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Forums - Nintendo - Wii Emulator Allows Games to Run in 720p HD

WereKitten on 29 March 2009
NJ5 said:
WereKitten said:

@NJ5
I remember reading that the Wii was having a margin of about $40 per console _at launch_.
Considering that its GPU did cost less than 30$ - again at the time - I don't see how having a 720p capable GPU could eat up that margin.
At the time I bought an Nvidia series 5 card for my PC for $68 _in a shop_, and that could run HL2 Lost Coast and Ep1 with all of their HDR effects at resolutions higher than 720p and framerates higher than 60fps.

Can we suppose that Nintendo could buy equivalent GPUs from ATI for about $40 each? That cuts $10 from a margin that was $40 at launch, but is probably even greater today.

That would erase almost all of Nintendo's profit margin on the consoles, besides making it harder to make the console so small. All of this to cater to around 20% of the market (HDTV market share in USA if I remember correctly).

 

Maybe the numbers are not correct, but I would hardly call a $30 instead of $40 margin "almost erased".

And the market share of HDTV might be 20% among TV owners, but I bet that it is actually much higher among console owners - and rising.

 



"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." - Mark Twain

"..." - Gordon Freeman

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NJ5 on 29 March 2009
WereKitten said:
NJ5 said:
WereKitten said:

@NJ5
I remember reading that the Wii was having a margin of about $40 per console _at launch_.
Considering that its GPU did cost less than 30$ - again at the time - I don't see how having a 720p capable GPU could eat up that margin.
At the time I bought an Nvidia series 5 card for my PC for $68 _in a shop_, and that could run HL2 Lost Coast and Ep1 with all of their HDR effects at resolutions higher than 720p and framerates higher than 60fps.

Can we suppose that Nintendo could buy equivalent GPUs from ATI for about $40 each? That cuts $10 from a margin that was $40 at launch, but is probably even greater today.

That would erase almost all of Nintendo's profit margin on the consoles, besides making it harder to make the console so small. All of this to cater to around 20% of the market (HDTV market share in USA if I remember correctly).

 

Maybe the numbers are not correct, but I would hardly call a $30 instead of $40 margin "almost erased".

And the market share of HDTV might be 20% among TV owners, but I bet that it is actually much higher among console owners - and rising.

 

The real question is, how much more would the console sell if they did that. And by the way I'm not really sure that your numbers are right. You mentioned a mere 25% increase in price, for a GPU with more than double the power (perhaps more than 4 times the power for the AA).

 



My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 2707-1866-0957

WereKitten on 29 March 2009

There are a few more complex issues in play: not just how many consoles would have they sold, but how would the Wii been treated by third party developers, and how would it have fared in customer satisfaction.

As I said, I am a happy Super Mario Galaxy player, but knowing that it's being actually gimped by the hardware... that I'm not even able to get what is yet on that disc... well, that sings "cheap bastards" in the back of my mind.

PS: having double the number of pixels pushed on screen doesn't take double the power for a GPU, and there are "cheap" methods for AA if you're not too worried about extreme details in the textures.

Edit: one last note, to state the obvious. The higher your resolution, the less you need AA.



"All you need in life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." - Mark Twain

"..." - Gordon Freeman

thetonestarr on 29 March 2009
Millennium said:
thetonestarr said:
With the appropriate upscaling TV/receiver, you can play at a beautiful 720p on your TV too.

Technically, all HDTVs upscale, at least the ones based on LCD and plasma screens. They have to; they can't really change their resolution like CRTs can, so they have to fake it through upscaling. You can see this on your own computer if you have an LCD screen; just try to change its resolution to anything other than the native one (typically the highest resolution offered).

The problem is that most HDTVs seem to get their built-in upscaling hardware from Cap'n Cheapo's Discount House O' Silicon. This keeps costs down, and is frankly more than a little convenient for them for other reasons, but it means that if you want SD to look decent on an HDTV you need better upscaling hardware.

 

Right, that's why I said "appropriate". You've gotta have the right stuff for it to look right, but if you've got it, it'll look pretty sharp.



 SW-5120-1900-6153

Naraku_Diabolos on 29 March 2009
scottie said:
ssj12 said:
scottie said:
@ megadude - this is true, these will merely be upscaled to 720p

 

it is upscaled but i wonder one thing, what type of filler will he be using to help offset the texture degrade.

 

Haha, I know nothing at all about upscaling besides the fact that it exists and looks better than 480p, but worse than native 720p. Sorry :P

480p = 720x480
720p = 1280x720 



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shams on 29 March 2009

There is nothing stopping Nintendo bringing out a Wii 'HD' iteration, which is a Wii plus a HD upscaling (and better AA, etc). Knowing the architecture, its actually quite easy for them to do.

It would just run Wii titles, but they would look a fair amount better on large/HD displays.



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Millennium on 29 March 2009

The only thing stopping them is the fact that it's completely unnecessary. They're more likely to bring out an external upscaler, bringing upscaling to those who want it without needlessly bloating (or, for that matter, changing) what they already have.



Complexity is not depth. Machismo is not maturity. Obsession is not dedication. Tedium is not challenge. Support gaming: support the Wii.

Be the ultimate ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today! Poisson Village welcomes new players.

What do I hate about modern gaming? I hate tedium replacing challenge, complexity replacing depth, and domination replacing entertainment. I hate the outsourcing of mechanics to physics textbooks, art direction to photocopiers, and story to cheap Hollywood screenwriters. I hate the confusion of obsession with dedication, style with substance, new with gimmicky, old with obsolete, new with evolutionary, and old with time-tested.
There is much to hate about modern gaming. That is why I support the Wii.

FaithRaven on 30 March 2009
shams said:
There is nothing stopping Nintendo bringing out a Wii 'HD' iteration, which is a Wii plus a HD upscaling (and better AA, etc). Knowing the architecture, its actually quite easy for them to do.

It would just run Wii titles, but they would look a fair amount better on large/HD displays.

Indeed there is nothing stopping them but there also is no point in doing it in the near future. They rather wait a few years for the Full HD TVs to become cheap and common so they can release a Wii HD able to do 1080p at the Wii's current price.

I also think that it worths to notice that DVDs are becoming obsolete so they also may want to go Blu Ray in the next generation which they cannot do at the current hardware prices.