It’s been over a year since the unveiling of Nintendo’s next-gen console the Wii U yet somehow gamers are still unsure just how powerful the device really is. Before anyone truly had an opportunity to play around with it, analysts and industry professionals were claiming the console was a little more powerful than an Xbox 360, but not by much.
However, now that the Wii U’s specs have (presumably) been finalized, gamers are starting to get a better idea of just how powerful the machine is. Unfortunately, according to Dynasty Warriors developer Tecmo Koei, it’s not as powerful as many had hoped.
Speaking with Eurogamer, Akihiro Suzuki revealed that the console’s CPU is actually less powerful than the current generation of consoles, namely the PS3 and the aforementioned 360. Tecmo Koei currently has a Wii U launch title, Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper, slated to release but, as Eurogamer notes, the game struggles to deliver a comparable Dynasty Warriors experience.
For example, the frame rate and amount of enemies on screen is not on par with what Sony and Microsoft’s consoles are capable of delivering. As Suzuki explained, it all comes down to power, and the Wii U apparently just can’t compete.
“One of the weaknesses of the Wii U compared to PS3 and Xbox 360 is the CPU power is a little bit less. So for games in the Warriors series, including Dynasty Warriors and Warriors Orochi, when you have a lot of enemies coming at you at once, the performance tends to be affected because of the CPU.”
Suzuki does acknowledge the Wii U’s GPU is capable of delivering superior graphics and is, most importantly a new console. Additionally he feels there are inherent “challenges” to working on an unknown platform, but still believes the Wii U packs a little less power. He says that the team at Tecmo Koei is working to improve the quality of the experience in Warriors Orochi, but is not making any promises.
Back at E3 2012, the Wii U seemed to run fine in most cases, but that was with the suite of games Nintendo had handpicked to represent their console. Going hands-on with Lego City: Undercover did result in a game crash, but given the circumstances that wasn’t entirely unexpected.
For fans that are mulling over purchasing either of the two Wii U options, the decision only continues to get tougher, which is being made even worse by the fact the console is selling out everywhere. How powerful is it? What are the specs of the console? These are all questions fans want to have answered, yet they appear to have to pre-order the console on blind faith in the hope it isn’t a complete waste of money.
Does the Wii U’s apparent lack of power give you pause about pre-ordering the console?
Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper currently has no North American release date, but will be out in Japan on December 8, 2012. Nintendo’s Wii U releases on November 18, 2012.
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Source: Eurogamer
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Probably they haven’t nailed the system architecture yet. GPGPU idea came out just in 2002 being an NVIDIA graphics card the first using it in 2007. Tekken developer said something similar, but since then no other commets about it has been made. I think its a matter of time for Nintendo to show them how to do it, considering the long list of developer engines deals they are acquiring at the moment.
My personal opinion, not anymore.
What s*** journalism. If you read the original quote, Suzuki claimed that the CPU was a little bit slower but the GPU was much more capable than the xbox 360 and ps3 consoles. And since the Wii U uses a GPGPU setup, the slightly lower speed of the CPU can be dealt with.
I read the original quote and everyone knows the GPU is better than the 360 and PS3 but the CPU is still lagging behind in terms of power, something they still haven’t overcome. So let’s say there was a Skyrim port, a title that is heavily dependent on the CPU, it would be noticeably inferior to the other consoles, although not sure about PS3, might be on equal footing.
hey gamer rant why dont you get the facts straight tecmo never said the wii u was less powerfull they just havnet gotten to fully understanding the wii u cpu and they said that they wasnt finished working on the game jeez i hate sites like this that put out bullcrap titles just to get a damn hit on there site i mean really the wii u is 5 times more powerful then ps3 and 360 the cpu is a brand new power pc with edram built in wich allows for slight slower clock speed while still out performing ps3 and 360 cpus by about 40 percent do some research next time and quit telling lies about nintendo pricks
Gamerant has a source, can you name a few to back up your accusations? Just a Nintendo fanboy trying to protect his preferred manufacturer’s system from criticism because it is barely playing catch up to current gen consoles with slightly better hardware.
5 times more powerful? Source? Or just picking numbers at random?
I thought this was a reputable site. Suzuki said the cpu clock speed was a little slower not less powerful. The gpgpu is actually a more powerful and efficient setup than the xbox360 and ps3. Suzuki was probably trying to get away with a quick and dirty port and Wii U will require a little more effort then that. Please getyou facts straight. I am a gamer not a fanboy.
Very true any one reading this please check out eurogamers orginal article this site in my veiw after reading this is WANK and as list whot little respect it had
Very true any one reading this please check out eurogamers orginal article this site in my veiw after reading this is WAN# and as lost whot little respect it had
Very true any one reading this please check out eurogamers orginal article this site in my veiw after reading this is CRAP and as lost whot little respect it had
3 tries and you still can’t come up with a coherent comment? LOL
Probably using a iPhones spell check.
I thought this was a reputable site. Suzuki said the cpu clock speed was a little slower not less powerful. The gpgpu is actually a more powerful and efficient setup than the xbox360 and ps3. Suzuki was probably trying to get away with a quick and dirty port and Wii U will require a little more effort then that. Please get your facts straight. I am a gamer not a fanboy.
KKKKKKOMBO BREAKER!!! sorry so many double and triple posts lol
I love that game rofl