Rumor Nintendo Tweaked Wii U to Run Unreal Engine 4

[DiscostewSM]

the Wii U dev kits were already souped up Xbox 360′s in some ways

inb4 "OMG! Nintendo is copying Microsoft! flamewar flamewar!"

 

[Foxi4]

the Wii U dev kits were already souped up Xbox 360′s in some ways

inb4 "OMG! Nintendo is copying Microsoft! flamewar flamewar!"

Soon enough we won't have to worry about them. For most Nintendo fansboys "HD" was a mythical and elusive creature that they only heard of from scary stories in school. The moment they boot up their WiiU they will be like "AW MAH GAWD, LIEK, SO MANY PIXULZ", their eyes will literally melt and their skulls will explode.

 

[DiscostewSM]

HD may not have been "affordable" when the consoles first released (one reason why Nintendo didn't go HD with the Wii), but that affordability came sooner than they expected, giving owners of the other consoles enjoyment at that time while not emptying out their pockets as quickly.

 

[Foxi4]

HD may not have been "affordable" when the consoles first released (one reason why Nintendo didn't go HD with the Wii), but that affordability came sooner than they expected, giving owners of the other consoles enjoyment at that time while not emptying out their pockets as quickly.

I was sort of making a joke, but yeah, I suppose you're right.

Still, Wii was barely an upgrade from the Gamecube, you gotta admit that.

 

[DiscostewSM]

HD may not have been "affordable" when the consoles first released (one reason why Nintendo didn't go HD with the Wii), but that affordability came sooner than they expected, giving owners of the other consoles enjoyment at that time while not emptying out their pockets as quickly.

I was sort of making a joke, but yeah, I suppose you're right.

Still, Wii was barely an upgrade from the Gamecube, you gotta admit that.

Oh, I know you were making a joke. I was just adding some input for those who might have wondered, since Nintendo didn't go that route in the first place. And yes, the Wii was not much of an upgrade from the GC. Guess most of their R&D went into motion controls.

edit
I kinda wish though that Nintendo was able to allow the Wii U to play Wii games "in HD", but they said they couldn't do it. Might be because of their render method for the GC/Wii, if it is anything like how the DS renders stuff.

 

[Foxi4]

HD may not have been "affordable" when the consoles first released (one reason why Nintendo didn't go HD with the Wii), but that affordability came sooner than they expected, giving owners of the other consoles enjoyment at that time while not emptying out their pockets as quickly.

I was sort of making a joke, but yeah, I suppose you're right.

Still, Wii was barely an upgrade from the Gamecube, you gotta admit that.

Oh, I know you were making a joke. I was just adding some input for those who might have wondered, since Nintendo didn't go that route in the first place. And yes, the Wii was not much of an upgrade from the GC. Guess most of their R&D went into motion controls.

I've noticed that whenever Nintendo pulls out the big guns and releases a remarkably strong console for its time, it always has a fatal flaw, one that renders the entire effort pointless and the investment wasted. It was the case with the Virtual Boy and its sheer bulk, the Nintendo 64 and its cartridge medium, the Gamecube and its miniDVD drive, among other issues... Or am I the only one who noticed that?

 

[DiscostewSM]

I've noticed that whenever Nintendo pulls out the big guns and releases a remarkably strong console for its time, it always has a fatal flaw, one that renders the entire effort pointless and the investment wasted. It was the case with the Virtual Boy and its sheer bulk, the Nintendo 64 and its cartridge medium, the Gamecube and its miniDVD drive, among other issues... Or am I the only one who noticed that?

The N64 and GC dilemma, imo, was a factor with load times, but part of that depended on the developer's method of loading. The VB.......yeah......
We'll see what Nintendo has up their sleeves with the Wii U this coming E3, and what faults it will have as well.

 

[Foxi4]

I've noticed that whenever Nintendo pulls out the big guns and releases a remarkably strong console for its time, it always has a fatal flaw, one that renders the entire effort pointless and the investment wasted. It was the case with the Virtual Boy and its sheer bulk, the Nintendo 64 and its cartridge medium, the Gamecube and its miniDVD drive, among other issues... Or am I the only one who noticed that?

The N64 and GC dilemma, imo, was a factor with load times, but part of that depended on the developer's method of loading.

Yeah, you're right, the N64 did have little RAM and VRAM, didn't it...? I don't think it suffered from slow loading times though - cartridges are generally much faster then discs, especially back then. That said... A CD is 650MB's, a cartridge back then was up to 250 if I remember right. Same deal with miniDVD's - 4,7GB vs 1,4GB single-sided single-layered and you have a clear winner right there.

