WiiU Confirmed specs from SDK and GPU info: DirectX 11 features!

[JEMC]

lilbroex said:

JEMC said:

If the difference in RAM is big, the example I said was 1.5GB vs 4GB, reducing the poly count and a few objects won't be enough in some games, specially in open world games like Western RPGs or GTA-style games. The difference is just too big. They will have to make other sacrifices (like horizon distance or lighting) that will be noticeable.

We don't know how much does the GFX chip of WiiU cost, but a 25% performance increase is pretty normal from 1 gen of cards to another, so the chip in the HD58xx cards would more than do that, and they are quite cheap nowadays. Will it cost 3 times more? Maybe, but that won't make the console much more expensive, it will just make their loss (because they will sell them at a loss) a bit bigger.

Your not using any logic. There is nothing that could be done with 4 GB that would limit a system with 1 GB from playing the game as there is nothing that "needs" that amount of ram when it comes to gaming aside from huge caches of uncompressed super HD textures. Simple compression would solve the problem of anything that did.

The amount of RAM matters. A lot. That's why in the last few years GFX cards have gone from 512Mb to 2-3GB with another 2 for the system. It's not just bigger textures but also the amount of them, the poly count, the nº of objects, lighting + other effects, etc.

Just to make it clear, DICE has said that they will go 64bit only in PC. Why? To make fully use of the RAM available. And since consoles have to split their RAM between the CPU and GPU needs, the amount of it matters.

 

lilbroex said:

If Sony and Micrsoft actively choose to sell their next console at loss, then they deserve their fate because even then, more people will still on a Wii U and the Wii U will still be cheaper.

Truth be told, I really want them to make an astronically more powerful consle. It will guarantee that they will lose the next gen again horribly. The fact that people still refer to Sony and Micrsoft in tandem like they are both one entity against Nintendo shows just how high Nintendo's standings are.

As I said, they see each other as their main competitor and don't want to look weaker than their rival, so they will go with the most powerful machine possible.

Microsoft won't have a problem taking loses with the nextbox as they make more than enough money from other divisions to compensate. And since it has worked well with the 360, they will repeat.

Sony is the one in trouble as their other divisions are also losing money, but all the signs point that they will go the same route. Well, it's up to them. PS1 and PS2 weren't the most powerful console and they succeed, they could learn from that.