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

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Door2Dawn said:
My sources say I'm the sexiest motherfuker alive.
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No one knows how things will play out until we have the same games being made for all 3 next gen systems.
 
z0m3le said:
To me, it's clearly a problem with the video, it is a new controller video, for a console they hadn't shown yet. They talked about it and showed off some nice graphics that obviously meant a new console, but they didn't show the console itself.

As for Wii U matching up with the next 2 consoles in 2013-2014. There is nothing that Wii U can't do fundamentally that the 7970 can do, the next consoles won't be more powerful than that, so I don't think anything on the ps4 couldn't be scaled back to look just as good at a lower resolution, or less AA or less frame rate.

basically if RE4 is passable as the same generation from Gamecube to PS2, when Leon was half the polygon count and lower resolution, then I don't see Wii U being a generation behind in even the most bias of minds.
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What more than likely would happen is if the visual lines are negligible, the other consoles will be written off as well before Nintendo gets credit.
 
AS far as last years e3 is concerned Nintendo thought it was wise to focus all on the controller itself which is why the console was a generic shell. That just backfired on them seeing as the wii is pretty much a gamecube in disguise everyone was more focused and hyped about seeing the console itself. So if I had to make a predictions this years e3 will show a almost completely new console design.
 
Postman said:
AS far as last years e3 is concerned Nintendo thought it was wise to focus all on the controller itself which is why the console was a generic shell. That just backfired on them seeing as the wii is pretty much a gamecube in disguise everyone was more focused and hyped about seeing the console itself. So if I had to make a predictions this years e3 will show a almost completely new console design.
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There was nothing wrong with how they presented the Wii U, as far as not showing the console goes.
The problem came from them showing off basically no real software for it outside of tech demos running on Wii engines.
As Reggie said, the console is just a box. Seeing the box means nothing.
It's seeing what the box can do that tells the tale.
 
AceBandage said:
There was nothing wrong with how they presented the Wii U, as far as not showing the console goes.
The problem came from them showing off basically no real software for it outside of tech demos running on Wii engines.
As Reggie said, the console is just a box. Seeing the box means nothing.
It's seeing what the box can do that tells the tale.
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It is all physiological. The generic shell makes it look cheap.
 
AceBandage said:
There was nothing wrong with how they presented the Wii U, as far as not showing the console goes.
The problem came from them showing off basically no real software for it outside of tech demos running on Wii engines.
As Reggie said, the console is just a box. Seeing the box means nothing.
It's seeing what the box can do that tells the tale.
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I think they should have done the opposite. Show the console for about 30 seconds and not even bothered with the sizzle reel. Just show logos of the games possibly coming to Wii U. With them being concerned about showing games on the hardware that would look on par with PS360 games, they shouldn't have shown a video of PS360 games.
 
lednerg said:
some random thoughts:

  • It's going to be interesting when people do the math and realize that 1) they mostly play their handheld game devices at home and 2) the Wii U is going to be the most powerful home-based handheld game device possible. Sure it'll cost much more than a gaming-only handheld, but it is also a next-gen console. I can't stress enough how much of a brilliant move that is, and I'm kind of baffled as to why I haven't seen more articles pointing this out.
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If you see it like that, it will be a powerful portable gaming device [/i]with a really shitty screen[/i]. It's ok as a secondary display, but if they want to go for it as a portable replacement that they'd need to invest more there.
 
They shouldn't have shown anything last year. A full year of squat is just unacceptable, and how long after E3 is it going to launch? Is it really wise to give nearly 2 years advance warning of a console?
 
Log4Girlz said:
They shouldn't have shown anything last year. A full year of squat is just unacceptable, and how long after E3 is it going to launch? Is it really wise to give nearly 2 years advance warning of a console?
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If they had copied their E3 2005 conference and just included showing the controller, they would have been much better off IMO.
 
AceBandage said:
There was nothing wrong with how they presented the Wii U, as far as not showing the console goes.
The problem came from them showing off basically no real software for it outside of tech demos running on Wii engines.
As Reggie said, the console is just a box. Seeing the box means nothing.
It's seeing what the box can do that tells the tale.
Click to expand...

