Is the Wii U a Next-Gen Console?

"EA is always ready to pick a fight with Nintendo after the company opted to use its own online service, rather than Origin, and has finally had the nerve to say that the Wii U is not a next-generation console. CEO John Riccitiello claims that the next generation hasn’t started yet, even though the Wii U has been released."

[DivineAssault]

nope..

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

[LOL_WUT]

Well said if you enjoy your Wii U then thats fine but it is not a next-gen console. ;)

[PopRocks359]

Even though it came a generation after the Wii.

[Ezz2013]

it's next gen for the WII though..so i think that's why you can call it next gen

[NukaCola]

Wii U = Nintendo games in HD and nothing more, but in the end..that is all I personally want from it. I do not care about the online, the wiiware or the multiplats. This system is for those exclusives, not our next gen priority console.

Next Gen starts on the 20th for me.

[lilbroRx]

Go read the main GAF thread that Digital Foundry prematurely lifted the info from. The guy who did the initial analysis just weighed in and he tells a different story.

He says the chip isn't even based on an AMD design.

" Originally Posted by Jim Morrison, Chipworks:
Been reading some of the comments on your thread and have a few of my own to use as you wish.

1. This GPU is custom.
2. If it was based on ATI/AMD or a Radeon-like design, the chip would carry die marks to reflect that. Everybody has to recognize the licensing. It has none. Only Renesas name which is a former unit of NEC.
3. This chip is fabricated in a 40 nm advanced CMOS process at TSMC and is not low tech
4. For reference sake, the Apple A6 is fabricated in a 32 nm CMOS process and is also designed from scratch. It’s manufacturing costs, in volumes of 100k or more, about $26 - $30 a pop. Over 16 months degrade to about $15 each
a. Wii U only represents like 30M units per annum vs iPhone which is more like 100M units per annum. Put things in perspective.
5. This Wii U GPU costs more than that by about $20-$40 bucks each making it a very expensive piece of kit. Combine that with the IBM CPU and the Flash chip all on the same package and this whole thing is closer to $100 a piece when you add it all up
6. The Wii U main processor package is a very impressive piece of hardware when its said and done.

Trust me on this. It may not have water cooling and heat sinks the size of a brownie, but its one slick piece of silicon. eDRAM is not cheap to make. That is why not everybody does it. Cause its so dam expensive""

DF jumped the gun on getting this article and their analysis up there so fast when people are still hard at work with analyzing the chip as we speak. That article actually made me lose a huge chunk of respect for DF. They stated their opinions like they were fact and didn't even bother to check their sources.

[herbs]

lilbro Rx is completely correct, its nice to see someone actually quote a true proffesional. Digital Foundry and Eurogamer made it sound like they had the GPU specs nailed down 100% but they are infact making some assumptions and there are still some very big??? It's super lame when sites jump the gun like this just for hits on there site because they know the fanboys will eat it up.
This video sums it up eloquently...

http://m.youtube.com/watch?...

[lilbroRx]

Another fact to contradict your arugment.

http://beyond3d.com/showpos...

Bayonetta in Bayonetta 2 has over twice as many polygons in her character model as the original Bayonetta from the 360/PS3 games.

[DivineAssault]

that doesnt mean anything.. Character model polys get doubled all the time & they take away from environment counts.. Even if they didnt, if PS4 did it, she would have quadrupled poly counts on characters & environments.. It doesnt mean the system is nx gen cuz they manipulated designs..

[metroid32]

Try this email from AMD .

http://nintendoculture.file...

That's the real gpu and the retail version runs at 600mhz so it makes sense as the wiiu custom E6760 runs at 550mhz,the retail version has 480 stream processors the wiiu has 380 get it,a custom version basically just shaving the stuff off that sucks up power,to prevent over heating ect.

[juandren]

I am so glad you still believe the "emails" going around. I remember when I was that naive

[HITANDRUN]

tHERE IS NO NEED TO TRY AND MAKE IT RELEVANT to a next gen console, it barely touches the ones now the 360 and ps3, so if we compare then its basically just that a better gpu 360 with lower cpu input. WII-U should not be considered next gen cause if it was you have to conpared it to ps4 and 720 and that will be just a laughed.

[metroid32]

That's why Randy pitchford says it's a powerful powerful console and is making an Unreal Engine 4 FPS for wiiu and ps4 ect but the ps4 devkits had a meltdown and wiiu seems to be doing fine ?

[solid_warlord]

Its NOT in terms of hardware but its Next gen as its going to compete with M$ & $ony's next system. The original Wii also lacked hardware power as ps360 but its still considered current gen but then again, when Wii was first launched most of us didn't have HDTV so no-one really questioned whether Wii was next gen but the Wii U is lacking in all hardware department. I can't see many casuals buying Wii U atleast no way near as much as Original Wii. Sure the die hard Ninty fans have likely arleady brought Wii U but the price of a multi platform game priced more on the Wii U. No thanks. Im sure once Zelda and mario games come out we prob see increase sales but it wouldnt be too significant. I only see people buying Wii U just to play Zelda/Mario games which preety much limits to Ninty faboys.

