Wii U Only as Powerful As Current Gen Consoles?

[Gameguy]

I'm not sure if it will really matter all that much if the new Nintendo console is only as powerful as current gen stuff. In that other thread on the new PS4 it said that the console will be capable of displaying resolutions that most modern TVs can't even display. What's the point if you can't even take advantage of the new features? Usually consoles become more powerful so the graphics can be improved, it seems like there's nowhere left to go with graphics for what displays people have available to them.

[j_factor]

I'm not sure if it will really matter all that much if the new Nintendo console is only as powerful as current gen stuff. In that other thread on the new PS4 it said that the console will be capable of displaying resolutions that most modern TVs can't even display. What's the point if you can't even take advantage of the new features? Usually consoles become more powerful so the graphics can be improved, it seems like there's nowhere left to go with graphics for what displays people have available to them.

There's definitely room for improvement within 1080p. Comparing recent PC games to their console brethren shows this. I do agree that 4k resolution is silly; not only do people not own 4k TV sets, they're not likely to in the near future either. Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference in resolution (or would barely be able to) unless the screen is massive.

[Rob2600]

it seems like there's nowhere left to go with graphics for what displays people have available to them.

Even if every last ounce of the PS3's power were devoted to a game running in 480i, it *still* wouldn't look like a real movie or TV show. Bump the resolution up to 720p or 1080p, and a lot of that horsepower is lost, making games look even *less* like real movies or TV shows.

So yeah, there's still room for improvement. I'm not saying video games *need* improved graphics, but technically there is still room. And it's not just about higher polygon counts. It's more advanced lighting/shading, shadows, animations, texturing, hair, physics, etc.

[Trebuken]

There's definitely room for improvement within 1080p. Comparing recent PC games to their console brethren shows this. I do agree that 4k resolution is silly; not only do people not own 4k TV sets, they're not likely to in the near future either. Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference in resolution (or would barely be able to) unless the screen is massive.

I believe the first 4k set went on sale a couple of years ago. Also there are receivers and devices that upconvert to 4k (or some semblance of it).

I do not think 4K is silly. If you have ever seen a true IMAX presentation at a museum for example (not the stuff at your local theatre) you can see a distinct improvement over anything in 1080p. I think it may take 4k to achieve that in the home. I also believe that when they are convert 'older' films to digitail they often go the 4k route for preservation (though 4k is a little overkill).

I think 4k will be the sweet spot for movies eventually, but I doubt games will get there as fast as film. PC monitors are overdue for an increase in resolution. For the longest time the only way to achieve a higher resolution has been to purchase a larger screen (generally speaking).

I think people would notice a difference in 4k. It would be similar to DVD versus Blu-Ray (some people don't see the difference). The material presented in 4K would have to be shot in 4K though. Why not 4K3D?

I think the real IMAX films are actually higher resolution than 4K, but of course with such a large screen it needs to be.

[Bojay1997]

I think you would be surprised at how minimal the visible difference is between 1080P and 4K displays in the home environment. The human eye is only capable of detecting a very limited amount of information. Having worked with 4K displays on a professional level for the past few years, I think the benefit to the consumer is pretty minimal at much above 1080P and many people cannot even appreciate the improvement in 4K over 1080P at all, even on large displays.

You're right that there are receivers and soon Blu Ray players from Sony and other manufacturers that will upconvert to 4K. Having said that, ultimately its not true 4K but rather doubling of the resolution lines with the same information just like an upconverting Blu Ray player does to SD DVDs. The biggest problem with 4K is that it takes significantly more bandwidth and storage space than 1080P content. Literally, even with the best compression techniques currently available, it would take a bunch of Blu Rays to store a 4K movie currently.

There's a great article on the various myths and different ways companies claim to have 4K products when they are really focusing too much attention on things like pixels which people can't even really see beyond a certain level.

http://magazine.creativecow.net/arti...ture-of-pixels

I believe the first 4k set went on sale a couple of years ago. Also there are receivers and devices that upconvert to 4k (or some semblance of it).