As for the flaw of the WiiU, I can tell you what the flaw is already - a second set of triggers, preferably analog would be welcome on it, unfortunatelly they're not there.

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

PS1 and PS2 anyone? Nintendo has been a market leader in portables for a long time, but TV based consoles not so. The PS2 has sold over 150 million units by the end of '11, but that didn't help the PS3 with all making the same amount (at least to date). The Wii has sold around 95 million by the end of '11. Sadly, nothing is set in stone for gaming. That's what I've noticed from previous gens..

Yeah, but you forget that the PS2 had more than 6 years lead on the Wii. I don't know if you're trying to say the Wii has done good or otherwise because the Wii has sold over 95 million units where as the PS3 has only sold around 60 million units, of which about 10% were replacements for failed hardware. I do think that Nintendo will be behind the curve once the other Next Gen consoles are released but I think that curve isn't as sharp as it used to be with graphic and processing technology coming to a relative slow down.

 

[Eerpow]

Yeah, you're right, the N64 did have little RAM and VRAM, didn't it...? I don't think it suffered from slow loading times though - cartridges are generally much faster then discs, especially back then. That said... A CD is 650MB's, a cartridge back then was up to 250 if I remember right. Same deal with miniDVD's - 4,7GB vs 1,4GB single-sided single-layered and you have a clear winner right there.

As for the flaw of the WiiU, I can tell you what the flaw is already - a second set of triggers, preferably analog would be welcome on it, unfortunatelly they're not there.

It already has 4 trigger buttons, not analog though.
They may be analog when the console gets re-revealed at E3 , the Classic Controller has analog at least, and it's compatible with the Wii U.
I'm still hoping that they release a new CCpro that doesn't need a Wiimote to plug in to.

 

[Foxi4]

PS1 and PS2 anyone? Nintendo has been a market leader in portables for a long time, but TV based consoles not so. The PS2 has sold over 150 million units by the end of '11, but that didn't help the PS3 with all making the same amount (at least to date). The Wii has sold around 95 million by the end of '11. Sadly, nothing is set in stone for gaming. That's what I've noticed from previous gens..

Yeah, but you forget that the PS2 had more than 6 years lead on the Wii. I don't know if you're trying to say the Wii has done good or otherwise because the Wii has sold over 95 million units where as the PS3 has only sold around 60 million units, of which about 10% were replacements for failed hardware.

Since when replacements count as sales, mister? I doubt anyone in their right mind would just chuck their YLOD'ed PS3 into the garbage bin and buy a new one, people sent them to Sony.

I do think that Nintendo will be behind the curve once the other Next Gen consoles are released but I think that curve isn't as sharp as it used to be with graphic and processing technology coming to a relative slow down.

That much is correct, the curve won't be visible at first, but in 3-4 years time it'll start being apparent like with the XBox 360.

It already has 4 trigger buttons, not analog though.

Oh yeah, I totally didn't notice the ones on the back, thanks for correcting me!

Still... Nintendo, swap them for analog ones, pretty please. It's not a big change, c'mon.

 

[emigre]

Meh, I'm gong PC next gen.

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

Since when replacements count as sales, mister? I doubt anyone in their right mind would just chuck their YLOD'ed PS3 into the garbage bin and buy a new one, people sent them to Sony.

Maybe to you and I it seems like the logical thing to do, but don't forget the world is chalk full of idiots and lazy asses who'd rather toss it and slap down a few hundred dollars for a new one. Believe me I've seen it first hand on several accounts, now I'm being generous but I'd say you're lucky if half of the failed consoles were sent back to sony under warranty. Besides all failures aren't due to YLOD, some of them were Disc Read Errors and fried Power Supplies, etc.

That much is correct, the curve won't be visible at first, but in 3-4 years time it'll start being apparent like with the XBox 360.

How will the curve become visible 3 or 4 years after the tech is already out? It doesn't take them that long to figure out the full potential of technology these days.

 

[Foxi4]

How will the curve become visible 3 or 4 years after the tech is already out? It doesn't take them that long to figure out the full potential of technology these days.

Quite easily - engines don't grow on trees. It takes time to develop one that will utilize the potential of a given console fully each generation - launch titles will not be as technologically advanced as the titles released 3 or so years later - then even the slightest difference specs wise will determine which version will have better visuals and which one will be a watered down port.

