If I'm downloading a retail game over night, I'd like to know how many gigs it is and not have to do mental transformations to work out how long it will take to download 28693.2 blocks
I'm sure they'd provide an ETA.
If I'm downloading a retail game over night, I'd like to know how many gigs it is and not have to do mental transformations to work out how long it will take to download 28693.2 blocks
What if I have a download cap? I will still have to work out how much downloading is required.The system also shows you the free storage in blocks. It's an abstract value either way, you don't ever have to convert anything.
What's so special about this bonus round thing?
Alright then. Right now, devs are using 512MBs out of the 1 GB they could use, with another 512MBs locked off from them.
And hopefully no less.
Is the cap in Si or binary?What if I have a download cap? I will still have to work out how much downloading is required.
All this talk about Mario reminded me of this old image I have saved:
Edit: It would also be helpful to have it displayed in GB because most of us will be using USB hard drives of various sizes and what not
Oh right. Ugh. I can see how in the past using the idea of memory blocks made things simpler for the user. But that was before we started downloading enormous amounts of data over the internet and using variously sized non-proprietary storage mediums... the average user knows what MB and GB mean now, and that is what their hard drives/ memory cards plus their internet connection use. I hope they dump blocks.3DS converts an SD card into blocks. Doubt they lost the source code for that.
Damn it, I missed Paul again. Oh, whatever - Paul, if you're reading this, could you maybe clarify if that Wii U/3DS "crowdpleaser" that was confirmed to you is eastern or western developed?
Mature Celda?
'Blocks' is just an easy way of communicating to people how much space they have, and how big content is. Everything is still technically measured in KB/MB when it comes down to it.
Something tells me Nintendo will still use blocks for memory...
So... should Nintendo use Si units (like Apple) or binary units (like Microsoft)?I know, but it's still stupid.
Something tells me Nintendo will still use blocks for memory...
I thought a bit about the supposed custom extensions to the GPU, and remembered something: GPU stream processors are pretty much Harvard architecture units as far as I'm aware. What if Nintendo uses Super Harvard units instead? Super Harvard units have a local cache to store instructions and use the same bus for instructions and operands, significantly increasing the bandwidth and freeing up a lot of resources. Or they could add something like the Siemens-Infineon TriCore register iterator. This is all very low level and I have no idea what might make sense and what doesn't, but there are some exotic designs having certain strengths, accelerating certain functions by an order of magnitude. Stuff that'll probably never find its way in a "standard" GPU as it's simply not "standard" and at odds with APIs like Direct3D, even though it could lead to massive performance improvements in certain areas. Either way, if we're talking about "custom extensions", I think it'll be something like the things I described, not any "fixed function units" per se.
No
Superman does this
Mario does not
STARFOX X METROID!!!
Because obviously, they're totally compatible franchises! gah, it's bullshit. Read the thread about it and laugh.
This so flawed... LOL
Everyone on the planet would die from extreme temperatures while being moved...
Oh lol,
The further away Superman is from a yellow sun, the weaker he is. xD Also dying suns are red aint they? That means he looses his powers completely.
The comic just collapsed on it self.
There would also be extreme tidal effects, but not limited to water moving. There would be Earthquakes, volcanoes, fissures, etc.This so flawed... LOL
Everyone on the planet would die from extreme temperatures while being moved...
Oh lol,
The further away Superman is from a yellow sun, the weaker he is. xD Also dying suns are red aint they? That means he looses his powers completely.
The comic just collapsed on it self.
Could one of the custom GPU features have something to do with light probes, making the kind of real-time lighting showcased by UE4 easier to pull off?
There would also be extreme tidal effects, but not limited to water moving. There would be Earthquakes, volcanoes, fissures, etc.
Could the custom GPU feature have something to do with light probes, making the kind of real-time lighting showcased by UE4 easier to pull off?
So... should Nintendo use Si units (like Apple) or binary units (like Microsoft)?
