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Forums - Nintendo - x86'd: How PC architecture could push Nintendo out of the next gen

Troll_Whisperer on 23 May 2013

Well, if they can port them to PS360 then they can port them to WiiU. So I don't think the architecture is to blame here.



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snowdog on 23 May 2013
NoirSon said:
haxxiy said:
cunger said:

people need to get their heads out of the sand.  The Wiiu isn't about cross platform next gen titles.  It's about exclusive nintendo games and 3rd party exclusive partnerships.



It's basically the Gamecube then, except third-party exclusives will see a release later on tablets, as opposed to the PS2 =/


Actually, the Wii U is in worst position then the Gamecube. The GC was between the Xbox and the PS2 in terms of ability and power, the only things that held it back was the mini disc (capable 1.5 or 2 GB I think) media Nintendo chose that barely held half of what developers could store on a PS2 or Xbox disc which were full fledged DVDs (normally 5 GB standard). With the Wii U while it does use a different media, the main problem is that it will be the weaker of the 3 consoles and using architecture that major developers or those that love cutting edge tech will devote their time toward.

It could be to their benefit in regards to smaller developers/publishers that can't devote money to the higher end stuff but as we've seen with the Wii the major publishers are unlikely to accept the Nintendo's invite to slow things do to be more economical and will just not publish for the system despite the possible value. This is especially true given the botched launch and the notorious bad blood some of Nintendo's success and practices seems to inspire with some within and outside of the industry.

Nintendo has a shot to not be dead last but it is thin and getting thinner by the day they don't have better software available for their fans.



Nonsense. You're talking about the architecture of the CPU, not the architecture of the entire console. Developers have been porting games to and from consoles with different CPU architectures for donkey's years without a problem. Nintendo's forward thinking with the console's architecture is going to make it a great deal easier for them to down-port from the PS4/One or up-port from the Wii U than it currently is to do a straight port or up-port from the PS3/360 to the Wii U.

And I wouldn't concern yourself about the difference in power either because the Wii U has several things going in its favour that should help. Expresso has a 4 stage pipeline compared to a 17 stage pipeline that the PS4 CPU has, a game in 720p native needs half the processing power that a 1080p game needs and Nintendo have crazy compression algorithms which should negate the difference in RAM somewhat.

The Wii U should have a SKU of all major current gen titles from third parties next year and the following years going forward - they're not going to leave money on the table when the market leader is easy to port games to and from. The only reason why the Wii didn't get them last gen was because Hollywood gave the Wii a nonstandard rendering pipeline thanks to the TEV Unit.