When you're working on a console reveal there's two things to show off: software and hardware. Nintendo obviously didn't have Wii U-specific software ready (understandable, seeing as it was all still being worked on and demos always divert precious resources from development), and there was nothing wrong with that.

They did, however, have hardware to show. Even if it was in the prototypical stage, they had hardware to show, and they didn't. Instead, they showed a demo reel of PS3/360 footage. Wat.
 
Log4Girlz said:
They shouldn't have shown anything last year. A full year of squat is just unacceptable, and how long after E3 is it going to launch? Is it really wise to give nearly 2 years advance warning of a console?
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The simple fact of the matter is that Nintendo had nothing else to show. Christ, even with a new console unveiling, they had a twenty minute Zelda segment, and 5 minutes talking about eShop games which had already come out. 2011 was a lean year for Nintendo, and that conference without the WiiU unveiling would have been an unimaginable wasteland.

That they did it poorly isn't really in argument, but they had to show something.
 
bgassassin said:
If they had copied their E3 2005 conference and just included showing the controller, they would have been much better off IMO.
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Actually, if they copied e3 2005

Showed the controller and just that Zelda demo, I think it would have been received more strongly, but people would still have problems with it.

"What are they hiding?"
"I bet they had no 3rd party support!"
"Remember Sony and Killzone!"
 
Exterminieren said:
The simple fact of the matter is that Nintendo had nothing else to show. Christ, even with a new console unveiling, they had a twenty minute Zelda segment, and 5 minutes talking about eShop games which had already come out. 2011 was a lean year for Nintendo, and that conference without the WiiU unveiling would have been an unimaginable wasteland.

That they did it poorly isn't really in argument, but they had to show something.
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Which is dumb, they had PLENTY they could have shown.
I mean, they spent no time on 3DS software outside of a short sizzle reel.
They had Xenoblade already being translated. They could have shocked everyone by showing it off there.
Killer Freaks was ready to be shown off as well, and yet. Nothing at the conference.
A small teaser for Pikmin 3, for heavens sake!
 
Durante said:
If you see it like that, it will be a powerful portable gaming device [/i]with a really shitty screen[/i]. It's ok as a secondary display, but if they want to go for it as a portable replacement that they'd need to invest more there.
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Yeah, it's so stupid how Nintendo is sticking with prototype hardware for the final product.
 
Penguin said:
Actually, if they copied e3 2005

Showed the controller and just that Zelda demo, I think it would have been received more strongly, but people would still have problems with it.

"What are they hiding?"
"I bet they had no 3rd party support!"
"Remember Sony and Killzone!"
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But they still do that now. They could have at least removed the other problematic views that popped up in association with the 2011 conference.
 
Log4Girlz said:
They shouldn't have shown anything last year. A full year of squat is just unacceptable, and how long after E3 is it going to launch? Is it really wise to give nearly 2 years advance warning of a console?
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I think they felt compelled to show something to investors and to build up the hype because of the slow start of 3DS and its subsequent price cut, besides the Wii has been suffering much these recent years in terms of software releases - a few quality games(Xenoblade, Last story, Zelda, Rhythm heaven) but apart from those ones it's almost left for dead - so I understand how Wii users at this stage have been craving for a next gen console much more than PS360 users, so iI reckon it was a good timing for Nintendo to tease their new home console, last year's was just a teaser and I'm pretty sure they've quite a few tricks up their sleeve..
 
Last years E3 was definitely not the right time for them to show a new console. I don't even think they wanted to do it. I think they did it only for the investors to calm them down, since their fiscal reportings weren't that good.

They didn't have enough time to prepare or put some more thought into the presentation, therefore made mistakes and ended up having a very underwhelming Wii U unveiling.

If they are not stupid, they'll do it RIGHT this time in June and hopefully change the name.
 
Disorientator said:
Second Slide
Under WiiU Controller section:
"IR, HDMI and Wii Remote access port, 3.5mm audio jack, volume sliders" <-What?