Remember: my knowledge about low level chip design is very, very basic. Pretty much all I know is that there are certain highly specialized concepts that only very few companies use, and that often seems to be patent related more than anything. The TriCore iterator is one such example. Iterating a 32bit register file used to waste 40 cycles, whereas a TriCore chip could do it in a single cycle. That tech obviously gave Siemens a strategic advantage, so they never licensed the tech to anyone as far as I know. I think a console manufacturer would have far less problems licensing tech like that or the Analog Devices/ Texas Instruments Super Harvard technology though, as it's basically free money for the inventors. They don't lose their unique selling points, as console chips are custom and proprietary and will never be sold as general purpose processors, and they don't lose money, because their actual chips would never find their ways in a console. There's simply no competition between Nintendo and, say, Siemens, Analog Devices, Clearspeed or EnLight. AMD or Nvidia on the other hand would be competitors. But if it's Nintendo who licenses the tech, there shouldn't be any issues. It's not like AMD doesn't know how the stuff works or how to implement it, what's important is that they're not allowed to.Interesting. This is the kind of info I needed to get my knowledge in this area going in the right direction.
Could one of the custom GPU features have something to do with light probes, making the kind of real-time lighting showcased by UE4 easier to pull off?
I was watching this old E3 1996 video of the revealing of N64.
It's cool to see how amazed people were by everything back then.
And it was cool to see Howard Lincoln there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYpqLwUj77k
This N64 1996 promo was neat too. Has Ken Lobb in it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxUmSyZ7Ylo&feature=related
The difference is small enough that it doesn't matter too much so long as I don't need to run calculations to figure out memory.
Remember: my knowledge about low level chip design is very, very basic. Pretty much all I know is that there are certain highly specialized concepts that only very few companies use, and that often seems to be patent related more than anything. The TriCore iterator is one such example. Iterating a 32bit register file used to waste 40 cycles, whereas a TriCore chip could do it in a single cycle. That tech obviously gave Siemens a strategic advantage, so they never licensed the tech to anyone as far as I know. I think a console manufacturer would have far less problems licensing tech like that or the Analog Devices/ Texas Instruments Super Harvard technology though, as it's basically free money for the inventors. They don't lose their unique selling points, as console chips are custom and proprietary and will never be sold as general purpose processors, and they don't lose money, because their actual chips would never find their ways in a console. There's simply no competition between Nintendo and, say, Siemens, Analog Devices, Clearspeed or EnLight. AMD or Nvidia on the other hand would be competitors. But if it's Nintendo who licenses the tech, there shouldn't be any issues. It's not like AMD doesn't know how the stuff works or how to implement it, what's important is that they're not allowed to.
Epic to Nintendo techies: "Hey guyz ! look at our UE4 demo ! with our engine, we'll add 1500^20 particles EVERYWHERE ! See this volcano ? particles ! See this knight/demon eyes ? PARTICLES ! see those mountains ? particles ! Now imagine your mario plumber outfit being torn or burned by browser fetid breath ? PARTICLES ! Picture the trail of Peach lipstick pink chemicals left behind a kiss she give to Mario ? P A R T I C L E S !!!!!!!!!!"
Nintendo: "ok we need a particle fixed function on our GPU"
tadam, i solved the Wii U GPU mystery
I remember when the garden/bird demo was first shown, there was some speculation that there was a light probe placed on the bird. That would have explained the way the bird seemed to be dynamically lit by its surroundings rather than just by lights. Of course, that could very well have been faked by using a baked-in light map, so the video wasn't proof in and of itself. But if there was one built-in lighting effect to have, that would be a majorly helpful and visually effective one, imo.Unless someone with more direct knowledge with this stuff can rule it out, I'd say anything including stuff like this and what wsippel said is plausible because I wasn't told what those features would be specifically.
Lol, what if that's all it was. Xbox 360 graphics + a bunch of particles. Every game looks identical except for all the dust and sand flying around. Instant hit.Epic to Nintendo techies: "Hey guyz ! look at our UE4 demo ! with our engine, we'll add 1500^20 particles EVERYWHERE ! See this volcano ? particles ! See this knight/demon eyes ? PARTICLES ! see those mountains ? particles ! Now imagine your mario plumber outfit being torn or burned by browser fetid breath ? PARTICLES ! Picture the trail of Peach lipstick pink chemicals left behind a kiss she give to Mario ? P A R T I C L E S !!!!!!!!!!"
Nintendo: "ok we need a particle fixed function on our GPU"
tadam, i solved the Wii U GPU mystery
Hmm. I wonder if, as we saw with the Wii, we're going to see any media outlets just outright refuse to spend time reviewing Wii U games because the games "aren't made for gamers" (or some other equally odious reason).Just found out that if you point your browser to "http://www.metacritic.com/games/wii-u" you'll see that it's not re-directing you to "http://www.metacritic.com/games/" OR spitting out any 404 errors.
