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Forums - Nintendo - Wii U specs are surprising, says Sonic developer, specifically the GPU and memory

I find it strage that people are getting so excited about the WiiU being on par/slightly better than 7 and 6 year old consoles. What you should be getting excited about is what nintendo is going to produce to make it fun. I think that WiiU could do something great with the set up they have. WiiU isn't about the graphics and will be all about the fun for everybody software like the Wii. Enjoy the WiiU for what it will be and not get caught in the endless graphics battle that the PS3 and 360 have been locked in since the start of the gen.



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ghettoglamour said:
The surprising thing is that fanboys are proud that a next gen console has on-par or slightly superior specs than the current gen ones...Don't you see that as soon as the new consoles arrive the WiiU will be as obsolete as it was this gen?


The surprising thing is that fanboys dismiss a console with unknown specs.



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Crono141 said:
The 1.5 or 1 gb of RAM will allow this thing to smoke just about anything. Look at all that was achieved on PS360 with 512. I would be very surprised if the the CPU was ever maxed out in either the 360 or the PS3. Ram was the big bottleneck.

I've been doing PC builds for myself for something like 15 years now. The most recent GPU I replaced was a Radeon 4850 (single stack). Let me tell you, that one radeon still can take anything I throw at it, from CIV 5 to skyrim, and make it look amazing. If the WiiU gets a gpu based on it (or even one more advanced), its not going to have ANY problem pushing 1080p visuals.

I honestly don't see what PS360 can upgrade for a reasonable cost that will significantly overshadow WiiU. I heard that Sony was putting 4k support in the PS4, which I think is very foolish. Everyone just got done rebuying 1080p tvs. There was a huge debate for a very long time whether the human eye could even distinguish between 720p and 1080p at 10 feet. If this rumor is true, look again to a 599 us dollar console with features that nobody will be able to use without dropping 2+ thousand on new equipment. As far as Microsoft, they're more concerned with owning the living room as a set top box that also plays games than they are pushing the envelope.

WiiU may indeed end up being the weakest new platform. But it will be the weakest on the same scale that the PS2 was the weakest. The differences will be minor and negligible when price is factored in.

Can I say one thing. There is no way that Sony will release a $599 console. If the need a $599 console to get 4k then they will not do it. Sony could get away with a $599 console this gen off the back of a successful last gen but a $599 console next gen will kill them off and they know that.



SWORDF1SH said:
Crono141 said:
The 1.5 or 1 gb of RAM will allow this thing to smoke just about anything. Look at all that was achieved on PS360 with 512. I would be very surprised if the the CPU was ever maxed out in either the 360 or the PS3. Ram was the big bottleneck.

I've been doing PC builds for myself for something like 15 years now. The most recent GPU I replaced was a Radeon 4850 (single stack). Let me tell you, that one radeon still can take anything I throw at it, from CIV 5 to skyrim, and make it look amazing. If the WiiU gets a gpu based on it (or even one more advanced), its not going to have ANY problem pushing 1080p visuals.

I honestly don't see what PS360 can upgrade for a reasonable cost that will significantly overshadow WiiU. I heard that Sony was putting 4k support in the PS4, which I think is very foolish. Everyone just got done rebuying 1080p tvs. There was a huge debate for a very long time whether the human eye could even distinguish between 720p and 1080p at 10 feet. If this rumor is true, look again to a 599 us dollar console with features that nobody will be able to use without dropping 2+ thousand on new equipment. As far as Microsoft, they're more concerned with owning the living room as a set top box that also plays games than they are pushing the envelope.

WiiU may indeed end up being the weakest new platform. But it will be the weakest on the same scale that the PS2 was the weakest. The differences will be minor and negligible when price is factored in.

Can I say one thing. There is no way that Sony will release a $599 console. If the need a $599 console to get 4k then they will not do it. Sony could get away with a $599 console this gen off the back of a successful last gen but a $599 console next gen will kill them off and they know that.

First, you can say as many things as you like.

Second, I agree that if Sony goes the 599 us dollar route again, they are going to be in a world of hurt.  But if they are packing 4k res technology into it (seriously, not just as a bullet point), then the console will have to be prohibitively expensive, or they will have to take a prohibitive loss up front.  The most logical conclusion then, is that PS4 isn't going to be a "quantum leap" over PS3.



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Crono141 said:

First, you can say as many things as you like.