These are errors right?
(or maybe I have to increase my daily WiiUNews dosage)
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Well it has a sensor bar, so HDMI would also allow you to take the controller to another room and still play on a Telly. Assuming the can get the wireless fast enough. However, I'm not convinced that's a compelling selling point.

blu said:
Seemed fine to me. Different strokes for different folks, I guess *shrug*. Though I have to admit I haven't got anything solid on the ps720 yet. But I hear some journalists describe them as 'ultra-powerful'. Which could pan a tad funny in the end, if things go the way I see them.
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I should probably know this, but blu, do you have a Wii U kit?
 
While searching for more information about the proprietary high-density optical discs for Wii U, I came to think of the joint patents between Inphase Technologies, Inc. (Longmont, CO)
and Nintendo Co., Ltd., describing "Miniature flexure based scanners for angle multiplexing". They've actually got three patent regarding this:

7,551,336 | Miniature single actuator scanner for angle multiplexing with circularizing and pitch correction capability
7,453,618 | Miniature single actuator scanner for angle multiplexing with circularizing and pitch correction capability
7,405,853 | Miniature single actuator scanner for angle multiplexing with circularizing and pitch correction capability
7,336,409 | Miniature flexure based scanners for angle multiplexing

Use the US Patent Full-Text Database Boolean Search if you wanna have a closer look: http://patft.uspto.gov/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html

Multiplexing means, I quote IBM here:
1. In data transmission, a function that permits two or more data sources to share a common
transmission medium so that each data source has its own channel.
2. In OSI, the technique of using a single network connection by multiple Transport
Layer connections so that multiple associations can share the same line. Multiplexing is available only
for transport classes 2 and 4.
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Two of these patents were filed as early as March 6, 2007. We know from "Iwata Asks: E3 2011 Special Edition" that Wii U began "development" in 2008:

Iwata: You know, Wii U has already been announced by the time people are reading this interview.

Miyamoto: Right.

Iwata: I've been looking back at my calendar right before this interview, and I noticed that it's been just
about three years since we started having meetings about this.
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Could this be something they have regarded as a key function of Wii ever since development started? InPhase sure has seen some rough years of reconstruction and several other problems, but they seem relatively stable for the moment, and shouldn't pose any greater risks for Nintendo to invest in actively. The patents however is not all too important if you look at what kind of discs Nintendo could get if they "team up" with InPhase. The offer in 2007 was holographic drives and media (Tapestry) with a capacity of 300GB of uncompressed data, with read and
write transfer rates of 20MBytes/second. In comparison to the BD-ROM, the transfer rate may be a bit low, but this was as said in 2007, and the roadmap supplied by InPhase looks like this:

WORM Gen 1 tapestryTM300r 300GB / 20 MB/second
WORM Gen 2 tapestryTM800r 800GB / 80 MB/second
WORM Gen 3 tapestryTM1600r 1.6TB / 120 MB/second

This is from a 2007 broschure: http://www.inphase-tech.com/downloads/pdf/products/2007TapestryProductBrochure.pdf

While I personally find this very exotic (even for Nintendo), some basic principles chime right in their direction:

  • low price for commercial quality
  • media backward read compatibility for three generations protects your investment
  • long archive life and multi-generational compatibility lets you skip data migration cycles
Considering the long archive life and multi-generational compatibility, they could choose to use this system for a long time, and it should be able to combat piracy pretty well, because of it's rather special output. What must be noted here though is that this natively doesn't fit the description of the optical disc. The tapestry media is for example 130 mm in diameter in comparison to the established 120 mm format, so the design would simply be something based on this. And while this would make sense for Nintendo to use, I still think it's too exotic, so I looked at alternative formats the design could be based on:

If we are to reference partners Nintendo has previously partenered with to develop media and in some cases hardware, our best choice is Panasonic/Matsushita. They provided the Nintendo optical disc used for Nintendo Gamecube and Wii, and could thus be a natural choice for Nintendo to continue with. To be able to put the following suggestion in context, it is perhaps appropriate to reference what Nintendo, in this case Reggie Fils-Aime, has actually said about the optical disc:

"This is proprietary technology. We haven't
disclosed the capacity, but obviously it has to
have a significant capacity to drive HD graphics."