Of course it's just a blank page but, for now, you can close your eyes and imagine it's filled with awesometitles.90+
Not sure how long it's been like this so sorry if it was noted before.
Oh, so Nintendo's chip design crew isn't quite dead yet? That's good to know (doesn't rule out that certain aspects might be licensed though). They designed some pretty cool concepts back in the early Gamecube days, but most of the engineers (almost all of them former Silicon Graphics staff) left the company around 2001 if I remember correctly. But then again, I know better than to underestimate Nintendo, and they're damn good at covering their tracks.Haha. Well knowledge on it is virtually non-existent. But like I mentioned this and lednerg's post helps me get a better idea of how it would look from a modern perspective instead of my out-dated view.
And to let the cat out of the bag a little bit publicly, since these features are Nintendo-patented we can eliminate licensing. So I wonder what could they have come up with to accelerate certain things.
To be fair, Paul Gale says that all he knows is that this game was pitched- not that it was ever greenlit.STARFOX X METROID!!!
Because obviously, they're totally compatible franchises! gah, it's bullshit. Read the thread about it and laugh.
Nintendo and just about every company out there goes through hundreds of pitches. Some good, some bad, some ugly. Even if they felt this one was potentially good, it doesnt mean that they gave it the green light. Then again, maybe they did and well be saying that Star Fox and Metroid is the best combination since Peanut Butter and Jelly if this sucker comes out. Heres to E3. Thats all I can say at this point.
Sonic creator on his legacy, why current Sonic games are "not as fun," and his desire to make big AAA games again
Yuji Naka may not have the same name recognition these days as Shigeru Miyamoto or Hideo Kojima, but he's absolutely one of the pillars of Japanese video game development. If it weren't for Naka-san's efforts in creating Sonic the Hedgehog and leading Sonic Team, our generation would never have witnessed the glorious Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry, which ultimately produced many brilliant games on both sides.
In March of 2006, Naka-san eventually decided to test the development waters with his own studio, Prope. He was actually the last member of the core creative team that created Sonic to leave Sega, which may explain the decline of the franchise (but we'll get to that later).
In this exclusive, GamesIndustry International had a rare opportunity to speak with the legend about a variety of topics.
We started by asking him about his legacy, which he actually found to be a somewhat strange query.
"Being asked about 'Yuji Naka's legacy' is a little odd since I'm still actively creating games. When I finally retire from making games, I assume people will decide what my lasting 'legacy' will be at that point… though I think it will probably be Sonic," he said.
He then reflected on some of the critically acclaimed games he designed: "It's been 28 years since I started developing games, and during that span I've brought a lot of products into this world. Out of those titles Sonic is the one that is the most remembered, but Phantasy Star Online, an online game put out on a family-oriented game console, had a lot of hardships during development but I think we were able to release a really good and advanced product at the time. Perhaps just barely being able to release it within the end of the 20th century has something to do with why I feel so strongly about that game."
"The arcade game Samba de Amigo also stands out because the player uses their entire body to move and have fun. Using the newest cutting-edge technology to create a simple and just plain stupid innocent fun game was rewarding."
Given that the last several years of Sonic gaming have been mostly sub-par (by Sega's own admission), we couldn't resist the opportunity to pick Naka-san's brain about what's gone wrong with the cherished franchise he started. Ironically, the explosion of the games industry in the last couple decades could have something to do with it, as more and more companies are trying to appeal to the mainstream - and that may not have been the best approach for Sonic.
"I also think that recent iterations have not been as fun when compared to those of the past," Naka-san agreed, proceeding to explain what Sega has done wrong: "I think the number one reason for this is that the games have become much easier, so the gamer doesn't feel that extreme joy that comes with the satisfaction of accomplishing something that was very difficult to achieve."
He continued, "Today's games are created to appeal to as wide of an audience as possible, so that's why the difficulty levels are so low in order to have both experienced and non-experienced gamers be able to play them. Sonic has a very simple control scheme that is capable of doing a lot of advanced things while sprinting at a high speed, that's what makes it a good game in my opinion. I think even moderately raising the difficulty level in the future could work well."
It's been years since we've seen a rivalry as fierce as Nintendo vs. Sega in the 16-bit days. It's an era that brings a huge grin to the faces of most people in this editor's generation. Naka-san admitted to us that he'd sort of like to see Mario and Sonic continue to be adversaries: "Thinking back to the rivalry between Sonic and Mario back in those days brings back some fond memories. It was based on each of them running on different hardware and which one was better, which made for a great rivalry. I would like for Sonic and Mario to keep up that rivalry relationship long into the foreseeable future."
