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[bgassassin]

Can you tell us what PC-side GPU is the Wii U's GPU most comparable to?

That's tough because Nintendo has added what seems to be "performance enhancers" to it.

 

[Diablos54]

Microsoft is putting MORE than 4GB of RAM in their next console? WHAT?

Really? How much is this things going to cost!? They really did go batshit insane didn't they?

 

[specialguy]

Nope. The article says Nintendo won't reveal the specs.

The games, silly.

 

[demigod]

Since when did they make 750mb or even 1.5gb ram? It'll most likely be 2gb.

 

[StevieP]

I think even 2 gig of ram is a little low, you're looking at a device that has to last 5+ years at the very least, we'll probably have arm based tablets with 2gig of ram by the time WiiU is a year old.

Different types of memory, obviously (and different bandwidth levels)

And I have a feeling the meaningful specs are lower. We're experiencing some of the usual Wii U expectation inflation in here.

For example, 2GB of RAM is a HUGE number imo. I personally would expect the real number to be 1GB or 1.5 if lucky.

Similarly, talk of a 5770 or 4850 is likely way out of line. Those are absolutely beastly compared to PS360, and there's no hints that Wii U has anywhere near that kind of power.

But hey, we will know more in literally 9 minutes, LOL.

Ah dude, c'mon. Weaker than a 360?

 

[Turok_TTZ]

Unless they made the box bigger and just decided to throw one in, you'll need a dongle.

Same as the Wii. Wireless built in, if you want a wired connection instead you can use the same adapter you had for Wii

Hm how disturbing... now brings up another question. iirc wireless connection is supposedly faster on wii vs the adapter (speed vs stability). would that be the same case here? I hope not.

 

[Luigiv]

Because the 360 had a tessellation unit. It entirely depends on how modern and capable it is.

The 3DS does too. They really aren't practical until you reach DX11 class tesselators.

 

[Acidote]

They've exceeded that target

When I was told about this, I could only thank the devs that pressured into it. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Levyne]

As long as in 2-3 years playing a game on Xbox3/PS4 and then playing a game on Wii U is not as much of a drop as 360/PS3-> Wii is now.

 

[MYE]

Xbox 360: Goku before Cell kills him
PS3: Perfect Cell
Wii U: SS2 Gohan

AHHH, finally said in a way i understand

 

[Wolves Evolve]

If these specs are close to accurate, then they've not short-changed the tech (more powerful than current gen) but not gone crazy instead. What they have done, though, is include 3-4 really tactical little things that could really make a difference. Tessellation unit is unexpected I think.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

8GB internal storage is a bit of a drag, but I'm pleased with the 1.5GB-ish of RAM.

 

[Lord Error]

"Compute shader support".

And is more like 1.5-2GB.

When it says Up To 3, and real unit "will have half of that", I don't see how that translates to 2GB, but if they do it, great. Compute shader nominally exists on 7xx I think, just as the tesselation unit does.

 

[Horse Armour]

The games, silly.

The games won't necessarily tell us a lot unless the games showcased are Samaritan level since that seems to be the minimum level that most people accept as without a doubt better than current gen. They could show something like the Star Wars 1313 demo and people would still doubt the machine.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

4 minutes to go

 

[Instro]

Can you tell us what PC-side GPU is the Wii U's GPU most comparable to?

Its pretty much completely custom iirc, so that might be hard to do.

 

[Paracelsus]

AHHH, finally said in a way i understand

But that would make the Wii U hardware borderline laughable as SSJ2 Gohan in numbers is like, 27 to 25 against Cell.

 

[Rich!]

4 minutes to go

It's the final countdown

da-dada-da-dada-dadaaa

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Different types of memory, obviously (and different bandwidth levels)



Ah dude, c'mon. Weaker than a 360?

It's Specialguy.

 

[Diablos54]

Ah dude, c'mon. Weaker than a 360?

Remember who this is and then wonder why you're even responding.

 

[Galang]

Xbox 360: Goku before Cell kills him
PS3: Perfect Cell
Wii U: SS2 Gohan

Scary that actually makes sense to me.

 

[Log4Girlz]

With these specs, there is no reason that Star Wars 1313 or Watchdogs couldn't be done technically at 720 p and look brilliant.

 

[i-Lo]

Well... or higher.

Stevie surely you jest, good sir! Over 4GB? I guess only in expectation without any actual reward equalling it.

Now with regards to Wii U, and I am not saying that these specs are untrue, but even with poorer optimization, won't porting games from 360 or PS3 yield similar if not better results? If so, then why are the developers' opinions on the machine varying so much?

 

[Vanillalite]

RAM is fine is they are targeting 720P which those specs seem to indicate if you want to use the free MSAA. You forget PC gamers are all running stuff at 1920 x 1080/1200 and even people bring up tablets things like the new iPad have crazy resolutions. 1280 x 720 isn't really that astronomical.