Will the capacity be on a par with Blu-ray?

"We're not going to compare ourselves to
someone else's technology," Fils-Aime added.
"What I can tell you is it won't be Blu-ray and
the disc won't be a limiter to the types of experiences consumers can have."
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This was told in an interview with GameTrailers, as reported by CVG: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/306064/wii-u-wont-use-blu-ray-nintendo/

So, not Blu-ray then. Panasonic manufactures Blu-ray disc drives, so they obviously has the knowledge of how to create something similar to it, which they have already. The format is called ADA Media and is used mostly for archiving purposes, but is based on the Blu-ray disc standard and should be relatively easy to use for other purposes as well. The format currently holds 25-50 GB, with an expected future iteration holding 100 GB. The data transfer speed of 72 Mbps is sufficient, and the disc diameter is 120 mm. It coincides well with the specifications provided by Nintendo, and also what several media outlets have suggested about the format. The only problem here is that the current drive required for this media is rather large for Wii U's dimensions:

Internal drive: 1.63 inches tall, 5.75 inches wide and 7.6 inches long
Wii U: 1.8 inches tall, 6.8 inches wide and 10.5 inches long

Broschure here: http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/includes/pdf/Panasonic_Advanced_Disk_Datasheet.pdf

What Nintendo can do about the size of such a drive I don't know, but it would probably have to be something more efficient in size than Gamecube, and that ain't something you do in 60 seconds.

These are just some suggestions that can spark discussions to drive the thread for some time up to GDC. What role the Miniature flexure based scanners for angle multiplexing could play in the whole Wii U drama I honestly can't say. I usually get what a patent is about, but I just can't wrap my head around this. Perhaps we've got a software developer or an engineer around here that could come with an input.
 
Mario Kart 8: Blooper attack, rub it off using the bottom screen.

#inevitableideas

^ EDIT: Not going to happen. Nintendo make patents all the time that they don't follow through with. Nothing will come from their partnership with InPhase (if it does I'll eat my cat).
 
Yah, I know - it's really not difficult to drive considering the mini map, but I still see this happening anyway.

Also, touch based puzzles/scribbling for Zelda.
 
If they plan to release in 2012, last year's reveal was necessary. I know they had to push out a press release earlier in the year due to leaks, but an E3 unveiling should have been in the plans.

Unless their goal was 2013 but due to sluggish Wii sales, are releasing 8-12 months earlier than originally planned.
 
BY2K said:
No keynote at GDC?

Awwww. :(
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Nope. Only Koichi Hayashida (EAD) and Steve Rabin (NOA) in separate sessions.

Nintendo seems to be wanting some attention this year though, as they have positioned their booth close to the entrance. Last year it was around two or three booths north from the entrance. And the booth is bigger as well (perhaps to fit Wii U demo units).

3561.png


Note this is a cropped image, full floorplan here: http://www.gdconf.com/pdf/floorplans/GDC_2012_FloorPlan_North_West_02_02_2012.pdf
 
AzaK said:
Well it has a sensor bar, so HDMI would also allow you to take the controller to another room and still play on a Telly. Assuming the can get the wireless fast enough. However, I'm not convinced that's a compelling selling point.
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Speaking of which, you just got me thinking about how UTablet is gonna work, as it can allegedly make without the sensor bar - just think of it, you can point it outside the TV screen's range and it's still working, unlike Wii Remote.
 
Log4Girlz said:
They shouldn't have shown anything last year. A full year of squat is just unacceptable, and how long after E3 is it going to launch? Is it really wise to give nearly 2 years advance warning of a console?
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You think this thing is going to launch in Q2 of 2013?

Or is your definition of "nearly two years" (which, by the way, was true of the Wii as well) really loose?
 
ShockingAlberto said:
You think this thing is going to launch in Q2 of 2013?

Or is your definition of "nearly two years" (which, by the way, was true of the Wii as well) really loose?
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What I learned from my time on GAF is that time is even more relative than I thought.
 
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