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GI.biz: "Wii U less powerful than PS3, Xbox 360, developers say"

Yeah people will buy for Nintendo games.

Once that happens, 3rd party will just focus on MS and Sony console. It'll be the same thing all over.

This, like always, is completely dependent on what they put into the system. If they are all just half-assed ports then probably.

If given a hook of some importance? Open game. They could see success or failure. You build audiences on consoles. They don't just appear for no reason. (unless they are Zelda, Mario, Final Fantasy, or Halo fans)
 

orioto

Good Art™
PS1 geometry? Really?

Yeah i'm probably overestimating the ps1 i'll give you that, but the point is that the 3ds has a graphical goal which is way way under what people were expecting from a new nds. And it's 3d i know, i love it, no prob.

But the fact that it's 3d or that it's actually more powerfull than a psp is not the point here. The point is that Nintendo decided to make it 3D and aimed to reach that graphical goal, which is basically psp + shaders (in 3D!).

That just means Nintendo can totally assume to have some pretty old and cheap technical elements in their games, with some shiny paint on it, and everything is possible with WiiU.
 

Dambrosi

Banned
Why, GAF? Why are there 11 pages of this bullshit? Have you all forsaken reason, common sense and self-respect? Because only a total blithering idiot would believe this complete twaddle.

More importantly, how long is it until E3? I need to go crawl under a rock 'til it's over.
 
Textures and lighting are pretty important. I'm not sure what the best looking PSP game is, but I've played all the ones you've listed and they don't really match up to the 3DS's best. PSP games all seem to have this weird "flat" look. I'm not a scientist so I don't really know how to describe it, but it's apparent when you play a PSP game.

So what you're saying is the graphics are just not as powerful. There aren't as many shaders, it's not as capable.
 

TAS

Member
So Nintendo spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars on R&D for this new console to create hardware that is less powerful than a 7 year old console? All you Nintendo haters do yourself a favor and sell crazy some place else. We're not buying.
 

clashfan

Member
Why, GAF? Why are there 11 pages of this bullshit? Have you all forsaken reason and self-respect? Because only a total blithering idiot would believe this complete twaddle.

More importantly, how long is it until E3? I need to go crawl under a rock 'til it's over.

If it's all bs then why are you so worked up about it that you need to crawl under a rock? It's just idle speculation on a internet message board.
 

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah i'm probably overestimating the ps1 i'll give you that, but the point is that the 3ds has a graphical goal which is way way under what people were expecting from a new nds. And it's 3d i know, i love it, no prob.
Which was? Really, I don't know what are you referring to.
 

Lime

Member
This thread's discussion of "graphical power" between competing systems (and the posting of gifs) reminded me of Drinky Cow's posts in the last console warz thread:

let's get some killzone 2 gifs all up in this bitch

gsye310kz3part13_1.gif


LOOK OUT 360 AND PS4!!!111 HERE CUMS SHADER MODELZ AND TESSELACTORS WITH TEH PIPELINES ON NINTENDO!!!!!11111

animation2nfb9.gif


DAT TEXTURE!!!!1111

killzone5.gif


textures! self-shadowing! real-time lighting! 720p! ninthings talking about computer graphics stuff like they know a thang
 
Yeah i'm probably overestimating the ps1 i'll give you that, but the point is that the 3ds has a graphical goal which is way way under what people were expecting from a new nds. And it's 3d i know, i love it, no prob.

But the fact that it's 3d or that it's actually more powerfull than a psp is not the point here. The point is that Nintendo decided to make it 3D and aimed to reach that graphical goal, which is basically psp + shaders (in 3D!).

That just means Nintendo can totally assume to have some pretty old and cheap technical elements in their games, with some shiny paint on it, and everything is possible with WiiU.
The system is likely pushing twice or three times the poly count of the PSP to create their scenes. The end result appears to be on par if not slightly ahead in a pure poly count sense. That's where the fixed function shaders come in. Adding sheen to textures that might seem questionable otherwise.

I think it's a more than competent foray into a next gen Nintendo handheld in a purely technical sense. Revelations seems like it's stuck squarely between the PSP and Vita. Poly counts much closer to the PSP area, and shader tech much closer to Vita.

