Wow, I haven't been to this thread since yesterday, before the Rayman trailer leaked, and obviously it's exploded. Normally I try to read as much as I can (and end up barely posting here as a result, since I end up so far behind!), but today I really don't have the time. Could any kind N-Friend(s) give me a brief summary of anything major that's happened?
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Wii U Speculation thread IV: Photoshop rumors and image memes
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I don't know, this article is in contradiction with what i've heard on several points. Maybe they're talking about a "small" studio that will receive the latest revisions of the dev kits + drc after the main companies. Maybe they are wrong. Maybe my sources are a special case. But considering the "wireless" part is wrong (or they have like many months of late for the supplying of wireless dev kits) as i explained with further additions of wsippel, perhaps the "new dev kits in june" part is not accurate or specific to their sources (so with delay) also.
Our beloved friend wsippel dropped a little bomb - claiming that the range of the Wii U controller has become much bigger with the newer dev kits.. maybe even so big that you can play from a different floor; but this is the speculation thread, so take it with a grain of salt.
Other than that.. that Rayman trailer was indeed only for internal use and represents a game and a system both in development, so some of what we saw in it isn't final.
That's what I got.
One day i'll do a consolidated list of the info. But the way i disclosed a part of it (with hints and lines threw to nurture the speculation because it's more fun for me, like for the memory) + all my other casual & "funny" messages (i refuse to be just an info-bot) make the search (with the search tool) of theses informations sometimes not very easy
DragonSworne
Banned
Not that useless. It could mean that the speculated CPU the WiiU is based on has been wrong and it is based on POWER7.
IceDoesntHelp
Banned
Thanks! I just looked back to see the wsippel post. If he's right it's a megaton, but what is the bandwidth of the streaming? How finicky is the technology? Being able to take the controller to another room and play would be incredible, but it's very hard to believe.Our beloved friend wsippel dropped a little bomb - claiming that the range of the Wii U controller has become much bigger with the newer dev kits.. maybe even so big that you can play from a different floor; but this is the speculation thread, so take it with a grain of salt.
Other than that.. that Rayman trailer was indeed only for internal use and represents a game and a system both in development, so some of what we saw in it isn't final.
That's what I got.
Thanks also! Project Cars ideas are actually interesting.
Didn't Silicon Knights do big layoffs not very long ago? How many employees do they have left? I'm wondering how capable they are of making a technically impressive, large scale HD console game right now.
Imo, on the contrary, the asymmetrical setup of the Wii U will refresh gamedesign & titles content. And there have been interesting & ideas introduced here and there.
And just for local multiplayer:
And motion controls will be still present, and their potential haven't been exploited to the maximum.
Considering the maximum frequencies of IBM processors older than Power 7 and their current CPU were higher than 4ghz (up to 5ghz and more i think) OR lower, we can assume they really adopted as a start-base their more efficient/lower than 5ghz frequency model to design & custom the Wii U CPU.
I wonder if they will let the TurboCore mode on it, to turn off some cores and boost the frequency of the cores left. Maybe there's some interest for this method in a console, some content could benefit more of increased performances from one core than normal multi-core one.
I made no claims whatsoever. All I'm saying is that the tech Nintendo uses shouldn't limit the transmission to a single room. But it's impossible to say for sure and depends on a number of factors. I guess it might work for some people but not for others.Our beloved friend wsippel dropped a little bomb - claiming that the range of the Wii U controller has become much bigger with the newer dev kits.. maybe even so big that you can play from a different floor; but this is the speculation thread, so take it with a grain of salt.
Other than that.. that Rayman trailer was indeed only for internal use and represents a game and a system both in development, so some of what we saw in it isn't final.
That's what I got.
DragonSworne
Banned
Isn't the biggest benefit of turboCore the fact that the remaining cores have access to the cache of the turned off cores?
R
Rösti
Unconfirmed Member
That's not useless at all, quite interesting actually. The IBM 476FP processor is at 1.6+ GHz, and POWER7 (in the Watson (750 Express) environment) is recommended between 3.0 - 3.7 GHz, up to 4.2 GHz I believe. I mention these as they have been the most discussed processors when it comes to what Wii U will incorporate. Nothing has been confirmed as far as I know.
Care to share your source for this?
It's one of the benefit yes. Simply put, you trade heavy multi-core normal performances (so your content must take advantage of the multi-cpu architecture) for a more limited number of cores but with increased performances.
If the Wii U CPU is quad-core, it could end up with 2 boosted cores.
If if it's three-core, it could be a single boosted core with some additional cache (not a lot more since if the info of asymmetrical cache is true, one of the core already has more cache that the others).
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
They've had two rounds of layoffs, so yeah, they're nowhere near the strength they once were. They've only got about 40 employees at the moment, if wiki is correct.
But if they were working on Eternal Darkness 2 then I'd assume they would also be working with Nintendo on the project, and I could see some asset farming being done/aid from Nintendo's other studios.
Regardless, if Eternal Darkness 2 is in the pipes, I wouldn't expect anything too outrageous in project scope. Not like Uncharted or Gears.
Hm. We can use this to narrow the range of possible CPUs it's based on.
If Silicon Knights are really working on ED2, it sounds like it's really their last chance as a studio. Surely the goodwill from the Canadian government can't keep them going for too much longer.
Chaplain
Member
Does the cost increase if Nintendo decides to use 4GHz instead of 3GHz?
DragonSworne
Banned
Yes, because they'll need to spend money to figure out how to cool it.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
According to Dyack, they never even saw the money that was reported to be coming from the Canadian government. Weird.
Eternal Darkness 2 is, surprisingly, the best bet on the condition that Dyack isn't weasel wording, given the evidence that we have. But Dyack has an ego, so he might be doing just that.
I guess we'll find out at E3.
