frankie_baby
Member
even if Arkam is in the industry doesnt mean he's a dev, he could just as easily be the tea boy or a cleaner
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Wii U Speculation Thread 2: Can't take anymore of this!!!
- Thread starter ClovingWestbrook
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AceBandage
Banned
We have definitely gotten direct confirmation from developers that at a BARE MINIMUM it's on par with. And that's from E3, with devs that only had it a few weeks.
Dreamwriter
Member
Not only that, but at this stage Nintendo requires some hella-tough security. Even within a company that is using new hardware, only the team actually working with it is supposed to know about it - even execs aren't to be told unless they are already know. And that team is supposed to work in a secure room with no windows and no internet connection (unless required by the game they are making), with every team member having signed an NDA. Now, of course that doesn't keep those people from going home and spreading news, or telling their buddies, but the NDA is scary.
bgassassin
Member
Depends on what you mean by true. Like I've said it's more likely the blame is misplaced than he's lying.
Well we've had plenty of devs saying there'll be absolutely zero problems with getting 360/PS3 games to run on the Wii U. Arkam seems to be contradicting those statements.
frankie_baby
Member
so they are allowed to make a game but not tell their boss what they're doing?
Dreamwriter
Member
Yup, and their boss will most likely be told from the execs in-the-know that it's a secret project, don't ask questions. And you can't always tell if a secret project is something like that, because in my company we had other secret projects at other times that were just third-parties that really didn't want info about their software spilled early. One of those I didn't find out what it was until 3 years after it was completed.
AceBandage
Banned
This is basically how the Naked Sample was made.
There was that situation with Koei when they merged with Tecmo. Metroid Other M development was kept secret.
"But, in all honesty, if the Wii U turns out to be this ridiculously powerful machine, we will probably make changes to our budget and scope to take advantage of that. But that's currently not the plan. It's going to be a direct port. That's what we're planning on. But that's based off of what we believe the hardware's going to be like."
"It should be even superior for some of the games. We don't know everything, so we have a few things Nintendo is telling us that will have such and such powers."
Man, nintendo really kept those key devs with early info about the new console in the dark. Lots of IFs in there.
frankie_baby
Member
AceBandage
Banned
Because they were given early dev kits with a "here's what we're aiming for" statement from Nintendo.
The early dev kits were definitely at or above the 360, and from reports the final ones are much closer to what Nintendo was aiming for.
Iwata did say something along the lines of going back to the drawing board with the system. Plus, there's nothing stopping them from having developed multiple Wii U prototypes with different power levels and choosing to go for the cheapest option at the last minute.
This could mean a better launch line-up OR a cheaper launch price than originally planned.
And this could mean more opportunities for customers to spend money OR larger profit margins on hardware.
bgassassin
Member
Pretty much when looking at the target specs.
AceBandage
Banned
That quote was directly about software at launch...
You're just taking it out of context here.
Well, this "is weaker" could mean different things, all depends the point of view, it could be possible that raw hardware is inferior to the current gen, but real performance it excells both 360/PS3, it's not new for Nintendo, they usually point for eficient system, elegant architectures that output the best of the components.
DocTarHeel
Member
Indeed. I've been following the Wii U here since the rumors last year. I enjoy reading new rumors but sometimes people forget to take them all with a grain of salt. Given the choice, I'd still believe developer comments and comments from other posters "in the know" over a arkam's rumor. Where there's smoke there is fire, and there is certainly more smoke coming from the other camp at the moment.
Also, I don't see how 2+ pages of people accusing arkam of being a troll or discrediting him is a good discussion environment. LOL
Again: Doesn't mean he's lying. But if he's working on small projects, it's unlikely his company gets first access to latest devkits, and they're probably using off-the-shelf middleware that simply isn't done, let alone properly optimized yet. There's only so much you can offset with brute force alone, especially if the hardware is actually inferior in some ways due to a different design approach.
AceBandage
Banned
Of course he's not going to say "Oh yeah, it's like fours times as powerful as the 360".
I mean, first off, he's under an NDA about that.
Second, again, he's working on an alpha kit with a vague statement from Nintendo about target specs.
But then we have another conflicting report that say Wii U latest dev kit got an impressive bump. What report to believe?
R
Rösti
Unconfirmed Member
I alerted them just a minute ago.
Lessons nintendo hopefully learned from the 3DS launch
- A "proof of concept" piece of software is necessary to drive home the identity of the machine. The 3DS lacked such a piece of software and the 3D failed to be as compelling of a hook as nintendo anticipated. They assumed the proof of concept would be self evident
- A consistent stream of software is absolutely critical for building early momentum. Once momentum is lost, it is very difficult to regain.
- Do not get greedy with pricing. Though there are profits to be made in this struggling world economy, overpricing is deadly, especially when the machine lacks key software.
