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[TheChewyWaffles]

I'd have paid $50 more dollars for a better CPU and upgraded RAM. I know they could have done it for that

Hell, I'd have gone in for $400 like I did with the 360.

 

[Why would you do that?]

Nintendo, showing incompetence with online since 2001.

Downloads causing performance issues isn't exclusive to the Wii U, as evident by this thread. One user posted about Rock Band on 360 being affected by downloads, and another posted about Deus Ex on PS3 disabling downloads for better hard drive performance.

What exactly is causing the Wii U to run slower, whether it's the slow CPU, the active hard drive, or somehow incompetence with online, is not known. It likely depends on the game.

 

[Erethian]

Nintendo should have anticipated this and made allowances for CPU time, or just pause the download.
Well it's growing pains for them, hopefully they patch it up soon. But it really seems like they turned a blind eye to much of the progress Microsoft and Sony made to their system software since launch.

Nintendo does reserve CPU/memory for their OS functionality. It's why (it's suspected) the PCB has an ARM co-processor on there (it's shown up in the breakdowns and was mentioned in leaks) and why 1GB of the secondary RAM is reserved for the OS.

It isn't going to mitigate performance issues caused by use of the internet, or accessing the hard disk, though. Especially if you're running a game off internal memory or the HDD and the game has to access those things too.

 

[DonMigs85]

Nintendo does reserve CPU/memory for their OS functionality. It's why (it's suspected) the PCB has an ARM co-processor on there (it's shown up in the breakdowns and was mentioned in leaks) and why 1GB of the secondary RAM is reserved for the OS.

It isn't going to mitigate performance issues caused by use of the internet, or accessing the hard disk, though. Especially if you're running a game off internal memory or the HDD and the game has to access those things too.

I know the first Wii had an ARM processor to handle the input/output processing for the Wiimotes and stuff, maybe it's the same chip?

 

[KillerTravis]

People like to complain about the dumbest of things don't they. If you feel your frames per second are being affected just pause the damn thing.

 

[BMAX]

People like to complain about the dumbest of things don't they. If you feel your frames per second are being affected just pause the damn thing.

Yes, I forgot the electronics we spend our money on are beyond reproach. As consumers if we have a criticism about something we buy we're just being petty, right?

And on the other hand you're right, I'll pause background downloads from here on out when I'm gaming. The point is that this information is buried in a menu and most people won't do the digging to find it, and yeah, it's a con to the user experience.

 

[FyreWulff]

Nintendo, showing incompetence with online since 2001.

*1988

 

[AzaK]

Still, you'd think this is something they could have caught in QA testing and reported to Nintendo.

Even if they caught it they wouldn't have done anything about it judging by the load times. No way they missed that and they still shipped. Even their day 1 patch didn't fix it.

 

[Seik]

Yes, I forgot the electronics we spend our money on are beyond reproach. As consumers if we have a criticism about something we buy we're just being petty, right?

And on the other hand you're right, I'll pause background downloads from here on out when I'm gaming. The point is that this information is buried in a menu and most people won't do the digging to find it, and yeah, it's a con to the user experience.

Press home -> Download Management.

Yeah its buried quite deep.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Omgsh this makes me so frustrated. Why didn't they just use a decent (not horrible, not amazing) CPU to at least like.....do things....


This has me so bummed out.

Because Nintendo and decent tech don't mix.

*1988

Disagree, Satellaview was some pretty cool stuff. Almost put the Wii's online to shame actually.

 

[Visualante2]

Just like Steam then, maybe Valve and Nintendo can work it out together?

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Just like Steam then, maybe Valve and Nintendo can work it out together?

 

[CambriaRising]

I don't know what the best solution for this is. You can't just tell developers "Hey, you can only use XX% of the cpu because XX% need to be allocated to downloading". I guess just don't download things while playing clearly demanding titles.

 

[gblues]

Try installing a game on PS3 while it's downloading something. Enjoy watching a progress bar for a couple hours.

 

[xk0sm0sx]

ITT : People who don't understand computers.

Everything is done by magic!

 

[Always-honest]

amazing. Yet we all will buy this fucking turd of a console.

Too bad it's my only chance at playing them brilliant Nintendo Games..... cause i'm sure extremely dissapointed in the way they cheaped out on this console in every way possible.

 

[Erethian]

I know the first Wii had an ARM processor to handle the input/output processing for the Wiimotes and stuff, maybe it's the same chip?

It's rumoured to be a dual core so I doubt it'd be used for just that. And this wouldn't be the first time Nintendo used an extra processor, specifically an ARM one, to handle all the background OS functionality. 3DS has the same setup.

 

[Sanctuary]

Cool that its an option, annoying that it can impact your gaming performance.

Annoying? Sure. Completely in line with the majority of anything that plays games while you're also trying to download something? Mmhmm.
You may as well rename the topic: Downloading and seeding multiple torrents causes loss of frames while playing online games. I thought this kind of thing was common knowledge.

I can download a game and play another game just fine on my 360, I thought that this was pretty much standard by now. Especially for a console just released.

