Difficult to say... I'd suggest a guess at a 4850, but I know more knowledgeable individuals will disagree. Try bgassassin, StevieP, brainstew or DCKing...
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Wii U Speculation Thread 2: Can't take anymore of this!!!
- Thread starter ClovingWestbrook
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Difficult to say... I'd suggest a guess at a 4850, but I know more knowledgeable individuals will disagree. Try bgassassin, StevieP, brainstew or DCKing...
Shin Johnpv
Member
Yup 28 here as well when the Wii launched, and in my first Semester at Grad School. I waited outside in the cold with hundreds of other people outside the NWS in NYC.
*edit* To add some more, I started with the Atari 2600, my parents have a photo of me with a baby bottle in one hand and a 2600 controller in the other.
I'd say a raw 4850 (with nothing changed regarding clocks and memory) would easily put the Wii U around 6x better GPU wise, not accounting for architectural changes for a console variant but I'm still a newbie at this. As for what's inside, well I'm beginning to strongly sway towards a 640SPU part (initially I thought between 640 - 800SPU for comparison's sake) if only because the 7750 & 7770 show that even with such numbers on the shader side, the cards are pretty damn competitive and there's also that delicious real estate and wattage advantage between the two. (55W for 7750 & ~75-80W for 7770)
Memory counts and types are going to be the hardest to figure out without someone dropping a hint before launch, but devkit rumors from way back placed the console at having 1GB at least with overhead on the case that Nintendo wants to go higher. (See lherre's initial comments on the devkit possessing enough RAM to suggest 1GB at the minimum but a higher unspecified total amount. Note for those not in the know: Devkits always possess double the amount of RAM the system they develop for possesses for easier workloads in development.)
In regards to the secondary memory/general RAM type, it's difficult to say. With the "nice chunk" of eDRAM, bandwidth issues aren't too much of a worry anymore as the eDRAM can fetch at a good clip from the larger pool of unified RAM. At the same time, I lack the expertise to say anything conclusive on what this means for that part of the system. Also, there's a running debate on the utility between the two "fast" types of RAM, namely GDDR5 and its latency issues in exchange for raw bandwidth versus GDDR3 and its perceived "oldness" and lower bandwidth. Final note to consider that wraps up my current knowledge of the potential design of this GPU is that GDDR5 manufacturing hasn't gotten to a point where a system can have more than 2GBs of it on a motherboard without ordering more chips/increasing motherboard complexity and that's a straight up no go zone for console design. At current, the manufacturers providing GDDR5 chips have 2Gbit chips as the absolute max density per individual chip. With 8 of those on one motherboard (the max before it becomes unfeasible for use on a given bus), the max amount a console of GDDR5 fast RAM a console currently designed can have while being designed with sensitivity to heat and performance as of now is 2GBs. 4Gbit chips don't go into production until sometime late next year IIRC.
Okay I gotta ask this question again for this thread: Virtual Console games on the Wii-U. What's the likelihood of them all being in HD?
Virtual Console games on the Wii run in 480p and look a lot better than on their original platforms, probably because they're all run on an emulator. How likely is it that the Wii-U will be able to just flip the resolution up on that emulator? The ability to play all those old games in glistening HD alone would be a pretty good selling point for the system.
I remember Nintendo saying something about this earlier, a little after E3, but can't remember.
Virtual Console games on the Wii run in 480p and look a lot better than on their original platforms, probably because they're all run on an emulator. How likely is it that the Wii-U will be able to just flip the resolution up on that emulator? The ability to play all those old games in glistening HD alone would be a pretty good selling point for the system.
I remember Nintendo saying something about this earlier, a little after E3, but can't remember.
No, we just devour them to regain our lost youth.
IceDoesntHelp
Banned
Lucky you, I started with the Gameboy Colour and Gamecube.
Never got a taste of the classics 'till I was around 13 ;_;
Lol I suppose. I mean the N64 was already out when I was gaming with Castlevania on the NES. I still suck at that game.
I don't think Nintendo is going to even bother with wanting to display VC games in HD. Heck, we'd be lucky to get a small selection of released GameCube/Wii games receive the HD treatment.
JoshuaJSlone
Member
It should be pretty trivial. If you're already going beyond Super Mario 64's original settings to make it render at 640x480, it's just a matter of degree to make it render at 1440x1080. The only problem would be if they had an old-fashioned Nintendo cheapout and just decided to let the Wii backwards compatibility be used for the existing Virtual Console games, in which case nothing would change.
IceDoesntHelp
Banned
I can't believe I've been gaming for over a decade now to be honest, I started in 2001.
