Wii U latency is 'advantage' over SmartGlass, Vita connectivity

Shack News: Everyone was showing off multi-screen connectivity at E3--not just Nintendo. Microsoft spent a good deal of its E3 presentation on SmartGlass; Sony showed off how Vita can be used as a controller for the PS3 version of LittleBigPlanet 2. Given Wii U is defined by the asymmetric gameplay made possible by its unique tablet, did Sony and Microsoft steal Nintendo's thunder?

[GribbleGrunger]

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata doesn't think so. "That suggests to me that they clearly see value in what we're trying to do," he said. "So the fact that we have so quickly seen somebody following in the footsteps of what we first introduced with the Wii U, suggests that there are people who see great appeal in what we're offering."

LOL... here we go.

[ChickeyCantor]

Actually, he meant to say that if they present an idea they have as well. It could put a damper on their thunder.

That is why they can't show everything yet. Else MS will do something similar. Apparently.

[nukeitall]

Well, MS has been talking about cross play for a long time and combining WP7 with Xbox Live. This isn't some ground breaking idea here.

In fact, Nintendo's approach dates back to the Game Boy Advance connecting to the GameCube and maybe even earlier.

Fact of the matter is that the Wii U's biggest advantage is that it the tablet controller is a standard. Guaranteed included with every Wii U. MS tried to mitigate this with allowing SmartGlass on almost every portable device and Sony, well they haven't learned anything. Still trying to push you to buy another expensive device.

[BrutallyBlunt]

GribbleGrunger misses the point entirely. Nintendo is flattered that once again companies like Sony and Microsoft are showing off using devices to control gaming aspects much like the Wii U. Sony showed a demo with Little Big Planet on Vita working with the Playstation 3. Microsoft showed it with Halo 4 and a tablet. However they are saying the latency is what matters and that their design will work better because it's been developed that way from the beginning. When Microsoft created the XBOX360 they didn't think about tablets controlling games. Sony didn't think about Vita when the Playstation 3 was being made. They did think about remote play but that's not the same thing as what the Wii U is doing.

The Wii U also has the upper hand just like the original Wii did because everyone who buys the system is ready to play with no need to buy added peripherals. That means software makers will be much more likely to use these added functions. We will be lucky to see very few games on the XBOX360 that takes advantage of SmartGlass and few games on the Playstation 3 as well that will work much like the Wii U. Getting devlopers to work with a hybrid design to play Vita with the Playstation 3 will take a lot of convincing. The success of the Wii U may help if it's easy to get the functionality working on Vita/PS3.

[Hicken]

Should I start stalking you the way you stalk me? That would be interesting, wouldn't it?

The Vita's applications are a rather natural extension of the remote play feature Sony already used(though, admittedly, not as well as they could have) with the PS3/PSP. It only makes sense that the Vita would follow in its predecessor's footsteps, and yet also improve upon that foundation, so something approaching what the Wii U and its controller can do was inevitable.

There WILL be a difference in latency, one which tilts in Nintendo's favor. But there will also be a difference in ABILITY, in that having a separate device(like with the Vita/PS3 or 360/tablet) allows potentially for more intensive actions/processes.

In other words, the Wii U will be somewhat limited because it has to do the work of two devices, but neither the 360 nor the PS3 will have this limitation and, assuming the functions in question are compatible with their successors, the same will be true of the next generation.

While Nintendo may have been "first" to announce this technology, both Sony and Microsoft can beat them at their own game, especially in light of the limitations the controller has, as opposed to those of a tablet or the Vita. And we all know that the best version of a market offering isn't necessarily the one that sells the most.

[BrutallyBlunt]

Difference is you're stalking me for all the wrong reasons. You don't see me continually promote one system over the other, you don't see me being anywhere near as biased as you when commenting on articles. That's because like i told you before, i can enjoy games like Uncharted and Mario and Forza and the hundreds of other great titles from 3rd party sources. I'm not embedded in this game like you are cheerleading for a company who doesn't hear me in the first place. So no, i'm not a deranged fanboy like you. Sorry.

As for this article it's ALL about latency and why Nintendo feels their product is better. As for limitations the Vita/PS3 is far more limited and the reason is simple, software support. It's the same reason the Move is more limited to the Wii. It wasn't built around the system so of course the Wii had the added benefits of convincing publishers to support it. Who's going to have Vita/PS3 combo play that is like what the Wii U is? Not much since the Playstayion Move failed to grasp consumers interests and Vita is struggling to do as well as the PSP. It is also unknown how many Vita owners have a PS3. I know the Move is technically better but that's irrelevant if there is no software to support it or a userbase to sell to.

It's all about who you can sell your games to. So when Sony announces they sold 16 million Move controllers (or whatever the actual figures are), it doesn't represent 16 million potential customers. Some people like me have 2 Move controllers but i'm not about to buy 2 copies of the same game now am i? How many people own 2 Kinect devices? That's why they will get more software suppport because Microsoft is far more aggressive in marketing it and sales have shown consumers want to try it more. As for Vita, the game publishers are still not convinced it's a piece of hardware to invest in to replicate what the Wii U can do and that the consumers will be there to buy the software. It's also too early to tell how committed they are with the Wii U.

