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[Margalis]

Well I think you will be surprised then.

Note I didn't say the consoles won't be able to output at 1080, just that 1080 won't be the baseline target for all features turned on in individual games.

At 1080 you are using a lot of memory that you could use for other stuff, and people with 720p televisions will not be able to see the difference. Whereas the stuff you do with the extra memory and fill and such at 720 will be visible to everyone.

Basically I'm saying I expect 1080 versions of games to be the 720 version with some knobs turned down, rather than the 720 version being just the 1080 version shrunk. Remember that this gen a lot of games are not 720, even though 720 is the min spec for modern TVs.

 

[stuart]

This confirms the obvious, the Wii U graphics should be incredible.

Nice to have Sony and Microsoft playing catch up for a change. I expect the cutting-edge hardware in the Wii U will push them to release their next consoles a bit quicker.

 

[deviljho]

Especially when the vast majority of the audience doesn't notice 720p vs 1080p on their televisions.

Exactly. There is a limit to how well the human eye can see at a certain distance. Most people don't have 60+ inch screens, nor do they sit closer than 6 feet to the screen. Lots of people talk about 1080p, but very few can tell it apart from 720p.

 

[Hoo-doo]

This confirms the obvious, the Wii U graphics should be incredible.

Nice to have Sony and Microsoft playing catch up for a change. I expect the cutting-edge hardware in the Wii U will push them to release their next consoles a bit quicker.

This is sarcasm, right?

 

[TheD]

It's not entirely because it's out of order (though I'll admit that I don't know how much of a difference that would make). Although we're sure that an out-of-order execution CPU is in there, the portability issue is more likely due to lower clock speed, and the lack of optimized code (where devs probably haven't utilized the audio dsp and I/O processor, which should free up a significant amount of the CPU) and the persistent hints about heavy focus on gpgpu functions, to which the code is most likely not tweaked for (which would also decrease CPU load by a lot).

*Facepalm

Everything has an I/O processor! and most games don't come close to using a lot of CPU time for audio.

I think the implication here is that these game being ported are highly optimized for in-order execution and thus don't benefit much from out of order execution.

But that would mean the Wii U CPU is slow anyway.

 

[Eideka]

This confirms the obvious, the Wii U graphics should be incredible.

Nice to have Sony and Microsoft playing catch up for a change. I expect the cutting-edge hardware in the Wii U will push them to release their next consoles a bit quicker.

Oh man.

 

[Napoleonthechimp]

Why do we keep on doing this!

 

[stuart]

This is sarcasm, right?

No... It's seven years since the PS3/360 came out, so the Wii U hardware is cutting edge in comparison (I'm not comparing it to PC's, which will always be ahead).

 

[slackboy72]

This is sarcasm, right?

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

The fact that we're all arguing about this shows that Nintendo did not do enough to make it clearly superior to "current" (7 year old) consoles.

They'll be overtaken easily by MS and Sony's next generation hardware, and that will make the disparity even more apparent.

 

[Nibel]

Hope the Wii U can play games

 

[GamerVoice]

This confirms the obvious, the Wii U graphics should be incredible.

Nice to have Sony and Microsoft playing catch up for a change. I expect the cutting-edge hardware in the Wii U will push them to release their next consoles a bit quicker.

 

[Ryoku]

No... It's seven years since the PS3/360 came out, so the Wii U hardware is cutting edge in comparison (I'm not comparing it to PC's, which will always be ahead).

Not to rain on your parade, but although Wii U will be a very noticeable step-up from current-gen (based on what we know) once devs know how to utilize the hardware efficiently, it won't necessarily blow current-gen out of the water like what PS360 did to last-gen consoles, even though the games will look glorious as hell. Of course, neither will PS4/Xbox3, but they, too, will be a noticeable step-up from Wii U.

 

[deviljho]

The fact that we're all arguing about this shows that Nintendo did not do enough to make it clearly superior to "current" (7 year old) consoles.

They'll be overtaken easily by MS and Sony's next generation hardware, and that will make the disparity even more apparent.

Not to rain on your parade, but although Wii U will be a very noticeable step-up from current-gen (based on what we know) once devs know how to utilize the hardware efficiently, it won't necessarily blow current-gen out of the water like what PS360 did to last-gen consoles. Of course, neither will PS4/Xbox3, but they, too, will be a noticeable step-up from Wii U.

pointless hardware discussions. the bigger issue for Nintendo is obtaining as many multiplatform games as possible. whether the average gamer would be able to tell the difference is not an issue at all.

nintendo needs hardware good enough for multiplatform ports and a good online network.

 

[Currygan]

So now that's Crytek, Valve, Gearbox and 5th Cell that have all said the same thing. Yet will be ignored once any dev has the slightest issue with any aspect of porting their game to the WiiU.

so true


I believe it's up to Nintendo to pull a Galaxy and show everyone WiiU's real muscles

 

[goomba]

This confirms the obvious, the Wii U graphics should be incredible.

Nice to have Sony and Microsoft playing catch up for a change. I expect the cutting-edge hardware in the Wii U will push them to release their next consoles a bit quicker.