 

[mugurumakensei]

When it says Up To 3, and real unit "will have half of that", I don't see how that translates to 2GB, but if they do it, great. Compute shader nominally exists on 7xx I think, just as the tesselation unit does.

It's from early devkits. Later kits got a ram boost.

 

[donny2112]

So how many Wii's taped together is this?

15?

Spoiler

Just looking at the RAM being ~15x Wii. Not a valid representation.

 

[AdventureRacing]

As long as in 2-3 years playing a game on Xbox3/PS4 and then playing a game on Wii U is not as much of a drop as 360/PS3-> Wii is now.

I don't think there is any possible situation where this will be the case.

 

[Luigiv]

No DX11 sounds bad to me, but if that tessellator is modern and capable enough then maybe it offsets some of that? At least, tessellation seems to me the major feature my DX10 PC can't usually have these days (though more games go for either DX9 or DX11 locking me out of more features I could normally have if they had bothered). Or maybe overall it's better than going for a DX11 yet not as fast chip. I dunno. This really doesn't tell us that much about real world performance yet, does it?

It's not going to have any version of DX anyway, since Microsoft doesn't like to share. Whether or not any of the pipeline features are DX11 class or not is impossible to deduce from this list.

 

[Turok_TTZ]

regardless of my concerns. very excited about Wii U. finally i see something on ninty site. its startign soon!

 

[SoulPlaya]

So, how do people think this will stack up to 720/PS4? Is this a generational leap over 360/PS3?

 

[popeutlal]

Since when did they make 750mb or even 1.5gb ram? It'll most likely be 2gb.

Well my HTC Thunderbolt 786 megs of ram....so I don't see why its not possible.

 

[wsippel]

In line with what I've heard. The audio DSP matches the description I got, and I don't think those details were ever mentioned in public. Not bad at all.

 

[StevieP]

When I was told about this, I could only thank the devs that pressured into it. I was pleasantly surprised.

Yeah, but it was PC-centric devs that pushed it. You know, the kind that don't mind working with lower-bandwidth memory. lol

If these specs are close to accurate.

They're not close to, these are it. lol
Older documentation, no specifics, etc - but that's the Wii U.

 

[Officerrob]

With these specs, there is no reason that Star Wars 1313 or Watchdogs couldn't be done technically at 720 p and look brilliant.

Nope

 

[Knux-Future]

Kill the avatars now

 

[Orayn]

It's better to see the games to see the comparisons.

It will only be beyond PS3/360 if it's not getting a bunch of ports.

While I understand what you mean, this is a really poor way to phrase it.

Well my HTC Thunderbolt 786 megs of ram....so I don't see why its not possible.

We are, in all likelihood, talking about memory that's much faster and more expensive than your phone's.

 

[Deadly Joker]

So, how do people think this will stack up to 720/PS4? Is this a generational leap over 360/PS3?

It's going to be the PS2 powerwise of this next generation.

 

[Slayer-33]

So, how do people think this will stack up to 720/PS4? Is this a generational leap over 360/PS3?

Will allow full screen AA 60fps 720p + some extra effects/particles over ps3/360?

 

[Acidote]

So, how do people think this will stack up to 720/PS4? Is this a generational leap over 360/PS3?

The same difference you have now betweeen Wii and 360/PS3. Maybe a little bit more.

 

[donny2112]

They are legit. But it should also be made known these are from the early target specs.

We need the Luigi dev kit (most recent) specs. Probably has more details, too. Maybe the NDA was for a year, so these are the target specs before last E3?

 

[specialguy]

It's Specialguy.

huh wat? where did i say weaker than a 360

I'm expecting 360 level +10% and hoping to be pleasently surprised

 

[Turok_TTZ]

lol pikmen

 

[SoulPlaya]

The same difference you have now betweeen Wii and 360/PS3. Maybe a little bit more.

Damn.

 

[gamergirly]

Good enough for me too. Enough to get an orgasm from Legend of Zelda......

 

[Azure J]

Using Dragon Ball Z terms, what does this mean?

SSJ2 Gohan before the timeskip compared to the rumored PS4's Majin Vegita and X720's SSJ3 Goku.

 

[Lazy8s]

The eDRAM means only bad things here.

 

[Acidote]

Damn.

But remember that the thing that was hitting Wii hardest was the resolution, and now that is fixed. On the visuals, what you finally see on your screen, I don't think the difference will be as huge as it is right now.

 

[cametall]

Seeing as I know nothing about console development, is there a reason they use so little RAM?

Or is my bloated OS the reason my PC uses so much?

 

[brain_stew]

Its legitimate information but over a year old and not very specific with regards to performance.

 

[Lord Error]

The eDRAM means only bad things here.

What do you mean, like a sign that there's too little general bandwidth? I don't think it probaly matters that much in the end. 32MB is enough for 1080p buffer, and with some postproc-aa that should yield excellent picture quality.