Interesting design.
 

Dambrosi

Banned
If it's all bs then why are you so worked up about it that you need to crawl under a rock? It's just idle speculation on a internet message board.

Because if you have time to engage in such "idle speculation", you could be doing something much less mind-numbing instead. Like, say, playing video games!

In fact, I'm off to go play one now! Toodles!
 
Yeah i'm probably overestimating the ps1 i'll give you that, but the point is that the 3ds has a graphical goal which is way way under what people were expecting from a new nds. And it's 3d i know, i love it, no prob.

The 3DS is a pretty big leap over the DS; it's like going from the N64 to a Wii with modern shaders. I don't know what you think people were expecting, but I cannot believe what we got was "way way under" that. I mean compared to the Vita it doesn't look as good, but that was revealed like a year later.

But the fact that it's 3d or that it's actually more powerfull than a psp is not the point here. The point is that Nintendo decided to make it 3D and aimed to reach that graphical goal, which is basically psp + shaders (in 3D!).

That just means Nintendo can totally assume to have some pretty old and cheap technical elements in their games, with some shiny paint on it, and everything is possible with WiiU.

I don't understand your logic here.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
So Nintendo spent years and hundreds of millions of dollars on R&D for this new console to create hardware that is less powerful than a 7 year old console? All you Nintendo haters do yourself a favor and sell crazy some place else. We're not buying.
Lets be honest here. You're buying if it has Zelda and Mario on it.
 
Lets be honest here. You're buying if it has Zelda and Mario on it.
Probably true.

Is that problematic?

It is still unlikely that they'd release an SDK with a GPU sporting effectively 3x the shader power of a 360 and end up weaker though.

Unless they really overshot what was possible under their case size. (I don't see it)
 

DeSo

Banned
The other two consoles haven't even been announced yet, isn't there a good chance of this being the case?
 

Dambrosi

Banned
wow! you are taking is all too personal.

Duder, you're the one replying to my obvious joke posts in an obvious (and late) April Fools joke gone wrong thread.

I'd say it's not me who needs to reevaluate their priorities.

The other two consoles haven't even been announced yet, isn't there a good chance of this being the case?

No, you got it wrong. The rumour in the OP is suggesting that WiiU will be less powerful than the current generation of games hardware.

Which is patently ridiculous to anyone with half a brain and the dignity to use even half of that, and should be laughed at like the joke it is.
 

orioto

Good Art™
The system is likely pushing twice or three times the poly count of the PSP to create their scenes. The end result appears to be on par if not slightly ahead in a pure poly count sense. That's where the fixed function shaders come in. Adding sheen to textures that might seem questionable otherwise.

I think it's a more than competent foray into a next gen Nintendo handheld in a purely technical sense. Revelations seems like it's stuck squarely between the PSP and Vita. Poly counts much closer to the PSP area, and shader tech much closer to Vita.

Interesting design.

Yeah we're saying the same thing.
I'm not saying the 3ds is not powerfull.
I'm saying they choosed to design it around a feature with this graphical goal, which can seems pretty cheap for today's standards.

And people just stop comparing the Wii and the 3ds ... Come on...
But anyway, my only point is to say that people are wrong when they think Nintendo couldn't possibly go for something less powerfull than a PS3 and that rumor is crazy, and even more when they use the 3ds argument.

The 3ds is the proof that Nintendo is still in the mood to think "yeah we don't need all that power, that'll be enough like that"
 
Yeah we're saying the same thing.
I'm not saying the 3ds is not powerfull.
I'm saying they choosed to design it around a feature with this graphical goal, which can seems pretty cheap for today's standards.

And people just stop comparing the Wii and the 3ds ... Come on...
But anyway, my only point is to say that people are wrong when they think Nintendo couldn't possibly go for something less powerfull than a PS3 and that rumor is crazy, and even more when they use the 3ds argument.

The 3ds is the proof that Nintendo is still in the mood to think "yeah we don't need all that power, that'll be enough like that"
I wasn't exactly disagreeing with you either. Just expounding on your assessment. Far from weak, but is lacking in key areas mainly because of the 3D feature. Without being confined by it (lets face it, currently all devs consider it mandatory) Poly counts would appear much higher without using up the tri budget calculating two independent models.

