Hardware Wii U - devs only at the halfway point to utilizing its full potential

[heartgold]

Iwata answering a question during the E3 QA sessions regarding Wii U capabilities..

I was hoping to get some more details about the hardware, so in other words, the processing power and the GPUs. There’s been a lot of speculation about the power of the Wii U relative to current generation consoles or what may be coming down the pipe. I don't know if you can comment on this, but I would appreciate any details you might be able to provide about the relative power to 360 or PS3, or some other benchmark, to give us a sense of its capabilities other than the HD graphics.

Iwata: Of course, because we have designed a new hardware system, we are using new technology and we are using new GPUs.　But as we have to devote significant costs to the Wii U GamePad, if we were to apply the same level of enhancement that other console manufacturers shoot for to the processing power component, the Wii U would become extremely high in price, and it would not be affordable.　In other words, we think that the way that the various console manufacturers are allocating their budgets to the hardware is different from the way that we allocate our budget to the hardware. Ultimately, we’re looking to maintain a price point for the Wii U that is reasonable in comparison to the value to be offered.

There is also another differentiation point here. While existing platforms have engines that development teams have tuned and optimized for six to seven years after their respective launches, the Wii U is a new platform that has slightly different architecture and, since development teams have only just begun development on software for it, they are only at the halfway point to utilizing its full potential. Despite this fact, however, if you look at the game “Assassin’s Creed III,” which was recently announced or shown, you can’t see much difference when you compare it with games for other companies’ systems. I hope that helps you to understand a little bit better.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/120606qa/index.html

 

[Deleted_171835]

In short, we know nothing new.

 

[emigre]

So it's going take some time for Devs to utilise the full power of the Wii U.

Earth shattering news!

 

[10_0ARMY]

At least games will look better and play better in the future cuz from the trailers I saw from E3 a lot of the games looked terrible visually.

So it's going take some time for Devs to utilise the full power of the Wii U.

Earth shattering news!

Troll alert

 

[Rydian]

Well, yeah, it's takes time to learn the ins and outs of a new system.

I mean even going back to the SNES, at the beginning you had Super Mario World which only used half-size palettes, and near the end you were getting titles like Donkey Kong 3 and Kirby Super Star and Super Mario RPG, games that used enhancement chips for extra power and various little tricks and techniques to push better visuals.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

At least games will look better and play better in the future cuz from the trailers I saw from E3 a lot of the games looked terrible visually.

So it's going take some time for Devs to utilise the full power of the Wii U.

Earth shattering news!

Troll alert

The games at E3 looked great. Seriously, I'm considering buying Arkham City again for the WiiU and gonna get AC3 for it. They look intense.

 

[Pleng]

Well, yeah, it's takes time to learn the ins and outs of a new system.

I mean even going back to the SNES, at the beginning you had Super Mario World which only used half-size palettes, and near the end you were getting titles like Donkey Kong 3 and Kirby Super Star and Super Mario RPG, games that used enhancement chips for extra power and various little tricks and techniques to push better visuals.

That's not a great example. The games you quoted, as you say, all used extra hardware to achieve what they did.

A better (though still flawed, read on) example would perhaps be Virtua Fighter 1 vs Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn. The publishers of VF1 struggled to even get that working correctly, with the Japanese release even having flickering polygons if I recall correctly. VF2, several years down the line, had no problems with texture mapping and all.

Not a great example as I say, as the Saturn launch games were rushed in an attempt to woo the early adopters by releasing before Sony. I just don't know enough about modern games to give a better example!

 

[pwsincd]

"if you look at the game “Assassin’s Creed III,” which was recently announced or shown, you can’t see much difference when you compare it with games for other companies’ systems"

does he mean for better or for worse here ? hmmm

 

[spinal_cord]

Well, yeah, it's takes time to learn the ins and outs of a new system.

I mean even going back to the SNES, at the beginning you had Super Mario World which only used half-size palettes, and near the end you were getting titles like Donkey Kong 3 and Kirby Super Star and Super Mario RPG, games that used enhancement chips for extra power and various little tricks and techniques to push better visuals.

That's not a great example. The games you quoted, as you say, all used extra hardware to achieve what they did.

The DKC range didn't use special chips. They were just basic platformers. The GFX were rendered using 3D software on PCs and optimised for the SNES 256 color 16bit palette.

 

[Clarky]

Well, yeah, it's takes time to learn the ins and outs of a new system.

I mean even going back to the SNES, at the beginning you had Super Mario World which only used half-size palettes, and near the end you were getting titles like Donkey Kong 3 and Kirby Super Star and Super Mario RPG, games that used enhancement chips for extra power and various little tricks and techniques to push better visuals.

That's not a great example. The games you quoted, as you say, all used extra hardware to achieve what they did.

A better (though still flawed, read on) example would perhaps be Virtua Fighter 1 vs Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn. The publishers of VF1 struggled to even get that working correctly, with the Japanese release even having flickering polygons if I recall correctly. VF2, several years down the line, had no problems with texture mapping and all.

Not a great example as I say, as the Saturn launch games were rushed in an attempt to woo the early adopters by releasing before Sony. I just don't know enough about modern games to give a better example!

I always thought the more impressive part about VF2 was that it used twice the resolution most Saturn games used didn't it? still great example though