 

[Midna]

I've noticed that whenever Nintendo pulls out the big guns and releases a remarkably strong console for its time, it always has a fatal flaw, one that renders the entire effort pointless and the investment wasted. It was the case with the Virtual Boy and its sheer bulk, the Nintendo 64 and its cartridge medium, the Gamecube and its miniDVD drive, among other issues... Or am I the only one who noticed that?

The N64 and GC dilemma, imo, was a factor with load times, but part of that depended on the developer's method of loading.

Yeah, you're right, the N64 did have little RAM and VRAM, didn't it...? I don't think it suffered from slow loading times though - cartridges are generally much faster then discs, especially back then. That said... A CD is 650MB's, a cartridge back then was up to 250 if I remember right. Same deal with miniDVD's - 4,7GB vs 1,4GB single-sided single-layered and you have a clear winner right there.

As for the flaw of the WiiU, I can tell you what the flaw is already - a second set of triggers, preferably analog would be welcome on it, unfortunatelly they're not there.

I'm confused. The Wii U doesn't have analog shoulder triggers, and has two sets of the shoulder buttons it does have

Even so, that is by no means a flaw of the same caliber of having inadequate RAM and storage space.

 

[Foxi4]

Even so, that is by no means a flaw of the same caliber of having inadequate RAM and storage space.

Whenever something is positioned "in the place where a trigger normally would be" I call it a trigger and just distinguish between analog and digital ones, and I would very much like them to be analog simply because it allows programmers to use pressure sensitivity as a feature in their games (for example for acceleration, breaking or drifting in racing games) but yeah, it's not a "major" fault, more of an inconvinience. Still, behind today's standards.

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

How will the curve become visible 3 or 4 years after the tech is already out? It doesn't take them that long to figure out the full potential of technology these days.

Quite easily - engines don't grow on trees. It takes time to develop one that will utilize the potential of a given console fully each generation - launch titles will not be as technologically advanced as the titles released 3 or so years later - then even the slightest difference specs wise will determine which version will have better visuals and which one will be a watered down port.

My point is that since tech is coming to a relative slow down that the next gen Sony and Microsoft consoles won't have a quantum leap in specs above the Wii U. I highly doubt there will be a big difference in graphics and motion(frames per second) between the next gen consoles. While it may take 3 to 4 years to fully realize the power of each system that also goes for Sony and Microsoft.

 

[Sylar1]

Hopefully they'll actually put some games on the console, it can run unreal 4 all it wants, but its pointless if there are no good games for it.

 

[jonthedit]

I'm in no way buying a Wii U until they change the name! If its price drops down to around 100 - 150$ I'll consider buying it with the name it currently has.

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

HD may not have been "affordable" when the consoles first released (one reason why Nintendo didn't go HD with the Wii), but that affordability came sooner than they expected, giving owners of the other consoles enjoyment at that time while not emptying out their pockets as quickly.

I was sort of making a joke, but yeah, I suppose you're right.

Still, Wii was barely an upgrade from the Gamecube, you gotta admit that.

Oh, I know you were making a joke. I was just adding some input for those who might have wondered, since Nintendo didn't go that route in the first place. And yes, the Wii was not much of an upgrade from the GC. Guess most of their R&D went into motion controls.

I've noticed that whenever Nintendo pulls out the big guns and releases a remarkably strong console for its time, it always has a fatal flaw, one that renders the entire effort pointless and the investment wasted. It was the case with the Virtual Boy and its sheer bulk, the Nintendo 64 and its cartridge medium, the Gamecube and its miniDVD drive, among other issues... Or am I the only one who noticed that?

What I have noticed is that every generation from the 2600 on up to today the least powerful system has always been the #1 seller... The one exception might be the SNES and Genesis, not sure what system sold more.

Every time a company tries to get too far ahead of its competition it leads to ultra expensive consoles that usually ultra flop. The PS3 is the one exception to this and even it could be argued that being in 3rd place out of 3 possible is not doing so great. At least Sony avoided 3DO's fate so far... of course they can't keep up being in the red for 2 billion a quarter for very long.

I think Microsoft hit a happy medium with the 360 and had it not been for the reliability issues would have sucked up even more of Sony's market. (Lets face it with 150 million PS2's sold it was Sony's market to lose.)

Amazingly more then 50% of Sony's customers from the PS2 era said "The PS3 is too expensive." and went with the competition. You couldn't have paid me to say that was going to happen.