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hinch on 09 March 2013
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RazorDragon said:

I actually hope it's on the same boat as the Wii based on third-party content. As I play every multiplatform game on PC, I'm not buying any next-gen console to play games that are cheaper and better on PC. I want a console that gives me smaller-budget third-party exclusives, like the Wii did.

 

About the multiplatform ports, Wii U has similar achitecture to PS4/NextBox, so it's just a question of lowering the graphical quality. The Wii situation was entirely different, as Wii was a single-core CPU/fixed function GPU console while 360 and PS3 were multi-core CPU/programmable shader GPU consoles, therefore, engines that worked on the Wii didn't worked on PS3/360 and vice versa. Wii U case is totally different, as every engine that works on PS4/NextBox should work on the Wii U.

Nope, PS4 and Nextbox uses the x86 architecture (same as PC). So games could easily be developed similtaniously between those 3 platforms. Wii U is still using PowerPC, which is completely different.

Setting aside the different architectures, the power between the Wii U to the others is pretty substantial. Ok, not as large as lets say the Wii to 360/PS3 but it is enough for some developers to warrant a separate team to make a Wii U version of their game/s. Or outsourcing it to another company like in the case with Watchdogs.

Whats putting the Wii U aside from the PS4 and Nextbox is not the ram but the APU. The Wii U simply cannot keep up in the processing front.. even compared to current gen consoles. Look at games like Warriors Orichu 3, Arkham City, Ninja Gaiden and Darksiders 2. You get big frame rate drops when things get hectic and/or have a lot of enemies on the screen - when compared the to PS3/360 versions of the same game.

Downporting will not be as simple as downgrading assets and lowering resolution from the PS4/720 game. You will need to code and optimise it to run on that platform, tweak; textures, AI, physics, npcs/enemies, character models, lighting etc. All of this takes time and money and thats not even taking into consideration that if it will even sell on the platform in the first place.