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Forums - Nintendo - Wii U Gamepad to utilize wifi instead of bluetooth. rumor

famousringo on 28 August 2012

This was a given. Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth for high-quality video (Bluetooth 4.0 uses wi-fi to achieve high data speeds). It's either wi-fi streaming or some kind of obscure/proprietary spec.



"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event."  — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.

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superchunk on 28 August 2012
JayWood2010 said:
Didnt we already know that we would be able to game from anywhere in the house already? lol maybe im missing something i dont know. I guess I just assumed this or something haha Anyway cant wait for the wiiU XD I dont know if ill buy it at launch or not, Pikmin and ZombiU looks great but I may wait for another big game first.


The connection type has never been confirmed. Rumors have floated around mostly because Nintendo has made some comments that suggest full house usage of the Gamepad. Wifi Direct would cement that idea.



superchunk on 28 August 2012
famousringo said:
This was a given. Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth for high-quality video (Bluetooth 4.0 uses wi-fi to achieve high data speeds). It's either wi-fi streaming or some kind of obscure/proprietary spec.


Ah... I didn't know bluetooth was limited like that. Interesting.



Viper1 on 28 August 2012

My Wireless-G Wi-Fi latency is just 3 ms.



The rEVOLution is not being televised

famousringo on 28 August 2012
superchunk said:
famousringo said:
This was a given. Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth for high-quality video (Bluetooth 4.0 uses wi-fi to achieve high data speeds). It's either wi-fi streaming or some kind of obscure/proprietary spec.


Ah... I didn't know bluetooth was limited like that. Interesting.


Bluetooth is optimized for low power usage. That tends to mean short range and low bandwidth. Even stereo audio needs to be specially compressed for transmission over Bluetooth. You won't catch any audiophiles wearing Bluetooth headsets. That efficiency lets Bluetooth devices run a good long time on tiny batteries.

The Wii U tablet on the other hand is only going to last 5 hours, because it's constantly getting high-quality video blasted to it. I wouldn't be surprised if I was told the data stream chewed more battery life than the LCD screen.



"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event."  — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.

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DanneSandin on 28 August 2012

well, hope the bring something good then! like launch day and prize...



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

DanneSandin on 28 August 2012

well, I just noticed my last comment didn't make any sense at all... But I hope this one does! I notice how certain people have been talking about the latency issues with using WiFi, and found this article:

One of the worries about the Wii U has always been latency between the TV and the GamePad controller. Even a slight delay on the tablet controller could ruin games, but according to developer Two Tribes, that’s not an issue at all. In fact, the GamePad updates quicker than the TV. Two Tribes is currently working on Toki Tori 2 for the Wii U, and when they tried to send images to both the TV and GamePad, the GamePad updated quicker, according to Two Tribes co-founder Colin Van Ginkel.

http://wiiudaily.com/2012/08/wii-u-gamepad-screen-tv/

Some of us have already heard this, but this should really rule out the possibility of the latency issues...



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

Sam3o on 28 August 2012
famousringo said:
superchunk said:
famousringo said:
This was a given. Bluetooth doesn't have the bandwidth for high-quality video (Bluetooth 4.0 uses wi-fi to achieve high data speeds). It's either wi-fi streaming or some kind of obscure/proprietary spec.


Ah... I didn't know bluetooth was limited like that. Interesting.


Bluetooth is optimized for low power usage. That tends to mean short range and low bandwidth. Even stereo audio needs to be specially compressed for transmission over Bluetooth. You won't catch any audiophiles wearing Bluetooth headsets. That efficiency lets Bluetooth devices run a good long time on tiny batteries.

The Wii U tablet on the other hand is only going to last 5 hours, because it's constantly getting high-quality video blasted to it. I wouldn't be surprised if I was told the data stream chewed more battery life than the LCD screen.

That's what I've been thinking. I'm worried that the gamepad will be a power hog and suck the battery dry within a few hours. 5 hours is already meh for handhelds, and should be even worse for controllers. After my long experience with batteries in the Wii Remote, I really hope the game pad has a battery life that is at the very least comparable to that.

If not, then Nintendo should implement bigger batteries which shouldn't add much weight (or cost). Even Ipad 3 sized batteries (>11 Ah) shouldn't weigh more than 200g or cost more than 20$ if I'm not mistaken.