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[Hot Coldman]

How underpowered was Wii U expected to be if 50% more powerful than 360 or PS3 would be more powerful than expected? :\

Miyamoto was making some non-committal comments about its power at E3 that threw people off, IIRC. Not sure how many people noticed that, but it's by-the-by anyway, I doubt he knows much about that kind of thing- or cares, rather.

(Obviously he does know how powerful it is, he just doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be making comparisons like that)

 

[Jocchan]

I'm far from an expert, but think the writer is mixing up main ram (eg: GDDR5) with eDRAM on chip.

If this anywhere near true it would be 768MB/1GB GDDR5 main ram and 32MB eDRAM on the CPU.

Yep.
Unless the Wii has a very peculiar architecture (while every other rumor seems to suggest the opposite), this rumor is either complete bullshit or so inaccurate to be unreliable (note: not talking about the level of power these specs seem to suggest, especially because they're so vague you'd have no way to tell anyway).

 

[SolarPowered]

These specs are just lolworthy. A console with 768MB of eDRAM (with everything else in line with this) could run Samaritan at 8K, S3D @ 120+ FPS in 4 player splitscreen without breaking a sweat

Spoiler

and would also be about 10000 times larger than a 360 and so expensive that only the 5 richest kings in Europe could afford it

It'll be the bees knees in GAF's eyes until Microsoft integrates HAL 9000 into Kinect on the 720.

 

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

No, there was a time when the tech Nintendo felt they wanted/needed in order to create their next games was comparable to what the consumer base considered 'high tech'. EDIT: No matter what the marketing department did with that tech, the reasons for it were not to be technologically competitive for the sake of it.

WiiU will be specced - like 3DS - so that it can make beautiful looking, fresh, new Nintendo games. It will *not* be specced to make PC enthusiasts salivate (even though efficiency nerds or hardware design nerds might still salivate).

Well done on reading way too much into my post and showing your own deep seeded fanboyism.

 

[Massa]

a Japanese developer who is currently working on porting a PS3 game to the Wii U

Ha, PS3 has no games so this rumor is clearly false.

 

[BurntPork]

Miyamoto was making some non-committal comments about its power at E3 that threw people off, IIRC. Not sure how many people noticed that, but it's by-the-by anyway, I doubt he knows much about that kind of thing- or cares, rather.

(Obviously he does know how powerful it is, he just doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be making comparisons like that)

Yeah. Basically everyone took that as a confirmation that it's weaker than at least one of the current consoles.

 

[gofreak]

less powerful than the 360

Clearly I'm out of the loop so. I figured there hadn't been any solid info on it in a long time. The last I read I kind of had hopes for something at least 3-4x more powerful on the GPU side, twice the RAM at least (while perhaps more or less similar on the CPU side).

I dunno, I'm sure we'll get a credible leak in due course when hardware is finalised. This doesn't sound like it, or at least I hope not (depending on the GPU anyway).

 

[MadOdorMachine]

How underpowered was Wii U expected to be if 50% more powerful than 360 or PS3 would be more powerful than expected? :\

It says the original estimates were 50% more powerful on paper. In other words, they were just looking at the spec sheet and seeing the components and saying it has 50% more ram - it's 50% more powerful than PS3/360. This didn't take into account the type of ram and real world performance.

I was expecting Wii U to be a stop gap to next gen. That is would run PS3/360 at 1080p & 60 fps. This has me optimistic that it will be more powerful. I haven't really been keeping up with it though, b/c there hasn't been a whole lot of new info coming out.

 

[Mrbob]

Besides the whole embedded on cpu shenanigans it doesn't seem far-fetched, but the article still smells made up to me. Anyway, if true such specs would surely put the Wii-U in an unfavorable position to next-gen xbox and playstation consoles.

Yeah, I think it is just 768MB of dram. Maybe 1gb, still disappointing but not shocking. Agreed Wii U will look old quick against the next xbox and playstation. Those who want this generation extended 5 more years will be happy. They can buy the Wii U and get their wish.

 

[filler]

This rumor comes from Ueda, he's porting TLG to Wii U.

 

[Gravijah]

Clearly I'm out of the loop so. I figured there hadn't been any solid info on it in a long time. The last I read I kind of had hopes for something at least 3-4x more powerful on the GPU side, twice the RAM at least (while perhaps more or less similar on the CPU side).

I dunno, I'm sure we'll get a credible leak in due course when hardware is finalised. This doesn't sound like it, or at least I hope not (depending on the GPU anyway).

haha sorry wasn't talking re: rumored specs, just the crazies.

 

[bgassassin]

Yeah, I think it is just 768MB of dram. Maybe 1gb, still disappointing but not shocking. Agreed Wii U will look old quick against the next xbox and playstation. Those who want this generation extended 5 more years will be happy. They can buy the Wii U and get their wish.

We already know it will be a minimum of 1GB and that Nintendo apparently is on track to have more than that.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Clearly I'm out of the loop so. I figured there hadn't been any solid info on it in a long time. The last I read I kind of had hopes for something at least 3-4x more powerful on the GPU side, twice the RAM at least (while perhaps more or less similar on the CPU side).