Haha , it's considerably more powerful than 360 or ps3 but its definatly not cutting edge, which keeps the cost down.

 

[BurnOutBrighter]

pointless hardware discussions. the bigger issue for Nintendo is obtaining as many multiplatform games as possible. whether the average gamer would be able to tell the difference is not an issue at all.

nintendo needs hardware good enough for multiplatform ports and a good online network.

But the hardware is part of the third party discussion. Like you said, if the hardware isn't "good enough" to support the games on PS4/720, they'll lose third parties altogether.

 

[GamerVoice]

Wii U having better hardware than 360/PS3 is setting your expectations so low it's unbelievable. What matters is if the system looks significantly better than those systems in any real way, and right now all signs seem to point to "nope".

 

[Hoo-doo]

Wii U having better hardware than 360/PS3 is setting your expectations so low it's unbelievable. What matters is if the system looks significantly better than those systems in any real way, and right now all signs seem to point to "nope".

It has to render, compress and send a lag-free image to the controller as well, something the PS360 don't have to.
It's very possible that the supposed "bump" in hardware capabilities is almost completely taken up by this feature.

 

[Dan Yo]

Well fortunately Microsoft and Sony have made their specs public... so there's that.








The issue I believe everyone is having trouble wrapping their head around is the fact that Nintendo is selling experiences. Graphically, they are not going to blow anything PS360 out of the water, but it will be better. More importantly, it will offer experiences not possible on those consoles. Because the controller is part of the hardware, I don't see them playing any fiddles with anyone (great expression by the way). They're not going to get into a "Let's see who can lose more money per console sold" war with the other companies because they know a) they can still make first-party games that can compete graphically/artistically with more powerful hardware and b) people will buy their consoles regardless.

They're selling experiences, you say? Well, while the experience of using your wrist to move the camera rather than your thumb is extremely revolutionary, I think the experiences that better hardware offers is a little more important. If the wand offered more of a jump for you than games like Skyrim, Red Dead, Left 4 Dead, etc. did, then more power to you, but for a lot of people, that wasn't enough. For the worlds shown in the games to evolve and become more complex, hardware needs to advance.

New controllers are cool and all, but not at the expense of better technology in games and forward advancement in their capabilities.

 

[stuart]

Wii U having better hardware than 360/PS3 is setting your expectations so low it's unbelievable. What matters is if the system looks significantly better than those systems in any real way, and right now all signs seem to point to "nope".

The expectation of Nintendo systems is amazing innovative gameplay. If all you care about is graphics, you're probably more suited to a PC.

 

[kvn]

I kindly request Nintendo to release this fucking thing so these stupid, downright non-technical, discussions about whether the WiiU is more powerful than a cockroach or not can end.

 

[slackboy72]

Haha , it's considerably more powerful than 360 or ps3 but its definatly not cutting edge, which keeps the cost down.

It would be cutting edge if you invented time travel, made a time machine and then sent it back to 2006.

 

[Bony Manifesto]

The expectation of Nintendo systems is amazing innovative gameplay. If all you care about is graphics, you're probably more suited to a PC.

I don't think you get to take the high ground after you've just shot your load over the prospect of "cutting edge" hardware in the Wii U!

 

[2+2=5]

Obviously(?) wiiu is more powerful than ps360, but the problem is that probably most of the exceeding power will be used to manage what's going on the tablet.
Imo as a result wiiu will get games comparable to ps360 games at the beginning and little better games when will be too late, when ps4 and x720 will be already released.

 

[GamerVoice]

It has to render, compress and send a lag-free image to the controller as well, something the PS360 don't have to.
It's very possible that the supposed "bump" in hardware capabilities is almost completely taken up by this feature.

Which would be pretty much a disaster.

 

[GamerVoice]

The expectation of Nintendo systems is amazing innovative gameplay. If all you care about is graphics, you're probably more suited to a PC.

Is this a joke post?

Are you seriously going to imply there's more innovation coming out of Nintendo first parties than the entirety of the PC platform?

 

[deviljho]

Is this a joke post?

Are you seriously going to imply there's more innovation coming out of Nintendo first parties than the entirety of the PC platform?

No. He's saying that if you dislike the graphical qualities of the Wii U compared to this gen or next gen, then you would undoubtedly find the best graphical performance from a PC rather than any console.

and to Nintendo's credit, they get the most bang for their buck out of all their staff compared to the rest of the industry. their games are lots of fun. that's what counts right??????

 

[slackboy72]

I think it says a lot that we can't tell if the people cheering the Wii U on are joking or not.

 

[Oblivion]

I thought 5th cell was a pretty (decently) big developer. How have they not made any 360/PS3 games?

 

[Out of Working Order]

Oh my Gooooooooooooood. These arguments are just a repeat of what's already gone before, over and over.

I think we really are destined to endure them until the end of days.

 

[Midou]

Exactly. There is a limit to how well the human eye can see at a certain distance. Most people don't have 60+ inch screens, nor do they sit closer than 6 feet to the screen. Lots of people talk about 1080p, but very few can tell it apart from 720p.

