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[wsippel]

It does makes sense. Never thought of it. Nintendo r genuiss

Any one familiar with audio processing able to chime in regarding Wii U providing 6 channel HDMI audio because it is simultaneously processing audio for the Gamepad?

I don't quite understand the question?

 

[shinra-bansho]

Wii U. That's a rather silly question I'd think for most people.

Given the option of an iPad Mini, rumored to be $250, I think for most people it would actually be the iPad Mini.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Given the option of an iPad Mini, rumored to be $250, I think for most people it would actually be the iPad Mini.

We're not most people.

*stylish walk into the sunset*

 

[The_Lump]

Who doesn't?

I got a 64 year old to give me one earlier through my monkey charms.

Broke his hip though.

Poor chap.I shudder at the thought of your charms, monkey.

2 channels are used *presumably* for gamepad output. Then again you can ask. "why not make 10 channels and then we can have 8ch + 2ch. To which I'd say. "Ask Iwata"

it's 6 ch (5.1) plus two separate channels for the pad. I believe.

What'll be interesting is how they feed 4 wiimotes (mono) audio at the same time

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Poor chap. I shudder at the thought of your charms, monkey.

Shudder in anticipation.

 

[AzaK]

Poor chap.I shudder at the thought of your charms, monkey.




it's 6 ch (5.1) plus two separate channels for the pad. I believe.

What'll be interesting is how they feed 4 wiimotes (mono) audio at the same time

With the Wii I think they copied the data to the Wii Remote's teeny memory and then just signalled a "play command".

 

[wsippel]

it's 6 ch (5.1) plus two separate channels for the pad. I believe.

What'll be interesting is how they feed 4 wiimotes (mono) audio at the same time

Wiimotes aren't "outputs", they are discrete audio players. The console transfers a sound file via Bluetooth and tells the Wiimote to play it, and the Wiimote then does so on its own.

 

[The_Lump]

Shudder in anticipation.

Coupled with your avatar, that is thoroughly chilling. Lol.

With the Wii I think they copied the data to the Wii Remote's teeny memory and then just signalled a "play command".

Aha, ingenious! Thanks. I've been trying to figure out how they'd manage 12 channels of audio


Edit:

Wiimotes aren't "outputs", they are discrete audio players. The console transfers a sound file via Bluetooth and tells the Wiimote to play it, and the Wiimote then does so on its own.

Thanks, I never knew that

 

[superchunk]

Given the option of an iPad Mini, rumored to be $250, I think for most people it would actually be the iPad Mini.

Nintendo durability and game selection trounces iAnything.

 

[shinra-bansho]

We're not most people.

*stylish walk into the sunset*

Yeah... but in reference to mom and her 10 year old.

I think the 10 year old probably wants the iProduct more.

I think mom takes the iProduct over any console.

 

[The_Lump]

Yeah... but in reference to mom and her 10 year old.

I think the 10 year old probably wants the iProduct more.

I think mom takes the iProduct over any console.

I think mom buying iAnything for her 10 year old needs an iSlap.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Yeah... but in reference to mom and her 10 year old.

I think the 10 year old probably wants the iProduct more.

I think mom takes the iProduct over any console.

What mom doesn't tell anyone is that she sells pot to High School student on the side. So mom has saved enough for both.

Thanks mom!

 

[shinra-bansho]

I think mom buying iAnything for her 10 year old needs an iSlap.

I do too.

I think kids are spoiled these days. And I still don't really "get" tablets.

But such is the way of the world.

 

[cloudyy]

Given the option of an iPad Mini, rumored to be $250, I think for most people it would actually be the iPad Mini.

The latest ipod touch is $300, how can the ipad mini possibly be $250? And, does it play uncharted?

 

[The_Lump]

What mom doesn't tell anyone is that she sells pot to High School student on the side. So mom has saved enough for both.

Thanks mom!

Mom is starting to sound like an iSkank

I do too.

I think kids are spoiled these days. And I still don't really "get" tablets.

But such is the way of the world.

I get them, but they're not needed for kids. I barely understand why anyone under 12 needs a phone, let alone smart phone/tablet. And if they do, why they need the £500 one is even further beyond me!

/oldmanrant

 

[shinra-bansho]

What mom doesn't tell anyone is that she sells pot to High School student on the side. So mom has saved enough for both.

Thanks mom!

