Hardware What would it be like if the wii u was a wii add-on?

pleasehelpme2

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I've always imagined it to be the wii u but it plugs in to the back of the wii's usb ports or something. The wii u portion would go on the top or side (depending on model) and once properly connected when booting up the wii it would prompt you to install the wii u making an icon like the mail on on your "dashboard" selecting it would make you go to the wii u we all know and love. Has anyone else had an idea for what the wii u would look like as an add-on?
 
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FAST6191

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Could you please elaborate?
USB 2.0 data transfer rate usually tops out around 30 megabytes a second. Rather less than you need for an uncompressed video and audio stream. Internal to the Wii there is also nothing you can really do compression with in real time either.

Beyond that the Wii was already an abomination of technology when it was made (it being a juiced up gamecube for most intents and purposes) and 5+ years on... well one need only really take a look at the game desert that was the wii past about year 2. Years 6 though 10 or so would not have made things better.

The wii U then being a remote possibly second screen might have allowed a few types of games to appear (while it has thus far been a failure in terms of local console play the PC and handhelds have done what is effectively the same thing in game theory terms for decades, and been monstrously successful in it) but it would probably have still been a hard time for devs to do that much, or they would be held back by tools not being updated. You might have got a few devs really make it sing (it does seem to be a fate of consoles that it takes about 5 years for the devs to really get to grips with a new technology).
One also notes the general failure of in place upgrades in the market -- you have what maybe hard drives on the 360, the gameboy color (which we should probably remember still saw many devs playing to the original for many years after that with true GBC exclusives being rather thin on the ground), maybe if you really squint the n3ds got a few exclusives worth speaking of, possibly the N64 expansion pack (though it was cheap enough that Donkey Kong and Perfect Dark was enough to justify it for many), the PS1 analogue controllers, possibly the Amiga upgrades but that is still dubious... anything else (N64dd, super game boy, xbox one x, ps4 pro, dsi, 32x, megacd, most of the online devices for the SNES and megadrive, kinect, ps3 move... all bar the DSi might have had something interesting happen on them from a gaming history and history of mechanics/franchises perspective but all limit their market massively to the point where most devs might throw a deeply optional perk to them and consider them a bad investment to do anything unique to).

To that end.
Likely. Would have crashed and burned. Maybe a handful of devs paid to try their hand and some homebrew.
Optimistic. Would have been a home to a handful of interesting games and a lot of shovelware.
More pessimistic. Would have been a home to a bit of shovelware, particularly if it took off in some region (possibly Brazil or Korea)
Dropped some psychedelics and now in the dimension of wishes and fairies. It dropped, was bought by essentially all wii owners at that point, possibly as it was so cheap or came with a mega game collection. We then saw a mass exploration of local co-op and local multiplayer with the benefit of a hidden second screen for one or both players allowed the exploration of a game theory concept called imperfect information. Real time strategy, card games, curious platformers, party games, no screen looking in first person shooters/mario kart leads to better options there, inventory management and maps are improved massively beyond even what the wiimote allows, all flourish and as devs don't need to spend millions doing skybox textures (it is 480p after all) we see even more experimental stuff as risk is not as high.

Of course that could have happened, indeed was more likely, for the Wii U and look how that turned out. Granted the Wii U had its own faults (if the Wii was a hardware abomination then the Wii U was what happened after the drunken evening resulting in the Wii became chain smoking crack, and massively outclassed without providing many benefits, such that most of the big players in the industry abandoned them in a hurry -- see lack of then modern unreal engine) so there is also that but even so if devs had really wanted they could have got it going on; some of the PS360 ports are among the best non PC versions of those games like the Dreamcast stuff is today for the PS1 and N64 era, and overlooked about as much at the time.
 

pleasehelpme2

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Wow! You really elaborated! Thanks! It makes a whole lot more sense now! Can I ask how dragon quest x works on the wii? I know it uses a usb flash drive to store the game but I don't know much else...
 
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V10lator

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The idea is not as stupid as it sounds. In fact Nintendo itself did it: "Two Wiis working together were used as a simulation for Wii U's actual computing power" (Source: https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/12/07/wii-u-was-once-a-wii-zapper-prototype ). But as @NecessaryExplosion told USB isn't going to work. Nintendo probably hardware-modified the Wiis.

But the zapper prototype shows that it is possible to use a dual monitor setup on the Wii. Just not sure how they connected it (probably as Wii mote extension as this is what this zapper would have been if ever released?).

slide001.jpg


//EDIT: This thing was also connected to a Wii, so dual monitor is clearly possible:
slide002.jpg


//EDIT²: Remember the poor resoolution of the gamepad screen. You don't need the bandwith for a 1080p stream.
 
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depaul

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Wii U is much more powerful compared to the Wii, its power is between PS3 and PS4.

Do you design PS3 as an add-on to PS2?
 

The Real Jdbye

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Well, first of all it would obviously just be the gamepad as second screen, and wouldn't have any improved hardware, because USB is too slow for that to work. And only less demanding games would have enough resources left to render a second screen, so for many games it would just be limited to duplicating the main screen, or displaying a basic map or menu screen. Which was usually all the gamepad was used for anyway. So it wouldn't change much.
 

V10lator

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Do you design PS3 as an add-on to PS2?
Again: Nintendo did exactly that. They designed a Wii addon (the zapper), realized that it was new technology and based a new console around it... Nintendo Land was in parts developed on two Wiis working together...

The OP question has been answered perfectly: If the Wii U would be a Wii addon it would have been the zapper.
 
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yuyuyup

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Shoulda been an add-on (coulda been a hardware refresh instead of a new generation to enable the hardware,) woulda sold a billion Wii Us to old folks etc. Nintendo went seriously half-assed on the wii u, the designers of the wii u gamepad were PLEADING with nintendo to eff off with their stupid idea of insisting on a 2nd screen with motion controls (which believe me makes me SICK to say considering my appreciation of the DS/3DS.)

“It’s extremely tough, wirelessly, to have players hold the Wii U GamePad and move with it because of the Doppler effect,” Nintendo product development engineer Kenichi Mae said in an “Iwata Asks” feature on Nintendo’s website.

“To be honest, I even thought, ‘No, please don’t!'” Mae said about Nintendo’s plans for motion games on the Wii U.

https://venturebeat.com/2012/10/17/gamepad-designer-on-wii-u-motion-games-no-please-dont/

And to those who haven't experienced this "doppler effect" bullshit, play Game & Wario stage where you're forced to lift a shield to re-calibrate mid-game. Also other stages exhibit this problem.
 

elk1007

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The wii cant output HD video. Any add on is not going to increase the output resolution.

Also, the fastest wireless tech in wii is G :mthr:

You could add a second wireless tech via usb to add gamepad support.
 
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Magnus87

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For me, the Wii U is a great console, however it fails in its main feature to offer a unique experience for all players.
On Wii that experience was given to you by the Wiimote and up to 4 people could enjoy what the new controller could offer, but the Wii U Gamepad was limited to a single player and even if you could take turns using it, it was no longer the same.

The Wii U gamepad should have been more similar to what Switch is today, not integrating the console but the possibility of moving that second screen almost throughout the house, as well as being able to disconnect the sides to have 2 separate controls.

I hope that with the arrival of Switch Pro or Switch 2 the idea of the double screen will return, however this time as each one is the console itself, it would be easier. The dock could receive more than one signal at the same time and offer a split view on the television but without losing performance.

bjRZsn2.png
 

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