This close to the system’s launch, you’d expect the Wii U to be a known quantity. We’ve seen the videos, we’ve poured over the alleged tech specs, we’ve listened to various developers (both anonymous and otherwise) offer their appraisals of the system, but the debate about the Wii U’s power — pointless though it may ultimately be — rages on.
New information on the Wii U hardware has surfaced, and though it hardly paints a definitive picture of the system’s capabilities, it does offer a more precise take on how the Wii U compares to its current-gen rivals, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Though there have been widely varying estimates of the Wii U’s power, many of the disparate rumors have coalesced around the idea that the system is slightly more powerful than either PS3 or Xbox 360. That theme returns in an extensive post on Wii U’s power over at Eurogamer, which spoke both on and off the record with developers who claim to have final Wii U development kits, and know the final specs of the Wii U retail hardware. A developer who wishes to remain anonymous sums up the hardware succinctly.
“Wii U has a powerful GPU with more oomph than the rivals – and is more modern in architecture and shader support, which may come in handy later on.”
“The CPU on the other hand is a different question. We are not limited by it but some other games might suffer from it. Still, because of the GPU, I expect most multi-platform games to look the best on Wii U, even if the difference might not be huge sometimes.”
According to Eurogamer’s sources, the Wii U will be powered by a CPU comprised of three Power PC cores, which is right in line with the alleged tech-specs that surfaced during E3 2012. The quoted developer’s issue with the CPU is that it allegedly runs at a slower clock speed than either PS3 or Xbox 360. The Wii U’s GPU, meanwhile, is said to be a custom design based on the AMD 7 series chipset (which, again, squares with the rumored specs) that supports DirectX 10 and shader 4 type features. Finally, the Wii U is said to boast a full GB of RAM for games — much more than either Xbox 360 or PS3.
So, where does that put the system? Blitz Games Studios’ John Nash sounds the refrain we’ve heard so many times before.
“It’s comparable to the current generation and a bit more powerful than that.”
Nash is quick, however, to caution against judging the Wii U on tech-specs alone.
“On the hype rollercoaster ride we go on with all new hardware, everybody’s super-focused on specific details, processor speed, RAM and all of that stuff. But people need to look beyond that, because Nintendo’s rationale in terms of building game platforms and exploiting their huge roster of cool IP is to build a piece of hardware that allows them to explore new ways to interact with their IP. That’s their rationale behind designing hardware.”
He makes a strong point. For the full interview with Nash, be sure to check out Eurogamer.
What do you think, Ranters: are these Wii U specs (if accurate) encouraging, discouraging, or irrelevant? How much — if any — do technical considerations play into your decision to buy a given console? Bottom line: right now, today, would you buy a Wii U? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Wii U will release this holiday season.
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Follow me on Twitter @HakenGaken.
Source: Eurogamer
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3 cores with a slow speed, AMD 7???, and 1 GB RAM. Should make some decent games, either way it’s more than current gen consoles I’m sure some pretty good looking games can be developed behind that hardware. Let’s see if the controller (and the developers) can offer enough ways to play the game.
While 1GB of RAM is about twice as much as the PS3 and Xbox 360 have, it’s really not very much compared to computers have. My crappy 7+-year-old PC has 1.75GB of usable RAM. The PS4 and Xbox 720 better have way more than 1GB of RAM.
1. 1 GB of RAM is 4 times as much as the PS3.
2. RAM in consoles can’t be compared to RAM in PCs because in PCs, they’re running not only games, but operating systems, drivers, and any other programs that run in the background, and therefore require much more RAM than consoles.
1. Yes, I know that. But that doesn’t mean the PS4 can’t have more than 1GB of RAM.
2. So? Consoles are becoming more and more like PCs. And is a console with 1GB of RAM really as good as a PC with 8GB of RAM? I highly doubt it.
“right now, today, would you buy a Wii U?” Right now, today, I probably couldn’t buy a Wii U because they would already be sold out by now.
