Wii U Current Gen? Specs Details Discussed

The Wii U's specifications were released recently and there's a big question on how Wii U will fare against its next competitors: the "Xbox 720", codenamed Durango, and the "PS4", codenamed Orbis. IMGMR discusse's the Wii U's level of power; is it truly next-generation or not?

[osiris]

I dont know, Nintendo leading the futur? Its been a while i haven't seen that...

[djslimzz]

Everything handheld? Im sure the same will happen with the Wii U

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

What if soccer moms don't buy it? Like they did the wii.

[darthv72]

maybe not now but at some point i think consoles will serve a 2nd role as a portable.

There have been a few entries before but they failed for many different reasons. A good example is the sega nomad. It was a portable genesis that could plug into a tv and a 2nd controller could plug into it and it became a full fledged genesis from the basic pov.

Where i thought it was a good idea was the psp go. It capitalized on the tv out support of the psp 2000 and 3000 but added in real bluetooth controller support when you had it hooked to a tv.

It was like a ps2 portable but the lack of direct game playback (UMD) was a real downer. Still, a great idea that surprisingly was left out of the vita.

Perhaps a vita slim will put it back but the idea of the touch screens would sort of cause control issues. Unless they were to make the camera move compatible.

Things are getting smaller and more convenient. I know the thought of todays console power or even high end pc power in the palm of your hand may seem hard to believe but technology is improving to the point where such a concept could be true.

[ab5olut10n]

@darth, well fucking said mate

[djslimzz]

Point made my dear

[Donnieboi]

The "U" in Wii U stands for "Underwhelming".

[dakunclear]

the thing is that you guys don't seem to get is that the wii only sold 90 some odd million units and your saying sony and microsoft can only dream of but if I remember correctly the best selling console of all time was the ps2 which sold roughly 153 million units which is nearly double what the wii sold so sony def knows what its like but look at how well sony did this round terrible but look at how bad nintendo did with the gamecube

[candybooty]

I honestly couldn't care less of the specs. It's all about the game. The Wii was crap compared to X360 and PS3 but a title like Mario Galaxy was all I needed to justify my purchase of a Wii because to me, it was a better game than what X360 or PS3 could have produced.

But then again, it's all about opinion.

[Jinkies]

"because to me, it was a better game than what X360 or PS3 could have produced."

Right...ok then

Best Wii game, fine but best console game this gen...no

EDIT

@Below

"What you look for in a game and what I look for in a game are completely different. Yeah the graphics were WAY better on X360 or PS3"

When did I mention graphics ?

[nassour]

Well the playing field's changed in gaming, being the best doesn't mean the strongest or the best graphics, with sales declining being the best is which company thrives to push our industry more!

[candybooty]

@Jinkies

What you look for in a game and what I look for in a game are completely different. Yeah the graphics were WAY better on X360 or PS3, but that's not what a game is to me.

For me a game is about the enjoyment I get out of a period of play. How interactive it is and how great of a lasting impression it has. Nintendo manages to have first party titles that manage to consistently give me that feeling and for that, I believe it's in the game and not the console.

[Nevers0ft]

In your opinion, what was the best console game this gen and based on what criteria?

[Jinkies]

@Nevers0ft

I don't believe in something being the "best"

I understand a game being better then the other but you can never say one game is the best unless you put it in a certain way or if you name a number of them, like....

"Best games on the PS1"
"Best games on the PS2"
"Best games on the Xbox"

[farhad2k8]

I'm sorry, but in what way is Mario Galaxy better than the Uncharted series? Because I simply can't see it, I've played both series, and there's no way Mario Galaxy is better.

[Zhipp]

I played Uncharted and I thought that,aside from the graphics, it was boring. I played Mario Galaxy at Walmart and I couldn't wait to play more. The games are so fundamentally different, though, that It's hard to describe exactly WHY one would prefer one to another.

