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[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

So, this is to PS360 what Wii was to PS2?

Yes. It will look the best of the bunch until PS4/XBOX-NG releases.

 

[Durante]

So, this is to PS360 what Wii was to PS2 or is the leap bigger?

It's similar. But the Wii was at least clearly better than the PS2 in all aspects. We don't know that about the Wii U CPU.

 

[GashPrex]

Surely there's an ethernet port?

This - I can't imagine it not having an Ethernet jack. All my AV equipment is in a closet next to my router - making it wireless only would be nuts.

 

[Nilaul]

So the ram is 1032 mb?

 

[i-Lo]

So the ram is 1032 mb?

No, 1024 + 32

 

[Graphics Horse]

This - I can't imagine it not having an Ethernet jack. All my AV equipment is in a closet next to my router - making it wireless only would be nuts.

There's an adapter for that.

 

[Mit-]

To be fair they haven't shown jack yet. Hopefully they have something up their sleeve. Will be kind of weird if they launch without showing us anything coming after January 2013. With them selling every console at a profit though, they should be fine as long as they hit within a slightly below average number of console sales.

Plenty of what they've shown is coming after January 2013... The system likely won't be available until late October/early November, and their "launch window" (which was the relese date given to pretty much every game shown at E3) is quoted as being 4 months long. There's a good chance we won't hear about any new games from Nintendo until January/February of next year.

Please god have a 3D Mario game ready for next holiday. I'm not getting a Wii U right now. Gonna watch the launch from the sidelines and wait two killer apps to pick it up. Pikmin 3 is one. Need at least one more.


On topic, this all looks typical. I hope the support for USB hard drives is expansive and not limited to proprietary drives. I hope what someone said earlier about there actually being 1.5GB of RAM (512MB set aside for OS) is true.

 

[BadWolf]

Very curious to see how the next generation will pan out and if Nintendo will be able to duplicate its success with inferior hardware. Personally I don't feel like the pad is nearly as effective of a hook as the Wiimote, enough to make power not matter like it did with the Wii.

 

[Nilaul]

No, 1024 + 32

No... they... they didnt. Was 1.5 GB really an overshoot?

 

[cloudyy]

This is Nintendo we're talking about here; the same Nintendo that removed the ability to run games in 480p with a hardware revision to save pennies.

Never heard about that, pretty lame if true.

On the Cube.

Oh, progressive scan? Well, Europe never got it.

 

[Ushojax]

its all about da controlla

It's all about the games. Software sells hardware and always will. What Nintemdo needs to do is keep the big games coming like they did with the Wiis first 3 years.

Never heard about that, pretty lame if true.

On the Cube.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

No... they... they didnt. Was 1.5 really an overshoot?

Expensive.

 

[Chittagong]

I just had a krazy idea. It might be possible for Nintendo to release a chunk of hardware that plugs into the underside of the Wii U controller to turn it into a stand alone handheld. (Not for Wii U games of course) Ideally would need to be able capable of recieving video and audio through the expansion port but it's a thought.

That chunk of hardware better be a battery in that case.

 

[Graphics Horse]

No... they... they didnt. Was 1.5 GB really an overshoot?

1.5 including the OS supposedly.

That chunk of hardware better be a battery in that case.

Well yeah, it would likely have its own battery too. But I'd forgotten about that rumour of the controller lasting for very few hours (can't remember how long).

 

[davepoobond]

am i reading this right? 1gb of ram??

 

[blu]

It's similar. But the Wii was at least clearly better than the PS2 in all aspects. We don't know that about the Wii U CPU.

Not true. PS2 still had better peak fillrate (by far) and more modern 'vertex shaders' (aka VUs).

 

[Akey]

All I got from this post is that I should wait until next year where I will somehow be able to buy a console that is the equivalent to super computer now next year for under $400 somehow. Future sounds great oh and don't forget all the DX11 only games from then on out also...oh and 4k screen...man that next year right....

I can wait until Thursday for hopefully official specs and more info on the GPU and CPU before jumping to conclusion. The lack of ports has more to do with the Nintendo image of their user base and what they buy then being able to port so and so game.

 

[wsippel]

It's similar. But the Wii was at least clearly better than the PS2 in all aspects. We don't know that about the Wii U CPU.

Pretty sure it is. The "enhanced Broadway" shit is almost certainly conjecture. The B3D posts pretty much confirm that much - "it's Broadway because the chips share unique features"? That's not how it works.

