General Nintendo sales/business discussion topic (previously: The Wii U Thread)

[Blue Wisp]

Um. May I ask who the heck is Michael Pachter? I've never heard his name in Guitar Hero games before.

[Tornado]

Um. May I ask who the heck is Michael Pachter? I've never heard his name in Guitar Hero games before.

A person of no consequence.

[Jetronic]

So the tech in it will be way ahead of the other two, wonder exactly how powerful it is (higher end card, or lower end) regardless, it's ahead of the current gen systems by far.

hopefully this means devs will try a little harder with graphics so I can play awesome looking pc ports. (:

If Nintendo doesn't down clock the hardware to hell like they did with the 3DS then we'll have a winner on our hands.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Jetronic

[Candescence]

It's not just the graphics card. As I stated before, it's been confirmed by IBM to use a scaled-down version of a POWER7-based CPU... Which is also used in IBM's Power 750 server line, and is apparently a goddamn beast, as far as CPUs go, it's not just catching up, it's rocketing past the 360 and PS3 like a fucking missile. Combined with a modern graphics card, it will utterly demolish the 360 and the PS3.

What we're seeing now visually is probably the tip of the iceberg. Remember the Zelda Gamecube tech demo from Spaceworld back in the day? It was excelled by Twilight Princess, and I have no doubts the same will be true of the Zelda HD tech demo and the actual first Zelda game for the WiiU.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Masaru Daimon

[Blue Wisp]

Nintendo yet again impressed me. Wii U makes the PS3 and 360 look like a Gameboy Color D:

[Tornado]

It's not just the graphics card. It's been confirmed by IBM to use a scaled-down version of a POWER7-based CPU... Which is also used in IBM's Power 750 server line, and is apparently a goddamn beast,

You must have gotten a different press release than the one IBM actually sent out. Because they never said that in the one I saw.

as far as CPUs go, it's not just catching up, it's rocketing past the 360 and PS3 like a fucking missile. Combined with a modern graphics card, it will utterly demolish the 360 and the PS3.

Implying developers bother to exploit said power.

[Candescence]

You must have gotten a different press release than the one IBM actually sent out. Because they never said that in the one I saw.

To be perfectly honest, I was working with info from Retro, specifically one guy who stated clearly that the WiiU was confirmed by IBM to be using POWER7, and so far there hasn't be anything I've seen to contradict that until now - what press release did you see?

Implying developers bother to exploit said power.

If such power is demonstrated, someone will utilize it, the console is year away from release, we're far off from seeing the WiiU's true potential. We don't have a clue what third parties are gonna be doing with Wii exclusives visually besides Ubisoft's b-movie survival FPS.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Masaru Daimon

[Scar]

I don't see how being more powerful than the PS3 and 360 is impressive?

Its been 6 years since the old 360 and 5 since the PS3. Hardware would naturally have advanced from those days. Besides, lets not forget the U is an 8th generation console. It would have been really fucking sad if it was just as powerful as the PS360. It would just make it easier for Sony and Microsoft to superscede them a couple years down the line.

[Tornado]

To be perfectly honest, I was working with info from Retro, specifically one guy who stated clearly that the WiiU was confirmed by IBM to be using POWER7, and so far there hasn't be anything I've seen to contradict that until now - what press release did you see?

Then that one guy was full of shit (or he reads engadget). This is the only information that has been released by IBM on the subject:

ARMONK, N.Y., June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it will provide the microprocessors that will serve as the heart of the new Wii U™ system from Nintendo. Unveiled today at the E3 trade show, Nintendo plans for its new console to hit store shelves in 2012.

The all-new, Power-based microprocessor will pack some of IBM's most advanced technology into an energy-saving silicon package that will power Nintendo's brand new entertainment experience for consumers worldwide. IBM's unique embedded DRAM, for example, is capable of feeding the multi-core processor large chunks of data to make for a smooth entertainment experience.

IBM plans to produce millions of chips for Nintendo featuring IBM Silicon on Insulator (SOI) technology at 45 nanometers (45 billionths of a meter). The custom-designed chips will be made at IBM's state-of-the-art 300mm semiconductor development and manufacturing facility in East Fishkill, N.Y.

The relationship between IBM and Nintendo dates to May 1999, when IBM was selected to design and manufacture the central microprocessor for the Nintendo GameCube™ system. Since 2006, IBM has shipped more than 90 million chips for Nintendo Wii systems.

"IBM has been a terrific partner for many years. We truly value IBM's commitment to support Nintendo in delivering an entirely new kind of gaming and entertainment experience for consumers around the world," said Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director, Integrated Research and Development, at Nintendo Co., Ltd.

"We're very proud to have delivered to Nintendo consistent technology advancements for three generations of entertainment consoles," said Elmer Corbin, director, IBM's custom chip business. "Our relationship with Nintendo underscores our unique position in the industry -- how we work together with clients to help them leverage IBM technology, intellectual property and research to drive innovation into their own core products."