To make it short, Nintendo knows the Wii U was designed from the start to work with the Wii U gamepad and because of that latency will not be an issue. That's what this article is about. It's not about whether the Vita is better or the PS3 is better, it's about the connectivity between the devices and if consumers will notice. Nintendo thinks they won't on the Wii U but will on what Sony and Microsoft are CURRENTLY showing.

[badjournalism]

Sony has a patent filing for this kind of connectivity going back to 2010, before the Wii U was announced. If anyone is playing catch up with this, it's MS.

[JellyJelly]

Sony seems to have a patent for everything but for some weird reason they never make anything of it until after their competitors.

[PixL]

Maybe because they don't blindly follow every stupid trend out there?

I don't want a tablet to supplement or replace my joypad. It's too heavy and too big.

[nukeitall]

Maybe because they are incompetent and lack the ability to execute on ideas?

Tell me what product Sony has actually been a worthy competitor?

Console/Gaming -> Nintendo and MS pounded Sony to third place.
Handheld -> Nintendo and Apple among others
TV -> Samsung says hi!
Portable Music player -> iPod anyone?
Smart Phones -> Basically every other major vendor other than Sony
Media -> Netflix, Hulu and Amazon stole the Blu-Ray market.

To be fair, the PS3 has done exceptionally well considering the situation.

Sony's stock is at a 31-year low for a reason and I haven't seen anything that will change that in the near future.

[Venoxn4g]

:D :D :D very true :)

[mamotte]

Yes, it's weird... just weird. Maybe is that scary word, "innovation"

[Series_IIa]

Leonardo da Vinci drew plans for a glider in the 1500s but didn't come to fruition until a couple hundred years later...

[BrutallyBlunt]

@badjournalism

You're screen name is correct while what you say isn't. The Wii U has been in development long before 2010 and to think SmartGlass was thought about just prior to E3 is asinine. These things take years in the making. Of Course MS wants devices to work together, they want XBL to be available of various devices and adding SmartGlass technology is an obvious transition for them.

[mamotte]

We connected the GBA and the Gamecube back there in 2004. Fully functional, not a patent. Plus, Nintendo has been doing experiments connecting consoles since the SNES, Super Gameboy, anyone?

[AWBrawler]

Why do i get the feeling the NFC, camera, and mic functions of the Gamepad is going to be what makes the BIG difference for Nintendo? I can see Yu-gi-oh, Skylanders, Pokémon, and even Kid Icarus taking advantage of the NFC with cards and figures

[THC CELL]

Anything wii u can do vita can do almost same and in some case better. Did Sony not already patent the idea

[yabhero]

Does Vita have L3 and R3? What about lag that's 1/60 of a second, or NFC? How about a 5.8 inch screen? How about dedicated support for every game? How about not user base division because everyone has one? Can it do two stream to two controller while maintaining 720p at 30+ FPS. Does it run 720p 60 FPS natively?
I'm sure that if WiiU can do all this it's at least 1.5-2 times more powerful, but that not too bad as the vita help the PS3 with the GFX rendering...

[TheGamingArt]

^ lol at this guy. His arguments are funny because NFC has nothing to do with this, the lag input could have been measured with streaming something extremely simple like a map, you're bragging about 720p at 60FPS when not a single game on the Wii U that's been shown has ran at 60FPS (only 30) ... and even then those are pitiful specs for something coming into the market this year.... and 1.5-2X more powerful LOL. Anyways, you completely are ignoring the fact that yea... the Vita helps with processing big time. That with it's MULTI TOUCH capabilities already give it a huge leap ahead. .... and the Wii U does not have an L3 R3 like button either.... derp.

[miamicanesruleall]

The fanbabies always give me a chuckle. The bottom line this generation is Microsoft has won. PS2 was in a dominant market position last gen, that has been completely eroded and as it now stands the two companies are effectively neck and neck in worldwide sales this gen, with Microsoft completely dominant in North America. That is a Microsoft win considering where they came from last gen. Nintendo made out like bandits with the Wii initially, but as of late they have been taking massive losses, much like Sony. So who really wins folks? The answer is clear. If you can't admit it to yourself, that is a you problem. And Microsoft has managed a win despite the red ring of death failure rate fiasco and charging a rather considerable yearly fee for online (the online is good, but come on). Sony has more (and better) exclusives, yet they are struggling. I own a 360 and ps3, and I fear sony's massive losses will effect how they approach the next gen. Microsoft is fattening their pockets at the expense of us gamers (red ring replacement consoles, xbox live gold memberships) and that does not make me very happy, but I'm a gamer and I need my games. Next gen as always I will evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the new consoles and buy one b4 I buy the other, as I bought my 360 2 years b4 I picked up my PS3 this gen. I really feel with the way it's going Microsoft is going to be in a better position to spend more on development and tech for their new machine than sony, and the online component may seal the deal, as sony cannot possibly go the mandatory fee for online route next gen without infuriating their "loyal" fanbase.