John Nash basically reiterated what I’ve been saying for years. That Nintendo hardware is just a delivery system for their games. Plain and simple. They do their own thing, they always have. Either you like Nintendo games or you don’t. I, unlike some people, fully enjoyed my Wii and got a lot of great gaming out of it. With The Last Story still sitting on my shelf and Epic Mickey 2 around the corner, I still am. I expect the same from the Wii U. Will the Wii U be the end-all gaming console? No. But, it should make a fine companion for my PS4 and/or 720. I can’t wait.
I agree, that’s why the Wii is the only exception when it comes to my opinion on consoles. The other two are pretty much trying to release games like those available on the PC, so graphics is something those games really rely on. The problem there is the graphics on the 360 and PS3 do not compare to the PC I already have, so there’s really no reason to buy one of them unless they have exclusives that I’m interested in. So far, only Forza 4 catches my interest out of all of their exclusives. The Wii, on the other hand, has Zelda, Mario, Metroid, and a lot of other exclusives that I just HAVE to play…
I finally got around to reading the source article.
It’s really a great read. While, IMO, Blitz Games has a less than stellar track record, John Nash seems to know what he’s talking about. Go read it.
“If you think about the Wii U in that light, suddenly it makes a huge amount of sense. Suddenly we’re going to be able to explore the world of Zelda and Mario in a new way with our friends. And that’s the rationale behind that platform. It’s not a gunning war in terms of hardware. As soon as you do that, you start to think about the games in a different way. You start to get excited about what it affords you as a game designer, and players should get very excited about it as well.”
I am excited.
Don’t get me wrong. I love amazing looking graphics and speeds that would make Blast Processing go home and cry to it’s Mother, just as much as the next guy. But, IMO, superb graphics alone do not make a great game. I want a game that is fun, intuitive, keeps me entranced for a few hours and at the end of the day, makes me want/need to keep picking up that controller. As long as Nintendo keeps providing that, +PLUS+ an experience I can’t get anywhere else, I’ll keep buying.
@East
The thing is, the second a console tries to get into a hardware war, it’s pretty much a losing battle since hardware evolves so quickly, by the time the console releases it’s already outdated. Nintendo wins over fans by its style and the unique gameplay of their games. That’s something that doesn’t need the latest graphics. While games like Battlefield, Call of Duty, or any other game that’s supposed to in a way represent things in the real world, there is an expectation there that the graphics look realistic. So then there’s a purpose to having great graphics. And unfortunately with the current gen of consoles, NONE of them are capable of great graphics. So for those types of games, I’ll stick to my PC since that’s the closest to having great graphics and I have a Wii for the more cartoony games that I love like Mario, Zelda, and Metroid… Although a realistic looking Metroid would be freakin’ epic…
I agree completely. That’s one of the reasons I liked the Eurogamer article so much. Because Nash says (paraphrased) that Sony and Micro$oft are vying for the bigger, badder system AND they will continue to due so into the next-next gen. While Ninty sits on the sidelines, let’s them fight it out and says “Well, we got this little box that plays Mario and look what he can do NOW!”
For the most realistic looking games, running at the highest speeds, with the most accurate control options, and great peripherals to boot, consoles will never match PC. Mainly because recent consoles basically run on PC parts. They are just “dumbed down” to make each non-upgradable console more affordable to the masses. Plus then they can charge them/me another 599 US dollars in another six years, in order to play the previous years PC games.
“Although a realistic looking Metroid would be freakin’ epic…” They’ll get there someday, when the price point is there and when they want to. Could Nintendo make a behemoth gaming machine that would put the PS4 and 720 to shame? IMO, ABSO-freakin-LUTELY yes they could. Nintendo has some of the greatest, if not THE greatest, minds in gaming working for them. However, they have been around long enough that they know, chasing that Graphical Dragon DOES NOT WORK. They’ve seen the Jaguars and the 3dos and the Neo Geos come and go. Their problem was price point. Nintendo knows that if you make it affordable, you make it fun, you make it inovative (some may confuse this with gimmickry) AND add in that nostalgic/familiarity factor, you got gold.