I do not think 4K is silly. If you have ever seen a true IMAX presentation at a museum for example (not the stuff at your local theatre) you can see a distinct improvement over anything in 1080p. I think it may take 4k to achieve that in the home. I also believe that when they are convert 'older' films to digitail they often go the 4k route for preservation (though 4k is a little overkill).

I think 4k will be the sweet spot for movies eventually, but I doubt games will get there as fast as film. PC monitors are overdue for an increase in resolution. For the longest time the only way to achieve a higher resolution has been to purchase a larger screen (generally speaking).

I think people would notice a difference in 4k. It would be similar to DVD versus Blu-Ray (some people don't see the difference). The material presented in 4K would have to be shot in 4K though. Why not 4K3D?

I think the real IMAX films are actually higher resolution than 4K, but of course with such a large screen it needs to be.

[Gameguy]

There's definitely room for improvement within 1080p. Comparing recent PC games to their console brethren shows this. I do agree that 4k resolution is silly; not only do people not own 4k TV sets, they're not likely to in the near future either. Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference in resolution (or would barely be able to) unless the screen is massive.

I pretty much agree with you entirely. It's not that graphics can't be improved it's just that I don't see people upgrading their TVs so soon when most HDTVs were purchased just a few years ago to take advantage of the PS3 and/or Blu Ray technology. It's just one generation ago(still current generation), I really feel bad for people who bought 3D TVs. People upgrade their PCs every few years anyway, but having to upgrade your TV too just as often? Forget it, I'm still using a standard CRT TV and have no plans to upgrade it in the near future. I'd rather spend all that money on new DVDs and watch them on what I already have.

Even if every last ounce of the PS3's power were devoted to a game running in 480i, it *still* wouldn't look like a real movie or TV show. Bump the resolution up to 720p or 1080p, and a lot of that horsepower is lost, making games look even *less* like real movies or TV shows.

So yeah, there's still room for improvement. I'm not saying video games *need* improved graphics, but technically there is still room. And it's not just about higher polygon counts. It's more advanced lighting/shading, shadows, animations, texturing, hair, physics, etc.

If video games ever got that realistic I think I'll avoid playing them entirely. I might as well just watch a live action movie instead. I actually enjoy watching animation more than live action because each piece can have it's own unique style, I don't complain that they don't look like real live people or animals or anything like that. Even with live action films, I tend to hate any with CGI which is what video games are becoming entirely. If people start complaing about Super Mario Bros because his jumps are too high for a real person and thus not realistic I'll switch hobbies.

[Rev. Link]

What about that report that came out a few weeks back from someone at Microsoft, talking about Durango? He said Durango would be about 6 times more powerful than the Xbox 360, and in turn that it would be about 20% more powerful than the Wii U.

So doesn't that make the Wii U roughly 5 times more powerful than the 360? (Forgive my sloppy math)

It would be pretty dumb for Nintendo to come out with a new system that's only as strong as what's already out. I know they've done some dumb things lately, but I can't picture this. Hell, back when the PSX came out, Nintendo leap-frogged everyone by jumping from 16 bit to 64 bit.

[Gamevet]

What about that report that came out a few weeks back from someone at Microsoft, talking about Durango? He said Durango would be about 6 times more powerful than the Xbox 360, and in turn that it would be about 20% more powerful than the Wii U.

So doesn't that make the Wii U roughly 5 times more powerful than the 360? (Forgive my sloppy math)

Do you have a source?

The last I've heard was that the Wii U was only slightly more powerful than the current 360 and PS3.

It would be pretty dumb for Nintendo to come out with a new system that's only as strong as what's already out. I know they've done some dumb things lately, but I can't picture this. Hell, back when the PSX came out, Nintendo leap-frogged everyone by jumping from 16 bit to 64 bit.