- Design differentiation is important. The console must visually set itself apart as a new product. How a console looks is its first line of marketing.
- 3rd parties talk big but aren't necessarily reliable. Priority number 1 is that software is there for the first few months, regardless of whether it comes from 3rd parties or 1st parties.
Pretty decent actually. Other than the Cafe rig, the info was more or less spot on. They accurately leaked the Wii specs too.
GhostTrick
Banned
Who's Arkam ? I mean, he's just a Junior Member. (Yes, I'm too)
Even most pessimistics rumors from old devkits talks about 50% more powerful. People are talking about a GPU like an HD4850 or something in this range power. So don't tell me that if a game coming from "HD twins" coming will take a serious hit, because it would be the most ridiculous thing ever.
Even most pessimistics rumors from old devkits talks about 50% more powerful. People are talking about a GPU like an HD4850 or something in this range power. So don't tell me that if a game coming from "HD twins" coming will take a serious hit, because it would be the most ridiculous thing ever.
Yeah IGN can be pretty terrible on alot of things but they have a pretty good record when it comes to hardware specs
ShockingAlberto
Member
They got a little overzealous with the 3DS specs, but only in wording. They probably saw games like RE:R and assumed that was the baseline.
frankie_baby
Member
it should be the baseline, if devs actually tried
stupidvillager
Neo Member
There is one statement that is pretty clear (its also my favorite so far) Gearbox has said, Weve got the Aliens: Colonial Marines engine running on the Wii U, and as far as the console goes, youre going to see textures at a resolution that you havent seen on the current generation,. For me right now thats all I need to know. A game running on all 3 systems but running better on the Wii U. On an early dev kit. That should put what Arkam says about it being less powerful and having to downgrade games to run on the Wii U to rest. It does for me.
AceBandage
Banned
They specifically said they were pleased with the system and that it has more memory at their little event at E3.
Right. The way it was written hyped up the system a bit too much.
Still pretty close to the truth as seen with RE:R though.
frankie_baby
Member
you forgot the 6th dev kit which is just 2 colecovisions duct-taped together
frankie_baby
Member
it did about 150 pages ago
AceBandage
Banned
They don't have to "shit on it".
They'd simply say they can't talk about it.
Instead they're saying it's more powerful, even if it's in a round about way.
ReyVGM
Member
ROTFLMAO
Well supposedly.......
But I think it's a load of crap. Pokemon has its fingers in everything. With online, there's no more reason you need a portable system to be able to trade. Seriously, if there's a market for My Pokemon Ranch, there's a market for a console Pokemon RPG.
Our faith is falling apart!
nordique
Member
Exactly.
Also, in the Ubisoft link Ace posted, we have this quote from Miyamoto:
http://www.qj.net/wii-u/news/ubisoft-wii-u-more-powerful-than-ps3/x360-for-some-games.html
To me, this means Nintendo is focused on making a powerful console, but with these "technological advances that result in increasing costs" you also have to find a balance between what is affordable (for them to produce, release under a healthy business model and ultimately for the consumer to purchase)
This does not sound like cutting corners to me.
Everyone needs to relax, not point the blame at Arkam and blatantly suggest he's wrong, and focus on Nintendo's strategy and what is reasonable.
To me their strategy needs a powerful system.
What is reasonable, is what bg and wsippel posted above. That would make sense why Arkam may say what he/she said.
edit: I should add that my expectations are in line with bg's among others. I don't expect the Wii U to be a super powerful console, but I do expect it to be a "step up" of sorts from the 360/PS3, and to be in the range of the next Xbox in terms of power.
Nintendo will want to focus on a system that is powerful but reasonably powerful. Problems with dev kits can happen, and don't shoot the messenger (Arkam) for passing some info along. bg and wsippel have presented reasonable ideas as to why Arkam could be off-base; Arkam has admitted he/she is not a software engineer, and everyone needs to stop this crazy assumptive "doomed" speak
AceBandage
Banned
Only the weak minded follow the prophet Arkam.
Those who are strong of heart will follow the true path of Iwata.
And?
If you're trying to say that a Pokemon on a handheld would sell more, I'd say you're likely correct.
But I'd still reckon a console game could sell pretty darn well. Even if it sold 1/10th of the current handheld games, that would still be significant.
I could see a 3DS sync-up with a console version via an eShop app that turns that console Pokemon game into an AR sort of experience when you're out of the house, where you meet "trainers" in real-life, StreetPass notifies you if they're "battle-ready" via a sound effect or something, and you engage them in battles. You can trade Pokemon with them after a battle if you so chose. It then syncs back up to the console version via SpotPass when you arrive home.
And suddenly there's no loss in that real-world playing and trading aspect.
Because it would negate one of the central reasons why the series is so popular?
So then I need 2 consoles to play?
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