Depends on the game, but you won't get the same performance playing any game that actually stresses the system even a little bit. To say that you do implies you simply don't pay attention to the hiccups.
And a console "just being released" is completely irrelevant.

 

[Canis lupus]

I can only hope they resolve it via future fw updates.

 

[majik13]

so are we basing this all on OPs word? Other posters have said they have had bg dl going, with no noticable change. Seems as ussual people like to blow things out of proportion, that may not be accurate or even true

Also, if OP is right, he says he is super sensitive to these things. So far he is the only 1 to actually percieve a very subtle performance hit. If most, if not all dont, then what is the big deal?

Has anyone ventured to see what the actual wording is OP mentions about pausing the dl to improve performance? I am out of town currently and cant check.

 

[whitehawk]

I can download a game and play another game just fine on my 360, I thought that this was pretty much standard by now. Especially for a console just released.

.

This is rather embarrassing.

 

[Nibel]

Isn't that kind of obvious since the CPU is shit? What did OP expect

I'm more suprised that it is actually possible to download something in the background with that CPU

 

[WiiRevolution1]

Mighty Switch Force lagged a bit while I was redownloading the youtube app. Definatly a problem but my motto is as long as i doesn't crash the system or mess with saves or anything then I don't care.

 

[FyreWulff]

I can download a game and play another game just fine on my 360, I thought that this was pretty much standard by now. Especially for a console just released.

As I pointed out upthread, some 360 games display issues when played while downloads occuring.

I imagine Nintendo is going to optimize this or allow games to flag suspension of downloads when needed, just like 360 games can. And the 360 didn't really get usable background downloading working until a later update 6 months after launch.

 

[squidyj]

ITT : People who don't understand computers.

Everything is done by magic!

? I'm not sure I understand your point. Features a 6+ year old console can support with ease cause significant disruption to the experience on a brand new console and your response is what? suck it up?

Annoying? Sure. Completely in line with the majority of anything that plays games while you're also trying to download something? Mmhmm.
You may as well rename the topic: Downloading and seeding multiple torrents causes loss of frames while playing online games. I thought this kind of thing was common knowledge.



Depends on the game, but you won't get the same performance playing any game that actually stresses the system even a little bit. To say that you do implies you simply don't pay attention to the hiccups.
And a console "just being released" is completely irrelevant.

ummm.... I never experience frame loss while torrenting. massive horriffic ping that desyncs me from the server because my online game and the torrent client aren't designed for a fixed hardware or use with each-other? yeah, that happens.

 

[Erethian]

Isn't that kind of obvious since the CPU is shit? What did OP expect

I'm more suprised that it is actually possible to download something in the background with that CPU

It is very likely not even using the main CPU.

 

[SMT]

Nintendo, showing incompetence with online since 2001.

Yeah, they cut Majora's Mask from 7-day cycle to a short 3-day cycle just to meet the deadline. Now their games are always postponed, and they suck massive kangaroo nads. What gives, Nintendo?

 

[DjRoomba]

I wonder if all the reviews of games with bad frame rates is actually cos of this? Lol. If its an option the default should definitely be set to not hurt gaming performance, yea?

 

[mrklaw]

Nintendo does reserve CPU/memory for their OS functionality. It's why (it's suspected) the PCB has an ARM co-processor on there (it's shown up in the breakdowns and was mentioned in leaks) and why 1GB of the secondary RAM is reserved for the OS.

It isn't going to mitigate performance issues caused by use of the internet, or accessing the hard disk, though. Especially if you're running a game off internal memory or the HDD and the game has to access those things too.

you've got a gig of OS memory. stick it in there if a game is using the HDD heavily and wait your turn.

OP, do you have a fast internet connection? although even if you do, its maybe a couple of megs a second, trivial amounts to write to disk

Try installing a game on PS3 while it's downloading something. Enjoy watching a progress bar for a couple hours.

this is true, but then you're in the OS so I don't mind as much. I've never noticed a game performance being impacted while downloading in the background on PS3. The OS on WiiU should be capable of background downloading without impacting performance. But if it isn't, it should pause downloads automatically if needed. It shouldn't require manual intervention

 

[SpoonyBard]

this is true, but then you're in the OS so I don't mind as much. I've never noticed a game performance being impacted while downloading in the background on PS3. The OS on WiiU should be capable of background downloading without impacting performance. But if it isn't, it should pause downloads automatically if needed. It shouldn't require manual intervention

It probably affects some games a lot more than others, but yeah, the default setting should be "pause downloads when playing".

 

[mrklaw]

It probably affects some games a lot more than others, but yeah, the default setting should be "pause downloads when playing".

add it to the snag list, i'm sure Nintendo will get around to it.

 

[BMAX]

I wonder if all the reviews of games with bad frame rates is actually cos of this? Lol. If its an option the default should definitely be set to not hurt gaming performance, yea?

I should explain the performance hit came in the form of a kind of jerkiness, like a stuttering. Also, again, Mario saw no performance issues while downloading. This thread wasn't meant to start any fires, just making an observation I figured people would appreciate. This isn't a PC rig, I'm not playing WoW while torrenting 10 movies and complaining about dropping frames, it's a home console and this is poor execution on a feature that is now standard on other home consoles.

