a Sony console that costs, at minimum, around $500 USD with only 2 marquee titles in the pipeline that appeal to the nation's gaming tastes

c) Portables with an endless stream of new content


.... I know, tough choice, right? Despite the Wii's impending shortcomings, people STILL bought it, but as time went on and no marquee content was coming to it aside from Nintendo's releases, people stopped browsing the Wii aisle. Until the last year and a half, PS3 was too expensive to look at.

As a regular consumer, what other choice would you honestly have?! Portables were the only obtainable platform with a steady schedule of big name releases and the Nintendo brand was synonymous with handheld gaming. Hell, if I personally wasn't totally disinterested to portable gaming as a whole, even I couldn't refuse that. Being a commuter device sweetened the pot, but that's not what brought people to the DS aisle of their local Bic Camera.

It's a subjective opinion that the Miis are an aesthetic abomination. They are ugly even in HD. What more do you need to know?

What makes you define them as "ugly" or "an aesthetic abomination"? You seem to be evading answering my calls for an explanation of your particular reasoning for your statement.

 

[EatChildren]

Final Fantasy will go to the platforms Square deems most profitable, relative to development time and expenditure. Regardless of how scalable Luminous is, a port job to the Wii U from (hypothetically) a lead SKU on much stronger hardware will take time and money. If there appears to be too many development hurdles, or the Wii U's market penetration and/or software performance is poor, there would be little reason to port it.

 

[AzaK]

A better question is who is complaining?

Haruda only mentioned a low CPU clock (which is irrelevant and already said the game isn't even that far behind the other versions). Anonymous janitors don't count till proven otherwise. So that leaves none.

Yes but he also said they had to work quite a bit to get it working. If it was a lower clock, but a faster overall CPU, assuming it was compiled with an optimising compiler for that CPU, you'd expect it to not have these issues.

I forgot to mention that RawMeatCowboy posted this and I didn't see it mentioned.
Wii U O-Live?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxa3kBgr1pw&feature=player_detailpage#t=724s

Must be a mis-speak right?

Here's a game and engine list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FMOD#Games_using_FMOD

Bah, amateurs, all of em!

 

[MDX]

I don't have a problem with color, but there is a point where it is too much.

Trine 2, New Super Mario Bros. U, and Project P-100 look wonderful.

Frankly, this just looks messy. You can't throw colors on something and expect it to look good simply because it's colorful.

Its basically like four colors being used.

 

[lherre]

But that wouldn't really matter since earning potential would outweigh visual quality anyway. They won't be that concerned about maintaining a certain level of visuals if it means taking a hit on what they can make.

Well I'm putting ps360wiiU at same level (not take this literally) this is why I say that they can put the game in the 3 if they "downport" to wii u they can do it to ps360 easily.

Obviosly this is only speculation XD

 

[MDX]

Was this mentioned yet?
Nintendodirect opening a youtube channel?

http://www.youtube.com/nintendodirectch

There are probably getting read to reach as many
people as possible with their next announcements.

 

[StreetsAhead]

Was this mentioned yet?
Nintendodirect opening a youtube channel?

http://www.youtube.com/nintendodirectch

There are probably getting read to reach as many
people as possible with their next announcements.

Yeah, it's for/starting with the Nintendo Direct this Friday about Brain Training.

 

[blu]

Well I'm putting ps360wiiU at same level (not take this literally) this is why I say that they can put the game in the 3 if they "downport" to wii u they can do it to ps360 easily.

Memory restrictions alone could make that not so easy.

 

[shinra-bansho]

My response was not in opposition to your assertion that Wii U =/= NDS. That much is clear, they are different products. It was the part about why portables sold so much.

What makes you define them as "ugly" or "an aesthetic abomination"? You seem to be evading answering my calls for an explanation of your particular reasoning for your statement.

