Nintendo Wii U

[originalbadboy]

The developer of Darksiders 2 has said the WiiU version will be a straight port and that the system is the same power level as PS3 and 360. To be honest, I think most people will be expecting it to weigh in at the same level as PS3, 360 though I wouldn't completely rule out a Xbox-PS2 style extra bit of grunt. Darksiders hardly taxes the current systems.

That's slightly misleading .. to quote the dev:

"So far the hardware's been on par with what we have with the current generations. Based on what I understand, the resolution and textures and polycounts and all that stuff, we're not going to being doing anything to up-rez the game, but we'll take advantage of the controller for sure."

The important words being there 'so far'. Its pretty obvious that Nintendo are still a way behind harnessing the true power of the console , so its impossible to say really. Unless Ninty have completely reined in the power for other reasons (such as extra power for the controller) I dont see how its possible for a piece of hardware that is barely a year old to only be 'on par' with hardware thats over 7 years old in design. Even Ninty would have trouble screwing that up (but not impossible).

As you say Darksiders is hardly pushing the tech ... but its yet another example of headline grabbing due to mis-quoting.

[Neon Ignition]

It wouldn't surprise me if it's reigned in the power, presumably they'll have gone for very cost effective parts that can later be easily adapted for the 3DS's replacement.

[Uli]

could Nintendo be so stupid to come up with outdated hardware just to "keep up" with current but technically even more outdated 360 and PS3?

yes, i think they could.

[CMcK]

But it will be cheap to make at 40nm and have a low MRRP and still leave Nintendo room to make a profit on the systems. And the chronically underpowered Wii didn't exactly struggle did it?
All the innovation is in the tablet style controller and it will be the focus of the marketing for the system and a challenge for the developers to find interesting ways to use it.

[EvilBoris]

It'll be better specced, I'm postive of that.

The Wii was better specced than the gamecube 5 years on AND it launched at a lower cost, so there is no reason they can't get a machine out the door that is cheaper than the 360 was.

I just bought a PC that cost me ?200 and is better specced than a 360/ps3 in terms of raw numbers.

The Wii Dev kits were being updated and re-specced really close to release, it was a pleasent suprise when they opened the new box and they were presented with more memory and faster clock speeds.

One of the japanese developers stated recently there were more surprises to come about the Wii-U yet.

[CMcK]

I would be surprised if it didn't at least have a load more RAM than the current systems which would be big help for developers.

[originalbadboy]

could Nintendo be so stupid to come up with outdated hardware just to "keep up" with current but technically even more outdated 360 and PS3?

yes, i think they could.

I dont see how thats possible, short of underclocking the CPU(s) and having a cronicly low amount of memory then how could they possibly make a machine thats worse than the 360 & PS3? The GPU hardware alone should make it more powerful by far, we are talking the difference between 7 years of GPU progress.

It may not be a tru next gen machine, but as long as its between 20 - 50% better than the current consoles thats still good enough for a good few years. I imagine it will fall into that sort of number.

But yes I wouldn't put it past Ninty to bugger it up somehow.

[dataDave]

could Nintendo be so stupid to come up with outdated hardware just to "keep up" with current but technically even more outdated 360 and PS3?

yes, i think they could.

You have to remember how far the devs may be able to take it as time goes by. If it stands side-by-side, or slightly higher, than the current gen consoles from day 1 then who knows what will be coming out of it in 4-5 years time. If it can only produce Kameo/PDZero style visuals then we're f**ked, if we only care about graphics anyway.

I think they could be off to a good head start, imagine, the next 360 and Playstation will probably hit when this is half-way through it's expected lifespan.

[Neon Ignition]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-28-aliens-colonial-marines-on-wii-u-has-so-much-more-to-offer

Gearbox this time, describing working with Wii U. They like it.

[Neon Ignition]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-04-02-wii-u-release-date-leaked-by-japanese-retailer-report

Possible Wii U RelEAse Date

According to an 'email' Wiiudaily have said they've received from a Japanese retailer the American release date for Wii U is set for Sunday 18 November 2012 and Japan one week later.

[originalbadboy]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...etailer-report

Possible Wii U RelEAse Date

According to an 'email' Wiiudaily have said they've received from a Japanese retailer the American release date for Wii U is set for Sunday 18 November 2012 and Japan one week later.

As long as the EU isn't long after (or before) that I don't care. If Ninty stitch us up again then I won't bother with the WiiU at all. Had enough of them not understanding the word 'Global' anymore, and I really cant be arsed importing these days as there are potentially too many issues.

So its all on you Ninty, bugger up the EU and its a no sale from me.

[Neon Ignition]

If those dates are true I'd expect them to repeat the Wii and go for early December. Well, either November 30th or December 7th.

I'll be going for one this time, I'm not as cynical about WiiU as I was with Wii when it came out so don't feel as hesitant. Hopefully there's a proper Mario game or something on Day 1, playing something like that over Xmas on a new Ninty system would be pure magic.

[Brad]

Opposite for me. I was all for Wii and got BURNED!!! lol. I am getting more interested though.

[Neon Ignition]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/342452/wii-u-graphics-less-powerful-than-ps3-xbox-360-developers/

Taking the Wii

An anonymous source (aren't they always?) is now saying that the Wii U is less powerful than the 360 and PS3. Nintendo is shy of underspeccing but it flies in the face of tidbits over the last few months which suggested the hardware was being padded up a bit. My guess is the early dev units might have been but the final system will be pretty much equal spec.

[PaTaito]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...60-developers/

Taking the Wii

An anonymous source (aren't they always?) is now saying that the Wii U is less powerful than the 360 and PS3. Nintendo is shy of underspeccing but it flies in the face of tidbits over the last few months which suggested the hardware was being padded up a bit. My guess is the early dev units might have been but the final system will be pretty much equal spec.

They needed it to be at least as initially expected...slightly more powerful than the 360/ps3.

The Wii was slightly more powerful than the gamecube, comfortably more powerful than ps2, and while maybe not the original xbox comparitively there is no one standout powerhouse platform this generation.

For Wii U to come in under current gen spec would be a disaster imo. To be receiving inferior ports of 360/ps3 games BEFORE the launch of the next gen would kill the thing off before its even got going.

And lets be clear the gimmick value of these ninty consoles will not always work. People will remember how they bought a wii and had to dust iit off before playing another games 12 months after the last.