[Getowned]

I preferred Uncharted over Mario Galaxy, Uncharted 2 is my favorite game this gen in terms of story telling and adventure. Mario Galaxy was a good game but I wouldn't say it was the best. I like games with a actual story to them, unless they're MP only games. Mario Galaxy had a boring story to me, yeah yeah princess peach got captured AGAIN... Honestly if I was Mario, I would of been like "meh.. keep her" *flys off into space with Rosalina*.. The story line in the Uncharted games where amazing and I couldn't stop playing to see what would happen next, unlike mario were all I wanted to do was to stop being upside down for five minutes throughout the game. to each his own. I guess as the saying goes "One man's trash is another man's treasure" as are with video games, you may not like a game, but it could be someone's favorite.

[Kos-Mos]

Mario Galaxy IS a better GAME than unchartered. I`m sorry to break to you. But there are facts about what is good and bad in gaming as well. Your opinion is not valid in this case.

[sitharrefus]

Until we know the specs of the Next Gen xbox and ps4 then we shouldnt make arguments like yours. I am sure they will be powerful but do you think Microsoft and sony is going to charge again around 600 dollars for a console?

The Wii u its fine it will have ports and good games its to early to define its future!

[NYC_Gamer]

Wii-U won't be able to compete with PS4/720 hardware wise..Nintendo will have its own market with that tablet controller and first party software..It's hard to tell if certain studios will even bother with Wii-U once PS4/720 launch due to the limited specs that few developers are pointing out...

[Dovahkiin]

Don't see why anyone would disagree with this, it will most likely be the case. It more or less was with the Wii too.

[Neoprime]

Because he doesn't know if it will have a mid-upgrade or something that proves otherwise.

[jmc8888]

Well I didn't downvote it, but it's a bit out there to say that because the tech doesn't exist to be vastly past the Wii U.

Even a top of the line PC isn't...waaaay past a Wii U.

If you played a PC game on HIGH and then skipped over Very high and went to ULTRA, is there a BIG difference, or simply a decent one?

That's the point, because it takes a ton of extra power, that is very expensive and sucks up power to create. All that money for a very small gain. High to Ultra isn't a big difference visually, but how much raw power it takes to create it is a massive difference.

This is the point, whatever the PS4/720 do, it'll be more powerful, and probably be able to hit very high and maybe borderline ultra graphics...but compared to 'high' settings, is that going to create a situation where Nintendo cannot compete?

Not even.

Especially when you consider the Wii U is already cheaper than what the PS4/720 will launch at most likely, and be in line for a price cut either at or within the first six months their first competitor console launches.

So high for $279 deluxe or very high...almost ultra for the deluxe version at $499?

That's why people are downvoting it. They realize that you'll need 5x the power to make a halfway significant difference in graphics. 10-15x the difference to make the other one vastly behind. Well the PS4/720 won't be 5x as powerful as the Wii U, and thus the Wii U will compete quite well with it.

[Neko608]

@jmc8888 Think you nailed it!

[Jon_Fu_]

Hey baby, wanna play with my Wii U? Hey, where you going!? I'm so lonely.

[djslimzz]

Wanna play Wii U with me?

[Gamer-Z]

you'd be surprised

[Yangus]

No,little better,but not true next-gen.

[LOL_WUT]

The Wii U is current gen spin it however you want.

[Qrphe]

Well, it IS current gen since the current gen started less than a week ago.

[RumbleFish]

Current gen started with BF3 on PC.

[Summons75]

Well yes wiiu is current gen because current gen was started with the release of wiiu. Ps360 are last gen now

[christheredhead]

Its definitely next gen, unless the meaning has changed recently. Which that does tend to happen depending on who you talk to.

I still have yet to figure out what "true next gen" even means though.

[gemugurl]

It is next-gen, just like the next playstation and xbox

[candybooty]

Specs-wise, I'd probably consider the WiiU in a middle ground, we know that X720 and PS4 (yes, that's what I'm calling them and I know it's not official) are consoles that will rely on raw power. Seeing as they'll be released much later than the Wii U (perhaps a year or more), we know that PS4 and X720 will work hard at making software that pushes Wii U aside.

[ronin4life]

The next xbox seems to be shaping up to be more of a kinect/apple tv machine. And while sony has made statements implying they won't release their next system soon, further back they said they also won't make a power leap like the ps3.

So if we go off what we are being told, it would seem less likely that a huge leap is inbound.

[chronoforce]

the wii U success falls squarely on whether publishers and Devs take the EPIC Games attitude and work on making their engines very scalable, that way ports would be much easier to handle.