Weeds reference? +1

The latest ipod touch is $300, how can the ipad mini possibly be $250? And, does it play uncharted?

I think it's intended to compete with the Kindle Fire (which is going at $159). Therefore, most are expecting no more than $300, probably $250, or even less.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Weeds reference? +1

Natch.

 

[ozfunghi]

I think mom buying iAnything for her 10 year old needs an iSlap.

ssshhhh, Blu might hear you!

 

[AlStrong]

Also as far as I remember the audio DSP is 120mhz so it seems likely the CPU will be a multiple of that. 1823MHZ doesn't work if that's the case.

1823 is 2.5x Wii CPU clock though (rounded up).

 

[deviljho]

I don't quite understand the question?

I was just wondering how hard it is for the Wii U to send audio to your surround speakers and also send different audio to the gamepad speakers. Is that why it outputs 6 channels through HDMI instead of supporting 7.1?

 

[wsippel]

I was just wondering how hard it is for the Wii U to send audio to your surround speakers and also send different audio to the gamepad speakers. Is that why it outputs 6 channels through HDMI instead of supporting 7.1?

It's not really hard or anything. I think the decision to go for eight channels instead of ten is all about balance. 7.1 isn't really widespread enough to justify the increase in complexity. More outputs would increase DSP load, so that would either mean less channels and/ or effects, or they'd need a more powerful DSP.

 

[deviljho]

It's not really hard or anything. I think the decision to go for eight channels instead of ten is all about balance. 7.1 isn't really widespread enough to justify the increase in complexity. More outputs would increase DSP load, so that would either mean less channels and/ or effects, or they'd need a more powerful DSP.

Got it. Thanks.

 

[djyella]

It seems that quite a few gaf'rs saw these "specs" before the leak. Imo that doesn't make them more or less true. I asked for the source of the rumor, since he supposedly posted in this topic. And I asked what company he worked for, but no one knows the answer or are willing to give it. I personally can not give credibility in situations where the source is being cloak and dagger on what they know and who they work for.

Do you really think people are going to risk their jobs just to satisfy your need to know who they work for? Seriously? You can believe what they say or not. They have been verified by the MODS. Nuff said.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Do you really think people are going to risk their jobs just to satisfy your need to know who they work for? Seriously? You can believe what they say or not. They have been verified by the MODS. Nuff said.

Yep.

And those specs scream "HEY! They improved current gen hardware a little."

Gave it more RAM, a sizable eDram pool, and more modern GPU. Hitting a bar higher only because it'd take more money to make something weaker than them.

Being childish and pedantic it is a next gen system because it's Nintendo's newest. The hardware inside has a little more "Oomph." than current gen hardware, but honestly a chunk of that can be eaten up by sloppy Upad usage.

That can happen because of a lack of foresight (do assets on the pad need to be the same quality as what's rendering on the mainscreen?), or more likely... lack of a proper budget.

WiiU should have an easier time receiving ports from MS and Sony's endeavors. The hardware is close to something modern. Though lacking in power. That isn't to say it will. Some titles that use the full 3-4 gig likely usable for games in Durango (Speculation on my part. If Windows 8 implementation comes to fruition.) will have trouble scaling to WiiU. If realtime GI, high precision bokeh, and tessellation are the baseline, it still wouldn't be impossible, but it would be much less likely developers would take the time to bake lightmaps specifically for a WiiU edition.

Still if the system does take off in a big way, and developers find success? Fairly open game. History doesn't exactly point to that, but Nintendo seems kind of feisty right now.

 

[outsidah]

I honestly was surprised but many kids nowadays would rather have a tablet/iPod type device than a console. Seen it with lots of my friends kids.

 

[Principate]

Yep.

And those specs scream "HEY! They improved current gen hardware a little."

Gave it more RAM, a sizable eDram pool, and more modern GPU. Hitting a bar higher only because it'd take more money to make something weaker than them.

Being childish and pedantic it is a next gen system because it's Nintendo's newest. The hardware inside has a little more "Oomph." than current gen hardware, but honestly a chunk of that can be eaten up by sloppy Upad usage.

That can happen because of a lack of foresight (do assets on the pad need to be the same quality as what's rendering on the mainscreen?), or more likely... lack of a proper budget.

