[Update: much more detailed tech specs for Wii U have hit the web. Continue to page 2 to to check them out.]
Nintendo opened the doors to E3 2012 this year with a rather impressive display of Wii U goodies during its Press Conference. Unfortunately, the company wasn’t about to give out the information that everyone had been craving: a price point, a release date past “Holiday 2012,” or info on some of the more requested games. That’s not to say that Nintendo and front man Reggie Fils-Aime didn’t have a lot to talk about; it was quite the opposite.
Reggie made sure that press and fans alike knew right from the very start of the conference that with so much to talk about, the event would have to focus on just the games . That meant that the tech specs for the Wii U were left to float in the wind. Luckily, we here at Game Rant understand that you want to know exactly you’re playing on, so we have the info that you crave.
Nintendo had already released the information on the fully realized Wii U GamePad earlier this week, and had slowly been leaking information on the connectivity and playability of its console through events like Ubisoft’s Press Conference yesterday. Some big highlights were the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology and the Wii U Pro, the additional gaming controller that bares a striking resemblance to the Xbox 360 controller. Both the Wii U Pad and Pro will come with Rechargeable Lithium-Ion, so gamers will no longer have to spend a fortune on batteries while they play. Reggie confirmed during the press conference that the Wii U can, in fact, support two GamePads.
The Wii U itself isn’t as illustrious as its handheld counterpart, but it is a big step away from the Wii. Boasting 1080p and six-channel PCM audio (courtesy of it’s new HDMI output), the Wii U is fully HD. Under the hood it’s sporting an IBM-based multi-core processor, and AMD Radeon HD GPU (meaning that players can see every hair in Mario’s moustache).
Storage, however, is still a slight mystery. According to Nintendo, the Wii U will have on-board flash memory, but the company doesn’t specify the amount. It could potentially mean that there will be tiers, much like Microsoft and Sony offer with their consoles, but it’s still too early to tell. Regardless, Nintendo does state that you’ll be able to bolster your save data with either SD memory cards or USB drives.
Finally, there are four USB inputs — two in the front and two in the back — and in addition to HDMI, the system will support a variety of video outputs: Wii D-Terminal (whatever that is), Wii Component Video, Wii RGB, Wii S-Video, Stereo AV and Wii AV. Wi-Fi, up to and including 802.11n, is built right in.
It seems that Nintendo has its head on right for the Wii U , but we won’t know more until we see how their demo titles come back. Stay close and see what we here at Game Rant have to say, and let us know what you’re thinking on the matter.
[UPDATE] It seems that you readers weren’t the only ones who were a bit dismayed at the minimalism displayed in the Wii U’s hardware specifications. Lucky for you, the dev-kit specs were released not long after the press conference, letting loose some very interesting details on what exactly players can expect in the console.
For the full breakdown, head to the next page.
The Nintendo Wii U launches this holiday season.
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Source: Nintendo
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“Under the hood it’s sporting an IBM-based multi-core processor, and AMD Radeon HD GPU”
No word on how many cores or what GPU specifically? This doesn’t tell us much because aren’t the current consoles sporting a “multi-core processor” and a “AMD Radeon HD GPU” (X360)?
That is an issue that we’re hoping will get resolved soon. It seems that Nintendo is staying purposefully tight-lipped over what type of CPU and GPU they are supporting. We’re hoping that more specific info will come out this week, in which case we’ll update this page.
Roger that, will check back.
Thanks!
@william case..in short NO current consoles do NOT have full hd support and anything predating the 3000 series from ati is not dx 10 compatible which the proprietary architecture for pc games needing resolutions over 1080p which is why it’s ati radeon hd for wiiu and x360..no hd label. the 360 and ps3 just can’t handle it right now.. they can upscale but they can’t produce quality above 720p in terms of textures and fill rate.
Is the Wii D terminal definitely not the hdmi output? just a thought since hdmi is D shaped?
D-Terminal is a European video input/output.
It looks like a connection for computer monitors and some TVs.
“It’s time to take a look at the Wii U tablet controller! Here’s a 5 minute video about all the buttons you ALREADY KNOW FROM EVERY OTHER CONTROLLER MADE INT HE LAST TEN YEARS! Screen? what screen? You mean that thing in the center of the controller? meh. It’s not biggy; but the rumble feature we;ve had since the N64 (Had to buy that seperately with a add-on back? what? I’m SURE that’s not true) is still there. And a home button! WII!! U!!!”
Are the guys at Nintendo HIGH!? This is thier controller video?! they don’t even talk about the screen which is supposed to seperate this controller from all the others?! Have they given up on trying to market things well, or are they so egotistical about hs strong thier in-house franchises are that they don’t think they have to try anymore?
lmao, true. It worked better in the context of the press conference, since it was edited down to one or two minutes, and there was enough talk about the screen in the rest of the conference. But yeah, pretty glaring omission in the full-length version. Although, now that I think about it, this is probably just part of a “press packet” or whatever, in which there’s surely a second video that talks about the screen.