[SuperShyGuy]

Next definition - immediately afterward
Generation - All of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively

Wii U follows the time that the 360/PS3/wii were born and lived and will be in the same time as the collective of consoles PS4 and 720 will be living

Literally next generation.

[miyamoto]

i remember EA was one of the huge supporters of Nintendo on stage when they revealed the Wii U on E3

[metroidfusion2]

Ea aand so many other people have said this but I'm sure the wii u will prove them wrong just how ninty always or almost always does damn people judge to early and are so stupid lol

[N0S3LFESTEEM]

Stop calling it ninty... everyone. Nintendo

[lilbroRx]

More of this trash. The exact same garbage that they did with the Wii.

[kirbyu]

Who cares?

[shackdaddy]

Like the 500th article to ask this question...

[StraightedgeSES]

let people believe it's not next gen and just enjoy haviving fun on the Wii U.

[MegaLagann]

Was the Gamecube a sixth generation console? Yes.
Was the Wii a seventh generation console? Yes.
Math can be hard sometimes, lord Gaben knows I always struggled with it but if memory serves me right, eight comes after six and seven. So yeah, Wii U is an eighth generation console, well that was simple.

[megamanX2]

Its current gen idiots, and how can something that's out now be next gen anyway? That's like me saying the xbox360, and ps3 is nextgen

[maniacmayhem]

That makes no sense at all.

[-Falaut-]

It is Nintendo's next generation of console. Yes, %100 fact. Is it a next generation technology? No.

[guitar_nerd_23]

As much as I love the Ps1 this made me laugh, "The Gamecube was slightly better than the PS1"

[Nerdmaster]

I thought he was comparing GC to PS2, not PS1. As much as a I agree with the article, that part was a real fail.

[guitar_nerd_23]

Fair makes a lot more sense as a type-o lol

[PopRocks359]

This is stupid. How many of these articles have we had already?

Wii is gen 7.
Wii U is gen 8.
Thats it. Period. End of story.

[shackdaddy]

It's current gen. PS3 and Xbox360 are now last gen :)

[BitbyDeath]

Or are the PS3 and 360 still current gen until they are surpassed by their own nextgen machines?

ie PS4 comes out, makes PS3 lastgen and 360, PS4 and WiiU current gen.

I don't think their is a straight definition for generation in gaming.

[PopRocks359]

@shackdaddy

My mistake, you're right. Wii U by and large is current gen and the upcoming consoles will be as well, leaving all of the gen 7 consoles as part of the last generation.

[tigertron]

In terms of launch cycles, yes it is next next-gen, but in terms of tech then no, it's barely current gen.

[SonyNGP]

It's Nintendo's next generation home console which also happens to be part of the 8th generation of video game consoles, although has the specifications which aren't to be considered "next generation".

Case closed.

[Kamikaze135]

Pretty much. It's foolish to delude yourself into believing that it isn't just because it's not as powerful. I'm sure PC gamers laugh at console gamers when they argue about the Wii U not being next gen because it isn't powerful enough, lol.

[zebramocha]

They really can't as PC's GPU's are not use as efficiently as consoles,the best looking pc game at the time was crysis but killzone achieved similar quality even though the ps3 hardware was out classed,that's not including at launch you couldn't run crysis on max setting.

[solid_warlord]

@zebramocha Crysis 1 for PC rapes killzone graphics

[Kamikaze135]

@zebramocha

Don't kid yourself, lol. Unless you're talking about Crysis running on low settings at a low resolution.

[DwightOwen]

@Kamikaze135

zebramocha must be referring to the gimped console release of Crysis, because the original PC release from 2007 still bitch-slaps everything on consoles with regard to graphics and physics.

[Kamikaze135]

Ah, I forgot it came out on consoles. Yeah, he probably is then. I hope so, lol.

[ps3_pwns]

Current gen tech with barely current gen online. Its basically a wii HD and you only have to look at nsmb wii and nsmb u to see what the wii u really is. The wii u is priced like a next gen console which i will not be buying a wii u until the price gets to 250 and under. I will grab the true next gen systems before i get the wii u and by then the wii u will have some actual games out for it as well.

[tweet75]

its next gen in teh same way wii was next gen to gamecube. The big focus is on changes in how a person interacts with the system rather than system spec improvments

[millzy102]

this is getting stupid. ps1 and Saturn was weaker than ng4 all 3 where gen 5, ps2 was weaker than GameCube which was weaker than xbox all gen 6, Wii was weaker than Xbox which is weaker than ps3 all gen 7 and Wii u is start of gen 8, no consoles match each other in power and power doesn't determine a gen, if power determined gens then all consoles are never next gen that title goes to pc, if you disagree you know Fuck all about gaming and its history and probably only started gaming in the ps2 or ps3 era,

ps sony has only released the most powerful console once and now all these new gamers assume Sony always released powerhouses, this is not the case but what PlayStation had back then before ps3 power bragging rights was games and in the end nothing else materd, what's the point in power if games are rubbish.