Price point is SO critical. We all seen how Nintendos venture into hardware profit-making went. We got the Ambassador Program and a price slashed 3DS in return. We are seeing it right now with the Vita. Why isn’t the Vita selling well? Because it’s too damn expensive. Plain and simple. But Sony doesn’t see that. They think make it bigger, make it better, charge what you want, people will buy it. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Nintendo is coy. They know what they are doing. They have been around the block and back. I expect a great gaming machine from the Wii U. I expect Mario and Zelda and DK and Samus and Kirby and Fox and some Brawling and some Karting and maybe a few awesome must-play 3rd party titles (God, please let one of them be KH3) and that’s it! Nothing more. THEN after all that, I’ll be waiting for the Wii UU.
Sorry, I kinda rambled on there.
“But people need to look beyond that, because Nintendo’s rationale in terms of building game platforms and exploiting their huge roster of cool IP is to build a piece of hardware that allows them to explore new ways to interact with their IP. That’s their rationale behind designing hardware.”
Translation: “We can afford to build a system which will fall way behind ina few years because we’ve got franchises from the 80′s which will guarantee sales. Seriously, your kids want Pokemon and you drool over Zelda. We got you by the baby factory.”
LOL.
Translation: “We make great games that A LOT of people enjoy playing. We offer them at an affordable price point, invent new ideas and create innovative gameplay. We also have Pokemon and Zelda”
I am a litle dissapointed by the amount of Ram (I had hoped for 2 gig), and the slower processor but for first party Nintendo games specs doesnt mean a thing. Just look at A Link To The Past that game still looks pretty today.
However if Nintendo can improve the E shop and recruit good indy developers to develop for their platform it could go a long way in compensating for weaker hardware.
I dont regret my Wii and will probably own a Wii U along with one of the more powerfull systems next gen.
I am actually playing A Link to the Past right now, well not RIGHT now, for like the 6th or 7th time. I love that game.
I agree completely with you. Nity needs to strengthen their eShop, hardcore. Like you said, get some awesome indy developers in there and make some great games. I mean they got some, but nothing along the lines of Journey, The Walking Dead, Bastion, etc. I would like to think they can accomplish that with the prowess of the Wii U.
Nintendo has ONE year to get as many supporters and fans as possible. Most development cycles take TWO years and when you have the majority of game developers working multi-platform they try to keep the performance of all versions (PS3,360,WiiU)the same to make development easier. So will we see improvements in the way of visuals and performance by the time a newer Xbox or PS comes out? NO easy as that. Mark my words. This will be the last console Nintendo attempts to put out.
Their stock is already plummeting. And hardware sales for this device will absolutely flop. No one wants a console thats slightly better under the hood. They want that next big leap in innovation….Innovation is something Nintendo lost after it announced its waggle Wii remote.
They’re digging their own grave.
you seem to be forgetting that the wii sold more than the ps3, 360, psp, and ps2 combined.
Wii sold under 100 mil.
PS2 sold over 150 mil.
PS3/X360 sold about 100 mil together.
You sound like Sega.
Mark my words, Nintendo consoles are not going anywhere any time soon. No offense, but you seriously have no idea what you are talking about. The Wii has had more Hardware AND Software sales than any of its current-gen competitors. 5 of the top ten games ever sold belong to the Wii. EVER SOLD! The rest of the top 10 all belong to Nintendo! The closest competitor ranks 15th with the PS2′s THIRD-PARTY game GTA: San Andreas. The next closest competitor is Kinect Adventures at 22nd! LOL! KINECT ADVENTURES! Tell me exactly why and how Nintendo is doomed, when people can’t seem to stop throwing money at their crappy, underpowered systems. I see BOTH Microsoft and Sony throwing in their towels, long before The Big N gives up it’s throne.
