[Nibel]

Man, if we only would knew a goddamn thing about GPU and CPU..

[HylianTom]

All this talk about ninjas and NDAs could warrant a small update. From the abridged version of the NDA: 4. Confidential Information. "Confidential Information" means information provided to Company by Nintendo, or a third party under a confidentiality obligation to Nintendo, in oral, demonstrative, written, graphic or machine-readable form, relating to Nintendo products, services or business, including but not limited to: (a) information, know-how, techniques, methods, concepts, ideas, development tools or kits, emulator boards, specifications, prototypes, or trade secrets; (b) patent applications and information related thereto; (c) business, marketing, customer or sales plans, strategy or information; (d) development, design, operation, or manufacturing information; (e) information received from others that Nintendo is obligated to keep confidential; (f) passwords, access or security codes necessary to access or use Nintendo's secure websites, news groups, developer conferences or similar collaborative or teaching sessions, and any information contained therein; and (g) this Agreement and its terms and conditions, and any communications related thereto. 5. Location. Company will keep the Confidential Information only at its secure location(s) and its Subsidiaries secure location(s) approved by Nintendo. Source: https://www.warioworld.com/apply/devapplication.asp Except for neuroimaging/telepathy, I can think of no other ways of communication with which you could tell confidential things about Wii U without breaking the NDA.

Does "demonstrative" include communication via Charades?

(first word: 1 syllable, etc etc..)

[Azure J]

I'm still on the 640SPU/15 - 2GB GDDR5 optimist's guess myself for the GPU. :P

[Federico_612]

We are hafway on the tread, and we don't know Jack...
AND IT STARTED LAST WEEK!!!!!!!!!!
WE ARE DYING HERE, IDEAMAN, IHERE, THROW US A BONE



JK

[cyberheater]

Man, if we only would knew a goddamn thing about GPU and CPU..

We'd be so disappointed.

Just thought I'd finish that sentence for you.

[HylianTom]

lets make it 3.5GB? I like that better

Could you imagne the reactions around here?

"Still not good enough. 720 has 4 gigs.. the U is waaaay underpowered!"

Developers too..

[Nibel]

We'd be so disappointed. Just thought I'd finish that sentence for you.

You know what the worst part of your goddamn post is?

It's probably right.

[THE:MILKMAN]

But doesn't Nintendo like to use odd amounts of memory? That'd be my main hangup on the whole theory..

Maybe Nintendo decided with a "odd" 3-core CPU, they would make the memory nice and "even".

Basically, I don't know!......

[AceBandage]

But what is the Prime Number of the GPU?

[Smiles and Cries]

Could you imagne the reactions around here? "Still not good enough. 720 has 4 gigs.. the U is waaaay underpowered!" Developers too..

nothing is ever good enough for GAF

I'm going to take my daytime nap now that we got our news for the day

[herzogzwei1989]

Man, if we only would knew a goddamn thing about GPU and CPU..

I very very very VERY much want to know how many ROPs the GPU has. I'll be so disappointed if it's only 8 like Xenos and RSX.


I'll bet IdeaMan knows exactly how many, but won't tell us :/

[cyberheater]

You know what the worst part of your goddamn post is? It's probably right.

I have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as yet another day goes by without even a sniff of news.

This is murder waiting for news.

[AceBandage]

I very very very VERY much want to know how many ROPs the GPU has. I'll be so disappointed if it's only 8 like Xenos and RSX. I'll bet IdeaMan knows exactly how many, but won't tell us :/

I doubt that, honestly.
He might know the basics about the specs, but nothing in detail.

[cyberheater]

I doubt that, honestly. He might know the basics about the specs, but nothing in detail.

And if he knew. He couldn't tell us.

[herzogzwei1989]

I doubt that, honestly. He might know the basics about the specs, but nothing in detail.

Well, any of the mid to upper-end AMD RV7xx / Radeon 48xx have 16, I believe.

[Green Yoshi]

Man, if we only would knew a goddamn thing about GPU and CPU..

I don't expect it to be so powerful as current GPUs for PC, but I hope it's way faster than the Xbox 360. Great console for sure, but almost seven years old.
But Wii was only as powerful as the Xbox 1, so perhaps WiiU is only as powerful als Xbox 360.

[HylianTom]

I very very very VERY much want to know how many ROPs the GPU has. I'll be so disappointed if it's only 8 like Xenos and RSX. I'll bet IdeaMan knows exactly how many, but won't tell us :/

I wonder.. hey, IdeaMan: are you cut-off from your source(s) now, or is the info you have still evolving?
(I might've missed this tidbit..)

