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

thismeintiel on 27 April 2013
gigantor21 said:
AbbathTheGrim said:
Wait, Nintendo said that next generation was about innovation but now it is all a matter of "misunderstanding the power of the WiiU" by developers who live, work and earn their money by handling hardware specs. Sweet talk to take them investors to bed.

It's a big shift from his declaration that "specs don't matter" before the Wii was out.

What happened to drawing people in to a new experience? They don't have a device that can win the power argument on specs alone. This sounds like a dicey idea, especially when the Wii did so well by sidestepping it last gen.

I think what is happening is that Nintendo is in a position where they can see the Wii U selling like the N64/Gamecube, and they really have no idea how to get out of it.  They were expecting the fanbase (Nintendo fans and casuals) from the Wii to carry them for 6 months to a year after launch til they could get out their own heavy hitters.  They also expected that 3rd parties would port all of their PS3/360 games for at least the next few years.  However, it didn't play out that way.  Casuals seemed to have left console gaming, or are just not interested in the Wii U, and there really aren't that many Nintendo fans to carry a system to incredible sales.  Especially when most of those fans only are interested in Nintendo franchises, which leads to poor 3rd party SW sales and discourages 3rd parties to continue to support the console any further. 

So now, they are trying to get interest from wherever they can.  From those who like Nintendo and don't believe specs matter, while also trying to plead with current PS3/360 owners that the Wii U not as underpowered as they think.  Of course, the last one is true when you only compare it to the PS3/360, which those gamers already have.  And they see no need for a slight upgrade when the much larger leaps from this gen are coming in just a few months time.



 

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GameAnalyser on 27 April 2013
AbbathTheGrim said:
GameAnalyser said:
The powah is to be unleashed this E3.

That was the argument, until they annonce what they will do at e3, or should I say what they will not do: having a proper e3 presentation.

Also a venue to clear a misunderstanding. I'm keen to understand.



Bong Lover on 27 April 2013
pezus said:
Why don't Nintendo just put the specs on the table like everyone else does? Be honest and people will judge if the specs are underpowered or not...


Why would they need to? You just said that it was a fact that it was underpowered just a couple of posts ago. No need for specs for people to make this kind of judgement.



curl-6 on 27 April 2013

Simple solution; produce a showcase title that demonstrates the system's power, like Mario Galaxy did for the Wii.

As far as I'm concerned, Nintendo managed to make amazing games on the Wii, so the Wii U's power should be no obstacle.



Cobretti2 on 27 April 2013
Grandia said:
tontus said:
DaRev said:
pezus said:
He fails to mention the consoles that most people WiiU is underpowered compared to. WiiU being underpowered compared to PS4 and most likely Nextbox isn't a misunderstanding, it's fact.

Iwata doesn't fail to do anything, because what he's saying is that you can develop games on the WiiU (yeah it's that simple). He is not comparing the WiiU to any other console - you might want or expect him to to that, but he is not. For example, NBA 2K 14 will come out eventually for all consooles, including the WiiU, so the console is not underpowered. Similarly, the next Modern Warfare and other 3rd party games (Watch Dogs) should be on the WiiU as well, so the console is not underpowered.

What I think Iwata is saying as well is that there is this a seed of crazy thinking being cultivated by people like Epic and Sony and MS, that games have to look a certain way to be a game - this is the misunderstanding Iwata is talking about. I assume the way he plans to change this misundertsnading to make sucessful games on the WiiU (from the second half 2013), and once developers see that their games can sell well on WiiU, regardless of how they look, they will understand that the WiiU is not underpowered.

The only reason games like the next CoD, NBA & Watch Dogs are coming to the Wii U is because they're coming to the PS360, if they were made for the PS4/Xbox Infinite then you can be sure that they wouldn't come to the Wii U, why would developers sacrifice quality/increase budgets just to release on the Wii U when the sales won't justifiy those efforts? In a few years when multiplatform games aren't being made for the PS360 then they'll also stop coming for the Wii U too.