Second, I agree that if Sony goes the 599 us dollar route again, they are going to be in a world of hurt.  But if they are packing 4k res technology into it (seriously, not just as a bullet point), then the console will have to be prohibitively expensive, or they will have to take a prohibitive loss up front.  The most logical conclusion then, is that PS4 isn't going to be a "quantum leap" over PS3.


I think that it can be a quantum leap above the ps3 by adopting less expensive tech. Graphically it might not be a quantum leap but how you experience might be. Got a feeling its going to be more that just about graphics next gen



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I've been worried since I heard that 512MB was going to be reserved for the OS, that leaves what, 1GB for gaming? It's double the HD twins, but I'd been hoping for more.



SWORDF1SH said:
Crono141 said:

First, you can say as many things as you like.

Second, I agree that if Sony goes the 599 us dollar route again, they are going to be in a world of hurt.  But if they are packing 4k res technology into it (seriously, not just as a bullet point), then the console will have to be prohibitively expensive, or they will have to take a prohibitive loss up front.  The most logical conclusion then, is that PS4 isn't going to be a "quantum leap" over PS3.


I think that it can be a quantum leap above the ps3 by adopting less expensive tech. Graphically it might not be a quantum leap but how you experience might be. Got a feeling its going to be more that just about graphics next gen

That is true, but Sony has always been a one trick pony.  They believe they make premium devices and try to sell them at a premium price point.  Vita and PS3 both fit this mold.  I think they're going to try to steal Nintendo's thunder by having PS3/4 and Vita connectivity just like Nintendo and the UPad.  But lets be honest about first impressions.  The first impression anyone gets from video games is how they look.  So if WiiU and PS4 look about equivalent, then it goes down to the next impression.  The Wii won with the second impression - unique experience.  If Sony copies the Upad successfully then the experiences will be similar or the same.  So the it comes to the 3rd impression: price point.  We don't know the WiiU's exact price point, but we have a ballpart betwee 250 and 350 dollars.  400 is possible, but I don't think it is at all likely.  So if we take the high end for WiiU, that's 350.  Comes with a tablet controller.  To get the same game experience and WiiU offers someone will have to own a Vita, which currently costs 250 dollars, as well as purchase a PS4.  So unless PS4 costs 100 dollars, WiiU wins on the third impression: price.

"But wait" you say, "PS3/Vita connectivity already happens, so all a person would have to buy is a vita to get the same WiiU experience.  That's only 250 Dollars."  You'd be right, which is another reason why I think WiiU will sell for 250.  But even if it doesn't, and we give a 100 dollar advantage to PS3/Vita; WiiU looks better than PS3.  Its at least a half step above, if not a full step.  So it wins on the first impression.  Plus, it has the psychological effect of the "the latest new thing", whereas PS3 is old hat.  WiiU is going to sell like hotcakes based on it being a new thing.  And by the time PS4 comes around, with whatever price point it sells at (I'm thinking 400 min for any kind of "quantum leap"), then we'll have 2 competing consoles with about the same graphics, about the same play experience, and one that is 50 to 150 dollars cheaper.  WiiU wins again.

So i'm pretty much counting Sony out of the next generation.  They squandered all their PS2 goodwill on PS3, which flopped and has been bad PR for them for the most part.  I don't see a way that they can match or beat what WiiU offers without it costing lots more than the WiiU will cost.



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curl-6 said:
I've been worried since I heard that 512MB was going to be reserved for the OS, that leaves what, 1GB for gaming? It's double the HD twins, but I'd been hoping for more.


The 512 that is reserved for the OS is not part of the 1.5 that is for gaming.



lilbroex said:
curl-6 said:
I've been worried since I heard that 512MB was going to be reserved for the OS, that leaves what, 1GB for gaming? It's double the HD twins, but I'd been hoping for more.


The 512 that is reserved for the OS is not part of the 1.5 that is for gaming.


I hadn't heard this.  In fact, what I had heard was that the Dev Kits at 1.5 gb of ram, and that it was likely that it would be reduced for the production unit.



Check out my Youtube Let's Play channel here.

Crono141 said:
lilbroex said:
curl-6 said:
I've been worried since I heard that 512MB was going to be reserved for the OS, that leaves what, 1GB for gaming? It's double the HD twins, but I'd been hoping for more.


The 512 that is reserved for the OS is not part of the 1.5 that is for gaming.


I hadn't heard this.  In fact, what I had heard was that the Dev Kits at 1.5 gb of ram, and that it was likely that it would be reduced for the production unit.

Where did you hear this becaue I never have.

Every rumor and leak i've read has the dev kit listed as having 3 gigs of ram.