[IdeaMan]

I wonder.. hey, IdeaMan: are you cut-off from your source(s) now, or is the info you have still evolving? (I might've missed this tidbit..)

It's evolving a bit.

For some others: i'm currently writing what i wanted to share today. Just be patient guys and talk about something else :(

[AceBandage]

It's evolving a bit. For some others: i'm currently writing what i wanted to share today. Just be patient guys and talk about something else :(

Writing...
Writing...
MARIO TEACHES TYPING CONFIRMED!

[HylianTom]

It's evolving a bit. For some others: i'm currently writing what i wanted to share today. Just be patient guys and talk about something else :(

Cool.. thanks much!

(we can always find something else goofy to talk about around here.. I plan on re-starting the Nintendo Juicy™ rumor!)

[Christine]

It's evolving a bit. For some others: i'm currently writing what i wanted to share today. Just be patient guys and talk about something else :(

Ok. Why does Xenoblade's Those Who Bear Their Name track sound so damn familiar? I keep thinking it's an homage to a battle song in another RPG, but I just can't place it.

[Alistair Roo]

It's evolving a bit. For some others: i'm currently writing what i wanted to share today. Just be patient guys and talk about something else :(

Please don't be too cryptic :(

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

Guys, if I knew all the information about the system, I'd share it with you.

[HylianTom]

Ok. Why does Xenoblade's Those Who Bear Their Name track sound so damn familiar? I keep thinking it's an homage to a battle song in another RPG, but I just can't place it.

No idea why, but it vaguely reminds me of fight music from Secret of Mana..

[Christine]

No idea why, but it vaguely reminds me of fight music from Secret of Mana..

THANK YOU. Danger is the track it's been reminding me of. That's been bugging me for a while now.

[FoxHimself]

Someone refresh my memory: Why are we taking everything IdeaMan is saying at face value again?

I didn't mean that in a "fuck off" kind of way, just curious.

[lordfroakie]

Let's talk about the possibities of Wiiu, getting console mmos. I'm not the online noticing the trend...

[EloquentM]

Someone refresh my memory: Why are we taking everything IdeaMan is saying at face value again?

Iherre and him have spoken via PM and Iherre has stated that he knows quite a bit about the system. That's the best we can do to believe him aside from mod confirmation (since idea man isn't a developer).

[ReyVGM]

THANK YOU. Danger is the track it's been reminding me of. That's been bugging me for a while now.

To me it sounds a lot more to the Final Fantasy 6 boss music. The Black Mages version, more specifically.

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

Someone refresh my memory: Why are we taking everything IdeaMan is saying at face value again? I didn't mean that in a "fuck off" kind of way, just curious.

People are desperate.

[StickSoldier]

Writing... Writing... MARIO TEACHES TYPING CONFIRMED!

[Napoleonthechimp]

To think we've got 2.5 months of this left...

[EloquentM]

People are desperate.

Um, that's definitely not it (at least in my case).

[Gravijah]

THANK YOU. Danger is the track it's been reminding me of. That's been bugging me for a while now.

what a boss battle theme.

[Nibel]

Ok. Why does Xenoblade's Those Who Bear Their Name track sound so damn familiar? I keep thinking it's an homage to a battle song in another RPG, but I just can't place it.

Don't know.

But everytime this tracks starts I switch into beast mode. Such a perfect choice for those mini bosses.

Xenoblade's soundtrack eats almost every other RPG soundtrack for lunch. Incredible.

[Rösti]

I doubt anything new will surface from it, but the Embedded Systems Conference 2012 takes place between 27th of March - 29th of March, and AMD will be exhibiting. It's at the The San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose. I don't know if "anyone" can attend or if you need to be a developer of some sort, but an Expo Pass is free and provides access to 250+ exhibitors, sponsored sessions, show floor theater events, keynotes and more. If anyone can get there AMD could be asked about the Wii U GPU; now, they exhibited at GDC as well but that's not as techy as this event. Do we have anyone in this thread that lives in San Jose or nearby?

IBM's Systems and Technology Group has its 2012 IBM Power Systems Technical Symposium on the 16th of April. It mainly concerns deep computing and features keynotes on recent developments in this area, but seeing as Wii U's CPU is based on a POWER system (said to be similar in design to what IBM Watson uses, which is an IBM Power 750 system), perhaps a tiny note on it will be mentioned.