I don't disagree with your points about good software, coupled with home console failings, coupled with expansion of the audience all contributing to the success of the DS. I don't think one can ignore it's success in Japan being due in part to the commuter nature of the consumer though (I'm not saying you are ignoring it).

But I don't think the success of handheld platforms, be it the DS or PSP, in general has any bearing on Japanese response to the Wii U.

----

RE: Miis.

I just personally find them ugly. I doubt I'm the only one. I don't really think it needs explanation any more than if I found them adorable.

Not as ugly as the horrific Home uncanny valley. Certainly uglier than the stupid Live Avatars.

 

[AzaK]

Memory restrictions alone could make that not so easy.

Could also make downports from 720/PS4 difficult too if the rumoured memory turns out to be true. If course if it does, then 360/PS3 are pretty much well out of the question.

 

[thegodsend]

so, when is the EA Sports summit today, when should we expect news showing up?

 

[blu]

Could also make downports from 720/PS4 difficult too if the rumoured memory turns out to be true. If course if it does, then 360/PS3 are pretty much well out of the question.

I entirely expect memory size discrepancies to be among the top hurdles for downports this coming gen.

 

[IdeaMan]

I call bollocks. The creative director of 5th Cell (Scribblenauts Unlimited) said this only a few days ago:



Soo yeah. Who are we to believe?

Maybe not 5th cell, but definitively big third-parties know the launch date, since a few months.

 

[JordanN]

Edit: Where's the vindication for the guy with the Konata avatar? I remember him and some other guy on another Nintendo site were right about UE4 was going to be on Wii U.

Also, while looking for this guy I came across some hall of shame.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...73&postcount=9
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost...5&postcount=68

 

[Terrell]

I don't disagree with your points about good software, coupled with home console failings, coupled with expansion of the audience all contributing to the success of the DS. I don't think one can ignore it's success in Japan being due in part to the commuter nature of the consumer though (I'm not saying you are ignoring it).

But I don't think the success of handheld platforms, be it the DS or PSP, in general has any bearing on Japanese response to the Wii U.

----

RE: Miis.

I just personally find them ugly. I doubt I'm the only one. I don't really think it needs explanation any more than if I found them adorable.

Not as ugly as the horrific Home uncanny valley. Certainly uglier than the stupid Live Avatars.

You're right, it doesn't. I guess that's my whole point, though, is that unpalatable console options leading to an upswing in portable sales =/= Japan being "handheld-land" ad infinitum either, the way that many are ready to conclude so willingly. Market conditions made it this way and can just as easily be unmade.

Hopefully, though, there would be if there is room for portable AND console success, but since the last success we saw for portables was more than 5 years ago and not nearly as strong with arguably equal content quality, I cast doubts on the scenario. If this gen plays out better than the last, the portable as the last refuge of Japanese gaming might be on the outs and cut into some of the 3DS/Vita marketshare. Considering the amount of people I've heard on GAF say that they don't even take their DS/3DS out of their house, there's reason to suggest that is half the case. The other half will be decided around a year from now.

Hmmm... weird, I find Miis no more or less unpleasant than Live avatars.

 

[EatChildren]

Where's the vindication for the guy with the Konata avatar? I remember him and some other guy on another Nintendo site were right about UE4 was going to be on Wii U.

Also, while looking for this guy I came across some hall of shame.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=35847273&postcount=9
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=35867455&postcount=68

But UE4 isn't formally going to the Wii U, nor has there been confirmation or implication of any third party porting the engine themselves. All Epic said was that the Wii U could probably run a version of UE4, but they didn't have intentions of porting it themselves.

 

[TriGen]

Despite the Wii's impending shortcomings, people STILL bought it, but as time went on and no marquee content was coming to it aside from Nintendo's releases, people stopped browsing the Wii aisle. Until the last year and a half, PS3 was too expensive to look at.

