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Nintendo's New Console - Wii U
- Thread starter gkarris
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Definitely. My point was merely that this controller is quite expensive compared to your run of the mill wiimote, which probably costs them 1$ to make. The sales of extra controllers has always been a big market for Nintendo, but I don't think they would sell many of these if they tried to hit the same level of income compared to production price.
Of course, they still rely on the Wiimote..
What's funny is you vigorously defending Nintendo with every word you type, and accusing other people of being fanboys.
What people are criticizing is not the fact that they used PS360 footage in the trailer, but rather that they DIDN'T TELL ANYONE. It was passed off as WiiU footage until someone called them on it.
Yes. But they should come clear about where videos are from. I saw the videos during the keynote, and automatically assumed they were from a WiiU. That's deception - and it took somebody actually asking Nintendo flat out to get an admission.
*sigh*
My point was that Nintendo are not being clear. Upscaled 1080p is not the same as native 1080p, but Nintendo keep just saying "It works up to 1080p" - which is exactly the same as the 360/PS3, but we both know that lots of games run lower than that.
What they should say is that "Games will run at native 1080p", or if that's not the case "native 720p". This gives a clear indicator of the power of the system, as if it can run all games at native 1080p then it's more powerful than what is currently around.
What's funny is you vigorously defending Nintendo with every word you type, and accusing other people of being fanboys.
What people are criticizing is not the fact that they used PS360 footage in the trailer, but rather that they DIDN'T TELL ANYONE. It was passed off as WiiU footage until someone called them on it.
Exactly.
rezenclowd3
macrumors 65816
So far I am utterly unimpressed. Seems the first games will also be on the other 2 consoles as well I don't buy into any hype anymore, because so much ends up being a letdown. At least with the past couple decades of games, should the new stuff fail to impress, we have an incredible selection from the past
I don't buy into any hype anymore, because so much ends up being a letdown. At least with the past couple decades of games, should the new stuff fail to impress, we have an incredible selection from the past 
From what I understand, the Wii U will only support one pad at a time, although Nintendo has refused to ask questions regarding this. Sounds like they are still deciding themselves.
As for the console itself, its capabilities seem like it's only bringing itself up to par with the 360 and ps3 in terms of graphics. I'm sure it is actually more powerful and will show that in time, but not a leap we've come to expect from 'next gen' so that won't be a particularly huge selling point.
I also agree with many others in that this new system doesn't have the same wow factor the original did. A lot of people bought it on hype and found a lack of third party support meant it didn't get played all that much, despite its promise. Those who have a bad taste in their mouth will be wary of an upgrade to this new system.
Those who have handled the controller expressed it as sub-optimal for things like FPS when it came to comparing against 360 and ps3. FPS are one of the bread and butter hardcore markets, and it's not clear they'll have a good experience in this arena.
It's also not clear if their online experience will come to rival the features of their competitors. Online is only becoming more important as we go along. Unfortunately for Nintendo, I don't think these will go as well as the wii did.
As for the console itself, its capabilities seem like it's only bringing itself up to par with the 360 and ps3 in terms of graphics. I'm sure it is actually more powerful and will show that in time, but not a leap we've come to expect from 'next gen' so that won't be a particularly huge selling point.
I also agree with many others in that this new system doesn't have the same wow factor the original did. A lot of people bought it on hype and found a lack of third party support meant it didn't get played all that much, despite its promise. Those who have a bad taste in their mouth will be wary of an upgrade to this new system.
Those who have handled the controller expressed it as sub-optimal for things like FPS when it came to comparing against 360 and ps3. FPS are one of the bread and butter hardcore markets, and it's not clear they'll have a good experience in this arena.
It's also not clear if their online experience will come to rival the features of their competitors. Online is only becoming more important as we go along. Unfortunately for Nintendo, I don't think these will go as well as the wii did.
The system doesn't come out FOR ANOTHER YEAR!!!!
This was the first time ANYONE has officially seen it.
