Gaming Wii U reached its full graphical capability in 2013.

Taleweaver

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Well, that's because those screenshots I took were for personal use on Miiverse not for serious detailed graphical screens, although those Mario 3D World screens which I've posted look gorgeous and shows what the system is capable of.
Then why are they used in a thread that is about the graphical limitations on the wiiu in the first place? Or for that matter: what are those "graphical flaws here and there" you mention in your OP? :unsure:

I won't deny that those pics look great, but I can say the same of my porn collection. If I use my wiiu to surf to porn sites, I can also claim that those boobs look gorgeous, exquisite, awesome and thrilling (and anything but kiddy, for that matter)...but it's not like that says anything of "the full graphical capability" of the wiiu. It's up to those nice ladies (or rather: their photographers) to decide to shoot in extreme details or not, but it's not like that will hugely IMPROVE the image*. Or the experience. Or whatever it is that gets you disappointed in any way.




*yeah, bitches. Graphical comparison discussions just got MATURE! B-)
 

shinkodachi

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I think there are a few important points to discuss here:

1. Method used to take screenshots of Wii U games
2. Wii (and GameCube) derived architecture of Wii U
3. Art style pursued for Wii U games released thus far

--

1. It's already established that screenshots posted to Miiverse are compressed in size, reducing the graphical quality. They're good enough to work in the context of Miiverse as part of a social network that people can "Yeah" or comment on, but they're not good enough to base an objective opinion on the quality of the graphics the Wii U can deliver. An HDMI capturing device is a minimum requirement to take a raw 1920x1080 screenshot suitable for a discussion like that. Even then, it is important to make note of the settings and capabilities of the capture device to remove any bias (e.g. exaggerated sharpness or contrast setting).

2. Wii U uses an architecture very similar to the Wii, which in itself is similar to the GameCube. It's why backwards compatibility is achieved in hardware without extra components and it's also the reason why developers have started to push the Wii U to its limits early on. As time progresses and developers become more familiar with the Wii U, graphical quality may also increase noticeably. However, the Wii U is essentially running on the same architecture as its two predecessors, meaning that from a developer's perspective, the hardware requires little exploration as it's already a familiar platform to develop for. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as a completely new architecture takes time and care to develop graphically detailed games for. Take a look at early PS3 games and compare them to current PS3 games to see just how much getting to know the hardware better enables developers to make games with better graphics. Wii U however is already at a fast pace to hit its graphical limits, as developers already know their way around the hardware thanks to the Wii and GameCube before it.

3. As with any discussion about graphics in games, art style or visual style is an important part of the discussion. Taking a game like Zelda: Wind Waker HD in the context of measuring the graphical capabilities of the Wii U is bad practice. A game like Pikmin 3 or NFS: Most Wanted U, for which the intended art style is realistic, makes for a much better choice in this discussion. There's already enough accounts to state that the Wii U is graphically more capable than the PS3 and Xbox 360, but falls short in comparison to the PS4 and Xbox One. Considering that a recently released flagship title like Mario Kart 8 is actually a 59fps game with no anti-aliasing running at 720p natively, it's fair to say that developers have pushed the Wii U to its very limit in graphical capability. Which again is not necessarily a bad thing, as Mario Kart 8 is still a beautiful game. The truth is, Mario Kart 8 (or Super Mario 3D World or Zelda: Wind Waker HD etc.) is a perfect fit for the Wii U. Nintendo most definitely knew this beforehand and opted to make a console that is good enough for Nintendo games with little room to improve for realistic and graphically detailed games. It's why Nintendo games are known for being "cute", colorful and playful visually. Nintendo just doesn't go for hyper realistic graphics in its games, Miyamoto himself said so in an interview with BBC from 2009. (Start listening at around the 26 minute mark: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p4q2n).

Having all this said, I don't think anyone can truly expect Wii U games to build upon currently released games in graphical quality. It may be the reason why highly awaited games such as the new Zelda game is based around cartoonish graphics we've already seen in Skyward Sword. Keep in mind that there are other ways to make graphics in games visually stunning without significant richness in detail. Take Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) for example. It's limited to standard definition, but is right there on par with even some PS3 games despite the latter providing HD graphics.

