More hints of AMD's Potential Partnership with Nintendo on the NX

[Dusk]

haqqaton said:

Dusk said:

The X1 is emulating the 360 with it's backwards compatibilty. That's the difference between open source reverse engineering and using the proprietary code and designing software to run it closed source without the need for reverse engineering. BTW, you don't need an i5 to properly emulate the Wii on Dolphin, Dolphin is restricted far more with the GPU than the CPU, but even then it's not that high of a requirement. 

I think that Microsoft will release X360 games like Nintendo does with Virtual Console but you'll need the physical disc just for piracy (don't quote me on that). It's not a simple emulation. If it was a simple emulation you would just need an "emulator" app and the physical disk - no additional downloads. But as I understand you're going to download every X360 game in your X1. 

From my programming background I suppose that Microsoft is rewriting some API calls - from X360 to X1 - maybe using something like a proxy pattern. They need to optimise every single game because X1 lacks raw power. They are listing and couting the API calls that the software uses and making an unique and optimised "emulator" - a new layer to be precise - for each game.

It doesn't matter if they know their own code or if they are using reverse engineering. In fact, it has nothing to do with knowing their own code. X1 can't have a "general" X360 emulator. It lacks raw power. You can see it by looking the games currently available. They are all poorly demanding - simple - games. I think that they can't make Skyrim run properly for the time being.

In the same way, NX would need to be more powerful than PS4 to be able to run Wii U discs using a "general" emulator. Maybe that's the reason for Iwata saying "absorbing Wii U architecture". Maybe we'll get Wii U VC games instead of a traditional backwards compatibility.

It has already been stated by MS that it is emulation. 

It's not a general emulator, that is proven by only a few games being supported so far. It's likely game to game, or engine to engine emulation. 

So far from the experiences of the BC on the X1 the games run pretty much the same, almost exactly, although loading times are better. Mass Effect, while old, is not a simple game by any means. 

You are likely right. It would probably cost the company less to put in a Wii U chip for BC than it would to go through each game and have to design an API for it, or emulate it. 

Time will tell I suppose.