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Forums - Nintendo - Make WiiU cheaper and more powerful, w/o sacrificing GamePad

ZyroXZ2 on 12 January 2015
fleischr said:

Here's how I would do it :

End and remove TVii. It's slow and no one uses it - and I believe Europe/Australia can't even use it. Use the extra processing power in games.

Implement a ReadyBoost like feature for SD cards. If you're familiar with ReadyBoost on your PC, it basically gives some extra memory/swap space -- could help trim loading times.

Remove the geomagnetic sensor and sensor bar from the GamePad. There aren't any games/apps that use the geo sensor, not even Wii Street U. The sensor bar in the GamePad is supposed to sub in for the Wii Sensor Bar in Wii mode if you don't have one. Using an actual sensor bar is easier and makes more sense. 

I'd even think you could get away with removing rumble, and at least one of the 2 speakers 

Remove unneccessary accessories from Deluxe Set

-Sensor Bar (WiiU doesn't need it. It's only needed for plain Wii mode. Backwards compatibility shouldn't be such a big deal. People can either use their old sensor bar or buy one pretty inexpensively if they really badly want to use Wii mode)

-GamePad Cradle (If people really need it, they can buy it)

-HDMI cable (Many would rather choose their own one of these anyway)

 

All this probably gives good reason to shave off $50 the cost of the Wii U

 

Bottom line: Remove the features no one really uses or cares that much for

None of this makes the Wii U "more powerful"...

While I get what you're going for, I don't particularly agree on any of these because they're all things that are mass produced and have probably pennies-on-the-dollar in cost impact.  Besides, the sensor bar in the Gamepad allows for Wii backwards compatibility without a TV, and is ALSO used for golf.  When the Gamepad is placed on the ground, the sensor bar on it helps detect the position of the Wii-mote being pointed at it and also as it crosses over, and references your swing between the sensor bar placed above/below the TV and the sensor bar on the Gamepad.



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Jizz_Beard_thePirate on 12 January 2015

Yea, they should remove all that but if they are doing a revision, please add back an ethernet adapter



                  

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Xenostar on 12 January 2015

I agree not necessarily with the cuts but they need to release a slim with all the unused cap cut out and get that price right down. It's what ps3 did.



MoHasanie on 12 January 2015
Jizz_Beard_thePirate said:
Yea, they should remove all that but if they are doing a revision, please add back an ethernet adapter

Yes this is really important. Its so hard to even find any Wii ethernet adapters anymore  



    

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ExplodingBlock on 12 January 2015

Removing the HDMI cable would not be a good idea, at all. They cost Nintendo a couple of cents each so removing would not help them or affect the price at all



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fleischr on 13 January 2015
ZyroXZ2 said:
Metallox said:
Does the Wii U have a geomagnetic sensor?

I think he was trying to refer to the gyro sensor for aiming with the Gamepad...

Of which I say leave it in, I've gotten enough "that's cool" responses from people standing up and looking around with the Gamepad and having the screen shift accordingly...

There's both a gyro and geomagnetic sensor.

The gyro for motion controls. Geomagnetic reads Earth's magnetic field, for compass readings. 

Check the Iwata Asks on the GamePad's development.

Gyro needs to stay



I predict NX launches in 2017 - not 2016

Cream147 on 13 January 2015

Take the sensor bar out of the Wii U Gamepad and you remove the ability to be able to play many Wii games off TV, probably for the saving of almost no money at all. You realise the sensor bar is just a couple of lights...

For that same reason why remove the normal sensor bar from being bundled with the Wii U. It's required for some Wii U games, and is undoubtedly very cheap to produce. It's a couple of lights encased in a bit of plastic.

Removing the HDMI cable would be highly annoying. Oh, and the cradle is in my opinion absolutely mandatory. Charging cradles have revolutionised my life, and I know I'm now alone...well, possibly I am, but I know many find them very useful indeed. The existence of the charging cradle helps to save Wii U from the otherwise supreme annoyance of the low battery life of the controller.

This is all a load of rambling but here's the point. Your ideas are probably looking at savings of $5 per console, rather than $50. That for taking out a load of things that people find very valuable indeed. It's a bad idea.



DarkRPGamer007 on 13 January 2015

What they need to do is stop some of these bundles and sell it for $250, except at Christmas time, then sell it for $250 with the games



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Thanks for all the great memories!

teigaga on 13 January 2015

Wait the gamepad has a sensor bar in it. Can you play classic wii games with off screen play?



garretslarrity on 13 January 2015

Removing TVii: If it disappeared one day, I wouldn't notice it. But would removing it really allow games to have more power?

Adding ReadyBoost: This couldn't possibly work on consoles. Unless it was a proprietary SD card akin to the extra RAM pack on the N64, it could not work for games. And I don't think it would make any noticeable difference. On that note, does it even help with PCs? I have found it to be useless there as well.

Removing Geomagnetic Sensor and Sensor Bar (both): The sensor bars cannot be removed; they serve a very important purpose and are incredibly cheap to make. As for the Geomagnetic Sensor, I also wouldn't notice if that disappeared, but I also can't imagine it being expensive or resource intensive.

Removing Unnecessary Accessories: I hope you're not talking about the GamePad cradles.

Removing HDMI Cable: No.



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