 

[Derrick01]

It saves money. That's not inherently a bad thing.

It's a bad thing here. If you want digital to take off more you can't slice your base in pieces like that. Not to mention if devs want to do installs or offer HD texture options or anything like that they have a harder time doing it when there's no guaranteed hard drive space there.

 

[Durante]

Not true. PS2 still had better peak fillrate (by far) and more modern 'vertex shaders' (aka VUs).

This is true. I was just comparing at the individual component level (CPU overall and GPU overall), since we really don't have the level of individual detail required for a more in-depth comparison of Wii U and the other 2 consoles we know next to nothing about.

 

[NateDrake]

am i reading this right? 1gb of ram??

1GB of RAM not including RAM dedicated for the OS. System RAM is likely 1.5GB or slightly more. 1GB is dedicated to games, if this rumor is true.

 

[BGBW]

So basically, this is three Krillins strapped together?]

Oh dear at that CPU.

If they truly are using enhanced Broadway chips, that's just gross.

Wow, I guess Nintendo's really counting on hype to sell this thing...

Well at least I can play the extensive Wii library in between WiiU releases...

Underwhelming if true.

After 6 years of waiting to enter the HD market, the Cafee is getting served rather cold.

wow what a disappointment if true

This doesn't seem good.

This company is so out of touch.

 

[cloudyy]

am i reading this right? 1gb of ram??

basically it's 2x360 and 4xps3
but numbers don't mean shit.

 

[Nilaul]

1.5 including the OS supposedly.

So its

:: 1024 MB of ram for games and main applications
:: 32 MB ram for sub applications (epic Internet explorer)
:: 450 MB (estimate) ram for os?

 

[lordfroakie]

All I got from this post is that I should wait until next year where I will somehow be able to buy a console that is the equivalent to super computer now next year for under $400 somehow. Future sounds great oh and don't forget all the DX11 only games from then on out also...oh and 4k screen...man that next year right....

I can wait until Thursday for hopefully official specs and more info on the GPU and CPU before jumping to conclusion. The lack of ports has more to do with the Nintendo image of their user base and what they buy then being able to port so and so game.

Ha No way will nextbox/ps4 be under $300. The most you're looking at is $439-499 next gen

 

[Gemüsepizza]

The majority of modern effects will be possible on the Wii U. It's not a Wii/PS360 situation where the Wii's GPU was incredibly outdated at the time of release. The Wii GPU is able to support every game out on the market today (well, nearly).

It's also not difficult to 'swap' out some funky pixel shader for more something more simple. The engines they'll be using will make it a trivial task anyway, since most engines going forward will likely have PC support where scalable graphics are a necessity.

If Wii U does get ports, I doubt it it'll look 'bad'. It'll look worse relatively speaking, but on its own it'll still look decent.

Today's games are developed to run on DirectX 9/10 hardware, with some optional DX11 effects. With nextgen, DX11 etc. will probably be the norm. You can get DX11 graphic cards for very little money now, and I think they will use a lot more effects than now. I assume many devs won't even support DX9/10-only-PCs anymore when next gen consoles will be announced. Of course you can still port these games to the Wii U, but compared to Xbox 3 and PS4, those ports will look horrible. You may think now that this is "fine", but it won't be fine when you see a direct comparison. Just imagine an UE4 game without DX11 effects, with dumbed down lighting, physics, with dumbed down everything. It will look bad, very bad.

 

[KageMaru]

Man this is an ugly thread.

All I got from this post is that I should wait until next year where I will somehow be able to buy a console that is the equivalent to super computer now next year for under $400 somehow. Future sounds great oh and don't forget all the DX11 only games from then on out also...oh and 4k screen...man that next year right....

I can wait until Thursday for hopefully official specs and more info on the GPU and CPU before jumping to conclusion. The lack of ports has more to do with the Nintendo image of their user base and what they buy then being able to port so and so game.

I highly doubt they are ever going to release official specs.

 

[davepoobond]

basically it's 2x360 and 4xps3
but numbers don't mean shit.

this does. my computer from 6 years ago had 2 gb of ram standard. and this halves it.

i really gotta wonder how they're gonna plan on being able to push 2 screens with this hardware.

 

[kinggroin]

....at 720p, won't those Wii cores become a bottleneck for what's otherwise a decent jump for a console cycle? The GPU and available RAM look good, no?