WiiU should have an easier time receiving ports from MS and Sony's endeavors. The hardware is close to something modern. Though lacking in power. That isn't to say it will. Some titles that use the full 3-4 gig likely usable for games in Durango (Speculation on my part. If Windows 8 implementation comes to fruition.) will have trouble scaling to WiiU. If realtime GI, high precision bokeh, and tessellation are the baseline, it still wouldn't be impossible, but it would be much less likely developers would take the time to bake lightmaps specifically for a WiiU edition.

Still if the system does take off in a big way, and developers find success? Fairly open game. History doesn't exactly point to that, but Nintendo seems kind of feisty right now.

I love how you call other people childish when for calling it next when by facts it is next gen, and even without those facts the tablet isn't really something seen in previous gens. So regardless of a persons views on a system, it's pretty obvious your being the one that's being childish and pedant.

Since this whole stuff about what constituents "next gen" is subjective at best and yet your talking like it isn't. Do you not realize this?

 

[jett]

One thing I don't understand is the complete and utter lack of AA. The Wii U's gpu should be able to do 2x or 4x MSAA without any problems, especially on something like Nintendoland.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

I love how you call other people childish when for calling it next when by facts it is next gen, and even without those facts the tablet isn't really something seen in previous gens. So regardless of a persons views on a system, it's pretty obvious your being the one that's being childish and pedant.

Since this whole stuff about what constituents "next gen" is subjective at best and yet your talking like it isn't. Do you not realize this?

I don't think you understood my post.

I was calling myself childish.

...

 

[big_erk]

Given the option of an iPad Mini, rumored to be $250, I think for most people it would actually be the iPad Mini.

If by "most people" you mean non-gamers.

Why do people still insist on comparing the Wii U to a table. It is not a tablet, nor a console with a tablet controller. It is a console with a controller that happens to contain a display.

 

[Saint Gregory]

I honestly was surprised but many kids nowadays would rather have a tablet/iPod type device than a console. Seen it with lots of my friends kids.

I thought this too so I brought my little brother an Android tablet (Transformer) which was met with much joy and proclamations of "BEST GIFT EVA!" at the time...

Then I went home to visit a few months later to find it sitting in a pile of stuff in his room literally gathering dust.

Maybe an iPad would have worked out better but half the time I think these kids just want tablets for the grown up status symbol than because they're actually planning on using them.

 

[JordanN]

One thing I don't understand is the complete and utter lack of AA. The Wii U's gpu should be able to do 2x or 4x MSAA without any problems, especially on something like Nintendoland.

Not every game has no AA. Scribblenauts has FXAA and so does Trine 2C.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Honestly, that hurt my feelings.

I thought I was being cogent.

I wasn't being harsh on the system. It's got more than enough power for any idea I've got in my head. Sure they can be improved by more, but it's not like that's everything.

I was hoping to be insightful, while still covering a bevy of issues in front of the console. It's not like it's a secret that Nintendo has a spotty history with 3rd party developers and that it will take a huge marketshare advantage and great 3rd party game sales to calm those fears.

I like to think of myself as one of the strangest but articulate Nintendo fans.

Was it confusing?

bg!

Help!

I don't know what to do!

 

[big_erk]

I was calling myself childish....

...and pedantic, don't forget that. You threw the big word out there, may as well take credit for it.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

...and pedantic, don't forget that. You threw the big word out there, may as well take credit for it.

Nirolak gave me a dictionary for my birthday.

*proud monkey*

Humans have a lot of words to say the same things.

 

[pieatorium]

Honestly, that hurt my feelings.

I thought I was being cogent.

I wasn't being harsh on the system. It's got more than enough power for any idea I've got in my head. Sure they can be improved by more, but it's not like that's everything.

I was hoping to be insightful, while still covering a bevy of issues in front of the console. It's not like it's a secret that Nintendo has a spotty history with 3rd party developers and that it will take a huge marketshare advantage and great 3rd party game sales to calm those fears.

I like to think of myself as one of the strangest but articulate Nintendo fans.

Was it confusing?

bg!

Help!

I don't know what to do!

No you were not confusing at all and I think you are one of the best most sensible nintendo fans that post here. I think it's more a case tht the guy responding to you is not.

 

[Lord Error]

I think mom buying iAnything for her 10 year old needs an iSlap.

10 year old is absolutely old enough for iproducts. Ipod touch in particular is pretty cheap. I've seen 2-3 year olds tap around on ipod touches, believe it or not.