And expecting and wanting significantly more advanced graphics from next generation consoles is not crazy thinking, it's exactly what the vast majority of people expect and want from new consoles. Also more power can help make the gameplay, load-times, & AI etc, better too. Iwata making a successful Nintendo game isn't going to encourage developers to make games for the Wii U anymore than successful Nintendo games encouraged developers to make their games for the Wii. There is no misunderstanding, developers know that they will make more money developing for PS4, Xbox Infinite & PC without having to sacrifice quality for the underpowered Wii U which wouldn't be worth it anyway as only Nintendo exclusives sell well on Nintendo consoles.

There is no big leap in graphics this time, games on PS4 will not look significantly better than on PS 3 or WiiU. There is no possibility for much better looking games, look at games like Uncharted 3 or Gears of War 3 it looks almsot as good as the reality it is not that far away from photo-realistic. How you want to make games that look better than the reality?

All games which will come out for the next generation consoles will be possible with only minor downgrades on the wii u too, the only question is if developers will see enaugh potential to sell games on the wiiu. It has to pay of for them to releas downports for wiiu.


we are no were NEAR reality. There was some article about a week or two ago that said you need about 2PETAFLOPS (or some othe rnumber cant remember) to acheive this.  It equates to 2000 gtx690 cards (so whatever the TFLOPS on this card are)



 

 

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S.T.A.G.E. on 27 April 2013
DaRev said:
tontus said:
DaRev said:
pezus said:
He fails to mention the consoles that most people WiiU is underpowered compared to. WiiU being underpowered compared to PS4 and most likely Nextbox isn't a misunderstanding, it's fact.

Iwata doesn't fail to do anything, because what he's saying is that you can develop games on the WiiU (yeah it's that simple). He is not comparing the WiiU to any other console - you might want or expect him to to that, but he is not. For example, NBA 2K 14 will come out eventually for all consooles, including the WiiU, so the console is not underpowered. Similarly, the next Modern Warfare and other 3rd party games (Watch Dogs) should be on the WiiU as well, so the console is not underpowered.

What I think Iwata is saying as well is that there is this a seed of crazy thinking being cultivated by people like Epic and Sony and MS, that games have to look a certain way to be a game - this is the misunderstanding Iwata is talking about. I assume the way he plans to change this misundertsnading to make sucessful games on the WiiU (from the second half 2013), and once developers see that their games can sell well on WiiU, regardless of how they look, they will understand that the WiiU is not underpowered.

The only reason games like the next CoD, NBA & Watch Dogs are coming to the Wii U is because they're coming to the PS360, if they were made for the PS4/Xbox Infinite then you can be sure that they wouldn't come to the Wii U, why would developers sacrifice quality/increase budgets just to release on the Wii U when the sales won't justifiy those efforts? In a few years when multiplatform games aren't being made for the PS360 then they'll also stop coming for the Wii U too.

And expecting and wanting significantly more advanced graphics from next generation consoles is not crazy thinking, it's exactly what the vast majority of people expect and want from new consoles. Also more power can help make the gameplay, load-times, & AI etc, better too. Iwata making a successful Nintendo game isn't going to encourage developers to make games for the Wii U anymore than successful Nintendo games encouraged developers to make their games for the Wii. There is no misunderstanding, developers know that they will make more money developing for PS4, Xbox Infinite & PC without having to sacrifice quality for the underpowered Wii U which wouldn't be worth it anyway as only Nintendo exclusives sell well on Nintendo consoles.

Your 1st para: But that’s exactly the point Iwata is making, i.e. that you can keep making your CoD, NBA, Watch Dogs, AC, Destiny, Bayonetta, etc, etc games on the WiiU. Therefore, no need for increased budgets and there will be no loss quality, in fact, developing on the WiiU will improve on game quality. If first parties want to go spending millions just to develop a game then fine, because they got Sony and MS’s money to back them up, but 3rrd parties, most of them can’t take that risk.  I’m sure you notice how many 3rd parties are closing shop because of high development cost and low returns. This is the idea of the WiiU not being underpowered that Nintendo is selling.