The bit wars have been pretty misleading. The Atari Jaguar was said to be 64-bit, but none of the software proved it to be superior to the Saturn or Playstation. The N64 may have been 64-bit, but very few titles showed that the system was superior to the Playstation or Saturn, especially when the cart format held back the potential of the hardware.

The Intellivision was a 16-bit system, but the software didn't look better than what was being offered on the 8-bit computers of that era.

[Rev. Link]

Do you have a source?

I don't have a link, but it was on IGN a few weeks back, back when Durango was first being talked about. I don't even think they were calling it Durango yet.

[duffmanth]

It'll probably just turn out to be another Nintendo system with the same franchises that Nintendo has been milking for 20 years and a bunch of third party shit games.

[Trumpman]

It'll probably just turn out to be another Nintendo system with the same franchises that Nintendo has been milking for 20 years and a bunch of third party shit games.

Yup, I got burned by the Wii but they're not going to fool me again.

[Griking]

It'll probably just turn out to be another Nintendo system with the same franchises that Nintendo has been milking for 20 years and a bunch of third party shit games.

This is what bugs me about new consoles and why I won't buy them right away.

[Rob2600]

The N64 may have been 64-bit, but very few titles showed that the system was superior to the Playstation or Saturn

I agree with you that "bits" are often misleading...BUT the N64 did have better graphics than its competition. Just one example: play any of the All-Star Baseball or NFL Quarterback Club N64 games and you'll immediately see a *huge* graphical improvement over the PlayStation and Saturn.

[Gamevet]

I agree with you that "bits" are often misleading...BUT the N64 did have better graphics than its competition. Just one example: play any of the All-Star Baseball or NFL Quarterback Club N64 games and you'll immediately see a *huge* graphical improvement over the PlayStation and Saturn.

Like I said, very few titles showed a huge advantage, especially those that had a lot of fog and horrible anti-aliasing. I thought Madden was much better on the N64, as was Ridge Racer. S.F. Rush 2049 (I hate that series) was better looking than the Playstation version, but Gran Turismo 2 was miles better than that title on any system.

[Rev. Link]

Yup, I got burned by the Wii but they're not going to fool me again.

I had thought the same way for a while, but then I went hunting for cheap Wii games to add to my collection and was surprised to find the system actually has a number of decent games. The thing that sucks is the crappy motion controls. Plus, tough to go back to SD graphics, but that's just nitpicking.

If you take some time and look, you can find a good handful of games that use the classic controller that are pretty good.

[Ryudo]

It'll probably just turn out to be another Nintendo system with the same franchises that Nintendo has been milking for 20 years and a bunch of third party shit games.

Is it true what they say? Ignorance is bliss?

[phantomfriar]

I believe the first 4k set went on sale a couple of years ago. Also there are receivers and devices that upconvert to 4k (or some semblance of it).

I do not think 4K is silly. If you have ever seen a true IMAX presentation at a museum for example (not the stuff at your local theatre) you can see a distinct improvement over anything in 1080p. I think it may take 4k to achieve that in the home. I also believe that when they are convert 'older' films to digitail they often go the 4k route for preservation (though 4k is a little overkill).

I think 4k will be the sweet spot for movies eventually, but I doubt games will get there as fast as film. PC monitors are overdue for an increase in resolution. For the longest time the only way to achieve a higher resolution has been to purchase a larger screen (generally speaking).

I think people would notice a difference in 4k. It would be similar to DVD versus Blu-Ray (some people don't see the difference). The material presented in 4K would have to be shot in 4K though. Why not 4K3D?

I've seen comments from people who have really studied 4K set-ups that stress most human beings will be unable to perceive any difference between 4K and standard HDTV unless your set is something like 70 inches and higher. So if you think the enhancement is going to be like DVD and Blu-Ray, I'd have to disagree with you.

Beyond that, HDTV sales have hit their plateau and failed to grow this past quarter for the first time. That shows for people who went from standard-definition to HDTV for the first time, that most of them have made that upgrade.