Sorry, should have been more clear about it.

LBP2 does world space irradiance volumes for the scene - they only do RGB for zeroth order SH, and just monochromatic 1st order, so it's really not much for lighting (that's why there's no colour bleeding). They also don't propagate the light as they just sample the volumes more in the direction of a light. It's really geared towards shadowing/occluding/light fall-off.

The quality GI will be from the pre-computed lightmap for the background (they can still move around the sun).

I think he asked about the NL screens. LBP2 does have some kind of GI for color lighting too, you can see it on the golf ball, and sackboy at least. It's imprecise, but that green would not be on the golf ball if not for some kind of bounce calculation from the green wall, I think.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

No you were not confusing at all and I think you are one of the best most sensible nintendo fans that post here. I think it's more a case tht the guy responding to you is not.

Let this be a lesson to Principate.

When monkeys especially of the thundering variety are posting long words. Don't goad them.

They might go on an attention seeking tirade to assuage their self-esteem issues.

 

[Dorfdad]

I guess you guys never been through a launch before right? Oh you have well than you know during game development the graphics are pretty much the last thing to get fixed. They have to make sure the engine works, and start adding other things and some basic graphics, than more, tweak the game, add more etc till the end and than they can add the final AA touches and 1080p flares like alot of them are doing.

If Nintendo releases these games without AA than Ill eat my hat.. Until than im not worried so far they look great and they have another 40 days till they have to ship titles so thats enough time to finalize things.

 

[Pineconn]

I guess you guys never been through a launch before right? Oh you have well than you know during game development the graphics are pretty much the last thing to get fixed. They have to make sure the engine works, and start adding other things and some basic graphics, than more, tweak the game, add more etc till the end and than they can add the final AA touches and 1080p flares like alot of them are doing.

If Nintendo releases these games without AA than Ill eat my hat.. Until than im not worried so far they look great and they have another 40 days till they have to ship titles so thats enough time to finalize things.

Post has been bookmarked.

 

[jett]

Not every game has no AA. Scribblenauts has FXAA and so does Trine 2C.

Post-process AA is different, and doesn't look as nice anyway. That 7-class AMD GPU should have no problem busting out MSAA on a 720p game.

 

[shinra-bansho]

If by "most people" you mean non-gamers.

Why do people still insist on comparing the Wii U to a table. It is not a tablet, nor a console with a tablet controller. It is a console with a controller that happens to contain a display.

Everything competes for entertainment dollars.

If you think there isn't an overlap between the target market(s) for the Wii U and tablet devices like the Kindle Fire and iPad (Mini or otherwise) you're sorely mistaken. And this has nothing to do with it having a tablet/touchscreen-based controller.

 

[pestul]

I guess you guys never been through a launch before right? Oh you have well than you know during game development the graphics are pretty much the last thing to get fixed. They have to make sure the engine works, and start adding other things and some basic graphics, than more, tweak the game, add more etc till the end and than they can add the final AA touches and 1080p flares like alot of them are doing.

If Nintendo releases these games without AA than Ill eat my hat.. Until than im not worried so far they look great and they have another 40 days till they have to ship titles so thats enough time to finalize things.

I agree with this. A lot of polishing can happen in the final 1 1/2 months before release.. but I'm just trying to justify my pre-order of WiiU at this point.

 

[JordanN]

Edit: Misread.

 

[Blasty]

Everything competes for entertainment dollars.

If you think there isn't an overlap between the target market(s) for the Wii U and tablet devices like the Kindle Fire and iPad (Mini or otherwise) you're sorely mistaken. And this has nothing to do with it having a tablet/touchscreen-based controller.

I disagree. Someone who goes out shopping for a console will come home with a console. Someone who goes out shopping for a tablet will not come home with a console.

 

[Dorfdad]

I agree with this. A lot of polishing can happen in the final 1 1/2 months before release.. but I'm just trying to justify my pre-order of WiiU at this point.

Dont worry you and me are safe!

Look at this image from Darksiders 2 from THQ it's from the Wii-U edition and not a single issue with AA for me. Give developers a little more time and gen 2 of Wii-U games will blow away what we get now...

Also remember guys and gals this is a single screen shot and sometime in MOTION these things are not noticeable at all.

