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sc94597 on 29 May 2008
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noname2200 said:
sc94597 said:
noname2200 said:
sc94597 said:
I've been saying since I joned vgchartz. I believe the wii is 3 times more powerful than the original xbox/gamecube, and 4-6 times more powerful than the ps2. I beleive it is 4-6 times less powerful than the ps360, about the same difference between the ps2 and wii is the wii and hd consoles. Devs are far too lazy. High voltage, and Tecmo/Grasshopper, and nintendo are the only ones seem to try to make good wii graphics.

I love my Wii and all, but I do think you're overestimating its graphical prowess here. By a lot. That said, it's never been the graphics that bothers me about the Wii (shoot, I still play NES games once in a while). No, the part that concerns me is the reports I've heard that the memory is too low for developers to do things like having advanced AI and the like. Mind you, from all the PC and HD console games I've played, developers don't take advantage of the hardware to give us good AI anyhow, but it's always nice to dream of a game where the computer's strategy doesn't come down to "charge!" in every situation...


Explain how I'm overestimating it. The wii has far more memory, faster memory, more efficent cpu/ gpu by alot, and texture compression that the original xbox didn't have. Since when did you need alot of memory for AI? I'm pretty sure that is mostly done by the cpu.


 True, the Wii has more of everything than even the X-Box, but I'm highly sceptical that it's three times more powerful than the X-Box was. In fact, from what I've read, it's better than the X-Box in some ways, and weaker in a select few areas. Here.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/archive/2007/05/08/geek-out-xbox-uber-boss-robbie-bach-takes-a-shot-at-nintendo-s-underpowered-wii-does-he-manage-to-score-a-bulls-eye-or-just-shoot-himself-in-the-foot.aspx

"Our second source echoed that assessment of the Wii's graphics chip, comparing its fixed-function design to that the Gamecube, saying that it was "basically pretty similar" to Nvidia's seven-year-old GeForce2. "A dev support guy from Nintendo said that the Wii chipset is 'Gamecube 1.5 with some added memory,'" our second source told us. "I figure if they say that, it must be true."

 

Our second source went on to explain that the "Gamecube 1.5" moniker, while accurate, doesn't mean that gamers won't see graphical improvements on the Wii. "There are three main differences which will result in graphics improvements. One, the increased memory clock speed, from 162 megahertz to 243 megahertz, means that it is easier to do enough pixels for 480p mode versus 480i. Two, the enhanced memory size of the Wii gives much more room for image-related operations such as anti-aliasing, motion blur, etc. The performance to these memory systems from the graphics chip is also improved. So full-screen effects and increased texture usage seem likely as a result.""

 

My conclusion: the Wii has enough stuff under the hood to get us the games, but it's hardly a graphical powerhouse. I'm perfectly fine with that: as I said, I still go back and play old games on a regular basis, so graphics take a big backseat in my book. And besides, as you yourself have shown, the Wii is quite capable of putting out the eye-candy when the developer wants it to. But it does us no good to overestimate its graphics. 

 

As for the AI issue, you may well be right. I'm simply echoing what I've heard from others, since my knowledge of how software works is sketchy at best. If you're correct, and if the Wii's CPU is good enough to give me the smart AI I crave, then I take back what I said about that. But I stand by my comment that damn few developers devote as much attention and energy to AI as they should, no matter what the platform.

 

Yeah , but if you read any of the quotes in the op you will know why the wii isn't weaker than the original xbox in some ways. Please read the op again if you haven't. If you don't understand then ask me to explain. It definately isn't a powerhouse, but 3 times more powerful isn't too much compared to what the ps360 are to the xbox. I shouldn't even say it in these linear terms. It shoudl be more on how much each area is better than each area of the xbox original. I will do that in my analysis.