You kidding me? With all the games they released under "New Play Control" and how successful Sony's been with their HD re-releases? They gotta already be thinking about re-releasing Gamecube and Wii games in HD on disc collections, and you know we're gonna buy em'.
IceDoesntHelp
Banned
Imagine if they released Super Mario Galaxy, Wind Waker and Metroid Prime in HD, on launch, in one package..for the low low price of $40.
Nintendo only released 7 New Play Control titles (all 7 weren't released in all territories) which includes the two Metroid Prime games. Apparently, Nintendo discontinued the NPC lineup due to poor sales back in 2009. NPC lineup was used by Nintendo to help fill in the gap in its software schedule on the Wii from December 2008 to June 2009 ( the 2008 titles were both released only for Japan). I'm sure Nintendo would have likely continued it had the sales apparently not been poor.
Too demented to be sure, but i think i was about to turn 28 when the Wii came out (birthday in January). First gaming experience was on a Vectrex.
frankie_baby
Member
did they really sell that bad? i'm pretty sure some sold quite well in japan? and at the very least mario tennis got tv ads and did well in the charts in the uk, the main problem with the NPC games is the lack of real heavy hitters, where the hell were mario sunshine and wind waker, surely they'd have sold like hot cakes
I was 27 when the Wii launched.
My first system was my Dad's Intellivision.
Later, when we rented an NES from Movie Gallery, I was dissapointed when Mario go the star in SMB because I thought I read in the booklet that he would become invisible (not invincible, as I later re-read).
My first system was my Dad's Intellivision.
Later, when we rented an NES from Movie Gallery, I was dissapointed when Mario go the star in SMB because I thought I read in the booklet that he would become invisible (not invincible, as I later re-read).
I think it would be a huge mistake for Nintendo to even try competing with Apple with the Wii U. You simply cannot compete with Apple using a 6.2 inch resistive touch screen that won't function a certain distance away from a console that people speculate will have 8GB of flash memory in it at most. They simply don't have the hardware, and most importantly they don't yet have the app ecosystem to even think about taking on Apple. Wii U is very much a games console, and its competition is still very much MS and Sony. Nothing wrong with that.
If any of the Big 3 is taking on Apple it's definitely MS. They've gone the furthest turning their games console into a all-around digital entertainment device for the living-room. Heck, they're already doing it with the 360.
I think people give Apple too much credit. They make great portable consumer devices, but home entertainment is still not their strongest suit. Apple TV still hasn't really caught on, and I don't think it really ever will. It's the one area Microsoft definitely has them whooped, and cable boxes themselves are evolving to the point where Apple TV will largely be seen as a redundant device.
bgassassin
Member
Shout out to all of those old enough to remember when Nintendo was a 3rd party developer.
If we're looking at strictly FLOPs, then the 4870 would be exactly 5x Xenos.
Xenos = 240 GFLOPs
240 x 5 = 1200
4870 = .75 (750Mhz) x 800 (ALUs) x 2 = 1200 GFLOPs
So the potential to be 5x is definitely there.
If we're looking at strictly FLOPs, then the 4870 would be exactly 5x Xenos.
Xenos = 240 GFLOPs
240 x 5 = 1200
4870 = .75 (750Mhz) x 800 (ALUs) x 2 = 1200 GFLOPs
So the potential to be 5x is definitely there.
Worked on some kind of Wii U OS..
Man, this is really a tough one. We don't know how it's going to be controlled.. are they going to put some kind of cursor on the screen which could be controlled with movements on the pad? Or are you going to choose everything directly from the pad? If so, then what purpose is the TV going to have? Maybe you can choose your "app" on the controller and wipe it towards the TV (like that shuriken demo in the first Wii U video) to run it, lol.. Questions and questions!
TV version:
Controller version:
So: what do you think Nintendo will do?
Man, this is really a tough one. We don't know how it's going to be controlled.. are they going to put some kind of cursor on the screen which could be controlled with movements on the pad? Or are you going to choose everything directly from the pad? If so, then what purpose is the TV going to have? Maybe you can choose your "app" on the controller and wipe it towards the TV (like that shuriken demo in the first Wii U video) to run it, lol.. Questions and questions!
TV version:
Controller version:
So: what do you think Nintendo will do?
Thunder Monkey
Banned
*hugs copy of Donkey Kong for the Colecovision*
thegodsend
Member
Hi Nibel. Please get hired by Nintendo. Thanks.
You shouldn't see it that way.
You have survived 40 years on this planet.