Of course, we all know that's not happening now that Sega's no longer a hardware manufacturer and Sonic's already appeared with Mario in a few games. Naka-san did express his wish to possibly one day breathe new life into Sonic again, or into one of his other fan favorites like Nights. "Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to do so but perhaps at some point in the future if I could come back and contribute, that could be fun and gratifying," he remarked. Are you listening, Sega?
So what's Naka-san's focus in 2012? Not surprisingly, like many veterans of this business he's moved to social and mobile experiences. He sees "the recent surge in smartphones [as] having a huge impact on console games. It's something that should be monitored carefully moving [into the] future."
That said, there's still very much a place in his heart for huge triple-A games.
"Actually, when Prope was originally formed we were working on large titles, hoping to create something that's never been seen in the industry before. Unfortunately, those 2 titles were cancelled in mid-development and never made public," he revealed.
"With this history, we would like to work on a large-scale project again at some point, but working on the smaller projects is very fun and rewarding too as we always strive to put out new and unique games regardless of scale. Speaking of which, Prope's next project is actually a social networking RPG for smartphones called Buddy Monster."
Perhaps the fast-approaching next-gen hardware will enable Prope and Naka-san to finally tackle a big console project again. Naka-san seemed particularly excited by the Wii U launch coming later this year.
"I always get very excited when thinking about the next round of next-gen hardware that's coming and what kind of unimaginable specs they could have. Wii U is taking a completely new and innovative approach, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what Nintendo has in store there," he said.
As the conversation moved on, we approached Naka-san about the state of Japanese games development. It seems to be fashionable these days to bash the Japanese design approach, and some of Naka-san's contemporaries (most notably, Keiji Inafune) have said that Japan's game industry must change its ways, but Naka-san stood up for the Japanese style in gaming.
"I think there's still a lot to be said for the unique characteristics and benefits that games that are developed in Japan have. I would like to see Japan-developed games continue to be exported and enjoyed by everyone in the world," he commented.
In closing, Naka-san said that he's been encouraged with the influx of talent we've seen in the industry in recent years, as evidenced by the indie scene. He offered the following advice to aspiring game designers: "To be open minded, and to try many different things so that they'll have many skill sets to incorporate any original ideas they may have - this would be a positive experience and help them evolve and grow. I look forward to the day when this new crop of game designers can put out some truly mind-blowing stuff."
Indeed, perhaps the "next Yuji Naka" is already making the next great game to define a generation.
Hmm. I wonder if, as we saw with the Wii, we're going to see any media outlets just outright refuse to spend time reviewing Wii U games because the games "aren't made for gamers" (or some other equally odious reason).
I also wonder what the media landscape will look like in six years. It certainly has been changing..
Haha. Well knowledge on it is virtually non-existent. But like I mentioned this and lednerg's post helps me get a better idea of how it would look from a modern perspective instead of my out-dated view.
And to let the cat out of the bag a little bit publicly, since these features are Nintendo-patented we can eliminate licensing. So I wonder what could they have come up with to accelerate certain things.
I'm racking my brain, trying to remember which magazine or site it was that claimed they wouldn't waste their time reviewimg Wii games because the core gamer wouldn't be interested. Yup.Really? Media outlets refused to review Wii games? Wow.
While I've been playing Wii/DS for a while, I only started checking the gaming media recently. Needless to say, a lot of the Nintendo hate really took me by surprise.
I'm racking my brain, trying to remember which magazine or site it was that claimed they wouldn't waste their time reviewimg Wii games because the core gamer wouldn't be interested. Yup.
My status comes from an interesting story I told in the OT a while back..I really wanted to see the faces of every doom-sayer after the wii took off!
Btw, whats with your status? lol!
That has to be a joke.I'm racking my brain, trying to remember which magazine or site it was that claimed they wouldn't waste their time reviewimg Wii games because the core gamer wouldn't be interested. Yup.
The ONLY thing I like about Metroid+Starfox would be the possibilities for asymetric multiplayer. Still, the idea of mixing the two is making me cringe. I just can't help it. If it's true, then I look forward to having my gut feeling proven wrong.
I'm racking my brain, trying to remember which magazine or site it was that claimed they wouldn't waste their time reviewimg Wii games because the core gamer wouldn't be interested. Yup.