3DTV is like an added feature of new sets -- it's pretty clear from the numbers that 3D alone isn't driving mainstream consumers to upgrading AGAIN for a new TV. Look at how little content is actually available and selling. For that reason, I think 4K is going to be a niche-driven item for high-end users and nothing more for a long, long time to come. It's going to be costly for studios to do specific 4K scans of films unless it's a new movie when it can be done initially. Blu-Ray itself, while "successful," hasn't become the massive format-changer studios hoped it would, with some folks happy with their cable/sat/streaming options. Do you think 4K -- which is going to be even more costly and require yet ANOTHER hardware upgrade for the masses -- is going to be able to do what Blu-Ray hasn't? That's seriously, seriously doubtful. How 4K content is going to be delivered is another big issue another poster mentioned too.

As for the WiiU, I'm hesitant because personally I didn't get much use out of my Wii...but I think if the new PS and Xbox consoles truly DO shun used games or go digital-download-only, that could be a huge plus for Nintendo and a potential "game changer" for the WiiU. One thing's for sure: E3 is going to be very interesting this year, and hugely important for Nintendo.

[duffmanth]

Is it true what they say? Ignorance is bliss?

Hey man their last two consoles have been just that.

[phantomfriar]

Hey man their last two consoles have been just that.

And yet the Wii has managed to outsell every console on the market...have to give Nintendo credit at least for that. I wasn't crazy about the Wii, but for some consumers and especially families it was the console of choice this gen.

[Gamevet]

And yet the Wii has managed to outsell every console on the market...have to give Nintendo credit at least for that. I wasn't crazy about the Wii, but for some consumers and especially families it was the console of choice this gen.

Yeah, because most of the people that bought the console were ignorant about videogames.

I skipped the Wii, because I was not impressed with the shitty software, was tired of Mario and really didn't think the motion controller was anything worth getting excited about. I gave Nintendo 1 more chance after being burned by the N64 and even though the Gamecube was alright, the Wii needed to be a lot better than it. It wasn't, and I feel the Gamecube actually had a better selection of software than the (BC doesn't count) Wii.

[kedawa]

Wii has some great games in spite of the waggle, and not because of it. That's why I never got on board.
I can't think of a single high quality game on Wii that wouldn't have been better with traditional controls.
Most of the games I'm interested in can use the classic controller anyway, so they could have easily been Gamecube games.
Light gun games work ok, but not as well as they do with an actual light gun.
Despite being designed with the Wii motion controls in mind, Super Mario Galaxy controls better with a mouse.

At least the Wii U offers something that could actually improve gameplay or offer different usage scenarios.
It's not much, but the tablet screen is more exciting than waggle ever was.

[Ryudo]

So Wii has nothing right?


Ok I will just list the games I have want and look forward to.


A Boy and His Blob
de Blob
Endless Ocean
Endless Ocean: Blue World
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
Godfather, The: Blackhand Edition
Klonoa
Last Story, The [Limited Edition]
MadWorld
Mario Kart Wii
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
No More Heroes
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Okami Capcom 2008
One Piece: Unlimited Adventure
Rygar: The Battle of Argus
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Sonic Colors
Super Mario All-Stars: 25th Anniversary Edition
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Ultimate All-Stars
Xenoblade Chronicles [Classic Controller Pro Pack]
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure


Games I still plan to get for it.

Earthseeker
Captain Rainbow
Little Kings Story
Lost in Shadow
House of the dead overkill
Zangeki Reginleiv
Epic Mickey
Fatal Frame 4 (ther is an english patch)

Ones I have on Pre-order
Pandoras Tower

Ones coming out I look forward to
Epic Mickey 2
Dragon Quest X
Rhodea Sky Soldier
The Last Story US version
Xenoblade US version
Fatal Frame II


There is more than plenty on the system.


You can call me a fanboy if you want except I have 19 different consoles. I bet I have more Sega systems than anything else.

My friend who works at R* also a collector and good friend his fave system this gen is Wii.