ColdBlooder
Banned
it affects it indirectly because you need a better cooling solution for the additional heat it would produce. And the console would suck a bit more juice out of the socket. But that would be your problem not Nintendos
EDIT: Beaten by a dragon
It's outrageous that they never got that money. Combining the monetary support with Eternal Darkness 2 would have really helped the studio. I think that game would have been pretty successful, that success could have got the studio back to new highs.
Let's hope that Nintendo are lending a hefty amount of support to the team, so ED2 is the game it was always meant to be.
Let's hope that Nintendo are lending a hefty amount of support to the team, so ED2 is the game it was always meant to be.
I'm optimistic. I actually think that ED2 would be very well suited to the Wii U because they could do a lot with sanity effects involving the controller.
Well, I suggested that Retro could be in fact, developing it. Mainly because Retro seem like a good all round squad who would be capable with most genres.
Beyond them though, who else could Nintendo outsource the IP to?
Silicon Knight still is one of Nintendo's partners. They own a big junk of the studio.
BlackNMild2k1
Member
I'm guessing it's at the top for now because Nintendo thought it might be a little hard to put the uMote in it's cradle and still use your headphones if the plug was on the bottom.
you're just going to need headphones with a long enough cord to loop it around the back side of the controller to come back up from the underside.
SK proved capable before. i don't see why they would waste all of their internal talent working on that game when there's far more important franchises to be working on.
that dennis dude also has a very loud mouth, i'm not sure if it would be worth the hassle.
Well it would be a first party game, and I imagine that if it is truly being made Nintendo intends to get some of the 'hardcore' audience with it, that's why I think they may put a decent amount of money into it. Of course it would be co-developed with Nintendo SPD as well, like all western developed first party games.
Well SK did of course make the original ED and may have some talent left, not to mention that Nintendo still owns part of SK. Actually Miyamoto and Iwata were producers on ED, so it would definitely be a collaboration again, so I wouldn't be too concerned about quality, as Nintendo has often proven their ability to get the best out of third party developers who otherwise seem mediocre in output.
Smiles and Cries
Member
anyone believe SK would have been in much better shape right now if they stayed with Nintendo?
It must be hard to work with Nintendo if you have an ego and ambitions of your own
It must be hard to work with Nintendo if you have an ego and ambitions of your own
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
I don't know if Nintendo wholly own the Eternal Darkness IP. They have a patent on 'sanity effects', but from everything Dyack's said the actual Eternal Darkness IP is a bit more complicated. Chalk up the fact that Nintendo still has shares in Silicon Knights and yeah, it's a bit of a weird situation.
SK is obviously in the shit, and I wouldn't be surprised if they approached Nintendo to discuss a possible sequel.
Maybe better off financially, not necessarily creatively. Likely scenario, based on what we heard, is Nintendo wanted SK to do mini-game compilations for the Wii. Dyack and co weren't happy with this, and were offered to acquire their own shares and leave. Similar to how a lot of staff left Retro, there's no doubt Nintendo is extremely controlling and protective of their properties and studios. They have the right to be, but that philosophy doesn't work for everybody, especially people eager to see their own creations come to fruition, and not forever live in the shadow of someone else's work.
What info, i missed this one.
Considering that Nintendo wants to take up the "hardcore" gamers, maybe they think releasing a sequel to their first ever published title to receive a "M" rating (I think it was the first) is a way to do that.
Yeah that's what I thought too, and judging by the fact that we know SK to be working on a next gen game since last November (?) at least basically tells us they're making a Wii U game, since they most likely wouldn't have dev kits for the other next gen systems yet, let alone last year.
If Silicon Knights goes bankrupt, Nintendo loses money.
I also don't see a Nintendo story that is known for its great story telling.
I wonder how the Epic trial will work out for SK next month.
tkscz
Member
You've got to feel for those Armature guys who left Retro with big creative aspirations and ended up doing uncredited work on the Halo remake and porting the PS3 MGS HD collection to Vita.
It would be hilariously ironic if it wasn't so tragic.
AceBandage
Banned
No, it's still quite ironic.
I can understand the desire to make your own studios, but why would you people one of the most successful and beloved companies in the history of the industry without a real plan?
They had a real plan. A very ambitious and untried one, but a real plan. It failed.
I don't think it's nice to mock them. The world needs big dreamers. We all benefit when they soar.
EDIT:
Oh god, even I'm laughing now.
They couldn't know that EA's Blueprint division was basically falling apart a few months later.
AceBandage
Banned
Except there's a very real history of companies not soaring when they leave Nintendo...
Capcom also shived them on games.
I'm not happy that they failed, mind you. I just don't get why they left. If they had jobs already lined up with studios that they knew would work, that would be one thing. But three guys trying to start their own studio (even worse, trying to destroy Retro in the process)... No, that doesn't fly.
Aye, you question the dreaded Curse of Nintendo at your peril. The Armature guys were arrogant and ambitious enough to think they would be the ones to escape it's malevolent tentacles.
I wouldn't be surprised if talk of this mutiny played a big role in them not finding more success in their dealings with publishers. I mean, would you take a chance on those guys if you thought there was a chance they would try and fuck up your studios should they ever feel you wronged them?
You know, if you want creative freedom you better do not want to work at either NST or Retro Studios, you won't get it. It was not their decision on what projects they work on and how a game's core will look like.
Thus it's reasonable to leave if you are striving for more freedom. After all, they were lured away by EA; the deal must have looked pretty nice on paper, but with EA's disastrous management this generation, it fell apart and none of Armature's prototypes were realized. The Capcom deal only came after that, so it wasn't anticipated in the first place.
We've all seen that it did not work out as intended, but that's the risk of starting your own business. At Nintendo you may have job security, but if you want to design your own titles, you need to decide between these two sides.
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