[jmc8888]

They already are.

Remember people Crysis 2 (on 360/PS3) utilizes CryEngine 3.

That's a 'next gen' engine that is capable of being on 'this gen'.

Same with frostbite 2 engine and Battlefield 3.

So YES, they don't need to expand the scale at all, it was already created to allow for their previous iterations of their IP's...Battlefield 3 and Crysis 2 to be played on the 360.

....thus the Wii U can play next-gen games regardless of anything else. (and we've only just tapped the power of the Wii U...it isn't massive, but there's more under the hood than what's been shown so far)

So if last gen can play next-gen games, so can the Wii U. It also means the 360/PS3 support won't be pulled for awhile. Well 360's at least.

[deletingthis34675334]

Technically the current generation is the eighth generation and the 360, PS3, and Wii are last gen consoles, so yes it is. It's just going to be the weakest console this generation.

[Shnazzyone]

that's fine because ps2 was the weakest console of it's gen and ps1 was the weakest console of it's gen. Both those consoles were also the best selling. In fact for the last 3 gens the least powerful consoles have won their console wars.

[Jek_Porkins]

Its a next gen console because "next gen" isn't a term describing the power or technical prowess of a console, rather the number in which it was released, so even though the Wii was the weakest current gen console, it was still next gen along with PS3 and the Xbox 360.

[2pacalypsenow]

I haven't been interested in a nintendo console since the N64 don't really care about this one either but looks decent

[Eyeco]

The problem that I have with the wii u is with its controller , the same Problem I had with the Wii mote which was I found it to be a different way of playing games not an 'innovative" or "better" way of playing games , because as far as I'm concerned the wii note added almost nothing to core games with a handfull of exceptions.

Because let's be realistic the best game on the wii and arguably this gen was SMG, and that game never really benefited of motion controls it still would have been excellent with a standard controller

But my question is, is the wii u controller gonna be utiilised properly by developers? Because let's be frank most devs never really cared about the wii which is why allot of the time they felt tacked on (I got that feeling on SMG) lets just wait and see

[ElectricKaibutsu]

I kinda liked Zelda.

[ChampOfChamps]

You'd be surprised, the controller is pretty nifty and has A LOT more capabilities than you'd think at first glance.

Your question, however, remains the real question: how far can developers take the potential of this console and/or controller with their games?

Wait and see indeed.

[SugarSoSweet]

lol Nintendoodoo know their piece of crap doesn't stand a chance against the PS4 and the 720 so they'll use this stupid iphone tablet wannabe in a cheap attempt to impress casual gamers

[younghavok]

Blops 2 on WiiU runs better than both the ps3 and the 360, and not only that, it does it on two screens at the same time without a framerate hit. THis is 1st gen, launch ish, wait until the developers have time to take advantage of the hardware and then judge. I dont think the leap will be that great between the 3 in the end, referring to the durango and orbis WiiU. Probably PS2-gc-xbox all over again with the WiiU playing the PS2. Time will tell how much money developers are willing to spend on titles in the coming cycle.

[potedude]

The battery life of the gamepad is 3-4 hours????

That is a deal breaker for me right there. If I have a day off work I can do a solid 8 hour gaming stint. That means charging it twice if I am playing intensively. How long does a charge take? Is there a long cable that I can use so I can sit on my couch?

I really think that such a short game time before charging would get old so quickly. I complain when I have to do my PS3 controller after several days lol...

[gemugurl]

Agree the battery life seems kinda low

[younghavok]

its not really that bad, i mean the battery life does suck, but the charge cord is pretty long and if your like me you have a few spare plugs nearby that will easilly accomodate you. I've put about 6 or 7 hours into blops 2, had it about 3 days, spent most of that time on the gamepad on my couch or in my bed before bed. Trust me when I say this thing works great.

[teezanpleez]

hummmmm i still dont understand ... is it a good or a bad thing ??

[Nefario6]

Yup, battery Life could be better.

[stragomccloud]

When people look at how the ports aren't vastly superior like they were on 360 compared to xbox, the reason for this is simple.