Nintendo has bigger problems than this underpowered machine. Check out this CNN article:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/05/tech/gaming-gadgets/wii-u-demo-e3/index.html?hpt=hp_c3
No one besides gamers even knows this is a new system. LOL
Haha they need to be fired! And Nintendo needs a name change! Lol poor journalism + bad marketing = misconception!
It’s CNN I haven’t seen any journalism from them worth mentioning in my life. Then again the last story that was “really” news worthy was the Watergate scandal.
Yeah, 9/11, the collapse of the USSR, and two Iraq wars totally weren’t as newsworthy as a politician spying on other politicians. (I do agree that 24-hour news networks suck.)
Bah, got more info from NBC that day. Plus I was in class when the towers were hit.
I was in class when the second one was hit, but I heard about the first one being hit on NPR. It’s always weird to think about, because I was so tired, on my way to school that it didn’t even register as a thing for me. I was like, “Wow, that pilot messed up lol.” Then a few hours later someone in my world history class announced the second tower getting hit and people started saying crazy stuff like all these other cities had been hit too and everyone had to call their out of town relatives and make sure they were okay. Pretty surreal day, that was. Anyway, this has gotten pretty far off-track, lol. CNN sucks.
HEY, LOOK AT THOSE SPECS!
Oh man, lol. Talk about facepalm. This video here says “entirely new console,” and I seem to remember Reggie saying things like that a couple times during the press conference, too. Yup, they should’ve changed the name. Too late now.
Yeah, it’s going to take A TON of highly specialized marketing to fix that. Really hope they think of something to offset that, just today when iw as trying to watch the conference (was in class) a kid behind me said “aw is that that stupid Wii tablet attachment.” I turned to him and gave him a
I think anyone who is going to buy this thing at launch knows what it is. Isn’t that what matters? Dumbass “journalists” who can’t even do a simple Google search, are not Ninty’s bread n butter.
Apparently “casual” gamers are their bread & butter…
Do you think casual gamers are more likely to follow a national news organization or read articles on video game sites?
Did you even read my comment before you jumped it? I did say “anyone who is going to buy this thing at launch”. Let me slow it down for you. Nintendo launches Wii U. FANS and FAITHFUL buy Wii U. Wii U sells out. Wii U on eBay for $3000. Wii U very hard to find for 6 months to a year. Nintendo good.
By that time everyone should know what the Wii U actually is and what it is fully capable of. One article on CNN doesn’t mean anything.
Man something must’ve crawled up your bum. So your comment was that the people who will buy this at launch will still buy at launch? What a revelation…LOL
Did you read my comment? Or was your Nintendo Fanboy rage just too much?
Now casual gamers, and heck most reasonable people, have to be convinced to buy a console. One article on CNN this close to launch, may be all it takes to make someone say no thanks.
This is Nintendo’s fault, maybe they should be a little clear, you know, for people other than you.
Hi, I know this isn’t the right spot to ask this, but does anyone know when Bioware’s E3 conference is? Thanks
I don’t think BioWare is going to have one. EA’s happened already I think. But what does BioWare have to show? DLC or concept art for DA3 (I’m not counting C&C) are the only things I can think of. BSN or the DA/Mass wiki would give you any info needed really.
All I can think of when I hear Wii U is Ling from Kung Pow: Enter the Fist…WiiiiiiiUUUUUU, WiiU, WiiU!
These specs are better than I expected, and good for it! If these are true I’m even more psyched for its release!
I wish there was more RAM, but what little of this I understand looks pretty good.
If those are the specs then why not say so officially?
As for sound The WiiU inherits the 10 year+ old Macronix DSP sound core from the Wii and Gamecube athough upclocked to 120MHZ and mostly likey 32 Bit word size for 100 voices + discrete 6.1 channel surround)) vs 81MHZ and 16 Bit word size on Gamcube/Wii (64voices=2 channel stereo and virtual surround sound via Pro Logic2)The Nintendo 3DS also has a DSP that’s slighty faster at 134MHZ but it’s only 16 bit like the 480p Home consoles and thus can handle only stereo/Virtual Surround like the 480p systems athough Resident Evil:Revealations on 3DS uses the it’s 134MHZ DSP speed for some really good stereo HRTF’s when using headphones.
hi there you are right 24 hours news suck soo much nintendo should have there own 24 hour tv network channel broad cast from nintendo head quter be alsoume what do you think should nintendo have there 24 hour news briad cast channel that creates jobs yeah job creation