[1upgamer99]

How can this article even be on this website...Wii=PS2 Gamecube=PS1 Uh NO....N64 was PS1 gen and N64 had more power BUT Nintendo stuck with the cartridge which limited storage...PS2/Gamecube....Game cube 486mhz Cpu PS2 294mhz Cpu Gamecube 162mhz Gpu PS2 147mhz Gpu...Uh yeah...The Gamecube had more power than PS2 and certainly the Wii had more power than PS2, But Wii was just a Souped up Gamecube...

[MontyQ]

me hazum cheese burger?

[herbs]

This is a frustrating argument that can obviously go both ways so in reality either awnser is infact correct, it all depends on what you personally consider Next Gen to be.

If you consider INNOVATION to be the definition of next gen then YES! Nintendo has created a new way for gamers to interact and control through use of the Gamepad.

However if you look at it from a TECHNOLOGY stand point then absolutely NO! The Wii U is basically on par with current consoles in terms of hardware performace with perhaps only a slight edge overall.

Everyone is right :)

[delboy]

Let the Sonyboys have their fun, ps3 was bashed long enough
Real gamers care only for software and innovation.

And everyone knows who is king in that case.

[Luke_fon_Fabre]

Yes because the generations of consoles aren't defined by graphics. They're defined by the set of consoles that are out. Heck, the 3DS is an 8th gen console.

[DarkSniper]

Hell No.

$niper

[Kaiou]

In term of it's timing , yea it's next gen-ish , In term of hardware.... no, period .

[lovegames718]

Only blind fanboys think the wiiu is nxt gen hardware wise The same ones that thought bo2 would be 1080p nat The same ones that thought zelda tech demo was representative of the next Zelda to come out on wiiu (Nintendo has since said new zelda would be cartoony like skyward sword and 90% of first party games ) The same ones that thought most games would be 1080p nat The same ones that thought most ports on wiiu would be the definitive versions (BO2 Sega all star racing and batman all say a diff story)
Its funny one day df is a trustworthy reputable site, but today their full of it lol really ? They just said what we already knew . The Wiiu gpu is moderate gpu with a weak gcpu. The weak cpu holds the system back because gpu has to pick up cpu slack .
Sony 1st party games from years ago are still best looking consoles games and from what we see from the wiiu nothing now or nothing theyve shown beats out the likes of uc2 , Gow3 and Kz. I dont mention tlou or GOW4 because that's not fair.
As for monolith new game . It looks decent but plz ppl dont exaggerate and say it looks nxt gen . All they showed was a bland open world with zero npcs or enemies lol and ppl hype it up.
For the ppl that thought Ps4 wouldn't be noticeably more powerful and 1st party games wont run circle around Wiiu prepare yourselves GG, ND, SM and others will show you how its done.

[landog]

its next gen as far as nintendo is concerned

if we defined gens purely on power pc would be 4 generations ahead of ps3/360

we go by the manufacturers labeling

iphone 3, 4, 5

ps1, 2, 3, 4

this is a gen, not what you think it should be, what the manufactuer labels it

if you think ps4 and nextbox are going to be 10x more powerful than the wii u, get ready for disappointment, not all ps4 and nextbox games will even be 1080p

there will still be lower res games, some at 30 frames, some at 60, some with crappy aa and jaggies still, some will look perfect

from the leaked specs the ps4/nextbox will be stronger than the wii u, but a ton stronger, about in line with a 3-4 year old, mid spec gaming rig

[wiiulee]

im glad you use miiverse as the photo for the article which answers your question of course its next generation its an innovative and unique approach to things not thought of or capable of last generation

[megamanX2]

lol you people sure are stupid.

[Droid Control]

will N always be one generation behind the competition in terms of specs?

[gamingmaster2013]

'is the wii u a next-gen console?'....

go home ur drunk

[Belking]

Of course it is.

[Ippiki Okami]

Nope its not. http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

from the article: "It was ballpark speculation at the time based on what we had eyeballed at the event, but the final GPU is indeed a close match to the 4650/4670, albeit with a deficit in the number of texture-mapping units and a lower clock speed - 550MHz. AMD's RV770 hardware is well documented so with these numbers we can now, categorically, finally rule out any next-gen pretensions for the Wii U - the GCN hardware in Durango and Orbis is in a completely different league. However, the 16 TMUs at 550MHz and texture cache improvements found in RV770 do elevate the capabilities of this hardware beyond the Xenos GPU in the Xbox 360 - 1.5 times the raw shader power sounds about right. [Update: It's generally accepted that the PS3 graphics core is less capable than Xenos, so Wii U's GPU would be even more capable. 1080p resolution is around 2.5x that of 720p, so bearing in mind the inclusion of just eight ROPs, it's highly unlikely that we'll be seeing any complex 3D titles running at 1080p."

[Belking]

being next gen has nothing to do with specs dude. It's nintendo's next gen system so it is next gen. Nobody said it was or had to be more powerful. In that case my pc has more power than ps4 and xbox720 so they aren't next gen either?...lol