As a regular consumer, what other choice would you honestly have?! Portables were the only obtainable platform with a steady schedule of big name releases and the Nintendo brand was synonymous with handheld gaming. Hell, if I personally wasn't totally disinterested to portable gaming as a whole, even I couldn't refuse that. Being a commuter device sweetened the pot, but that's not what brought people to the DS aisle of their local Bic Camera.

I agree with your point, I don't think people should just right off a home console being bigger than a handheld in Japan just because one can be taken out of the house, like you said in the past that hasn't always been the case and handhelds as a whole are hurting more than consoles are, so if ever there was a time to jump towards consoles again as oppose to handhelds now is the time, at the start of a new gen.

Obviously in Japan a dedicated gaming device you can take on the go is viewed more highly than it is in NA/EU, that's why we see the big Pokemon and Monster Hunter games being made for handhelds and not home consoles, in NA/EU if popular franchises like God of War or something bypassed home consoles for handhelds it would go awful, as the consumer's in those areas expect big console releases. My point is that just because handhelds are more respected in Japan then other areas it doesn't mean consoles can't become big over their again.

The DS is difficult to point to as is the PS2, both of those are a bit of outliers, they both dominated every market (something you can't assume will happen on that scale again) so saying "hey look the DS proves handhelds own Japan" isn't a true argument and the same can be said for the PS2. In the PS2's case it was a big step up from the last gen and it came out a lot earlier than it's competitior's, it was also reasonable at a time where being a DVD/CD player were big selling points.

At the end of the day if Japan isn't going to go straight iOS it will probaly have to embrace consoles once more, the 3DS and Vita don't give off the impression they will be able to shoulder a generation like the DS did. How this impact's Japan's output for the Wii U, PS4 and Next-Box remains to be seen. It will come down to market share and also how much the next-gen consoles (I'm obviously including Wii U) sell for.

In Japan I don't think a 400$ plus console will get out of the gates well at all and I think this gen more then any before it how fast a console takes off will be huge in devs deciding whether to support it, or not. With Japan devs fearing costs I imagine they will want early confidence that there will be a good install base if their going to back a platform, so a reasonable launch price will be very big.

This is one area Nintendo could have an advantage, we all expect the Wii U to be cheaper at launch then the other consoles and Nintendo's allowance of old Wii products being allowed to be used with Wii U could be very attractive in Japan. I don't see Sony going particulary cheap, so that along with the PS3 not killing Japan like most dev's thought and the Vita's slow start could make some devs decide to play it safe and target the Wii U. Honestly Microsoft could do it's payment plan thing with it's next console that might help, but again if were talking about Japan it's hard to see them ever taking off their.

So to sum up I think Nintendo could do well in Japan as they could potentially have things that are very attractive in particular in Japan, for both devs and consumers. Nintendo will launch first, they will likely be the cheapest, Japanese devs that took a long time adjusting to the 360/PS3 may find it easier to work with Wii U as oppose to what Sony and Microsoft will bring out next and in Japan having only one TV in a house is more common so the Gamepad will be a very big draw in that regard. The big hitch in all this is how well will the Wii U do sales wise, right off the bat. As I said Japan's devs are very leary of consoles after this generation so early assurance of an install base will be huge in deciding which horse they will back.

 

[metalslimer]

That guy was obviously wrong as he said Nintendo were working directly with Epic to get UE4 on Wii U and beefing up specs and such. Unless Epic is flat out lying which they have no reason to the guy was making shit up

 

[The_Lump]

But UE4 isn't formally going to the Wii U, nor has there been confirmation or implication of any third party porting the engine themselves. All Epic said was that the Wii U could probably run a version of UE4, but they didn't have intentions of porting it themselves.

I could be wrong but I figured the whole argument at the time was more about if the WiiU could run UE4 (which Epic have basically confirmed as yes, it can but its not aimed at that level of hardware) not if it will be used.

Edit: Just seen the post above, didnt realise anyone had claimed that! I stand corrected...

