Wii U Debate Thread

[goku2057]

As teh Jimminator already said, basically ANY PC GPU destroys the RSX. I'm rocking a 8 GB quad core beast with a 460 GT that would destroy the PS3, and it only cost me like 600 bucks.

[Segitz]

And such a system would've cost you about 2000USD or more if you wanted to buy it in 2006, which is when PS3 came out.

[frosty]

And you fail to remember that RSX isn't the only thing in PS3 pushing the visuals, cell helps also. Not to say both can't still be destroyed by today's hardware, but just pointing that out.

[goku2057]

Other than the graphics card, I've had it since 2007 early. So comparibly it's close.

Oh, i understand, Dustin. Just saying that PC's are totally underworked by today's stuff. Most console games could run incredibly well on any of them.

[frosty]

It says the console will include a custom IBM PowerPC CPU with three cores, a GPU from the ATI R700 family with a shader unit at version 4.1, and at least 512Mb of RAM.

This would of course make HD console ports very easy for developers, but 'Project Café' will also include backwards compatibility with both the Wii (including all peripherals) and GameCube games, it's said.

The controller has a six-inch touch screen, a front-facing camera, D-Pad, two bumpers, two triggers and "possibly more," and can allegedly be used as a Wii sensor bar.

Late 2012 is the release date, and another "big surprise" about the console is set to be revealed at E3, the report concludes.

Doesn't look to be quite as powerful as PS3, which is disappointing. Better GPU, but 3 cores isn't going to outperform the Cell's 6 most likely. I think releasing a console that is weaker than the most powerful 5 year old console on the market is a big mistake. They need to take the screen and camera off that controller and put some decent hardware in the console itself. And 512MB of RAM, in an age where cell phones have double that, is unacceptable.

[Segitz]

R700 with 512MB (I imagine the RAM is only VRAM, hopefully for Ninties sake) might also be slower than RSX... though I doubt that they go with anything below the 4650. The CPU sounds like it could be a XeCPU derived part... I mean, who else makes 3 core CPUs? AMD did once, but those were 4 cores with a disabled one.

[goku2057]

Could the cores be hyper threaded? Or is Intel the only people who make that technology? So 3 physical cores with 3 logical cores as well.

[frosty]

well, 360's 3 cores can handle 2 threads at once if i remember right, so it wouldn't exactly give nintendo's box an advantage if it could. it depends on the speed. It still probably would not pass cell's power.

[Luis]

Could the cores be hyper threaded? Or is Intel the only people who make that technology? So 3 physical cores with 3 logical cores as well.

I think hyperthreading is a commercial brand or similar, but surely the cores will be multithreaded (generic term).

[goku2057]

I was just curious if any of the consoles used this technology.

[Segitz]

I think hyperthreading is a commercial brand or similar, but surely the cores will be multithreaded (generic term).

It's called symmetric multithreading. And it's not like you can run twice the threads if your CPU supports it. It's more or less just there to improve the load on the redundant units within your CPU. Just look at most benchmarks done for HT CPUs... oftentimes programs actually suffer a performance loss if HT is enabled. Others, which are more aware gain a bit, but nothing to write home about, usually.

360 and PS3 use SMT too, but I cannot comment on its performance really. I simply don't know how efficient it is.

[Luis]

I'd say multithreading can be a big deal for game programmers, since they're always going to have to tailor their software around fixed technical specs.

I remember Carmack complaining that Cell only featured multithreading in the PPU while the SPUs weren't multithreaded. I guess that having 5 or 6 cores available for games can't possibly make up for that :-P

[Segitz]

Of course it makes a difference in a closed system. But that's only when you program with that stuff in mind early on AND have to budget to do so AND your code permits you to do so, too. It's basically like this, your CPU has several execution pipelines for different tasks, say for Integer stuff and for Floating Point stuff. If one path of your code mostly does Integer and little Floating Point and your other path does it the other way around, you can gain a lot of speed. But if both have the same needs, the gain is nullified. At least that's how I interpret Hyperthreading.

http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/...e-scaling.html

These are some Core i7 benchmarks comparing HT on and off... It's PC games, I know, but as you can see, HT can even have real negative effects, if the code starts to thrash the cache or of one threads starves the other.

[SadPanda]

... or its a title from Blizzard and slows the frack down for no good reason ...

[Segitz]

It's not just SC2... a LOT of programs suffer from it. Most games do, especially ones that cannot handle more than 2 cores...

[SadPanda]

I know its not just SC2, but thats the game i play (and loose at) the most.

[Fallax]

It's rather people waited for a GC successor... because the Wii is just "two GCs duct taped together"... I know this is trolling, yet me, as a bit of a graphics whore cannot play Wii games anymore, mainly because of their looks.

But... announcing/releasing a new console when they already have a new one just released would be a bit backwards.

It wouldn't be backwards at all. To be truthful, it would make sense to announce the new console now, especially if some of my theories come to fruition.

Nintendo likes making money from the start. Assuming they would be using BluRay wouldn't that one feature alone still be a bit costly never mind the horsepower to top the 360 and PS3?

It wouldn't be very expensive to use a Blue-ray player now. I bought mine last year for $75. Surely Nintendo could get an inexpensive Blu-Ray player.

It seems like that would add a lot of unnecessary cost to the console if they do the HD screen in the controller, but at the same time it would be damn cool to be able to do things separate from the main game screen that others in the room cannot see.

That was one advantage to LCD shutter glasses that sony was talking about exploiting, instead of alternating left eye/right eye, it would alternate player 1, player 2, etc... up to 4 players. This would give nintendo a way of combating that if Sony were to implement it, and it wouldn't require a 3DTV.

I think making the screens "HD" would be a stupid thing to do though. It would only require a display for showing basic information like the play you want to select in Madden.

They saying "HD" is just to make it sound cool. I doubt it would be real HD (meaning 720p). It'll probably be a high resolution LCD screen, like 800 x 650 or something like that.

I am very interested in that InPhase technology but would it be expensive to make?

[Dralor]

I really hope the 6 inch hd screen in the controller is just a rumor as that would be awful kill batteries and make the controller very very bulky. If they want to do something like the PSP remote play every game make it an accessory not a function on the controller.

[Generosity of God]

streaming entire games to a screen on the controller could be a nice feature.

if you only have one tv in the house, you can just play it all on the controller screen.

what would be even better is if you could stream different games to different controllers. but how powerful a system would be needed for that?

and then what happens to all the motion control stuff. are they going to have the screen controller and a Wii like controller to cover all bases?

i hate all this speculation. it just too difficult to do when it's related to future Nintendo hardware. you're more than likely to speculate incorrectly.

[Fallax]

streaming entire games to a screen on the controller could be a nice feature.

if you only have one tv in the house, you can just play it all on the controller screen.

what would be even better is if you could stream different games to different controllers. but how powerful a system would be needed for that?

and then what happens to all the motion control stuff. are they going to have the screen controller and a Wii like controller to cover all bases?

i hate all this speculation. it just too difficult to do when it's related to future Nintendo hardware. you're more than likely to speculate incorrectly.

Thats the larger issue. How is Nintendo going to have a 6 inch screen and a Wii motion controller? Or are the abandoning what they started? We will have to wait and see.