But lets make up our minds now about what it will be like at first glance with no information. I like prejudice!!
This was the first time ANYONE has officially seen it.
But lets make up our minds now about what it will be like at first glance with no information. I like prejudice!!
Actually one Wii U controller makes more sense than multiple to me for a number of reasons in their defense.
Give people the choice to buy wii-remotes or standard controllers for multiplayer games as will be a damn site cheaper than buying multiple Wii U handsets for one thing, let alone the processing over-head of having a console output video to a TV and multiple smaller touch screens. Remember were talking PS3 & 360 power here, and neither of those an output 1080p on one screen and more information on another separate screen, let alone multiple ones, so really its unfeasible to think the Wii U could without impacting performance significantly.
However I have to agree with some of the commentators reported on the TV here and say that the Wii U handset does indeed look like a "Fisher Price iPad" (indeed I said it looks like one of those kid educational toys). That being said I'm willing to overlook it's hideousness if it at least feels right in my hands and not like a "Fisher Price iPad."
I do like the main units design however.
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Sometimes Nintendo will change the design slightly - they still have well over a year before release.
The only thing about being able to hook up only 1 Wii U Pad is that with some games, the player with the pad would have the advantage over the one without.
That depends on what you're doing. I think it would be great. One person with the pad that can see and has to relay information to his buddy sitting next to him. Playing search and destroy games with one player having the pad while the others find him. It will be up to the game but any decent designer would be able to work in a balancing factor for their games.
I have a feeling it will only be one wii pad per system, as someone mentioned that they're using AMD's dual-screen technology or something like that - so three (tv + 2 pads) will likely not be feasible. I hope this isn't the case, though. I don't need to be able to hook up 4, but give me 2 - this will be much better for games like Madden. Plus, I play 2 player games all the time - I don't play four player games that often.
Here it is, 1 Pad per system:
http://venturebeat.com/2011/06/09/miyamoto-only-one-touch-screen-controller-per-wii-u-console/
http://venturebeat.com/2011/06/09/miyamoto-only-one-touch-screen-controller-per-wii-u-console/
WAT.
AMD has a multi display technology, but that's for spreading one image across multiple displays and has nothing to do with this.
The primary concern with multiple pads is the sheer wireless bandwidth required to accomplish it.
Okay, this is supposed to be the next generation in video gaming, still a year off in development, cutting edge technology. I have a hard time accepting hardware limitation as a factor here...I'm sure it would be technically possible, so make it happen! It would open up really cool possibilities to use multiple display controllers. On the flipside, it will be a pain in the ass for the developers to design multiplayer modes with one "special" display player, and the others using wiimotes.
Come on, Nintendo, this is the future, don't cripple it with technology from the past!
It would open up really cool possibilities to use multiple display controllers. On the flipside, it will be a pain in the ass for the developers to design multiplayer modes with one "special" display player, and the others using wiimotes. Come on, Nintendo, this is the future, don't cripple it with technology from the past!
Okay, this is supposed to be the next generation in video gaming, still a year off in development, cutting edge technology. I have a hard time accepting hardware limitation as a factor here...I'm sure it would be technically possible, so make it happen!
WiFi can't support the bandwidth of two pads (it can just about manage one...), nor can Bluetooth or any other current technology. So no, they can't just make it happen.
And the cost skyrockets...along with the risks of interference. Plus, even with a 3x3 antenna setup on WiFi you still won't get a pair of pads working in HD.
We are talking about the future, 1+ year from now. Electronic components get cheaper by the day.
If one antenna can get 1 pad working, I don't see why several of them, each individually connected to their pads, couldn't feed signals to all of them?
Curious to hear a technical explanation on why it shouldn't be possible. (I really am curious, not being a smartass.)
And don't give me interference. My band is already using multiple wireless transmitters that operate on 2.4 GHz frequency, same as wifi. If you pair them properly, they operate just fine, no interference.
You then have to consider if the GPU & CPU are beefy enough to run four of the Upad screens (854 x 480) as well as the main screen via HDMI.