IBM 1Q 2012 Earnings Announcement will happen on the 17th of April. It's very lengthy but always comes with a Q&A, from where questions about Wii U's CPU may come. It's of course a long shot and I expect absolutely nothing from this, but chance is that some investor may be requested to ask. I don't know if they will offer questions through phone sessions (it's usually standard), but if they do some bold fella could certainly call and ask about this hardware ordeal and what IBM is currently doing in relation to the processor.

Sources: http://www.ubmdesign.com/pricing-and-packages, http://www.ibm.com/investor/events/

Just small talk while IdeaMan readies his reveal.

[Übermatik]

THis is ridiculous.

I'm sorry for the negativity, but I can count on us getting fuck all before E3.

[herzogzwei1989]

I doubt anything new will surface from it, but the Embedded Systems Conference 2012 takes place between 27th of March - 29th of March, and AMD will be exhibiting. It's at the The San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose. I don't know if "anyone" can attend or if you need to be a developer of some sort, but an Expo Pass is free and provides access to 250+ exhibitors, sponsored sessions, show floor theater events, keynotes and more. If anyone can get there AMD could be asked about the Wii U GPU; now, they exhibited at GDC as well but that's not as techy as this event. Do we have anyone in this thread that lives in San Jose or nearby? IBM's Systems and Technology Group has its 2012 IBM Power Systems Technical Symposium on the 16th of April. It mainly concerns deep computing and features keynotes on recent developments in this area, but seeing as Wii U's CPU is based on a POWER system (said to be similar in design to what IBM Watson uses, which is an IBM Power 750 system), perhaps a tiny note on it will be mentioned. IBM 1Q 2012 Earnings Announcement will happen on the 17th of April. It's very lengthy but always comes with a Q&A, from where questions about Wii U's CPU may come. It's of course a long shot and I expect absolutely nothing from this, but chance is that some investor may be requested to ask. I don't know if they will offer questions through phone sessions (it's usually standard), but if they do some bold fella could certainly call and ask about this hardware ordeal and what IBM is currently doing in relation to the processor. Sources: http://www.ubmdesign.com/pricing-and-packages, http://www.ibm.com/investor/events/ Just small talk while IdeaMan readies his reveal.

Thank you, Rösti, for pointing these things out.

[AceBandage]

THis is ridiculous. I'm sorry for the negativity, but I can count on us getting fuck all before E3.

Sounds kinky.

[Nilaul]

Anything's better than

This is simply proof that Japanese art is above anything else done in America.

[IdeaMan]

About the resolution of the games from which my second-hand knowledge come. This may precise a tad more the Wii U power, in a specific context, how third-parties handle the system. It’s related to everything I’ve said before.

The games concerned run ALL in 720p on the main screen. For now, from the mouths of my sources, it's not a console that looks to manage software with complex engines with such ease that their resolution might be 1080p, even at 30 fps. The 720p resolution is best suited for these titles to have a smooth framerate, in addition of the subscreen.

Now let’s talk about the context, which is as important as the information itself:

- Both games have an intensive use of the padlet. More concretely, 3D scenes, different angle of what is on the TV (bird eye view for example). The system is therefore capable of displaying a main screen of AT LEAST comparable quality than current gen versions in 720p (with I guess, a certain amount of AA, etc.) AND another 480p content on the tablet.
- The titles are ports that will be available on actual HD platforms, or more “exclusive” ones but build on inhouse engines already deployed in previous softs. They aren’t tailored from A to Z for the Wii U particularities. And everything is still in development, + dependent of the evolution of dev kits that are changing regularly (at least until now). So it can only improve, and the situation may be different for Nintendo and first-party titles.
- The dev kit involved are the V4 ones. The “V5” is a little more powerful, but apparently not to a point to push these games from 720p to 1080p.
- My sources added that the resolution is the one chosen for now, but a hypothetical other power boost that may occurring post V5 need to be important to allow the system to run these games properly in 1080p.
- These titles will change in the visual department as, like I said, some effects will be applied more in the “end” of the development, with perhaps graphical features not handled by current gen, thanks to the more modern Wii U GPU. So the end result on the main screen will be prettier than on PS360, with a higher resolution (many current gen content are not in true 720p) and especially in conjunction with a heavy use of the tablet. We might expect that games leaving it for simple things will be even more impressive on the TV.