If you are healthy, young is just superficial.
Many people dont make it past 30.
Ýou have the privilege to know video games when it was pong.
You were there when the industry crashed and rose again from its ashes stronger than ever.
Some of the titles did sell pretty well in Japan but apparently Nintendo wasn't pleased with each one's overall sales performance. According to Wiki:
- Mario Power Tennis on GameCube sold 296k copies in North America and 377k copies in Japan. The NPC version sold 205k copies in Japan.
- Pikmin on the GameCube sold 1.18 million copies with 507k copies coming from Japan. The NPC version sold 169k copies in Japan in a few weeks.
- I'm not sure about Pikmin 2's sales but the GC version apparently sold less than the original game.The NPC version wasn't released in North America and Europe.
-I can't find Donkey Kong Jungle Beat's sales for GC and NPC versions.
- Chibi Robo on the GameCube sold 97k copies in Japan. The NPC version sold 38k copies in Japan. NPC version wasn't released in North America and Europe.
- Metroid Prime 3 on the Wii sold 1.31 million copies. The NPC version (Prime Trilogy) sold 115k copies in North America during its first week. However, Nintendo stopped shipping it after like 4 months.
This will probably be the M.O. going forward of a lot of developers. Sometimes they will succumb to their publishers wishes due to pubs being the funders (Wii U porting will be much easier than Wii porting) and other times they won't bother for...whatever reason?
It will probably be 1GB + some strange other amount for Wii BC or something lol. Just be happy if we get GDDR5.
0%. It's not a trivial task at all to get 480p games emulating (rendering, not just upscaling) at 1080p. It takes a team of people and a per-game emulator to do so. Unless you like VC games being 29.99 or something.
Worked on some kind of Wii U OS..
Man, this is really a tough one. We don't know how it's going to be controlled.. are they going to put some kind of cursor on the screen which could be controlled with movements on the pad? Or are you going to choose everything directly from the pad? If so, then what purpose is the TV going to have? Maybe you can choose your "app" on the controller and wipe it towards the TV (like that shuriken demo in the first Wii U video) to run it, lol.. Questions and questions!
TV version:
Controller version:
So: what do you think Nintendo will do?
That's a sweet, sweet OS.
Two things:
1) I would darken the text bubbles a bit. I could imagine the white font against a pastel background being a bit hard to read blown up on an HDTV.
2) I would take more advantage of that empty space on controller screen by making the channel options wider.
Other than that though, this is awesome. Hopefully Nintendo goes for an OS this sleek.
I suppose it would be the same dynamic as the 3DS OS, you choose stuff from the touch screen, and the top screen shows whatever.
I really like your OS, by the way. There is a bit of white space in the top center, but other than that it's cool.
You know, I keep forgetting that Nintendo did things before becoming a hardware company in the gaming space. Quite funny given the running joke of Nintendo going 3rd party. :lol
As for the latter, 4870 level of power would have me skipping about with not a single fuck of care for how it sits versus other consoles. That would be plenty powerful for not only an 8th generation console but for a leap from the current Wii.
On another note, what say you on my reasoning for what the final GPU could look like that I posted above?
Worked on some kind of Wii U OS..
Man, this is really a tough one. We don't know how it's going to be controlled.. are they going to put some kind of cursor on the screen which could be controlled with movements on the pad? Or are you going to choose everything directly from the pad? If so, then what purpose is the TV going to have? Maybe you can choose your "app" on the controller and wipe it towards the TV (like that shuriken demo in the first Wii U video) to run it, lol.. Questions and questions!
TV version:
Controller version:
So: what do you think Nintendo will do?
I really really like this.
snowdog1971
Banned
Yup, Binatone Pong for me too. My family then bought an Atari VCS 2600 which at the time was amazing, playing arcade games such as Space Invaders and Asteroids in your own home and in colour was pretty gobsmacking tbh.
From the Atari VCS I then progressed to the 48K Speccy and contributed to the Console Crash of 84. From there I went onto PC gaming before going back to console gaming with the PS1, PS2, PSP and Wii. Bought myself a PS3 after that and got myself a 360 for free via a Cokezone promotion.
Now I've got myself a 3DS which is seven kinds of awesome and will be getting a U as soon as I possibly can.
And I'm 41 in October...an old git
(That seems like a good and realistic solution, Willy105. Don't know why I didn't come up with this method by myself.. Miyamoto calling the controller "subscreen" strengthens the theory that they will try "the 3DS way". Thanks!