You then have to consider if the GPU & CPU are beefy enough to run four of the Upad screens (854 x 480) as well as the main screen via HDMI.
Like I said, this is the next generation of video gaming, a good 5+ years down the road from when PS360 came out and were cutting edge. Technology advances fast. Make it happen!
We're talking about the future, yes, but using technology that we have today - because Nintendo have to develop it, and then produce it. They can't invent something and then have it in production that fast, which is why they use off-the-shelf components. The WiiU isn't going to have anything new or magical in it.
Electronic components do get cheaper, but Nintendo will have a date in the not too distant future where they have to pay for the stuff they're using, and after that they are locked to those components and costs (costs for the first few production runs at least, and they can re-negotiate with suppliers). Plus Nintendo want to be cheap for consumers, and make a profit off sales, so they can't use fancy new (expensive) hardware.
As for the WiFi antenna thing, who says that the designs seen use a single antenna? I'd highly doubt it in fact. Most current WiFi setups use two (aka; 2x2), with Apple being one of the few using three (3x3) to give higher bandwidth. FYI, there is no 4x4, and nor can you split 2x2 and 1x1. As such, Nintendo will be using 2 antenna to feed a single pad, and can't expand it to two unless they go crazy on the compression.
2x2: 300Mb/sec theoretical
3x3: 450Mb/sec theoretical
Now, we all know that theoretical does not in any way equal reality. A 2x2 Wireless N network will struggle to stream 1080p content, whereas a 3x3 can manage it fine - but not two streams at the same time. Basically, stuck with a single WiiU pad unless they compress massively which will kill fidelity.
Bluetooth wouldn't even get anywhere near this, being 2.1Mb/sec (version 2.1+EDR, 3.0 doesn't count as it uses a colocated WiFi... link).
My point about interference is that if you theoretically had multiple WiFi units (ie: two pairs of 3x3), then you'd be using up a bunch of channels, of which there are only 11 (in the US anyway). Add in home WiFi, neighbours etc. and you'll end up a very full spectrum.
Nintendo tends to use "withered technology." So they will make something that's good enough to run the games that they want, but doesn't try to be cutting edge. This is probably the first time that I've seen them make a console that's clearly better than everything out there, and that's only because Sony and MS are keeping this gen alive longer than usual. It looks like it will be more powerful than the current HD consoles in terms of horsepower, but I wouldn't bet on Nintendo spending any more than they absolutely have to in order to achieve that.
Will the pad's display have hd resolution? Surely the bandwidth requirements are not comparable with 1080p streaming? And if that is indeed the limiting factor, they should rethink that design choice, maybe sacrificing some pad resolution to enable multiple pads.
As far a tech prices go, they could always start selling their hardware for a slight loss, and offset it with software revenue as well declining prices for said components in the future, also due to larger quantities being purchased.
But we're going off on tangents here, neither one of us has attended Nintendo's meetings on this or enough insider knowledge to have this discussion in such depth.
All I am saying is, if it is possible tech-wise to enable multiple pads (and I am not yet convinced that it is not), I do not understand their decision to not go all the way with this model. It strips away a lot of cool potential.
As far a tech prices go, they could always start selling their hardware for a slight loss, and offset it with software revenue as well declining prices for said components in the future, also due to larger quantities being purchased.
But we're going off on tangents here, neither one of us has attended Nintendo's meetings on this or enough insider knowledge to have this discussion in such depth.
All I am saying is, if it is possible tech-wise to enable multiple pads (and I am not yet convinced that it is not), I do not understand their decision to not go all the way with this model. It strips away a lot of cool potential.
I was first in line for the Wii at Wal-Mart, got there at about 7:30am and got it at midnight.
I'm not holding my breath for this one, the fact that I've moved months ago and didn't bother unpacking the Wii and just put it in the closet pretty much tells the story.
I'm not holding my breath for this one, the fact that I've moved months ago and didn't bother unpacking the Wii and just put it in the closet pretty much tells the story.