Einsam_Delphin said:
I just don't get why they didn't allow for 4 gamepads in the first place. That seems like a no brainer thing to me. =/ |
Well, when using 2 GamePad controllers the stream goes from 2K HD to 2 seperate 1K HD images. If they did 4 then it would be either 4 seperate 540p or 480p images. The Wii U has to do at least 720 x 720 but that's a 1x1 aspect ratio, but the controller is 16:9 aspect ratio, which is not far off from the 3DS top screen 5:3 aspect ratio. Anyways, it has to be HD with this console, NOT Standard-Definition. Plus Nintendo didn't want to use a more powerful CPU because that already is responsible for a it having the high cost in Consoles, like the 3DS ARM11 which is a 4-core 1 GHz CPU but its 1st Party so Nintendo saves a lot of money from cutting out the middle man in the 3DS CPU. The Wii U already uses a 3rd Party CPU, so there was no room for a more powerful one, and they got to prevent overheating.
Luckily the Wii U uses 1 GB of its 2 GB RAM to clock the GPGPU at 800 MHz which only takes up to 5 Hz of power when clock at 800 MHz. Plus the GPGPU does all the physics too. The 3DS GPU at 400 MHz drains 0.5 Hz of power. So at least Nintendo knows how to prevent overheating & power consumption, at least when it comes to GPUs.
Anyways the Wii U has to sale 1.X games with a Hardware to make a profit at $299 for Basic Model & $349 for Deluxe Model. Luckily the attach rate was already around 2.0 per Hardware during the beginning.