 

[JordanN]

That guy was obviously wrong as he said Nintendo were working directly with Epic to get UE4 on Wii U and beefing up specs and such. Unless Epic is flat out lying which they have no reason to the guy was making shit up

Edit: Found the post.

I've just heard it from a friend that Epic has UE3 & UE4 up and running on Wii U hardware.

His source works for a developer, one that I shall not name, but they do work on pretty much every system. So that alleviates any concerns that I didn't have over the Wii U power issue as far as I'm concerned.

To clarify on what was said, it was more along the lines of Nintendo tweaked the Wii U to make sure it can run UE4.

which would explain the recent bump in specs... and apparently Nintendo is still tweaking the hardware. So it could get even better.

Eh, not sure what to say. The first post comes off as wrong, the other not so much.

 

[AzaK]

I entirely expect memory size discrepancies to be among the top hurdles for downports this coming gen.

Yeah it worries me too. I take it textures are the main issue and then meshes/bones etc?

 

[The_Lump]

Yeah it worries me too. I take it textures are the main issue and then meshes/bones etc?

It is a legit concern but I think resolutions are going to play a large role in this. You can decrease memory usage pretty significantly (on PC games at least) if you decrease the resolution. If "next gen" console games are natively using higher resolutions then down porting may become a little easier as memory can be free'd up by reducing to 720p etc. just a thought but it may be a factor.

 

[Ryoku]

Yeah it worries me too. I take it textures are the main issue and then meshes/bones etc?

More ram in PS4/Xbox3 could mean less sheep in Wii U. I like my sheep

 

[DaSorcerer7]

But UE4 isn't formally going to the Wii U, nor has there been confirmation or implication of any third party porting the engine themselves. All Epic said was that the Wii U could probably run a version of UE4, but they didn't have intentions of porting it themselves.

But the good news is that the console has the feature set to run it at some level(what that is yet, we don't know), which leaves the door open, unlike the situation with the wii and ue3.

 

[Ryoku]

But the good news is that the console has the feature set to run it at some level(what that is yet, we don't know), which leaves the door open, unlike the situation with the wii and ue3.

My take on the situation is that if Wii U shows that the audience is there for certain hard core games (Zombi U being one of them), then third parties may consider porting UE4 to Wii U in order to make porting of PS4/Xbox3 games to the Wii U easier. It's a matter of whether or not there is money to be made.

 

[The_Lump]

My take on the situation is that if Wii U shows that the audience is there for certain hard core games (Zombi U being one of them), then third parties may consider porting UE4 to Wii U in order to make porting of PS4/Xbox3 games to the Wii U easier. It's a matter of whether or not there is money to be made.

I'll buy 12 copies of ZombiU then, just to be sure

 

[woo and indeed hoo]

I didn't mean to offend you and if I did I truly apologize.

Thank you.

You are being a gentleman about this which I greatly appreciate and respect.

I would not normally have reacted in that way to such a comment but it really pushed my button yesterday.

However, after sleeping on it, I came to a realisation that should [hopefully] make it less likely that I would react in such a way; which I would not have come to otherwise.

So from that perspective I am indebted to you; thank you .

No hard feelings I trust?

*********************************************************

ON TOPIC:

Do we have a list of possible events that Nintendo will use to dish out some cold hard facts?

I know that there is likely to be another Nintendo Direct in a month or so and I have seen posts referring to a 'Fall Conference' but I'm not sure when that would likely be.

If anyone has compiled such a list I would be glad to see it as I am starting to get antsy for some moar solid information!

 

[Aostia]

Final Fantasy will go to the platforms Square deems most profitable, relative to development time and expenditure. Regardless of how scalable Luminous is, a port job to the Wii U from (hypothetically) a lead SKU on much stronger hardware will take time and money. If there appears to be too many development hurdles, or the Wii U's market penetration and/or software performance is poor, there would be little reason to port it.

