Wii U's Reportedly Underwhelming Hardware Unlikely to Matter

1UP- A lot about the Wii U remains unknown. We do know it's coming later this year and many more details are going to be shared at E3 in June. In the meantime, a new report has emerged suggesting the system is less powerful than many expect.

Multiple sources have indicated to GamesIndustry.biz that the Wii U is less powerful than both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Nintendo didn't exactly go cutting-edge with the technology it used in the Wii, but we're now talking about a system being underpowered as compared with systems that will have been out for seven and six years, respectively, at the time of the Wii U's launch.

That doesn't inspire confidence that Wii U will be anything more than a stopgap for when the "real" next-gen consoles come along a year or two later. But does this report actually make sense, and if it's true, does it even matter?

[GribbleGrunger]

so we've had rumours that it's more powerful than the 360 and the PS3, and we've debated that as fact. now that we have a rumour that suggests it less powerful we are going to debate it as if it's true. two rumours do not make a fact when neither are more plausible than the other. what we have here is a situation where the rumours are indirectly telling us to just wait and see

[maniacmayhem]

Funny how these sites jump on a rumor and run with it.

One rumor about the WiiU being underpowered by an unnamed source and now all these articles.

Wouldn't you say the media is biased towards Nintendo?

[PopRocks359]

I've seen more people treat this new rumor as fact as oppose to the quotes from companies like EA, Vigil and THQ suggesting that it's either on par or stronger than current HD hardware. One anonymous source should not be enough to discredit the bigger names.

[dark-hollow]

You know a better solution? Let us stop judging next Gen consoles with rumors either negative or positive till everything is announced.

E3 isnt far away.

[richierich]

Well if it isnt more poweful then thats a deal breaker for me for sure I dont see the point in buying a less powerful and probably more expensive console just for its tablet controller

[yabhero]

Hmm... do I trust gameindustry.biz's unnamed developers the day after April fools or THQ, Crytek, EA, Gearbox and Vigil?

[BitbyDeath]

Best to not trust any of them and just wait for E3.

[yabhero]

I think I trust Ea, epic, gearbox, crytek... i mean they have devs kits...

[PopRocks359]

@BitbyDeath

The idea is to pick a source that seems more credible.

[BitbyDeath]

@PopRocks359, i pick Nintendo :-p

[dark-hollow]

But you got to believe it!
Its Nintendo! and they a have a long record of releasing weak consoles which are:

1-wii
....
....
....

[legend911]

The Wii-U looks better and is more powerful, I don't want to go into detail, research it if you want proof. If you're a fanboy, close this page as you're going to not listen to reason as clearly as you should.

[Shok]

Just watch mah vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[richierich]

Just watched your vid I hope that your right about the WiiU being more powerul. You make a lot of good points on the vid I must say. Your voice sounds like President Obamas btw. Good vid:)

[lionelglitchy]

whaaat the fresh prince is back in the house!!!!!!!

[jacen100]

good vid and you totally right, fanboys want to beleive there ps360's are the muts nuts but there in for a slaughtering when the wiiU arrives

[Ness-Psi]

good video, totally agree.

[Ihaa]

I swear to god, one troll makes a post about it being underwhelming, how about everyone listens to the other 20 devs that said it surpasses current gen consoles by a lot.

[PopRocks359]

Some do. Though the same two or three guys who go and disagree with every comment that looks at things factually seem to think differently.

[DrRobotnik]

Everybody forgets Nintendo doesn't care about graphical power of their consoles. They could have made N64 better by using 700mb disk instead of 200mb carts. They could have made the Gamecube more powerful then the xbox and/or actually used dvd's instead of mini disk. They could have made the Wii as powerful or in league with the 360/ps3, but chose to re-release the gamecube with motion controls and dvd format games. Check the history of Nintendo(if you old enough to remember back).Every competitive system released along side nintendo's was always more powerful. But those other systems did not have Mario,zelda,metroid and poke'mon.

[Instigator]

Medium capacity isn't directly linked to graphics. Just look at 360 and PS3. BDs are lightyears ahead of DVDs, but the graphical different is so small it would be patethic to pick on it.

Also, earlier Nintendo consoles has always been on par with the competition in regards to hardware. The N64 was even slightly more powerful than the PS1, and the GC more than the PS2. 3rd parties chose the Sony consoles and Xbox instead because of the medium allowing more content, not because they produced better graphics.

[DrRobotnik]

For all the disagrees. http://www.gametrailers.com... here you go.

[aquamala]

Are there really people that think current consoles are powerful in 2012? Of course wii u will be more powerful, how much more powerful all depend on the price point Nintendo wants. No way it will only have 512mb of ram!

[CaptainN]

Everyone please just watch this interview and go to the 25 sec mark to end this stupid debate.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

10 % PEOPLE !!!!!

[jay2]

Yes I do care, it's what the Wii should have been, why should I waist money on someone that might not even be on per with nearly decade hardware?

[donman1]

Yep... some no name developer talks nonsense and the simple minded run with it. To date... all AAA developers that have come out and gave their 2 cents on the WiiU all say it is more powerful. Plus director Brian Martel had this to say today "Wii U Has “More RAM” Than Current Consoles And “Really Great Processor...Wii U version of Aliens: Colonial Marines will be one of the best looking versions of the game when it launches later this year.”

Enough said.
http://mynintendonews.com/2...

[donman1]

Here is the actual video interview.

http://www.nintendo-gamer.n...

So this should stop the stupid talk of the Wii U being under powered when compared to the PS3/Xbox360.

[stragomccloud]

That's stupid. Even the Wii was a lot more capable than consoles of the generation before it. Though light years behind PS360.