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Forums - Nintendo - Iwata Is Aware That People Believe That WiiU Is Underpowered And Says This Is A Misunderstanding

RazorDragon on 29 April 2013
MakeAmazing said:
The problem with the wii-u is that it is under powered compared to ... the PS3/Xbox360... I dont mean it's worse powered, but considering that tech is 6-7 years old, its just not far enough advanced.

Biggest issue is that will the wii-u get left behind by third parties in 2-3 years time when they start to drop the current gen consoles and work on next gen only? Some 3rd parties have already stopped making games for it.

The only company that can bring this back from the brink right now is nintendo. Make a number of fantastic looking 1st party games. This is what Sony had to do with the PS3.. everyone slated it, people were not making games initially for it, and some of those games didnt look great, but once they started to show what was possible, that gives people a positive feeling about what the console can do.


It's not underpowered compared to PS3 and 360. Most Wanted Wii U should tell you enough, texture quality is much improved when compared to the other console releases to the point where the game is much more similar to the PC version running at 720p than the PS3/360 versions.



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MakeAmazing on 29 April 2013

I didn't say it was underpowered compared to the Ps3/Xbox but underpowered considering how old those consoles were considering how long ago they were released. Two totally different things :)

So it may be more powerful to the Ps3/Xbox (we have to see how much), but not enough considering their age.



RazorDragon on 29 April 2013
MakeAmazing said:

I didn't say it was underpowered compared to the Ps3/Xbox but underpowered considering how old those consoles were considering how long ago they were released. Two totally different things :)

So it may be more powerful to the Ps3/Xbox (we have to see how much), but not enough considering their age.


It's not underpowered even when you think like that. You see, the current PS3 model draws about 70w at load using a 45/40nm manufacturing process, while the Wii U draws 32w during load using the same 45/40nm manufacturing process. Considering how little power it draws when compared to those old consoles and seeing as it still manages to make games look better than PS3/360 games, I certainly wouldn't say it's underpowered.



g911turbo on 29 April 2013
RazorDragon said:
MakeAmazing said:

I didn't say it was underpowered compared to the Ps3/Xbox but underpowered considering how old those consoles were considering how long ago they were released. Two totally different things :)

So it may be more powerful to the Ps3/Xbox (we have to see how much), but not enough considering their age.


It's not underpowered even when you think like that. You see, the current PS3 model draws about 70w at load using a 45/40nm manufacturing process, while the Wii U draws 32w during load using the same 45/40nm manufacturing process. Considering how little power it draws when compared to those old consoles and seeing as it still manages to make games look better than PS3/360 games, I certainly wouldn't say it's underpowered.

Dude. The doesn't even make sense. We are talking power as in graphics fidelity not thermal envelope.  



Metallicube on 29 April 2013

I think the extent of how underpowered the Wii U is tends to get blown out of proportion by the gaming media which loves to jump the gun and criticise Nintendo. Just look at games like X for instance, that not only holds its own with many modern games, but in many ways surpasses it, and that was only an early demo. Games like Pikmin 3 also have very detailed and crisp looking environments, better than most that I have seen on PS360.

But with that said, if Wii U truly isn't underpowered as he claims, he should have done a better job of bringing that message accross in the first place. All I hear Iwata do nowadays is apologize and essentailly damage control everything.



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Lawlight on 29 April 2013
Metallicube said:

I think the extent of how underpowered the Wii U is tends to get blown out of proportion by the gaming media which loves to jump the gun and criticise Nintendo. Just look at games like X for instance, that not only holds its own with many modern games, but in many ways surpasses it, and that was only an early demo. Games like Pikmin 3 also have very detailed and crisp looking environments, better than most that I have seen on PS360.

But with that said, if Wii U truly isn't underpowered as he claims, he should have done a better job of bringing that message accross in the first place. All I hear Iwata do nowadays is apologize and essentailly damage control everything.


X does hold its own against PS3/360 games.



Kaizar on 29 April 2013
Metallicube said:

I think the extent of how underpowered the Wii U is tends to get blown out of proportion by the gaming media which loves to jump the gun and criticise Nintendo. Just look at games like X for instance, that not only holds its own with many modern games, but in many ways surpasses it, and that was only an early demo. Games like Pikmin 3 also have very detailed and crisp looking environments, better than most that I have seen on PS360.

But with that said, if Wii U truly isn't underpowered as he claims, he should have done a better job of bringing that message accross in the first place. All I hear Iwata do nowadays is apologize and essentailly damage control everything.


