Well, Ram is just a place holder thats faster.  So the open world game would run the same.  Load from disc, Place some in ram, execute, etc... Data still has to be transfered either way.  4 gb isn't going to store an open world so still it has to transfer from disc.  Bus speed and disc read speed are the biggest factors.  So to answer you question.  The open world with 1 gb ram will have slightly less draw distance detail or frames per second but you wont see a huge noticeable difference in most games.  I've rarely seen Skyrim, on my PC, consume more than 1GB of RAM and I run 1080p at 60fps solid.

Ps3 uses 256MB RAM and 256MB VRAM and it manages very well.  WiiU has all the ram it needs to keep up with the big wallets.

You are saying that the bulk of third-party titles on the PS4 and next Microsoft console is going to pick an art style so it works on the Wii U?    The question I was asking wasn't if the Wii U couldn't do impressive stuff, but whether or not it was going to get the bulk of third-party content, particularly past the transition period stuff that is also going to be released for the PS3 and 360.

Nintendo needs to be more aggressive in getting 3rd party support. Even if it means flashing a few $ greenbacks $ in developers faces. The hardware is more than capable, in spite of some people might think.

Nintendo just sell video games.  They don't have tv's, cellphones, office, or other subdivisions to fund this bribery your talking about.. they gotta do things the old way.. the hard way.

Sales potential.

Not the hardware but the software... so if a publishers have certain the game will sell good on Wii U then it will port the game from PS4 to Wii U even if the quality is decreased because the lack of power.

The issue is the Wii U's owners (Wii's owners too) didn't buy third-party titles so the publishers are ignoring the console.

This^

^ Is why nintendo's future is becoming worrisome.

I think the Wii U will be successful enough the way it is right now.

Ports between WiiU and PS4/X3OX is going to be much easier than ports between WiiU and PS360. Yes, CPU's different architecture, but they all use "out of order" processing. So no problem with ports there. (PS360 CPU's used multhithreaded processing, so became an issue for quick WiiU ports in the beginning.)

WiiU, PS4, X3OX all use GCN architecture as far as GPU's go. So no problem with ports there, either. Everything is going to scale easy and effortlessly. It will be NOTHING like the original Wii/PS360 ports. So forget that. It's not going to be an issue.

What is going to be an issue is 3rd party titles not selling on WiiU. So. If Watchdogs/Splinter Cell/Assassins Creed 4/Rayman Legends ALL fail to sell on WiiU. Then, and only then can WiiU owners forget about 3rd party support starting next year.

I wonder how the software sales for the PS4/kinectbox launch window will compare to the wiiu launch window.

Or how hardware/software launch sales compare to wiiu's 12 month established lead. If software sales for PS4/kinectbox at launch are even remotely matching software/hardware at wiiu's 12 month mark.... Well at that point developers have no reason to continue any serious investment into development, outside of party games. The cycle is going to repeat itself unless something changes in the next 8 months.

Less than 8 months actually. The narrative is being written as we type.