From these informations, several speculations can be derived as:
- The possibility that games with simple engines, such as family titles, Mii-based ones, etc, will be in 1080p.
- Maybe other developers, with a simplistic use of the padlet + after all the optimizations and hardware boosts/tweaking until the dev kit finalization (if they are only moderate and not extensive to a point that it will change this situation completely), will release games in 1080p (with less AA than on 720p, less FPS, etc.), but it doesn’t seem possible at the moment, if they want their titles to reach a certain level of sophistication and quality in visuals on the TV + intricate use of the subscreen.
- I guess we can speculate further on the power and the amount of some components with this, such as memory / buffer, the GPU…

All these infos are related to my previous posts (it’s the same context) about the hardware power scale, the impressions of my sources, the tablet usage, the memory, the surprising amount of RAM occupation from the OS/Background (it will surely be better and therefore have a positive impact on the general performances, etc.).

Nothing revolutionary as I warned you, but it can help narrowing a little more the Wii U capacities in this particular context, what you can expect from third parties ports/not exclusive games (because having followed each page of these threads, I saw many gafers who are anticipating these titles to be the 1080p versions of their current gen counterparts, but for now, it’s not the case). This does not necessarily mean that the Wii U is underpowered EITHER: manage a visually ambitious game in a solid 720p & framerate, at the minimum a bit prettier than on Xbox 360 + an additional 480p screen with a complex scene rendered on it, is not a small thing.

[cyberheater]

THis is ridiculous. I'm sorry for the negativity, but I can count on us getting fuck all before E3.

You sound quite positive compared to how I feel.

[herzogzwei1989]

About the resolution of the games from which my second-hand knowledge come. This may precise a tad more the Wii U power, in a specific context, how third-parties handle the system. It’s related to everything I’ve said before. The games concerned run ALL in 720p on the main screen. For now, from the mouths of my sources, it's not a console that looks to manage software with complex engines with such ease that their resolution might be 1080p, even at 30 fps. The 720p resolution is best suited for these titles to have a smooth framerate, in addition of the subscreen. Now let’s talk about the context, which is as important as the information itself: - Both games have an intensive use of the padlet. More concretely, 3D scenes, different angle of what is on the TV (bird eye view for example). The system is therefore capable of displaying a main screen of AT LEAST comparable quality than current gen versions in 720p (with I guess, a certain amount of AA, etc.) AND another 480p content on the tablet. - The titles are ports that will be available on actual HD platforms, or more “exclusive” ones but build on inhouse engines already deployed in previous softs. They aren’t tailored from A to Z for the Wii U particularities. And everything is still in development, + dependent of the evolution of dev kits that are changing regularly (at least until now). So it can only improve, and the situation may be different for Nintendo and first-party titles. - The dev kit involved are the V4 ones. The “V5” is a little more powerful, but apparently not to a point to push these games from 720p to 1080p. - My sources added that the resolution is the one chosen for now, but a hypothetical other power boost that may occurring post V5 need to be important to allow the system to run properly these games in 1080p. - The games will change in the visual department as, like I said, some effects will be applied more in the “end” of the development, with perhaps graphical features not handled by current gen, thanks to the more modern Wii U GPU. So the end result on the main screen will be prettier than on PS360, with a higher resolution (many current gen titles are not true 720p) and especially in conjunction with a heavy use of the tablet. We might expect that games leaving it for simple things will be even more impressive on the TV. From these informations, several speculations can be derived as: - The possibility that games with simple engines, such as family titles, Mii-based ones, etc, will be in 1080p. - Maybe other developers, with a simplistic use of the padlet + after all the optimizations and hardware boosts/tweaking until the dev kit finalization (if they are only moderate and not extensive to a point that it will change this situation completely), will release games in 1080p (with less AA than on 720p, less FPS, etc.), but it doesn’t seems possible AT the moment, if they want their titles to reach a certain level of sophistication and quality in visuals on the TV + intricate use of the subscreen. - I guess we can speculate further on the power and the amount of some components with this, such as memory /buffer, the GPU… All these infos are related to my previous posts (it’s the same context) about the hardware power scale, the impressions of my sources, the tablet usage, the memory, the surprising amount of RAM occupation from the OS/Background (it will surely be better and therefore have a positive impact on the general performances, etc.). Nothing revolutionary as I said, but it can help narrowing a little more the Wii U capacities in this particular context, what you can expect from third parties ports/not exclusive games (because having followed each page of these threads, I saw many gafers who are expecting these titles to be the 1080p versions of their current gen counterparts, but for now, it’s not the case). This does not necessarily mean that the Wii U is underpowered EITHER: manage a visually ambitious game in a solid 720p & framerate, at the minimum a bit prettier than on Xbox 360 + an additional 480p screen with a complex scene rendered on it, is not a small thing.

I haven't read all of this yet, READING NOW!