I'm away from the system through the weekend, but it would be great if somebody could pull the exact wording Nintendo uses in the download manager.

 

[AzaK]

Isn't that kind of obvious since the CPU is shit? What did OP expect

I'm more suprised that it is actually possible to download something in the background with that CPU

Nibel, are you ok? You seem to have changed your tune on Wii U.

 

[Unai]

It remembers me that I had to disable the ps3 internet (I wasn't even downloading anything) so Fallout New Vegas wouldn't run like ass in some areas.

 

[sinnergy]

I'm pretty perceptive when it comes to picking up on visual oddities in my games. Visual glitches, frame rate drops, I'm unfortunately super sensitive to it all.

That's why when I happened to be downloading Darksiders 2 while playing a round of ZombiU, I realized the game was a bit more herky jerky than usual. I ventured over to my WiiU download management menu and realized that there's an option to pause downloads while gaming to guarantee a smooth gaming experience (don't have the system in front of me right now, forgot the exact wording)

Cool that its an option, annoying that it can impact your gaming performance.

Normal, X360 also has this.

 

[AndyMoogle]

It remembers me that I had to disable the ps3 internet (I wasn't even downloading anything) so Fallout New Vegas wouldn't run like ass in some areas.

Oblivion on 360 also ran worse when you were online. I'm not sure if they ever patched that. Probably not.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

I'm pretty perceptive when it comes to picking up on visual oddities in my games. Visual glitches, frame rate drops, I'm unfortunately super sensitive to it all.

That's why when I happened to be downloading Darksiders 2 while playing a round of ZombiU, I realized the game was a bit more herky jerky than usual. I ventured over to my WiiU download management menu and realized that there's an option to pause downloads while gaming to guarantee a smooth gaming experience (don't have the system in front of me right now, forgot the exact wording)

Cool that its an option, annoying that it can impact your gaming performance.

Especially considering they've devoted half of the available RAM to the OS.

Seriously, this thing sounds more and more like a train wreck, design wise. What the hell are they playing at?

 

[Pie and Beans]

The CPU still has to do work to process downloads.

I hadn't even considered this. Good lord, its like a rabbit hole filled with excrement.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

Normal, X360 also has this.

I've never ever noticed this, and I BD on my 360 all the time. If it's there, it's barely preceptible.

 

[Chû Totoro]

I could do without background downloads even if Nintendo fails here
Performance way more important than background downloads.

also is there a sort of auto update service like the PS3 one (mine is turning on at 6am for updates and I find that very convenient).

 

[jimi_dini]

If you ask me, no biggie. Best case scenario: An eventual performance patch will fix it.

I thought I would never read anything about "Nintendo" and "patch" in the same sentence. I was wrong. sad face

 

[Ydahs]

This isn't a surprise considering how poorly optimised the OS is. Should be fixed in time.

 

[Metal B]

Disagree, Satellaview was some pretty cool stuff. Almost put the Wii's online to shame actually.

Damn, i would love Nintendo to go back and develop an Live-Event-Game with narration. They know have the structure and online-system to do this. They give you a date, you pay a small fee and can go on an adventure with other people for two hours. I always thought. that a Game Master Live-Event, would be an interesting Business-Model for an game. Players could pay other players, if they create own adventures and narrate them. Then you can rate both parties and the community can regulate them self. The game master gets 1/3 of the fee and Nintendo 2/3 (for servers, support and the game).

 

[FyreWulff]

Damn, i would love Nintendo to go back and develop an Live-Event-Game with narration. They know have the structure and online-system to do this. They give you a date, you pay a small fee and can go on an adventure with other people for two hours. I always thought. that a Game Master Live-Event, would be an interesting Business-Model for an game.

Microsoft finally got around to a modern day version of this with 1v100.. then killed it

 

[Bidermaier]

Especially considering they've devoted half of the available RAM to the OS.

Seriously, this thing sounds more and more like a train wreck, design wise. What the hell are they playing at?

nothing will beat a 60% consoles getting a red ring of death (and not being properly fixed for years)

 

[NinjaBoiX]

nothing will beat a 60% consoles getting a red ring of death (and not being properly fixed for years)

I've had three Xbox's all the way from launch and never had a RROD. One failed (funky disc drive, just traded it at GAME, fuck those guys), that I'd had for about three years, I then traded the replacement for a PS3 a year or so later, then I bought an S last year.

They've been solid for me. PS3 on the other hand, died in around half the time. I don't like using my slim too much, for fear of breaking again, which isn't ideal.

 

[Iacobellis]

Downloads causing performance issues isn't exclusive to the Wii U, as evident by this thread. One user posted about Rock Band on 360 being affected by downloads, and another posted about Deus Ex on PS3 disabling downloads for better hard drive performance.

What exactly is causing the Wii U to run slower, whether it's the slow CPU, the active hard drive, or somehow incompetence with online, is not known. It likely depends on the game.

But Nintendo claimed the Wii U to be more powerful!