I think more than just Nintendo gave up on the Wii. 

Gametrailers.com, I hope that help.

That would require a more-than-nominal investment in the first place, so probably not.

And that's still not a citation, and it's still not an argument; Reggie doesn't determine the course of any hardware and is involved with that brand of decision-making not at all.

I'm done here. The last word is yours. My final word is this: it doesn't take a span of multiple generations to "catch up" graphically. That's ridiculous.

The WiiU should have the ability to handle the new Unreal Engine. MS nextbox is going to handle it considering PC devs are going to utilize it, Japanese devs will probably make engines that come close to the new unreal engine or try to make a better one and sony and his team of devs will probably try to make a better Engine that needs a slightly more powerfull console...

If WiiU can't handle it I give it 60% chance that most devs in a few years when the nextbox releases will not bother with the WiiU.

I was going to come in here and rip Ubisoft a new hole, but apparently the article is just full of lies.  Thank you for saving my time.  Whoever wrote this piece of garbage and the site it was posted on can both go to hell.

No, I never said it wasn't competitive with what is seen on the PS3 or X360--it's arguably in the same generational tech.  Several developers have indicated as much, and the fact that the Wii U will have simple ports of several HD games indicates that it can handily manage X360 or PS3 games, but that it likely isn't much more powerful.

The Zelda tech demo does reflect Wii U's capabilities just as Wii tech demos and early games (like Metroid Prime 3) reflected the Wii.  Which was easy since the Wii was last-gen tech, just as the DS was last-gen tech when it launched and, let's face it, the 3DS is last-gen tech.  It's about as powerful as a Wii, and Sony was putting roughly equivalent power in a handheld last generation.

The Zelda demo, even running in real time, is not doing anything that the Xbox360 or PS3 can't do.

Significant development?  No.  Optimization?  Yes.  Since there are dev kits out there with developers, the significant part of the development of Wii U is over.  All that's left is optimization and tweaking.  A little more RAM here, a little faster processor there, a more efficient chip here, etc.

Also, the Wii never really rose above it's tech demos like the Xbox360 or PS3 did.  That's because there was no room to advance on the Wii like there was with the Xbox360 or PS3.  The small Wii-sized box that the Wii U is in indicates not new technology, but more like streamlined last-gen technology--again--the same as they did with the DS, Wii, and 3DS.  I'm sure it'll be optimized, but it certainly won't be any kind of major leap.  The Wii is ending largely without games vastly superior to it's premiere.  It's top games, where the tech pushes the system, remain the Super Mario Galaxy titles, which maxed the Wii very, very early in it's lifecycle.  

You seem to be assuming that the Wii U will be vastly powerful, but dismissing the very thought that Microsoft or Sony could even make machines of substantially greater power.  And they will, and they're working on them now.  Sony and Microsoft will produce powerful new machines that will, in short time, make the Wii U look dated and last-gen--just because many gamers can't conceive of vastly more powerful machines doesn't mean they aren't being made.  They will be pricey, and they will be sold at a loss.  Nintendo always sells machines for a profit, which indicates that their "over $250" price tag of Wii U is likely to be intended to leave much room for profit.  Last-gen tech + expensive controller + need for profit = the price point Nintendo is mulling over for the Wii U.  

In order to be able to afford the system with it's expensive, feature-laden controller, the system will not be advancing very far where technology is concerned.  To do so would be to price it out of consumers affordability.

Nintendo no longer releases the technical specifications for their machines because they don't want people focusing on them.  Don't hold your breath expecting any miracles.  The Wii never strayed from the early reported strengths from 3rd party developers, and the Wii U is unlikely stray from it's early reported power.  Sure, Nintendo has a year before it launches the thing, but if they want to launch it with games, they have to stop trying to change the hardware, and start focusing on making the games.  And that's exactly what they're going to do.  They have dev kits out there that are, essentially, perfectly representative of the system outside of any minor tweaks they may add.  The system is, for all intents and purposes, done.  

The Wii U isn't big enough to house vastly more powerful technology.  Third party developers are placing it in-line with the Xbox360 and PS3.  Nintendo is extremely reluctant to talk about the hardware under the hood.  The Zelda tech demo didn't do anything that can't already be done on the other HD systems.  The news leaks and rumors aren't indicating a system of true "next generation" power.  They're indicating a system of current generation power.  

Resident_Hazard,

I don't fully disagree with you but I don't really agree with you either. We really haven't heard from actual developers about what the performance of the Wii U is, and we have information that the development kits are under-clocked hardware and probably not based on the customized chip-sets.

Certainly, we won't see "miracles" and the Wii U will not seem to have a massive graphical leap above what the HD consoles currently do; but I suspect that will be the case for Sony and Microsoft's next generation console's too. Primary graphical assets (like character models) have about as much detail as we should ever expect them to, and the impact of increased detail from secondary graphical assets (important environmental features) and tertiary details won't have that much of an impact on the visuals of a game; and most of the graphical effects that will be used in next generation games are already being used on the HD consoles, and the primary difference will be that more of them will be used on an object at a time.

To put it another way, the Zelda Wii U demo doesn't look that much different than what has been done on the HD consoles but what improvements can be made to make it look dramatically better? If this game has a similar jump in visual quality from the tech demo to the released game that we saw with the Gamecube and the N64, what could really be done to make the game look better?

Sensationalist faux journalism.

James Armstrong, VP SCEE:
"I do not think we’ll have a console with a lot better graphics than the PS3 currently offered"


So I guess the PS4 won't be a next generation console,eh?

Sure it will,  the slightly superior  PS3 specifications is looking like where the Wii U will reside.  The PS4 won't be a PS2-PS3 type of movement is what that statement is saying.  Besides,  taking the VP of one branch of a global company is hardly a ringing endorsement.

From the posts I am reading here and elsewhere, Nintendo cannot win no matter what audience they cater to be it the "Blue Ocean" of foggies and little sisters, the hardcore 18 to 24 year old basement dwellers, the lapsed 24 year old+ gamers, etc.

Attitudes are hardening before the finished product is fully displayed. Speaks volumes. Lost before the race begun.

Here is my take:

The winner of the "next gen AKA the next 5 years" will not be contingent on a new console, but on catering to the existing market. I am sure many of you are just thinking life is all jack daniels and wet panties from your life in college, but out here in the real world there is no 60k/year job for you regardless of your major be it business, nursing, or metaphysics. Too many are unemployed and have been hunting for jobs months if not years before you graduate.
Here and elsewhere we focus too much on the "industry," while ignoring the ecosystem in which the "industry" exists.

If a father with 2 kids, a mortgage, and a job cannot put aside $300 to purchase a console come Christmas, then it won't matter what "specs" the Wii U, PS4, or NextBox will have.

What will matter for him is how he can substitute. This means what games he can buy for the PS3, Wii, or Xbox 360 for his children come Christmas time. Yes, they will be disappointed, but if he gives a damn, then they will understand and still love him.

Nintendo is risking a lot by putting out a new system in such dire economic times. The 3DS is my proof right now. I believed and predicted it would change the discussion around 3D. Instead, I have been dead wrong where some weeks it is selling on par with the PSP and other weeks it is selling less than the PSP. Need I say more?

From all that I am reading, this economy is going to get worse. I see no hope and change from Barack Obama. All I see is a selfish struggle to "get mine" and fuck you if you cannot get yours. It is an all or nothing, tribalistic environment now.

There ain't no Blue Ocean because the economy has forced us back to our primal, tribal instincts of self and family first. If this continues, then it won't matter what "specs" or even "launch library" Nintendo provides for the Wii U.

There will not be a market for it if bills need to get paid.