Teeqoz said:
The Wii U is 352 GFLOPS. 176 GFLOPS is less than the 360 and the PS3. |
At 176 GFLOP the Wii U GPU would out-perform the Xbox 360's GPU at 240 GFLOP anyway.
Jumpin said: Power doesn't equal support, and devs don't decide what games go on what platforms, publishers do. |
And yet, lack of power does guarentee minimal to non-existent multiplatform support.
We saw it with the Wii. We saw it with the Wii U, how many more console generations do you need?
Teeqoz said: True, but still, 352 is the number I've seen the most, and I'm inclined to believe that's the real figure. The PS4 just isn't 10x more powerful than the Wii U. |
The performance difference between the Wii U and PS4 is likely to be larger than that, there were massive efficiency gains when AMD moved from VLIW5 to VLIW4 and then again to GCN.
However everytime you double your graphics quality you need orders-of-magnitude better performance due to diminishing returns.
Lrdfancypants said: Nintendo games will always look like Nintendo games wont they? I can't see them making ultra realistic games. |
It's not about Nintendo making ultra-realistic games.
Soundwave said: Super Mario 3D World looked nice, so does Captain Toad but I don't think those games use "every inch" of power of the Wii U. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze certainly does not either. When you get into this level of hardware it's not about power, it becomes as much about budget/time, yeah it's great that the developer may want to tap that power, but is Nintendo going to finance say a $40-$60 million dollar budget Metroid game that might sell only 1 million copies? Nope. |
If "Budgets" are your concern...
Then you need to keep in mind that if Nintendo has hardware that is supported by one of the main API's like Vulkan/OpenGL, not just from a software perspective, but hardware feature set as well...
Then it can be supported by all the popular middleware, developer tools and game engines which helps reduce development time and budget.
Not to mention that Nintendo will eventually one-day release a device in the future that will exceed the Playstation 4 in terms of hardware, it's a matter of when not if (If the company still exists). - It's something they will need to come to terms with eventually, won't they?
Besides, budgets are only that high because professional actors are being hired with full motion capture and voice work, there are extravagent advertising campaigns and more, plenty of indie developers are making some pretty amazing games these days and they don't have budgets higher than $1 million smacko's.
Soundwave said: The Wii U only launched 4 years ago and they're only now really getting the hang of HD development. To have another full generation leap so quickly I don't think was ever going to sit well with Nintendo. |
You do realise the Xbox One and Playstation 4 are only "HD" consoles as well right?
High Definition is just a resolution, it's no more trickier than sub HD, you just need better quality assets and use some smart techniques to hide the more visible graphics limitations that comes with the increased clarity.
With more powerful hardware you can side-step allot of the issues too.
As for the 360 and PS3 transition to Xbox One and Playstation 4 delays, that was more of a result of trying to cater to the old generation who still had 10's of millions of gamers, these are business's remember, whose primary purpose is to make cash.
Louie said:
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The other reason they don't get support is due to performance, newer games just aren't doable on the Wii U's archaic hardware.
Last generation it wasn't feasible to port Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 games to the Wii due to the generational difference, sure you got some games reworked and stuff... But they were far from the same experience.
With the Wii U of course you also have the issue of making it financially feasible, the Wii U flopped which results in poor sales for 3rd party's, it's one thing to downgrade a game... It's another if it's financially risky.
But let's be realistic here. 2016 isn't the same as last generation or the generation before that and customer bases have shifted.
Louie said: 2) "Hardcore gamers" would buy a powerful Nintendo system |
I buy a console partly because of hardware specifications, granted it's typically a secondary consideration, but I am also an Enthusiast, I have needs.
But when you need to bring up something like Digital Foundry to pick out the minor nuanced details between the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, then obviously hardware is less of an issue between those two devices aren't they?
And then you look at Nintendo which looks like it's a generation behind, the choice then becomes very clear for allot of people doesn't it?
Louie said: 3) Everyone thinks "power = quality" |
Nintendo's customer base didn't really transition from the Wii to the Wii U, customer bases have changed for Nintendo.. A massive chunk wen't mobile another massive chunk weren't really gamers to begin with. - It's clear Nintendo cannot pander to that customer base that's for sure.
Louie said: 4) Nintendo could compete with Sony and Microsoft in a sustaining innovation battle |
It's not about trying to 1-up Sony and Microsoft, it's about having an expected degree of graphical fidelity... If the console looks last generation by comparison to Microsoft and Sony, then your average joe is certainly going to notice aren't they?
If you need a magnifying glass to pick out the details, then hardware certainly becomes less of an issue.
One thing is for sure though, with the Playstation 4 even a massive chunk of the more casual/average joe knew that the PS4 was faster than the Xbox One, that may have translated into sales.
This doesn't mean that Nintendo should forgo it's gimmicks or ways to differentiate itself, but it also doesn't mean that they should stop trying to compete with Microsoft and Sony either, you can actually have both pieces of cake and eat it too.
And Nintenedo SHOULD be ridiculed if their hardware isn't up to snuff, fair is fair in love and war.
Soundwave said: If they had launched the Wii U (or better yet just scrapped that concept entirely and made a proper 1 TFLOP "New NES" console) in 2012 with a high end chipset, they had an opening there to gain some traction. But now? They've given the PS4 a 4-year headstart that is insurmountable, they're even giving the PS4 Neo a head start, they also have the XBOne, and then XB Scorpio which is going to be 6 TFLOPS, so are they somehow going to beat that on power? |
Your use of flops to compare hardware is just silly and useless.
--::{PC Gaming Master Race}::--