But given what we've heard the system would likely be much weaker without the 3D hardware making the entire point moot until some dev makes the hardware sing without using the 3D effect at all.
 

DeSo

Banned
No, you got it wrong. The rumour in the OP is suggesting that WiiU will be less powerful than the current generation of games hardware.
Geez, my brain mustn't have been able to comprehend it being less powerful than the current consoles. lol What a crock.
 

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah we're saying the same thing.
I'm not saying the 3ds is not powerfull.
I'm saying they choosed to design it around a feature with this graphical goal, which can seems pretty cheap for today's standards.

And people just stop comparing the Wii and the 3ds ... Come on...
But anyway, my only point is to say that people are wrong when they think Nintendo couldn't possibly go for something less powerfull than a PS3 and that rumor is crazy, and even more when they use the 3ds argument.

The 3ds is the proof that Nintendo is still in the mood to think "yeah we don't need all that power, that'll be enough like that"

The thing is, "teh 3D and shaders" are features that Nintendo pushed to differentiate themselves from the PSP... and they are graphical features! They didn't release a PSP, they released something more on the graphical front. Maybe not as far as you and other people would have liked, but they did push for something more than a just a PSP in the graphical front.

But the matter is... the 3DS already has already questionable battery life, increasing clocks on their SoC (power) would make matters worse in that very important front. So is not like they intentionally skimped there either. If they could have chosen a better architecture is another matter, PowerVR has shown to be head and shoulders ahead in the handheld space so is highly probable that they would have been be better off with a PowerVR GPU.
 
This entire thread is like the written form of some weird scatterbrain headache. I'm not talking about the article and what it said.. I'm talking about the thread. It's 11 pages of nauseating-to-read blabber.

lol at developers saying things like "the graphics aren't as powerful" and "it doesn't have as many shaders" though. Good stuff!
 

clashfan

Member
Duder, you're the one replying to my obvious joke posts in an obvious (and late) April Fools joke gone wrong thread.

I'd say it's not me who needs to reevaluate their priorities.



No, you got it wrong. The rumour in the OP is suggesting that WiiU will be less powerful than the current generation of games hardware.

Which is patently ridiculous to anyone with half a brain and the dignity to use even half of that, and should be laughed at like the joke it is.

I think someone is headed towards a meltdown...
 

Tookay

Member
The 3ds is the proof that Nintendo is still in the mood to think "yeah we don't need all that power, that'll be enough like that"

You have a very glass half-empty way of looking at their decisions.

I think their general mindset is that power for power's sake is silly, especially if it hurts the price point intended for a general audience and therefore their bottom line. That said, their consoles are still decently powerful (the Wii excepted), it's just that a good portion of it is intended for the application of whatever innovation (dual screen, 3D, tablet) they're pursuing, as opposed to strictly graphics.
 
GAF meltdowns are always glorious to behold.

Nintendo having an underpowered console is one thing, and while a lot of people will make fun of that fact, it will be nothing compared to if Sony or MS release an underpowered console. It will probably make the FFXIII betrayalton meltdown look tame.
 

orioto

Good Art™
You have a very glass half-empty way of looking at their decisions.

I think their general mindset is that power for power's sake is silly, especially if it hurts the price point intended for a general audience and therefore their bottom line. That said, their consoles are still decently powerful (the Wii excepted), it's just that a good portion of it is intended for the application of whatever innovation (dual screen, 3D, tablet) they're pursuing, as opposed to strictly graphics.

Indeed.
I'm only saying, justly, from a Nintendo pov, the WiiU having to push, for exemple, less poly than a PS3, would be totally acceptable, contrary to guys telling us here that it's a crazyness to even think about that.
 

Ridley327

Member
I wasn't exactly disagreeing with you either. Just expounding on your assessment. Far from weak, but is lacking in key areas mainly because of the 3D feature. Without being confined by it (lets face it, currently all devs consider it mandatory) Poly counts would appear much higher without using up the tri budget calculating two independent models.