The same thing happened with the 3DS. But now we know that the ARM11 difference from ARM9 is redesign pipeline & etc. (target up to 1 GHz a core and has 4 cores) and that the PICA200 is a 400 MHz GPU that does 40 million Triangles at 100 MHz & 160 Mtriangles @ 400 MHz. And that the CPU can't be underclock any lower then 350 MHz a core, and is most likely no lower then 400 MHz a core on firmware 1.0.0-0 for battery life and to prevent overheating.



curl-6 on 29 April 2013

oniyide said:

Name the games, and i could probably show you something similar on 6th gen consoles.

Your second sentence makes no sense. I can name a few games that could not be done of PS2. YOu seem caught up on visuals which tell me that you really dont know what it goes into making a game. LEts that the last Elder Scrolls, wont run on PS2. YOu know why? Xbox couldnt even run Morrowind with HEAVY downgrading, an Xbox was more powerful than PS2, you think that PS2 could run Skyrim? Just Cause2, what about GTA4 or 5, Bioshock Infinite. How far do you downgrade until a game is no longer the SAME game? YOu also seem to ignore the multiplats between PS360 that are vastly different games.

The Wii COD games, (except for COD3) all push its RAM (which is bigger than any 6th gen console) and its CPU, which outperforms the Xbox's. Jett Rocket does more quantity and quality of multitexturing (while maintaining 60fps) than the 6th gen systems could handle.

And there's no definitive line where a game stops being "the same." It all depends on what sacrifices and differences people are subjectively prepared to accept.



oniyide on 29 April 2013
Kaizar said:
Soundwave said:


Saying third parties weren't a key for the NES/SNES is written by someone who clearly was too young or not even born when the NES/SNES were out, lol.

The breadth of games was the no.1 reason the buy the NES back in the day. Sega had great games on the Sega Master System, everyone liked their arcade games, sure, but you didn't want to get stuck with a Sega because it didn't have all the games the NES did (good or bad, that meant Ninja Turtles, Batman, Metal Gear, Castlevania, Megaman 2, Blades of Steel, etc. etc.).

Nintendo has basically become Sega of the Master System era, basically trying to sell a platform on their own games, whereas the 360/PS3 sorta have morphed into the modern NES (widest variety of games, all the developer support).


You are only referring to the Wii being like the Sega Genesis, because the Wii U has great Western games with great Western 3rd Party Support.

The 3DS has the best Japanese 3rd Party Support and good Western 3rd Party Support. And the DS had great 3rd party support from both. GBA & GameCube had great 3rd Party support, but PS2 had even greater 3rd Party support.

you serious? I wouldnt say great. I would say ok, considering there are alot of games that are not on the system. ME trilogy, TR, Bioshock, Crysis, thats just off the top of my head.



oniyide on 29 April 2013
cunger said:
oniyide said:
Leadified said:
oniyide said:
Leadified said:

I dont think they have that kind of system to be honest with you. They are trying to do the WIi thing all over again. Dont do an actual generational leap, and just give the people something funky, like the wiimote before. Problem is no one cares about the pad right now, SO they dont have that and they were kinda banking on it.

The Wii U has more than enough to show off it's a step up from the PS3 and Xbox 360. If Nintendo will acutally show that off is another story.

Just like they had with the Wii? Some how i doubt that, but hell the system did come out, maybe in about five years we will see games looking a step up from PS360, considering how Wii turned out, im remaining skeptical.


But the wii actually had worse specs compared to the original xbox overall..  Secondly the wii was a popular hit with casual whereas the Wiiu is more core focused. So the type of games on the system will more often be the graphics based games.  The wiiu will definetely get pushed more and more as time goes on.

The wiiu is a great console and people shouldn't be bad mouthing it. Every console has a certain level of power and quite often in the past the power hasn't defined the system. PS2 was fantastic despite sub par specs. The wiiu is gonna to offer a great lineup of exclusives and is really a fun experience. I'm playing batman on it right now and the controller definetely adds to the experience.

Probably, but why arent we seeing major improvements considering its releasing 6-7 years after PS360 thats my issue

People could bad mouth whatever they want, its a forum. If you dont like what they are saying then ignore it. Its not about whether the power is defining the system that has nothing to do with it. People arent buying WIi U because they are not seeing the value in it, its that simple. PS2 was fantastic for alot of reason. DVD being one of them. DVD was a bigger selling point than the WIi U's pad. You dont know what the WIi U will offer, unless you're a precog. but one can hope