I dunno, I'm sure we'll get a credible leak in due course when hardware is finalised. This doesn't sound like it, or at least I hope not (depending on the GPU anyway).

Someone that at least knows the specs puts the CPU eDram at less than 16MB (as they put it "A lot less").

We know the basic design of the GPU is based on late 2009 tech, and we know it has 2-3x the total system memory of the PS3/360. Seems to be leaning closer to 1GB as of late though left the window open for 1.5GB.

Parts of this could be close, but the CPU stuff is enough for me to say this person doesn't know what they are talking about.

This system would be a lot more powerful than the PS3 or 360. My version of a lot more seems to be different than most. I see a huge difference in the PC and 360 versions of games, WiiU should get close to that difference. Not a metric jump, but what I'd consider a good step up.

I still plan on getting the new MS console for the full monty. (Maybe Sony if they offer a good thing)

 

[MadOdorMachine]

We already know it will be a minimum of 1GB and that Nintendo apparently is on track to have more than that.

Can you explain please.

 

[coldfoot]

There's absolutely no way it's going to have that much EDRAM, it'd be bigger than the biggest intel server chip and cost a fortune.

What they may be implying is stacked DRAM, like they do in smartphones and tablets.

 

[frankie_baby]

Yeah, I think it is just 768MB of dram. Maybe 1gb, still disappointing but not shocking. Agreed Wii U will look old quick against the next xbox and playstation. Those who want this generation extended 5 more years will be happy. They can buy the Wii U and get their wish.

Unless of course the xbox720 and ps4 aren't much more powerful than that, especially if vita flops i can see that happening

 

[Medalion]

Embedded CPU ram would make this console way more expensive despite the speed benefits

 

[Cwarrior]

Knowing nintendo there just going to slap on another gamecube and add hd then call it a day.

 

[Mrbob]

Unless of course the xbox720 and ps4 aren't much more powerful than that, especially if vita flops i can see that happening

I don't think Vita flopping or succeeding will have anything to do with the PS4. Vita is still an extremely powerful machine ahead of the curve, but much better built using off the shelf components so costs drop quickly. I believe this is what you will see in PS4.

 

[bgassassin]

Can you explain please.

You haven't been in the main Wii U thread in awhile have you?

 

[Medalion]

Knowing nintendo there just going to slap on another gamecube and add hd then call it a day.

Slap on another N64 for good measure

 

[Rhod]

Well done on reading way too much into my post and showing your own deep seeded fanboyism.

Deep seeded respect for these particular priorities, sure, but I love all three of my hardware masters equally.

I apologise if I 'read way too much into' your post. It seems prudent when discussing WiiU tech rumours to remember the historical priorities and quirkiness of their hardware, and that post seemed like a good jumping off point.

 

[MadOdorMachine]

You haven't been in the main Wii U thread in awhile have you?

Not since the IGN article debacle. I seem to be on the losing side of that argument and I'm unable to clearly articulate the point I was trying to make about it - that Wii U would offer approx. 50% more performance than PS3/360.

 

[Instro]

Can you explain please.

The wii u spec thread has a couple of verified sources on the dev kits. Apparently the kits atm have somewhere north of 2GB of RAM, ergo the minimum for the actual system would be greater than 1GB.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

I don't think Vita flopping or succeeding will have anything to do with the PS4. Vita is still an extremely powerful machine ahead of the curve, but much better built using off the shelf components so costs drop quickly. I believe this is what you will see in PS4.

I actually hope so myself.

If they can get something powerful, quiet, and reasonably cheap out the door... I may buy my first Sony console in a long while. I really need to see what Sony and MS do next gen before I decide. I realized I have to have Nintendo console games, so WiiU is a definite for me, but I like some of the stuff MS and Sony get too.

I contemplated becoming a handheld gamer... but then I realized I put hundreds of hours into console Zeldas, and other console oriented series (Mass Effect).

So consoles is I guess where I stay.

 

[Shikoro]

These specs are just lolworthy. A console with 768MB of eDRAM (with everything else in line with this) could run Samaritan at 8K, S3D @ 120+ FPS in 4 player splitscreen without breaking a sweat

Spoiler

and would also be about 10000 times larger than a 360 and so expensive that only the 5 richest kings in Europe could afford it

Pretty much this...

I'm not tech savvy, but is it even possible to have 768 eRAM on the same die as the CPU?? Wouldn't this make it a extremely expensive console?

It is possible

Spoiler

if you want it to be as big as your living room and cost more than a trip to space (lol)

.

 

[SolarPowered]

The wii u spec thread has a couple of verified sources on the dev kits. Apparently the kits atm have somewhere north of 2GB of RAM, ergo the minimum for the actual system would be greater than 1GB.

Damn, I have not read that thread in months.

 

[bgassassin]

Not since the IGN article debacle. I seem to be on the losing side of that argument and I'm unable to clearly articulate the point I was trying to make about it - that Wii U would offer approx. 50% more performance than PS3/360.

