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Resident_Hazard said:


The Zelda Wii U tech demo certainly looks next gen to me.

While I sincerely doubt it will happen, I hope that Nintendo is hearing the dissent about the Wii U and how it's displeasing to hear that the system is going to be underpowered in the next gen the way the Wii was this generation.  And I hope Nintendo uses this final year to cram as much extra power into that thing as possible before it launches.

Looking at the likely hardware specs(so far), how do you think Nintendo can improve it while  maintaining a cost and energy efficiency they like?

On another note,  let me clarify the assumptions made in  the other parts of your post, and the context in which they're taken. 

"If you spent any amount of time with the Xbox360 or PS3 you'd know that the shown Zelda Wii U tech isn't doing anything that can't be done on either the Xbox360 or PS3.  Zelda Wii U only looks next gen compared to the Wii"

 This assumes many things: that the products of Wii U games will be reflective of what we see in the Zelda Wii U tech demo. A tech demo with 5 weeks of development behind it, and is competative with the top tier of what we see on the PS360, despite what visual interpretation PS360 gamers may have. These things shouldn't be judged by how good they look, but by what technologies they use and in which context. Oh and let's not forget that this tech demo is featured on a developing development kit which isn't close to the final product.

So what you're assuming here(Please clarify if my interpretation is incorrect):

- The tech demo reflects the Wii U's capabilities fully.

- The tech demo isn't competitive with what is seen on PS360.

 

  • This latter point you observe without any empirical evidence other than what you see, which certainly isn't valid unless you're an expert on graphical rendering, and even then such a person considers what is being ran and in which context; not entirely based on aesthetics. The average PS360 gamer can't tell what is or what isn't developing technology unless there are significant visual distinctions, which isn't always the case. 

 

- There is no longer significant development of the Wii U.

- Optimization will no longer take place.

- The other next-generation platforms will be as superio to the Wii U, meaning they take a similar leap from PS2 -> PS3/XB -> XB360, if we are to take your assumption that the Wii U is a PS3 1.5 as truth, will be distinctive from the Wii U enough comparably to the difference between Wii -> HD Consoles now. Let's say this is possible, then we must assume that Sony and Microsoft will produce systems at an equivalent price-point or even higher while still losing profit with each sale.  

After reading all of this I hope you look up what tech demos looked like on PS360 in 2005/2006. While  the developing technologies were newer and harder to take advantage of, this isn't an excuse when Crysis, which competes with games released today was released in 2007. Furthermore, this same rule applies to Wii U as it lifetime terminates it will have far far superior games compared to it's premiere. 

"IGN's note on it is that the system is only 50% more powerful than the PS3, which means it's technological "leap" is but a tip-toe step six inches forward.  The Wii was a GameCube 1.5, the Wii U will be a PS3 1.5.  That's lame."

 You are assuming that this is the truth, firstly. Until we here something similar from Nintendo, this should be considered a rumor at best and more likely a misinterpretation. You are also assuming that this is a clear, straightforward input and the output is "PS3 1.5" Who's to say that they were talking about processing power exclusively? Or that each component is at the very lease a 50% improvement, making the overall system worth much more? As others have said in the thread this was posted - which you should definitely read again, if you haven't - this quote is very, very vague and could mean anything. Making your own interpretations of it doesn't qualify it as evidence for your arguement.  

Assumptions:

- This is a factual representation of the console's ability without any abiguity caused by Nintendo's tightgrip on the systems specifications. 

- This is a clear, easy to interpret representation which means the Wii U is a PS3 1.5.

- This can't be interpreted in any other way. 

I'll again ask you to address my first question, and look up what kind of specifications we do know. You'll clearly see that 50%, as in 1/2 more,  PS3 1.5 doesn't fit in with the specifications we know as of now, which are subject to change.