[EloquentM]

I'm not quoting idea mans post but I'm fine with these ports being at true 720

[nordique]

With what IdeaMan has hinted to us, 2GB makes most sense to me. Nintendo like to have balanced systems and I think it will breakdown 1.5GB available for games (512MB per CPU core if you like) and 512MB available for the OS.

512 MB for OS would be overkill imo



The 360, iirc, only uses 32 MB for OS, and its a pretty functional OS

[AceBandage]

About the resolution of the games from which my second-hand knowledge come. This may precise a tad more the Wii U power, in a specific context, how third-parties handle the system. It’s related to everything I’ve said before. The games concerned run ALL in 720p on the main screen. For now, from the mouths of my sources, it's not a console that looks to manage software with complex engines with such ease that their resolution might be 1080p, even at 30 fps. The 720p resolution is best suited for these titles to have a smooth framerate, in addition of the subscreen. Now let’s talk about the context, which is as important as the information itself: - Both games have an intensive use of the padlet. More concretely, 3D scenes, different angle of what is on the TV (bird eye view for example). The system is therefore capable of displaying a main screen of AT LEAST comparable quality than current gen versions in 720p (with I guess, a certain amount of AA, etc.) AND another 480p content on the tablet. - The titles are ports that will be available on actual HD platforms, or more “exclusive” ones but build on inhouse engines already deployed in previous softs. They aren’t tailored from A to Z for the Wii U particularities. And everything is still in development, + dependent of the evolution of dev kits that are changing regularly (at least until now). So it can only improve, and the situation may be different for Nintendo and first-party titles. - The dev kit involved are the V4 ones. The “V5” is a little more powerful, but apparently not to a point to push these games from 720p to 1080p. - My sources added that the resolution is the one chosen for now, but a hypothetical other power boost that may occurring post V5 need to be important to allow the system to run these games properly in 1080p. - The games will change in the visual department as, like I said, some effects will be applied more in the “end” of the development, with perhaps graphical features not handled by current gen, thanks to the more modern Wii U GPU. So the end result on the main screen will be prettier than on PS360, with a higher resolution (many current gen titles are not true 720p) and especially in conjunction with a heavy use of the tablet. We might expect that games leaving it for simple things will be even more impressive on the TV. From these informations, several speculations can be derived as: - The possibility that games with simple engines, such as family titles, Mii-based ones, etc, will be in 1080p. - Maybe other developers, with a simplistic use of the padlet + after all the optimizations and hardware boosts/tweaking until the dev kit finalization (if they are only moderate and not extensive to a point that it will change this situation completely), will release games in 1080p (with less AA than on 720p, less FPS, etc.), but it doesn’t seems possible AT the moment, if they want their titles to reach a certain level of sophistication and quality in visuals on the TV + intricate use of the subscreen. - I guess we can speculate further on the power and the amount of some components with this, such as memory /buffer, the GPU… All these infos are related to my previous posts (it’s the same context) about the hardware power scale, the impressions of my sources, the tablet usage, the memory, the surprising amount of RAM occupation from the OS/Background (it will surely be better and therefore have a positive impact on the general performances, etc.). Nothing revolutionary as I said, but it can help narrowing a little more the Wii U capacities in this particular context, what you can expect from third parties ports/not exclusive games (because having followed each page of these threads, I saw many gafers who are expecting these titles to be the 1080p versions of their current gen counterparts, but for now, it’s not the case). This does not necessarily mean that the Wii U is underpowered EITHER: manage a visually ambitious game in a solid 720p & framerate, at the minimum a bit prettier than on Xbox 360 + an additional 480p screen with a complex scene rendered on it, is not a small thing.

So, basically what we all expected.
The Wii U versions would look a bit better and run at a higher resolution even with using the controller screen.

[EloquentM]

So, basically what we all expected. The Wii U versions would look a bit better and run at a higher resolution even with using the controller screen.

I'm pretty sure one of the games is from ubisoft. AC3 perhaps?

[cyberheater]

So, basically what we all expected. The Wii U versions would look a bit better and run at a higher resolution even with using the controller screen.

Look a bit better, yes. Run at a higher resolution. I doubt it. Not more the 720p for a while at least.

[Cmd. Pishad'aç]

To think we've got 2.5 months of this left...

If you think you're gonna have full detailed specs on E3, prepare to be disappointed.

[AceBandage]

Look a bit better, yes. Run at a higher resolution. I doubt it. Not more the 720p for a while at least.

Considering a lot of PS3 and 360 games run at below 720p, it would definitely be a higher resolution.