--

In the end, I personally don't care about graphics much. Sure, I wish the Wii U was more capable and I'm starting to get tired of the cartoonish games Nintendo makes one after another (Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, Splatoon, the new Zelda). Then again, I'm not expecting a console that is 150-200 euros cheaper to be very capable. The games are fun and the family is having a good time playing together, that's what I expected from my purchase and Nintendo has delivered in my opinion. I may have to buy a PS4 or Xbox One sooner or later, though. E3 this year was excellent, but there's only so many chances I'm giving Nintendo with its cartoonish games. It's time they made something with realistic graphics, maybe a new Metroid or something.
 

ibis_87

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Well, I have to agree. I wonder if anyone is actually trying to push the hardware. It was also the case with the Wii - the Retro guys have achieved great things with Metroid Prime 3, and than there were Conduit 1 and 2, but beyond that, no one really tried. In the case of Wii U, we have the famous NFS Most Wanted, but beyond that... Well, Mario Kart 8 is a nice try, and Pikmin 3 is not bad, IMO, considering it's more on the RTS side, so the system has a lot of objects onscreen to deal with. My guess is that Zelda or that new game Retro is developing will be the showcase. Maybe Bayonetta 2 or Xenoblade Chronicles X, but I'm not that sure about Platinum or Monolit.
 

Ulieq

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Well, I have to agree. I wonder if anyone is actually trying to push the hardware. It was also the case with the Wii - the Retro guys have achieved great things with Metroid Prime 3, and than there were Conduit 1 and 2, but beyond that, no one really tried. In the case of Wii U, we have the famous NFS Most Wanted, but beyond that... Well, Mario Kart 8 is a nice try, and Pikmin 3 is not bad, IMO, considering it's more on the RTS side, so the system has a lot of objects onscreen to deal with. My guess is that Zelda or that new game Retro is developing will be the showcase. Maybe Bayonetta 2 or Xenoblade Chronicles X, but I'm not that sure about Platinum or Monolit.


Well, Wii U has enough power for most things we want in a gaming machine. It'll hit 1080p 60fps for cartoony games, and that's what its users want. I'm just waiting for the wii u drop the gamepad sort of like the ds dropped the touch screen. We'll see.
 

T Link7

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What's with all the people using those damn arrows? It looks really childish and it makes the person using it look very snobby.
 

Mario92

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One huge and major thing to consider: frame rate.
Wii U seems to be one of only consoles having games running in 60 FPS. That's why I hate other consoles having graphiz war when PC wins them anyway and then PC is being hold back to make consoles look better. Graphical comparisons usually won't show this as most video sites turn videos to 30 FPS.

2. Wii U uses an architecture very similar to the Wii, which in itself is similar to the GameCube. It's why backwards compatibility is achieved in hardware without extra components and it's also the reason why developers have started to push the Wii U to its limits early on

I was thinking if this is true then why didn't Nintendo publish Skyward Sword to Wii U? That game looked amazing on Wii and only increasing resolution would've already made it look even better.
 

shinkodachi

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I was thinking if this is true then why didn't Nintendo publish Skyward Sword to Wii U? That game looked amazing on Wii and only increasing resolution would've already made it look even better.
Skyward Sword wouldn't have fit the Wii for a few reasons:

1. Wii didn't have its own Zelda game before Skyward Sword. (Twilight Princess was a GameCube game with minimal amount of porting done to launch alongside the Wii and help the sales of the new system.)
2. Nintendo needed to use accurate motion controls (MotionPlus) in a flagship game while they could do so. (Wii U is based around the GamePad concept, not the Wiimote + Nunchuk.)
3. Skyward Sword released in late 2011, Wii U came out a full year later. Nintendo isn't in the habit of releasing the same game later to another system.

