Ooh I do very much like this thread, great work superchunk.

Just how powerful is the IBM Power 7 compared to the current gen consoles or middle/high end computers?

Well,  The Xbox 360 has a Tri Core PowerPC("Xenon") Clocked at 3.2 GHz.

The IBM Power7 is quite a powerful processor from what I'm reading.  We don't exactly know every detail about the processors they're using(There's going to have special configurations for L2 Cache, etc) So we'll just look at clock speed and the cores for now.

The Wii U is going to have 4 cores each clocked at 3.5 GHz.   This is slightly more powerful than the 360.  The "NextBox" has 6 cores, clocked at 3.7 GHz.   This is significally more powerful than the 360.

Without knowing the full specs of each CPU, I can't exactly compare it to the Current CPUS, but a guess would be probably a middle-higher end I5 CPU. So by the time they release, it'll be middle of the road I guess.

If those specs are somewhat precise, there's no way Nintendo will be able to price this as low as the Wii was initially, especially with the controllers seemingly being so costly. They're either going to have to sell at a slight loss or incredibly small profits or price their console at the same level as the competition. Honestly, with the concept being what it is, I don't see it being able to fully compete at the same price as a PS4 and X-box 720.

In short; the WiiU will sell quite a bit less than the Wii, I would even go so far as to say it will sell a lot less if launch price is high, especially when factoring in Nintendo's aversion to lowering the prices on anything they make.

bolded: WiiU's process as stated in OP would be more than "slightly" more powerful. Its not just faster with an additional core, but its Power7. That CPU architecture difference gives it a significant boost of X360's already, even it was same speed and tri-core.

However, this is all best rumors to date and some speculation of course.

aww only one page

this sounds great! there won't be that much difference in the next gen so. i can't wait to see what excuses the devs will have now when it comes to Nintendo

Doesn't the wiiu have 16gb flash memory? I could have sworn they claimed that some time.

Their price point should be around $300.  Sales would suffer a little if priced around 350 but not by too much if they could get enough buying frenzy.  I don't think there is a chance in hell they would go above 350.  If they can sell it at 300 at a slight loss then they should be fine.  Even though Nintendo never really sells their systems at a loss (except maybe 3DS slightly now) they are considering it for next generation.  At least they aren't trying to sell a console for 500-600 dollars and taking a 100-200 dollar loss on it.

I just served me a bet-victom earlier today. Are you scared Superchunk?

Humm... I must have gotten something wrong with the smaller sizes... I thought the nm are standing for how big the transistors on the cpu are and smaller transistors give more or the same amount of processing power to a smaller sized cpu, while increasing heat output and making cooling easier...?

I won't be anything until E32012. :)