You know what I have not seen in all the specs? Memory cashes. Maybe it IS running 3 cores, and thats all fine and good. But look at PS3, to little L2 cache (which is where livedata resides) and games have wretched loadtimes and are hard to dev for (so says Bethesda) because of the limiting factor that puts on size of savegame data. Who knew that lotsa processors STILL need good L2 volume to carry all the livedata that we take for granted when deep in game territory? If its not there, this platform might suck, although if they made a dumb mistake like that knowing what their code needs to function properly then Nintendo just needs to take it all back and start from scratch “so sorry, we will fire those responcible and make this right…”
I think the year was 1986, I got my first Nintendo with this beautiful shiny gold cartridge for christmas and Ive been hooked ever since. Ive owned a gameboy, N64, Gameboy Advance, Gamecube and Wii and soon a Wii U. Nintendo has had a happy customer for 23 years now because it puts out amazing fun games. They will do great in the future and I know Ill be playing the new Mario/Zelda/Metroid/StarFox/etc. when Im 80 years old. I love my Xbox and PC dont get me wrong, but I will always own a Nintendo system. And you know whats amazing? My kids play all the old Nintendo games I used to play and they love them, so they will be Nintendo fans also and have an appreciation for the classics that got Nintendo where they are today.
i did forget SNES haha
@sweet
Yep, I agree, I love a lot of the Nintendo exclusives. I also had a NES, SNES, Nintendo 64 (Goldeneye FTW!! lol), Gamecube, and now a Wii. And I had the original big brick called the Gameboy, lol, I then got a Gameboy Advanced, the one that folded into a tiny little square, then I got a DS Lite.
Nintendo is the only console I still love. If I find a Xbox Slim for under $100, I might get it just for Forza 4, but not sure if one game is worth that kind of investment. I’m hoping to just trick my tenant into buying one and putting it downstairs in the living room so I can play Forza 4 that way, lol.
I kinda have to agree with the nay-sayers, I think this might be Nintendo’s last hurrah as far as consoles are concerned (handheld’s another story). The two biggest reasons the Wii sold like it did was:
A) The more hardcore gamers thought it was to be a gaming “Revolution” (remember that from when Nintendo was still serious about the system), that enabled a whole new level of immersion in the types of games we already love and when they didn’t deliver at launch we figured it’d take a while but they’d get there (which never really happened, excluding first-party platformers how many TRUE hardcore games have been released for the system vs the normal shovelware), even after Nintendo changed the name to the god-awful “Wii”.
And
2) The casual crowd bought it because it was the “in” thing and was the “hottest gift” of the post-release holiday season, and then it continued to sell well because the developers and publishers immediately started catering to the casual crowd, who showed it to their like-minded friends who then turned around and bought or gifted it, to which gamemakers made more of the same games, creating a never ending (except for the end of the Wii itself) cycle. And Nintendo can’t count on them to buy a slightly better version of the same system only a few years down the road. Will some upgrade? Of course, it’d be absurd to think nobody will, but it’s unlikely that another try will produce the same results.
Look, will it sell like hot cakes this Christmas? Duh, it will be on many people’s wishlists (not to mention “buy a ton to sell on eBay for twice the price” lists), and there will be those that want it launch day plus those that DO upgrade during its run. But know this, if this isn’t their last console it’s certainly one of the last two (or three if they REEEEALLY stretch it out), for they ARE at the end of their console days. What comes after this? Their exclusive characters will remain exclusively on Nintendo handhelds for a handheld generation, then they’ll jump to other mobile devices (phones, iPods, ect.), then they’ll pop up on other consoles (like Sonic) and become a monster developer. They will survive as a mega-company, but not as one of the Big 3 (Sega’s been looking like they could replace Nintendo if they stop making consoles eventually).
Also, I hinted a little at this but I should expound on it a little more:
This also isn’t much of an upgrade: HD, standard (albeit rebranded 360) controllers, MotionPlus, a (real) hard drive and THE ABILITY TO PLAY VARIOUS MEDIA (c’mon, the Dreamcast played CDs, you got beat by the Dreamcast) should all of been DAY ONE features of the Wii, and now it’s being released as totally new system (and the name is not helping). The only main reasons to upgrade is novelty, HD and not having to flap your hands around like a mental patient to just to play Madden.