It can't be precomputed because where and how the blocks will fall off will be different depending on player actions. Besides, it wasn't precomputed on the Wii or 3DS versions.

You implied Wii U couldn't do fluid simulation; that's clearly not the case seeing as the freaking Wii did fluid simulation. (See The Conduit and the original Art of Balance)

Nope still very big. The resolution alone. Not to talk about physics and light effects.

I admit that X looked much better than I expected so I'm doubting that that demo was run on actual WiiU hardware. Bayonetta however looked very very bad even in comparison to X.

Blender fluid simulations and rendering are not designed for speed. Using them as a comparison for realtime graphics is silly. Here's some ducks.

It generally does take 1-2 years for games to begin showing a console's potential. So while Wii U games are starting to look slightly better, the same thing will happen in a year or so for the other consoles as well. The gap will probably not be any smaller once we see the first true 'next-gen' titles on PS4 and XB1.  In fact, I expect the gap to grow by next year as games like Uncharted and Halo begin rolling out.

Note:

Of all the Wii U titles shown, X looked the most disappointing.  Donkey Kong and Mario Kart looked like the same kind of fun as always, and Bayonetta looked like your typical Platinum Games craziness.

I agree with this.

http://www.thebitblock.com/2010/02/15/gameplay-art-of-balance-wii-ware/

Ahh now I get it. It's probably another hack ...

It's using definitely using texture overlapping instead of simulated water displacement. The Water doesn't act quite right in my opinion and it feels very much like an animation compared to this ...

It's not just texture layering because the borders of the water physically moves in terms of how far it reaches up the sides of its container in the games I listed.

And if the Wii can do it, the much more powerful Wii U certainly can.

The Wii U game looks like a "hack." However the Wii U one certainly isn't. Did you see the PS3 water simulation video I posted? Fluid simulations are pretty easy if they can use 90% of the system's power. If I was fatslob my point wouldn't be that the Wii U can't do fluids, but that it can't do them while doing other things.

really? just watched the trailer,not bad,but gow3 looks better,honestly it does... kzsf/ryse smoke this by miles, many games on ps4/xone beat this easily

What do you mean by a "hack"? A precomputed animation? If that were the case, how would it account for blocks falling different places according to player actions? And then there's The Conduit, where you can choose where in the pool to shoot to trigger the rippling simulation.