I sit about 6 feet, my screen is 40", went from a 720p TV to a 1080p one in the last year, the difference is quite obvious to me. The reason I even got it was because my living room one was 1080p and how much better certain games looked on it over my own, both good brands too.

 

[Übermatik]

Everyone shut the fuck up and wait for some first party titles built from the ground up for the Wii U.

 

[GamerVoice]

No. He's saying that if you dislike the graphical qualities of the Wii U compared to this gen or next gen, then you would undoubtedly find the best graphical performance from a PC rather than any console.

and to Nintendo's credit, they get the most bang for their buck out of all their staff compared to the rest of the industry. their games are lots of fun. that's what counts right??????

Nintendo games are fun, which is why I'll probably get a Wii U. But lets not pretend Nintendo are still in this untouchable position where they represent the best gaming has to offer. That ship sailed a long time ago.

Everyone shut the fuck up and wait for some first party titles built from the ground up for the Wii U.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Do you (or most people throwing terminology around) actually understand what it means for a CPU to support out of order execution? If anything, it should be easier to port to (and extract reasonable performance out of) an OOE platform.

True, but it might you make curse in strange tongues if OOOE is available for the FPU (see AMD CPU's)... heard some nightmarish stories about the fun bugs it can produced (although it is not a widespread and incurable issue of course).

 

[deviljho]

it's really just a Nintendo shitting contest. anyone who wants to compare Wii U to PS4/XBox8 is just comparing hardware specs.

and if that's the case, all those people should just be playing on PCs. if the downgrade from PC to Xbox8 is acceptable, then there obviously is a criteria by which a further "downgrade" to the Wii U would also be acceptable. meaning that graphics improvements have reached a diminishing level of return.

and the real issue is just proper third party support and multiplatform ports - and this is not 100% a function of appropriate hardware. that, and a good online network.

 

[Amir0x]

god it's like somebody vomited candy-colored shit all over the screen

 

[SmokyDave]

Ah man, I miss the Dreamcast.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

that's a low blow, where's your honour

 

[Stumpokapow]

To me, I appreciate what Nintendoland is going for. Some of the lighting they showed looks nice. But ultimately I think it looks less inviting and certainly less visually sophisticated than Viva Pinata. I don't think that reflects the power of the console, but perhaps sitting out shaders and effects and higher resolutions for 5 years has left Nintendo's teams with a little competitive catch-up to do.

 

[deviljho]

god it's like somebody vomited candy-colored shit all over the screen

if a majority of third parties start releasing ports of next-gen multiplatform games to the Wii U, will any of this tech talk matter? no.

 

[Glorified G]

if a majority of third parties start releasing ports of next-gen multiplatform games to the Wii U, will any of this tech talk matter? no.

What does this have anything to do with his post?

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

yall make fun of Nintendoland if you want packed in or not kids are gonna play the shit out of it, and its gonna sell like crazy regardless.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

if Pikmin 3 looked like Viva Pinata, man.

Actually, maybe the semi-realistic environments work better.

Actually, actually, the enemy design would fit Viva Pinata's style better.

But actually, I just realised how weird Pikmin is.

 

[deviljho]

What does this have anything to do with his post?

it's like people forget why they are so interested in the Wii U's specs. talking about specs in a vacuum is dumb.

 

[GamerVoice]

if a majority of third parties start releasing ports of next-gen multiplatform games to the Wii U, will any of this tech talk matter? no.

They won't, so this is a pointless aside.

The reason people care about specs is because we saw how shitty Wii ended up being because it was so far behind the curve, and so far there's no reason to believe Wii U will be any different. I'm going to buy the stupid thing because I need to play Mario and Zeruda, but that doesn't mean you can't continue to be upset at Nintendo's continued weak as hell hardware.

 

[SmokedMeat]

so true


I believe it's up to Nintendo to pull a Galaxy and show everyone WiiU's real muscles

Y'know, there was a time when you didn't have to wait for a special game to see a new system's muscles. They were there front and center when the games were unveiled.

I'm afraid that by the time we do see U's muscles they'll be overshadowed by PS4/720's bigger muscles.

 

[Glorified G]

it's like people forget why they are so interested in the Wii U's specs. talking about specs in a vacuum is dumb.

Nothing in his post talked about specs. He just said how ugly that Nintendoland screenshot looked. And in comparison too Viva Pinata shots below, he's right.

 

[metalslimer]

Y'know, there was a time when you didn't have to wait for a special game to see a new system's muscles. They were there front and center when the games were unveiled.

I'm afraid that by the time we do see U's muscles they'll be overshadowed by PS4/720's bigger muscles.

Does it really matter? The PS4/720 will be upstaged by the PC probably less than year after they both launch? The question is here is the question of whether or not ports will happen.

Edit: If you were really not going to buy the system because it doesn't meet some hypothetical standard of power, I seriously hope all of you have gaming PCs.

 

[googleplex]

It's sad that people can even have legit arguments about whether a new console is more powerful than the current 7-year old ones. Looks like I will remain Nintendo-less for another gen.

Goddamn it THIS!

It was Nintendo's job to prove how powerful their new system is and they've failed spectacularly!