Instro gave the answer. But that is such a subjective number. Most of the stuff we hear is subjective in that regard. Gearbox said Wii U will have textures at a resolution we haven't seen. What does that mean? Is that a little better and a whole lot better? Hanging on stuff like that for some kind of confirmation is pointless.

 

[Scum]

Pretty much this...


It is possible

Spoiler

if you want it to be as big as your living room and cost more than a trip to space (lol)

.

:lol
I thought as much. So the site might have their "facts and numbers" all mixed up.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Damn, I have not read that thread in months.

We've got a pretty good idea of the innards. Kind of vague... but they want to keep their jobs. Through a few hints, a few subtle agreements, we've been able to piece together a reasonable expectation of the system.

We might be off in a few areas, but overall I think we're getting close. Some of the guys there are even taking into account gaming conventions, and likely scenarios based on prior Nintendo system designs.

It should be a good clip more powerful than the PS3 or 360, but still about a half gen away from what Sony and MS come up with.

I personally don't think that will matter too much. I'm of the mind that if a high end PC engine can scale all the way down to the 360 the WiiU should be set. Unless the paranoid ramblings of pure industry wide Nintendo hate are true.

 

[JaseMath]

LOL@the specs. Sounds like fanboy wishful thinking. Guess we'll see.

 

[Kaako]

O yea? Effin bring it, Nintendo.

 

[herzogzwei1989]

maybe the 768MB~1GB is L3 cache rather than eDRAM.

 

[Rhod]

a Japanese developer who is currently working on porting a PS3 game to the Wii U.

Real news: WiiU 3rd party support better than Wii confirmed.

 

[MadOdorMachine]

The wii u spec thread has a couple of verified sources on the dev kits. Apparently the kits atm have somewhere north of 2GB of RAM, ergo the minimum for the actual system would be greater than 1GB.

Well then we are still all over the place with rumors of specs. Out of curiosity is it possible Nintendo are sending out dev kits with high amounts of ram (2GB+) in order to compensate for the e-ram?

 

[Tron 2.0]

Has WiiUDaily posted information of merit previously?

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Well then we are still all over the place with rumors of specs. Out of curiosity is it possible Nintendo are sending out dev kits with high amounts of ram (2GB+) in order to compensate for the e-ram?

Not based on any likely gaming related CPU designs.

 

[Rhod]

Well then we are still all over the place with rumors of specs. Out of curiosity is it possible Nintendo are sending out dev kits with high amounts of ram (2GB+) in order to compensate for the e-ram?

Usually devkits have more RAM for debug functionality, and double is quite traditional.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Usually devkits have more RAM for debug functionality, and double is quite traditional.

That too.

360 kits have 1GB.

 

[BriareosGAF]

360 kits have 1GB.

Not until recently.

 

[bgassassin]

That too.

360 kits have 1GB.

I believe this was another area that didn't sit well with devs early on when dealing with the 360. I believe the first "real" kits still had 512MB and I think it may have taken a year or so before they released the 1GB version. Could be misremembering that though.

The post above seems to confirm that.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Not until recently.

True, but they always had more RAM than a standard 360.

I believe this was another area that didn't sit well with devs early on when dealing with the 360. I believe the first "real" kits still had 512MB and I think it may have taken a year or so before they released the 1GB version. Could be misremembering that though.

The post above seems to confirm that.

Wait... I thought the first kits only had 256MB for debugging.

Been too many damn years.

 

[Basileus777]

Not until recently.

Recently? Didn't that happen years ago?

 

[Cosmozone]

In the best case that's a valid source where the given info was just horribly messed up. I like the sound of quad core. A triple core would be so asymmetric.

 

[Rhod]

I don't think the specifics are important re devkit:retail RAM ratios, especially as different grades of devkit have different amounts, or as pointed out here the amount of standard debug kit RAM changes.

The point is we know nothing from this, but can surmise only that if the 2gig debug info checks out, it would be unusually decadent of Nintendo to be furnishing developers with such capacity if there wasn't at least 1gig in the planned retail unit.

So basically, everyone back to the WiiU speculation thread

 

[Shikoro]

maybe the 768MB~1GB is L3 cache rather than eDRAM.

This is the only way it can be interpreted, therefore Muffin's crazy Samaritan claims.

 

[bgassassin]

True, but they always had more RAM than a standard 360.


Wait... I thought the first kits only had 256MB for debugging.

Been too many damn years.

Looks like the searches are saying the 1GB kit came out in 2009.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

the higher the numbers are the better it is right

 

[fernoca]

As someone else stated, this sounds a lot like someone just took all the rumors and put them together. He or she even brings up the 50% more powerful rumor and then says that it is, in fact, 50% more powerful and has "a lot" of eDRAM. I don't trust this.

That and the whole "based on the March 2011 specs". From what I remember back then the rumored specs and leaks were pointing to devs having problems with the streaming (which was fixed) and only been able to stream to 1 screen (which was also fixed).

But we'll see. Not like I'm expecting much, but when there's not much new info, guess sites just graps for bits of whatever it's out there. Heck, I'll be more than happy with just the current Wii at 1080p.

 

[Medalion]

the higher the numbers are the better it is right

except in price