The system has alot to offer but people live in ignorance and give it a bad rep when it doesn't deserve it.
I know I left soem names out like big Nintendo ones like Kirby,Mario Galaxyand Zelda as I don't have those nor have interest. Also shows it has more to offer.

[Gamevet]

So Wii has nothing right?


Ok I will just list the games I have want and look forward to.


A Boy and His Blob
de Blob
Endless Ocean
Endless Ocean: Blue World
Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
Godfather, The: Blackhand Edition
Klonoa
Last Story, The [Limited Edition]
MadWorld
Mario Kart Wii
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
No More Heroes
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Okami Capcom 2008
One Piece: Unlimited Adventure
Rygar: The Battle of Argus
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes
Sin & Punishment: Star Successor
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Sonic Colors
Super Mario All-Stars: 25th Anniversary Edition
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Ultimate All-Stars
Xenoblade Chronicles [Classic Controller Pro Pack]
Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure


Games I still plan to get for it.

Earthseeker
Captain Rainbow
Little Kings Story
Lost in Shadow
House of the dead overkill
Zangeki Reginleiv
Epic Mickey
Fatal Frame 4 (ther is an english patch)

Ones I have on Pre-order
Pandoras Tower

Ones coming out I look forward to
Epic Mickey 2
Dragon Quest X
Rhodea Sky Soldier
The Last Story US version
Xenoblade US version
Fatal Frame II


There is more than plenty on the system.


You can call me a fanboy if you want except I have 19 different consoles. I bet I have more Sega systems than anything else.

My friend who works at R* also a collector and good friend his fave system this gen is Wii.


The system has alot to offer but people live in ignorance and give it a bad rep when it doesn't deserve it.
I know I left soem names out like big Nintendo ones like Kirby,Mario Galaxyand Zelda as I don't have those nor have interest. Also shows it has more to offer.

I didn't say the Wii doesn't have good titles, it just didn't have a lot of good titles for the first couple of years. In a way, it's a lot like the N64, with the first couple of years being pretty bad.

I had bought my N64 at launch, played through Pilot Wings 64, Wave Race 64 and Mario 64, after that I had to wait awhile for Shadows of the Empire and Turok. It took about 2 years before a decent flow of good titles came out for the N64 and the same could be said for the Wii. If I had bought a Wii, it would have played out just like it did for the N64, with the other 2 consoles getting the lion's share of my gametime and the Wii getting dusted off every 3 months.

I've bought Sin & Punishment for $5. I'll probably buy several other titles (Bloom Blox looks interesting) should they have a good price. I just won't buy a Wii until I can get one for $50.

[j_factor]

I can't think of a single high quality game on Wii that wouldn't have been better with traditional controls.

Metroid Prime is a lot better with the Wii controller IMO, and the same goes for RE4.

Most of the games I'm interested in can use the classic controller anyway, so they could have easily been Gamecube games.

Most Xbox 360 games could easily have been Xbox games, just with a lower resolution and trimmed polygon counts. Not sure what that has to do with anything. The Gamecube died and people moved on. I was annoyed that Super Paper Mario was moved to Wii, but that's about it. I was also annoyed when Kameo was moved to 360, although the game ended up sucking anyway.

Light gun games work ok, but not as well as they do with an actual light gun.

But the PS3's "light gun" works the exact same way as the Wii controller, and Xbox 360 doesn't even have one.

[duffmanth]

And yet the Wii has managed to outsell every console on the market...have to give Nintendo credit at least for that. I wasn't crazy about the Wii, but for some consumers and especially families it was the console of choice this gen.

Well when your console is half the price of the competition, it's gonna sell huge. If Sony wasn't so fucking stupid when they released the PS3 at $600, the Wii still might have sold more than the PS3, but I don't think it would be as far ahead as it is? Hey I would love to see Nintendo release a console that had the awesome selection of games that the NES and SNES had, but their last 3 consoles have been huge disappointments to me at least.