Your 2nd para: People might want better graphics, but not everyone can afford better graphics. Gamers are a bunch of greedy bastards that always want the news and best games and tech for absolutely nothing and they then want to trade-in their games at a significant lots to developers. The whole system of gaming is broken and rising development cost on new expensive hardware is not helping. Making successful 3rd parties games on the WiiU will encourage more 3rd parties that they don’t have to venture into spending shit loads on new graphic engines when the ones they are using right now work just fine and can now be optimize because of the console hardware. It is just a different and more economical and efficient way of thinking. The Epic, Cryteck, Sony, MS, etc way of thinking is toxic and beneficial to only a small few. This is what Nintendo and Iwata is trying to get 3rd parties to understand. This not the PC market, this is the console market, and developers need to understand that.

 


Nintendo will be the reason for a lack of quality in third party titles. If you've been reading about what third parties have been saying since last year from Ubisoft, Epic and most of the companies who make the larger budget core titles is that next gen needs to have a leap in power, not stay stagnant. Out of respect for Nintendos limited efforts they have graciously supported the Wii U with the multiplats that are no better than current gen games, which has set the pace that the Wii U's tech really is limited and by the time next comes fully their tech will be spent if they try to measure up. Its just not worth it for third parties to do that with Nintendo until they drop development for last gen U3 dominated games.

Its not just about better graphics, its about better animations CG like lighting, draw distances, smarter ai, larger landscapes, faster loading, true emotion being able to be shown on peoples faces, better particle effects and assets being able to be on the screen at one time. Console gaming has held back PC gaming because at lot of the high budget games depend on console profit. The noticable drought in higher budget games is more noticable on PC and they dont get console exclusives so it really hurts them. PC gaming has also been held back by consoles that cannot push tech. Nintendo is in that same wheelhouse with the last gen consoles and you will see that because of Nintendos lack of communication with third parties on a user friendly console. Nintendo only makes consoles for Nintendo and no one else but they demand that third parties support them, well they have and current gen is the best they'll do and they'll be so happy with next gen tech that the Wii U wont even be an option. Why downgrade a game just for one console? Sony hasn't been doing anything thats toxic for the industry, they've adapted to the western way of doing things and Microsoft is at home with the Americanized way of doing things.

Nintendos relationship with third parties is toxic for Nintendo. That is the proper perspective, because they dont get the profits off of licensed games like Sony and Microsoft do. That was one of their biggest issues during the Wii generation despite winning. Cheap casual games ruled the day and third parties jumped on it like a cheap hooker.

Most devs said industry develpment costs will not majorly rise for now but as the gen winds down its going to get a little higher. Game prices will remain at $60.

The problem is Nintendo.



goopy20 on 27 April 2013
DanneSandin said:
Cobretti2 said:
DanneSandin said:

What a fucking liar!!!! It IS underpowered. Just compare it to the PS4... Get real Iwata!

Wel he isn't lying, cause he isn't comparing it to anything. He jsut said it it not under powered. 

Well, dat true!

Lol that's not true dude. Lets not make things more complicated then it needs to be. Prominent developers like Epic and Dice are saying their next gen engines can't run on the Wii-U. If that isn't underpowered for a next gen console then what is?



Max King of the Wild on 27 April 2013
Grandia said:
tontus said:
DaRev said:
 

 

 

There is no big leap in graphics this time, games on PS4 will not look significantly better than on PS 3 or WiiU. There is no possibility for much better looking games, look at games like Uncharted 3 or Gears of War 3 it looks almsot as good as the reality it is not that far away from photo-realistic. How you want to make games that look better than the reality?

All games which will come out for the next generation consoles will be possible with only minor downgrades on the wii u too, the only question is if developers will see enaugh potential to sell games on the wiiu. It has to pay of for them to releas downports for wiiu.



if you think those games are photorealistic you need to get your eyes checked.



curl-6 on 27 April 2013

Third parties see Nintendo being lazy and not pushing the system's graphics, so they don't try to push it either.



g911turbo on 27 April 2013
pezus said:
Why don't Nintendo just put the specs on the table like everyone else does? Be honest and people will judge if the specs are underpowered or not...


Same reason Apple avoids talking specs on their phones and use a bunch of marketing buzz words.  Specs don't really matter to the majority, only the final product does.