But given what we've heard the system would likely be much weaker without the 3D hardware making the entire point moot until some dev makes the hardware sing without using the 3D effect at all.

I'd say the IQ boost from playing RE:R in 2D is at least a pretty good bar of what could be expected if someone gave the system a similar amount of effort.

Even the demo for MGS3D is showing off stuff that I can't imagine being possible on the PSP, but the crappy performance really brings it down, just like it did in Peace Walker.
 
Nintendo having an underpowered console is one thing, and while a lot of people will make fun of that fact, it will be nothing compared to if Sony or MS release an underpowered console.

This is true. Nintendo pretty much always releases underpowered hardware. I don't see why this would come as any surprise to anyone.
 

Firemind

Member
Nintendo having an underpowered console is one thing, and while a lot of people will make fun of that fact, it will be nothing compared to if Sony or MS release an underpowered console.

I don't know why that's unreasonable. Sony will want to avoid another $599 and MS has Kinect to fall back on. Budgets are ever increasing. I don't think even they want to have hardware only the three richest kings of Europe can utilize to its full potential.
 
I don't know why that's unreasonable. Sony will want to avoid another $599 and MS has Kinect to fall back on. Budgets are ever increasing. I don't think even they want to have hardware only the three richest kings of Europe can utilize to its full potential.

It's possible for sony to avoid a $599 situation and still be a powerful system.
 

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
Indeed.
I'm only saying, justly, from a Nintendo pov, the WiiU having to push, for exemple, less poly than a PS3, would be totally acceptable, contrary to guys telling us here that it's a crazyness to even think about that.
At the very least, they want ports from the HD twins (they have stated as much), so yes. Less poly than a PS3, which in turn is less than a 360, wouldn't have been an acceptable design goal if they are congruent with what they are stating and the market they say they are after. Again, to my knowledge, the 3DS isn't pushing less polys than the PSP. Compare Peace Walker to the rushed, seemly low budget, port of MGS3. MGS3 is a game that the PSP can't run.
 
I don't know why that's unreasonable. Sony will want to avoid another $599 and MS has Kinect to fall back on. Budgets are ever increasing. I don't think even they want to have hardware only the three richest kings of Europe can utilize to its full potential.

I meant underpowered in comparison to the competition (excluding Nintendo in this case). Imagine if either PS4 or Xbox 3 is way less powerful than the other. The tears will never end.
 
This is where I disagree. It deserved to be educated. Told the reality without trying to incite anger and then indignation.

I tried that. Nobody listens. Everybody's so quick to call you Nintendo Defense Force or put spin on your arguments.

So you make some jokes and suddenly the thread changes.

The graphics are not as powerful is pretty straight-forward as well. Although maybe some would be served to drop chip or card in after graphics to suit their own fantasy.

Like you just did with shaders?
 

Tookay

Member
I don't know why that's unreasonable. Sony will want to avoid another $599 and MS has Kinect to fall back on. Budgets are ever increasing. I don't think even they want to have hardware only the three richest kings of Europe can utilize to its full potential.

If this thread has proved anything, it's that many, many "hardcore" gamers care about graphics as measures of a system's worth. I doubt you'll see some gentlemen's agreement between Sony and Microsoft to cut back on graphics in light of their efforts to appease this group, and because of this, the arm's race will continue.

Whether or not this strategy is viable for many more years is another matter, one that I don't think either Sony or Microsoft have truly considered.
 
For fuck's sake people - how many reports on this machine have we had so far? It's twice as powerful as a 360, same as 360, more than a 360 but below a 720 - you should be smart enough to assume that until E3, everything you hear about anything is very likely grade-A bullshit.

I expect a midground between the PS3 & the new XBox, but not enough to the point where developers shun the device entirely. Nintendo is going to try and court the third party market with this thing - note how heavily they were featured at E3 - but not to the point where they'll sell a $500 console.
 

Draft

Member
Wut.

Wasn't the Wii the first of the Nintendo consoles to be the least powerful of its generation?
Memories only go back about a generation.

For example, see how many people think of Nintendo as some sort of game selling titan in spite of the decade or so that preceded the Wii.
 
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