 

[Graphics Horse]

So its

:: 1024 MB of ram for games and main applications
:: 32 MB ram for sub applications (epic Internet explorer)
:: 450 MB (estimate) ram for os?

Almost, but the 32MB will be super fast ram for intensive stuff in games. Browser counts as part of the 512MB(?) OS if it works like the 3DS.

 

[Durante]

All I got from this post is that I should wait until next year where I will somehow be able to buy a console that is the equivalent to super computer now next year for under $400 somehow.

There's a lot of room between "equivalent to a supercomputer" and "not really equivalent to a 2007 gaming PC".

 

[cacildo]

I still dont get if this is good or bad

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

I still dont get if this is good or bad

Good for 2012/2013. Bad/Decent* for anything after. Awesome for Nintendo fans all around.

*Depends on dev support.

 

[royalan]

this does. my computer from 6 years ago had 2 gb of ram standard. and this halves it.

i really gotta wonder how they're gonna plan on being able to push 2 screens with this hardware.

Ain't that the question.

It's almost easy to forget that the Wii U has to push two screens with decent visual output and 0 latency with those specs.

 

[theviolenthero]

These specs are awesome IF they price it at $250.

 

[Ushojax]

I still dont get if this is good or bad

If the games are good what does it matter?

 

[Data West]

I'm pro Nintendo just letting me buy my own usb hard drive and using that.

I am not pro 1gb of ram

 

[Tathanen]

Of course you can still port these games to the Wii U, but compared to Xbox 3 and PS4, those ports will look horrible.

I do not subscribe to this line of thought where once something "nicer looking" exists, everything that came before it suddenly looks "horrible." With the Wii U, I am pretty convinced that as long as a developer isn't a complete moron, there will be no hardware reason for a game to ever look "horrible." We've reached the age where these machines can do pretty much anything and "look nice doing it." From here on up it's just degrees of niceness.

(Again, barring developer incompetence.)

 

[Hydrargyrus]

So... The next Nintendo console will have 4 or 5 broadway cores, isn't it?

 

[Graphics Horse]

If the games are good what does it matter?

Well once it gets hacked the specs will determine how well we can run Dolphin on it.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

this does. my computer from 6 years ago had 2 gb of ram standard. and this halves it.

i really gotta wonder how they're gonna plan on being able to push 2 screens with this hardware.

And your computer is not a closed-platform like a console.

 

[Durante]

Well once it gets hacked the specs will determine how well we can run Dolphin on it.

Or the other way round, once we know the specs we'll know how long it will take for Dolphin to run Wii U games

 

[wsippel]

So its

:: 1024 MB of ram for games and main applications
:: 32 MB ram for sub applications (epic Internet explorer)
:: 450 MB (estimate) ram for os?

The 32MB is eDRAM. Dedicated silicon, not OS related. It's a small, ultra fast, ultra low latency memory pool.

 

[Palette Swap]

If the games are good what does it matter?

Are you asking why we're even discussing specs?

 

[metalslimer]

Wtf at that cpu. For the controller and these specs though it will be pretty good at 249. This is going to be blown away next year though but nintendo isnt looking at the 399 console market

 

[GashPrex]

There's an adapter for that.

to what ? make a wired connection out of a wireless signal? I can use a wireless signal just fine - point is that I don't want to when I can use wired.

edit: of course because of the design with the WiiU controller, centrally locating a WiiU probably won't be possible

 

[Mit-]

this does. my computer from 6 years ago had 2 gb of ram standard. and this halves it.

i really gotta wonder how they're gonna plan on being able to push 2 screens with this hardware.

This isn't a personal computer. Game consoles never have as much memory as a typical desktop computer. You did see how it was mentioned that this is 4x as much memory as the PS3 and twice as much as the 360, right?

 

[Palette Swap]

to what ? make a wired connection out of a wireless signal? I can use a wireless signal just fine - point is that I don't want to when I can use wired.

There's already a Wii Ethernet USB adapter since Wii didn't feature an RJ45 port either.

 

[Cromat]

This information matches the "GPU is good but CPU not so much" rumors and the $250 price tag. I think Nintendo believe sub-$300 is a magic number and they will do everything in their power to achieve that with profit. They might be right actually.

 

[Graphics Horse]

to what ? make a wired connection out of a wireless signal? I can use a wireless signal just fine - point is that I don't want to when I can use wired.

As far as I understood it goes from USB into ethernet, not reconvert the wireless signal.. I'm not sure it's confirmed for Wii U yet, but was a Wii feature.