There was a maaaaaasaive leap in tech from the xbox gen to the 360 gen. Because of that, when a game was ported you could literally just move the code over modify the resolution and for the most part it worked.

Current gen tech isn't a power leap over what is available that it makes some thing like that easy.

Case in point... console games that are ported to PCs. Most modern Pcs are significantly more powerful, at least 5X. 10-15X more powerful if you've a high end rig. That said, look at how ports like Fallout New Vegas and Borderlands fair. You need significantly more powerful hardware just to run the games at a solid framerate and nice resolution. This is because of the fact that these console games are so specifically tailored to a certain piece of hardware that it makes things difficult with something more foreign like a PC.

The same goes for the Wii U. It might be possible that the CPU is slower than what is currently available, it might not be. I'm not going to speculate on that because of all of the conflicting reports. However, everyone seems to indicate that the GPU is really great and it's not a slouch in the ram department. Since current gen consoles are slouches in the GPU department(especially PS3), yet remarkably resilient in the CPU department(PS3 again), it makes sense that ports of current gen consoles that are designed to be CPU heavy and light on the GPU have issues. As more developers figure out the GPGPU for the Wii U and learn how best to balance its' assets I'm sure we'll see some impressive things.

Anyway, any PC gamer knows that when you're selecting components for a gaming rig, GPU/RAM is more a lot more important than a good CPU.

[wiiulee]

not only is the wiiu the next generation leap in gameplay as well it is also in graphics from everything developers have said , differences in graphics will be hard to distinguish this next generation and the wiiu is ahead to stay for good....next few months will say it all

[daclynk]

Sigh....why do people insist on these stupid arguments. It has all been seen and done before. N64 - Mario 64 as launch title. Compare it to Perfect Dark or Majoras mask. HUGE difference. Gamecube - Luigis mansion. Compare it to Resident Evil 4. HUGE difference. Wii - Red Steel. Compare to Red steel 2,Mh Tri, Xenoblade or Skyward Sword. HUGE difference. The moral of this story? It takes time to understand and then utilize the hardware and already Game like zumbi U and NintendoLand show so much potential the Wii U has.It also has different all control options for everyone.From the casual, family, core, tech and entertainment crowds and the Miiverse is new and fresh online ideas.Nintendo has it own game engines and art styles that they use for their game that why people love them so much.I think people will be surprise they will be able in pull of in FULL HD 1080 which was last time i check is powerful than the PS3 and Xbox 360.so you HATE it STFU and Get over it.Haters dumb dumb people

[coolmaster]

The Wii U has not got that feeling of "freshness". That's why it can't be considered as a next generation console. Both PS4 and the next Xbox will have this feeling though for sure. They will blow us away with the level of visuals, convinience and performance.
The Wii U can be called a current generation system as it won't last long. When the two big boys will arrive, it should take its place.

[millzy102]

actually yes it does. sorry mate but I'm a happy ps3 owner and soon to be Wii u owner, zombiu did it for me believe it or not and why its probably not the best looking game this year its a true survival horror that's been missing last gen with the shit they've done to resident evil and even my favourite survival horror silent hill going down the pan I want a fresh new survival horror experience only the Wii u can offer. I have a psvita aswel and I don't see the vita and ps3 working together that well. only cross play online seems to work for them but streaming a ps3 game to that thing is not going to happen. or might have limited uses but I se the Wii u as fresh as it comes at the moment. plus I don't have to stick to portables when my Mrs is playing ps3 anymore we both can have a home console experience at the same time without investing in another tv. plus and I am going to say it but I am not missing out on zelda I have compleated every one since a link to the past and I don't plan on stopping now.

[JohnDread]

I don't get this whole "current gen" discussion. At least label it different. It obviously is "next gen". It's the next freaking home console. There was Wii, and whatever comes after it, just is next gen. You can't just rely on console lifecycles being similar forever. You might not be able to tell the generations apart at all, if you keep argueing like this.

[Neko608]

I think we will soon be getting to the law of diminishing returns as far as specs are concerned...

The next XBox or PS will probably only be able to perform as well as PCs are going to be performing a year from now. So what? Sure current games look better on PC, but you can still get them on current gen.

I'm an unabashed PS fanboy, but I think the Wii U is going to be fantastic.