My guess is that Skyward Sword was so long into the development cycle that upgrading the textures and mechanics to fit the Wii U would've been stretching costs. It would've also left the Wii without a Zelda game truly developed for it from the ground up. This is why after Skyward Sword, resources were allocated to working on the next Zelda game we saw unveiled at E3. That game will definitely bring out the best of the GamePad and Nintendo has said they wouldn't do another Zelda game with motion controls, which may be reason why Nintendo ported Wind Waker to the Wii U to shift focus away from Skyward Sword and see fans' responses to the GamePad as a controller in a Zelda game. At least, that's how I see it. :)
 

ibis_87

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I guess it's something like this:

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Wi...U-More-Powerful-Than-We-Thought-62437-p2.html

A lot of stuff is possible on the Wii U, if you dig deeply enough. The problem is in the willingness to do so. Which, most likely, brings us to expecting graphical achievements from 1st or 2nd party games or some wild 3rd party studio which will put up their mind on reaching mind-blowing graphics on the system - like it was with Conduit on the Wii.
 
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Mario92

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My guess is that Skyward Sword was so long into the development cycle that upgrading the textures and mechanics to fit the Wii U would've been stretching costs. It would've also left the Wii without a Zelda game truly developed for it from the ground up. This is why after Skyward Sword, resources were allocated to working on the next Zelda game we saw unveiled at E3. That game will definitely bring out the best of the GamePad and Nintendo has said they wouldn't do another Zelda game with motion controls, which may be reason why Nintendo ported Wind Waker to the Wii U to shift focus away from Skyward Sword and see fans' responses to the GamePad as a controller in a Zelda game. At least, that's how I see it. :)

I loved those motion controls so much but I can see many hated them for some reason :(
There are already videos Skyward Sword running on emulator without any enhancements and it looks much better, especially that watercolor DoF filter comes to life. Some users seem to play it with regular gamepad just fine (right stick aiming sword and press to thrust). That's why I was thinking why they didn't re-release it with gamepad controls as you could use sticks pretty effeciently and still use motion controls when needed.
It would've left some Wii version owners with worse version but I felt the same when I played Twilight Princesses gamecube version and saw friend playing wii version. I keep hoping they do some "new play control" version of games like they did with wii.
 

filfat

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There's nothing inheritently wrong in liking good graphics or shooters, y'know - there's plenty of good good-looking games, even more good shooters. You're saying it as if "being a shooter" or "having good graphics" was a bad thing, and you're the one pulling the close-minded gamer card at the same time.
That, and:
  • God of War
  • Ratchet & Clank
  • Sly Cooper
  • LittleBigPlanet
  • WipeOut
  • Invizimals
  • EverQuest
  • Ico series (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus)
  • Buzz!
  • Gravity Rush
  • Syphon Filter
  • Everybody's Golf
  • Twisted Metal
  • Fat Princess
  • Gran Turismo
  • inFamous
  • MLB: The Show
  • MediEvil
  • ModNation Racers
  • MotorStorm
  • Ape Escape
  • SingStar
  • SOCOM
  • Sports Championships
...among other less notable titles like Journey or Tokyo Jungle. Y'know, in case we were broadly generalizing or something.
Out of that list im only intrested in one, Sly Cooper..
Good job Sony... *clap* *clap* *clap*
Edit: actually Ratchet is pretty good so sony is 100% better then i thought, still two games though. ..
 

Foxi4

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Out of that list im only intrested in one, Sly Cooper.. Good job Sony... *clap* *clap* *clap*
Good, so there's one thing that you find interesting - the rest of the world might have a different opinion. Fact of the matter is that they have a metric ton of franchises and saying that you don't like them doesn't matter.
 

filfat

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Good, so there's one thing that you find interesting - the rest of the world might have a different opinion. Fact of the matter is that they have a metric ton of franchises and saying that you don't like them doesn't matter.
I was pointing out that I dont like them, i never stated anything else

Btw is it fun trolling wii u owners Foxi and Mcguild ;)
 

filfat

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Alright here is my take, The Wii U just like the Xbone and PS3.5 might not apeal to everybody, while you make like TLOU i hate it, while you might hate Mario i may love it. (Here comes the point) stop trying to list out games and say that onr console is better then the other cuz it got "better" games or mpre horse power. Why should other people care what you have for console. Now to about wii u running out of more horsepower, im pretty sure that we can squess out a lot more from it.
 
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