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DigitalFoundry: Secrets of the WiiU GamePad

E

ekim

Member
Digital Foundry on how the controller was reverse-engineered - and exactly how it works.

The GamePad itself isn't anywhere near as complex as even the most basic Android tablet - essentially it's a standard game controller, with a touch-screen and a WiFi card, paired up with a decoder chip for the incoming video stream. Controller inputs themselves are beamed back to the Wii U via the same WiFi channel (180 times per second no less), in contrast to the Bluetooth employed by the Wiimote.
Click to expand...

"Video is compressed using h.264 (baseline profile, so no B frames)," Bourdon shares. "Audio is usually uncompressed, but we've found mentions of compressed audio formats in the firmware... We found mentions of [Miracast] when we started working on the GamePad, but it turned out to be false. There is no Miracast anywhere in that GamePad. Audio, video and input streaming is done over custom protocols."
Click to expand...

"I don't see any reason why it could not send GamePad video/audio to the internet (both internet and GamePad might be difficult/impossible)," offers Bourdon. "The firmware of the chip handling communication with the GamePad (called DRH) can be upgraded, so this might be in Nintendo's future plans. Only speculation though, we didn't see anything in the firmware that would indicate they are planning to do this."
Click to expand...

More at the link
 
B

big youth

Member
The GamePad itself isn't anywhere near as complex as even the most basic Android tablet

might be correct on some technical level, but in terms of possibilities it seems to me the Gamepad can do everything tablets can do and more, because of the 2nd screen.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
Interesting details, but not exactly a "secret" ? We all knew it had basically no internal hardware, and that it's designed as a receiver of a streamed signal from the console.
 
E

ekim

Member
Roboleon said:
Interesting details, but not exactly a "secret" ? We all knew it had basically no internal hardware, and that it's designed as a receiver of a streamed signal from the console.
Click to expand...

I for myself didn't know that this is simply a dedicated WiFi stream.
"I don't see any reason why it could not send GamePad video/audio to the internet
Click to expand...

That's interesting imho.
 
S

SmokyDave

Member
Interesting. I expected something a little sexier for the streaming. Well, it works well and that's what matters. Hopefully we'll see a cheap range extender at some point.

big youth said:
The GamePad itself isn't anywhere near as complex as even the most basic Android tablet

might be correct on some technical level, but in terms of possibilities it seems to me the Gamepad can do everything tablets can do and more, because of the 2nd screen.
Click to expand...
Take away the Wii-U base unit and it can't do anything at all.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
SmokyDave said:
Interesting. I expected something a little sexier for the streaming. Well, it works well and that's what matters. Hopefully we'll see a cheap range extender at some point.
Click to expand...

Oh GOD, yes please! I hope at least some third party gadget comes around eventually.
 
W

wonzo

Banned
big youth said:
The GamePad itself isn't anywhere near as complex as even the most basic Android tablet

might be correct on some technical level, but in terms of possibilities it seems to me the Gamepad can do everything tablets can do and more, because of the 2nd screen.
Click to expand...

Nothing says possibilities™ like a non-portable tablet without multitouch.
 
JimboJones

JimboJones

Member
frankie_baby said:
accessories are generally sold at a hefty mark up, in percentage terms the game pad is probably better value than most
Click to expand...

Yeah PS3 controllers and Wii remotes can be as high as £35-£45 and they're not special at all tech wise and mass manufactured.

I'd say once replacements are commonly available(if ever) they wont be £100+ but probably still more expensive than your standard controllers.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
Polk said:
Well Nintendo wants $140 (?) for replacement pad.
I understand accessories are sold at premium but come on.
Click to expand...

Original accessories are always expensive. An original Wii remote costs 4 times as much as a third party controller. So that is the context you need to understand the pricing within.

Comparing the Game pad's price with "low end tablets" are frankly quite ridiculous, since it's not a low end tablet, not even a tablet at all. (Not saying you did that, but some people in this thread are already going down this route.)
 
F

frankie_baby

Member
JimboJones said:
Yeah PS3 controllers and Wii remotes can be as high as £35-£45 and there not special at all tech wise can and there mass manufactured.

I'd say once replacements are commonly available(if ever) they wont be £100+ but probably still more expensive than your standard controllers.
Click to expand...

i'd be surprised if the ps3 controller costs much more than a fiver to make, wii remote maybe a little more, the markup on them is insane
 
F

fabricated backlash

Member
Isn't this "analysis" pretty much useless? Most of it can be deduced by just looking at the thing/opening it up yourself.

I'm more interested in the encoding algorithms anyway, as they seem to be incredibly efficient with most patterns already. (still have some problems with noisy images)

And on that end we already got a pretty comprehensive Iwata Ask with the chief engineer.
 
B

Bjoern the Smexy

Member
"The firmware of the chip handling communication with the GamePad (called DRH) can be upgraded, so this might be in Nintendo's future plans. Only speculation though, we didn't see anything in the firmware that would indicate they are planning to do this."
Click to expand...
Wasn't the firmware of the console AND the Gamepad updated with the spring update?
 
R

Rich!

Member
frankie_baby said:
you know what, if they had expanded the remote functionality a bit i'd be tempted to buy extra pads just to use as remotes for other rooms
Click to expand...

Well...my PC, consoles and SKY receiver are all routed through my surround sound system via HDMI. The Wii U remote feature doesn't support audio hardware, so its absolutely useless as a feature for me.
 
I

iSnakeTk

Should be put to work in a coal mine.
big youth said:
The GamePad itself isn't anywhere near as complex as even the most basic Android tablet

might be correct on some technical level, but in terms of possibilities it seems to me the Gamepad can do everything tablets can do and more, because of the 2nd screen.
Click to expand...

But it has no multi-touch
 
T

Taker666

Member
It would have been nice to have a deeper full look at every thing in the pad and not just the streaming tech (NFC,motion tech used,camera used etc).
 
R

Rocky

Banned
The GamePad itself isn't anywhere near as complex as even the most basic Android tablet - essentially it's a standard game controller, with a touch-screen and a WiFi card, paired up with a decoder chip for the incoming video stream. Controller inputs themselves are beamed back to the Wii U via the same WiFi channel (180 times per second no less), in contrast to the Bluetooth employed by the Wiimote.
Click to expand...

This doesn't sound right. If the gamepad had WiFi, it would have a much better range. I thought I read that the gamepad uses bluetooth to connect to the console, just like the remotes.
 
F

frankie_baby

Member
Rocky said:
This doesn't sound right. If the gamepad had WiFi, it would have a much better range. I thought I read that the gamepad uses bluetooth to connect to the console, just like the remotes.
Click to expand...

the bluetooth bit was thrown around as a theory by some before launch but its been known since release that it wasn't true
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
frankie_baby said:
acurate touch > multitouch
Click to expand...

I can't believe people are still trying to bang this incredibly misinformed drum. Yes. the millions of touchscreen tablets and smatphones on the market today have woefully inaccurate touch sensors which EVERYBODY complains about and don't deliver the absolute pixel precision required to play highly technical games such as slopping down giant blocks in NSMBU or tapping large menu items.

Oh and before we even get started on "Miiverse drawings!!", AutoDesk Sketchbook Pro and other highly efficient drawing apps are used by millions worldwide on iPads with their fingers to produce HD images of outstanding quality, or of course further still on Galaxy Notes with inbuilt Wacom technology.

The Nintendo DS was in 2004. Technology unsurprisingly moved on (the reason why Nintendo is failing to capture hearts and minds) and so should your ignorance.
 
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