Built on the open, scalable Power Architecture base, IBM custom processors exploit the performance and power advantages of proven silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. The inherent advantages of the technology make it a superior choice for performance-driven applications that demand exceptional, power-efficient processing capability – from entertainment consoles to supercomputers.

Linky.

The only thing they've said is that it is POWER-based and built on a 45nm process. That does not even begin to suggest POWER7. I could just as easily claim that the Wii U is going to use a CELL processor, because that is POWER-based and is currently built on a 45nm process.

Of course, not helping is that engadget made the same stupid conclusion off of the exact same info and all of the other tech sites jumped on the chance to parade around what engadget said.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Tornado

[Mollfie]

I don't see how being more powerful than the PS3 and 360 is impressive?

Its been 6 years since the old 360 and 5 since the PS3. Hardware would naturally have advanced from those days. Besides, lets not forget the U is an 8th generation console. It would have been really fucking sad if it was just as powerful as the PS360. It would just make it easier for Sony and Microsoft to superscede them a couple years down the line.

The Wii is only just better than GC, so it's a pretty big jump. That's a big deal.

[Ferno]

The Wii should've been HD to begin with in my opinion. And I agree with Scar, the Wii U's power, while impressive, (EPICALLY IMPRESSIVE vghvhjbdbjhbjhd) was kind of a given seeing as it's new hardware that came years later, and it would be sad if it merely "caught up" to the other two.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Inferno

[Dobkeratops]

The Wii is only just better than GC, so it's a pretty big jump. That's a big deal.

[Conando]

I kind of doubt that they will, as we've seen that graphics are even reaching a standstill on the PC. Only thing worth doing now is having more shit on screen and better animation.

[Carbo]

Gotta wonder what will be the sentiment amongst the fanbase if the PS4/720 have some significant tech advantages over the Wü :3

Certainly not as significant one as the gap between Wii and PS3/360. Most of the fan base judge the consoles largely because of the graphics they render, and since Wii U is said to possibly have graphical powers that's up to standard with recent PCs, there isn't that much more they can do to push graphical fidelity without it turning crazy expensive to manufacture and develop for.

It seems almost like we're practically reaching a dead end as far as graphics are concerned, wouldn't surprise me if by the ninth generation, consoles as we know it in general will have undergone drastic changes.

[Dobkeratops]

We're not calling it a dead end until we can render FF CG hair in real time

[Ferno]

Agreed. At the rate technology is going I don't think we'll hit the ceiling until we've got Pixar quality CG looking games.

[Chooch]

I already personally feel like the Ratchet and Clank games on the PlayStation 3 look close to Pixar films.

It helps that the aesthetic and humor injected into each one is reminiscent of Pixar.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Chooch

[Tornado]

Next generation (PS4/XBox 720/whatever) is going to be the ceiling for consoles for a good while.

PC games will continue to push boundaries, but PC displays are not standardized so they can get away with it.

[Conando]

Sony has already gone on record and said they're not going to invest as much in PS4 anyway, so I don't know what people are expecting. They were burned badly by the PS3.

[Scar]

Sony has already gone on record and said they're not going to invest as much in PS4 anyway, so I don't know what people are expecting. They were burned badly by the PS3.

Burned? Their investment worked out pretty well.

But its like I said somewhere else, the CELL processor is perfectly fine as is. They just need to use a modern GPU and increase the RAM and provide an increased dedicated VRAM.

I suppose the could chuck in an extra CELL into it, if they really want to make it super powerful...

Why are we talking about this again?

[MobileChikane]

Relevant.

I don't personally agree with it. The devs in that video from E3 seemed blown away from the possiblities. Still, it's funny. Hopefully we'll get better 3rd party support for the WII U.

Edited June 9, 2011 by MobileChikane

[Conando]

If you watched the conference, you would already see they did. All the big developers are on board, even Ninja Gaiden 3 is coming to Wii U.

[Patticus]

Friend Codes are officially gone and there's a proper account system in their place, like Xbox Live.

Speaking to MTV, Ubisoft producer Adrian Blunt confirmed that users will make individual accounts on the Wii U; when asked would it be "Equivalent to a gamertag on Xbox Live," Blunt replied,"Yeah, exactly."

[Scar]

'Bout damn time really.

Its really annoying that it took them this damn long to do this though. If they had the user-name system on the Wii and DS, then there wouldn't be a need for that overly complex transfer process from system to system. I can imagine the transferring of games bought on WiiWare to the Wii U to be quite a clusterfuck.

[Conando]

Burned? Their investment worked out pretty well.

But its like I said somewhere else, the CELL processor is perfectly fine as is. They just need to use a modern GPU and increase the RAM and provide an increased dedicated VRAM.

I suppose the could chuck in an extra CELL into it, if they really want to make it super powerful...

Why are we talking about this again?