About my OS: I left some whitespace in there because I started with some kind of wallpaper which every logged in member can change for his preferences. Miis can be imported from the Wii-mote and get some unlockable stuff to wear. I have many thoughts about what they can put into this console, lol.
About my OS: I left some whitespace in there because I started with some kind of wallpaper which every logged in member can change for his preferences. Miis can be imported from the Wii-mote and get some unlockable stuff to wear. I have many thoughts about what they can put into this console, lol.
Grampa Simpson
Banned
Atari 400 and a franklin ace 1000
Cerebral Assassin
Member
Pikmin 2 NPC was released in the EU.
That's quite a nice design, have you thought about making the notifications spool out horizontally? I think it would save a fair bit of space on the left(so you could have bigger/more channels), & could work in a similar way to a ticker on a news channel (which would then open up options for colour-coding messages for different things).
Neoriceisgood
Member
Nibel do I know you? You seem familiar.
It did. I'm still pissed that I didn't pick it up a few months ago for 10
I don't think so; the only other place I am registered is Kotaku. But there wasn't much fun posting there anymore and the that devilish redesign came.. since then I wrote way less and promoted some good comments. But honestly? I don't know when the last time was I visited the site. Quite a shame since I actually like Totilo.
I thought about that. Then I remembered that I wasn't a big fan of the Wii OS because it has dozens of channels all over the place. In my mockup, I see the channels on the right as some kind of "favourite channels" selection. I thought about adding some kind of arrows on the sides which let you scroll through the right part of your homescreen, but that would have damaged the sleakness.
Thank you anyways for your ideas Assassin!
No you don't. Nibel's looks great already.
Cmd. Pishad'aç
Banned
That's not very likely, I would say.
I wonder in the other hand, if Classic Controller (EDIT: Wii games) supported games will be playable in CC mode via de uPad. I'd like to play Xenoblade on the uPad screen, as well as Last Story. Those games might look awesome on the semi-portable screen.
woo and indeed hoo
Banned
Well when the Wii launched I had just had my birthday.
It had a one and a four in it.
I will let you decide the order in which they go.
It had a one and a four in it.
I will let you decide the order in which they go
.That seems like a good and realistic solution, Willy105. Don't know why I didn't come up with this method by myself.. Miyamoto calling the controller "subscreen" strengthens the theory that they will try "the 3DS way". Thanks!
About my OS: I left some whitespace in there because I started with some kind of wallpaper which every logged in member can change for his preferences. Miis can be imported from the Wii-mote and get some unlockable stuff to wear. I have many thoughts about what they can put into this console, lol.
Yeah, I'll bet Nintendo will want to utilize the 2 screens differently in the OS. Maybe you could mock one up with the subscreen having selectable items and the top screen showing useful information (friends online, messages, date/time, etc)?
I really like the Mii with the coins and messages, and I really like the idea of a favorites selection.
And if Nintendo does put all the "selectable" content on the subscreen, what ARE they going to utilize all that TV space for?
So beautiful.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Still hate looking at mock ups. The actual thing will inevitably be worse.
fabricated backlash
Member
Very nice OS design. Kinda combines the best of the Wii Channels, with the new Metro Style of the 360 OS.
Now you know what would be a cool idea: to place the icons and pages of the main OS in a 3D spherical space that you can navigate by moving around the PAD (of course optional) and simply use a stick to navigate through on the TV.
So you could've movies above you, Browsing to your left etc. I would love something like that.
Now you know what would be a cool idea: to place the icons and pages of the main OS in a 3D spherical space that you can navigate by moving around the PAD (of course optional) and simply use a stick to navigate through on the TV.
So you could've movies above you, Browsing to your left etc. I would love something like that.
TheCongressman1
Member
DO EEEET!
Ok Gaf. Nintendo announce that the Wii U is now called the Nintendo Infinite because it has infinite possibilities n' shit. At E3 they announce the 'From One to Infinity' tag line and announce the Wii U lineup in this order.
1| Miyamoto new IP
2| Mirror's Edge 2
3| Half Life 3
4| Mother IV
5| GTA V
6| Resident Evil 6
7| FFVII HD
8| Mario Kart 8
9| Call of Duty 9
10| Metroid 10
∞| Bioshock Infinite
What do you do?
1| Miyamoto new IP
2| Mirror's Edge 2
3| Half Life 3
4| Mother IV
5| GTA V
6| Resident Evil 6
7| FFVII HD
8| Mario Kart 8
9| Call of Duty 9
10| Metroid 10
∞| Bioshock Infinite
What do you do?
Lord Ghirahim
Member
I wake up and sob into my pillow.
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