 

[wsippel]

I really hate the "is it next gen?" discussion. It was already stupid with the Wii, as "generation" is about time and succession, not power. But yeah, the hardware itself, or at least the parts doing the number crunching, were actually really old. That is not the case with Wii U, regardless of its performance. To make that clearer: A Radeon 7730M and a 7990 are both same generation hardware from 2012, both are 28nm Southern Island chips, yet the latter is almost 20 times as fast as the former. Let that sink for a moment. Same generation, 20 times performance difference. Neither the next Xbox nor the next Playstation will be 20 times as fast as Wii U.

 

[brochiller]

I disagree. Someone who goes out shopping for a console will come home with a console. Someone who goes out shopping for a tablet will not come home with a console.

If you already know what you want that's one thing. Some people don't know what they want though. They just know they want a new piece of technology to have fun with. It could be a console or a tablet or even a phone. The thing is they're on a limited budget, so buying one prevents them from buying another. They're competing products even if not directly.

Dont worry you and me are safe!

Look at this image from Darksiders 2 from THQ it's from the Wii-U edition and not a single issue with AA for me. Give developers a little more time and gen 2 of Wii-U games will blow away what we get now...

Also remember guys and gals this is a single screen shot and sometime in MOTION these things are not noticeable at all.

That's a bullshot. HAS to be.

 

[djyella]

Yep.

And those specs scream "HEY! They improved current gen hardware a little."

Gave it more RAM, a sizable eDram pool, and more modern GPU. Hitting a bar higher only because it'd take more money to make something weaker than them.

Being childish and pedantic it is a next gen system because it's Nintendo's newest. The hardware inside has a little more "Oomph." than current gen hardware, but honestly a chunk of that can be eaten up by sloppy Upad usage.

That can happen because of a lack of foresight (do assets on the pad need to be the same quality as what's rendering on the mainscreen?), or more likely... lack of a proper budget.

WiiU should have an easier time receiving ports from MS and Sony's endeavors. The hardware is close to something modern. Though lacking in power. That isn't to say it will. Some titles that use the full 3-4 gig likely usable for games in Durango (Speculation on my part. If Windows 8 implementation comes to fruition.) will have trouble scaling to WiiU. If realtime GI, high precision bokeh, and tessellation are the baseline, it still wouldn't be impossible, but it would be much less likely developers would take the time to bake lightmaps specifically for a WiiU edition.

Still if the system does take off in a big way, and developers find success? Fairly open game. History doesn't exactly point to that, but Nintendo seems kind of feisty right now.

I pretty much agree with with the whole improved on the current gen. How much improved? I think enough. If it is really 2 or 3x as powerful as PS360 and 2-4x weaker than the next boxes where does that put us? Will I really see the differences? In my opinion the WiiU will stack up fine against the upcoming machines from Sony and Microsoft also though. As for myself, coming off only owning the Wii I'm excited! I really can't wait to see what EAD, Retro and Monolith are working on. Even just for some reasurrance haha.

 

[JordanN]

I really hate the "is it next gen?" discussion. It was already stupid with the Wii, as "generation" is about time and succession, not power. But yeah, the hardware itself, or at least the parts doing the number crunching, were actually really old. That is not the case with Wii U, regardless of its performance. To make that clearer: A Radeon 7730M and a 7990 are both same generation hardware from 2012, both are 28nm Southern Island chips, yet the latter is almost 20 times as fast as the former. Let that sink for a moment. Same generation, 20 times performance difference. Neither the next Xbox nor the next Playstation will be 20 times as fast as Wii U.

Assuming Wii U is at minimum 2x PS3.

20x Wii U = 80 million polygons per frame.

That's 13x more polygons than the original Toy Story! Another movie, Shrek 1 = 100 million polygons per frame!

For the record, it took Square Enix a whole GTX 680 to match Toy Story's polycount.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

I pretty much agree with with the whole improved on the current gen. How much improved? I think enough. If it is really 2 or 3x as powerful as PS360 and 2-4x weaker than the next boxes where does that put us? Will I really see the differences? In my opinion the WiiU will stack up fine against the upcoming machines from Sony and Microsoft also though. As for myself, coming off only owning the Wii I'm excited! I really can't wait to see what EAD, Retro and Monolith are working on. Even just for some reasurrance haha.

I'm still tingling from the Bayonetta announcement.

So out of nowhere.