I agree.
Let's also admit that if it's true that Nintendo should work better in creating the right environment for third parties, it's also true that the "wait (for what? the holy spirit?) & see" approach will lead nowhere.
If third parties are interested (are they? I think yes, considering that they drop the ball from the very beginning on the Wii, that turned out to be a huge success) in having the chance to perform well also on the Wii U they should start proposing something that can create that "fanbase".

Please don't misunderstand me: I totally see why some softco or some brand was intended for the HD twins totally avoiding the Wii. But I think that if the Wii U will have some success (also less then the Wii) would be another waste for softco to totally miss it.

So, if SE would be interested in seeying if FF15 on a (possible) successfull Wii U they should start IMHO in porting also Versus to that platform that should cost no great hurdles in terms of development.

Only proposing titles tailored for the right demographic you can hope to well perform with your titles IMHO.

If all third parties will just: wait & see, it's obvious that there will never be the right environment for them.

Of course, on the other side Nintendo should push in order to work with third parties in order to allow an easier flow of games from them compared to the Wii,otherwise they can just stay with PS360 now and Orbis-Durango then.

But if thw Wii U will be a successfull peace of HW, coming on the console later on with just some isolated games will lead nowhere, both for N and thirds, and it would be another missed opportunity as for the Wii.

But imho the Wii had additional problems (remote probably not so hot for some kind of game; promotion too focused on the casual side of the market; hw hurdles way more heavy then Wii U imho; and so on), so I think that repeating the mistake with the Wii U in the same exact way would be a bigger mistake from both N and thirds.

 

[DrWong]

Just watched the Nintendo Direct > http://youtu.be/NoWr6GHKMd4

As expected it's a 12mn presentation of Demon Training, nothing more. I'm just wondering what Iwata said in the beginning of the vid. about E3 and Wii U, maybe something about a future NinDir.? Waiting for some translation.

Next stop > EA sports event (today and tomorrow).

 

[lherre]

I entirely expect memory size discrepancies to be among the top hurdles for downports this coming gen.

Well, then you will have the same problem with wii U, I think ps4 and x360 will have "at least" twice the memory that wii U has. So it won't be easy to downport in any case.

 

[StreetsAhead]

Just watched the Nintendo Direct > http://youtu.be/NoWr6GHKMd4

As expected it's a 12mn presentation of Demon Training, nothing more. I'm just wondering what Iwata said in the beginning of the vid. about E3 and Wii U, maybe something about a future NinDir.? Waiting for some translation.

Next stop > EA sports event (today and tomorrow).

Nintendo Direct is more succssful than they ever imagined.

From now on, as there's often a lot of info to get through, they'll be doing Mini-Directs (Chotto Directs) in order to give more focused and timely info on some titles.

Wii U Direct was mentioned in passing only.

 

[DrWong]

Thanks for your help StreetsAhead.

 

[blu]

It is a legit concern but I think resolutions are going to play a large role in this. You can decrease memory usage pretty significantly (on PC games at least) if you decrease the resolution. If "next gen" console games are natively using higher resolutions then down porting may become a little easier as memory can be free'd up by reducing to 720p etc. just a thought but it may be a factor.

What you say is definitely valid, plus there are other such factors e.g some texture asset types are more susceptible to resolution downgrades i.e. those don't come so obvious. At the same time though other texture assets might be both already in a fairly optimised form and/or in large quantities.

Basically, at the end of the day you can be very naive and just run a script over all your static texture assets that downscales them N times, then change similarly the resolution of the dynamic textures (i.e. render textures), for a 'guaranteed' N-fold net effect. But I sincerely doubt you could viably ship a title 'donwported' in such a manner.

Well, then you will have the same problem with wii U, I think ps4 and x360 will have "at least" twice the memory that wii U has. So it won't be easy to downport in any case.

I don't think it's the same problem if you have twice the memory in one case, vs six-to-eight times the memory, in the other.