Wii U's GPU is Highly Efficient - Not Magical Fantasy

NintenGen writes "Now while I don't disagree that the Wii U has a ton of untapped potential in the way of it's GPU and CPU usage in the way it was originally designed for use with the system; some of the information in that article was not correct and must be commented on since it deals directly with a topic I started on this website a while ago."

[Neonridr]

Very good read. Wish more people would understand that the Wii U was built completely different than the 360 or PS3. Thus games that aren't optimized to take advantage of its strengths naturally won't showcase its extra toolsets.

Ironically enough this is exactly the same for PS4 and XB1 games. If developers are building these games on old gen hardware and then trying to simply port it over, a lot of showcasing ability is lost because the games are poorly optimized for the new hardware's architecture.

[eyeofcore]

Everyone should know that we should't judge capability of a console by cheap/low budget ports, same thing happened to PlayStation 3 in its first years with cheap/low budget ports that ran poorly.

[Muffins1223]

But that did not stop its first party ips from looking next gen at the time,something Nintendo has failed to do even with their own ips for the wiiu. And on top of that its allot easier to develop for compared to how hard it was to develop for the ps3's launch. And even the harder to develop for ports on ps3 looked better for its time compared to wiiu,wiiu looks like it plays last gen games ( battlefield 3, metro , or any 3rd part title playable on a 360) Though those games may be next gen looking for a Nintendo gamer, allot of gamers had this quality 5 years ago and suspect better. Your just making excuses for it and you know it, yes the ports aren't exactly optimized but there not even close to ps3 unoptimized. Ive seen brawl and mario 3D land, does not even come close to looking as good as what my pc or ps4 can do.

You cant name a single 3rd party game on wiiu that's not on ps3 or 360,true next gen games like the division is stuff that CANT run on the wiiu. If its not on a ps3, it wont be on wiiu and so far that stands for every 3rd party title lol.

[stragomccloud]

Actually Nintendo's efforts like Pikmin 3, Super Mario 3D World, and Mario Kart 8 look extremely "next gen." Two of those 3 games are 1080p 60fps to boot.

[Neonridr]

Muffins - Project Cars perhaps? (assuming this game ever sees the light of day)...

[Neonridr]

@Muffins - and yet I bet you were spouting about how great GTA V or TLOU were a mere 6 months ago. Amazing how games of that fidelity are now considered garbage. The Wii U could do games of that nature and then some. Which is perfectly fine with me.

[mcstorm]

@Muffins1223 I have to disagree uc 1 and MS 1 did not look next gen. they were fun games but nothing that made me go wow like uc2 and MS 2 did. I also agree with stragomccloud I would also add dk into this as it looks amazing. Yes these games are not life like games but that's not the point. The Wiiu is a very underrated console ESP on here but every gen there is one console less powerful than and one that is more powerful than the others but a gen has never been won in power and great games are not made great by the power of a console if that was true then the psx, ps2 and Wii would not of had amazing games on them.

[weekev15]

@muffins lego city undercover, wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2.

Do I win a prize.

OT Neons first post says all that needs said.

[ProjectVulcan]

I did wonder about that guy waffling on about the power supply and GPU performance of of Wii U.

I commented saying he is wrong, he doesn't seem to know what he is on about- despite the claim he is a developer.

I thought well if true, why is he talking what seems like rubbish to me.

This article makes it clear that he actual has no official credibility.

Can't say that surprises me I had my doubts

[yewles1]

@vulcan

It gets worse when you realize his speculations of utilizing the E6760 for the GPU got debunked by chipworks, failoverfl0w and marcan42...

[Realplaya]

Muffins Mario 3d World, Pikmin 3, W101, Zelda windwaker HD, and Donkey Kong TF all say Hello.

[bobacdigital]

@stragomccloud both Pikmin 3 and SuperMario 3D world render at 720 and output at 1080p ... Also I believe Pikmin 3 is 30 fps while Mario 3D world is 60fps.... Other than Rayman Legends I am not sure of a native 1080p game running at 60fps on the Wii U yet?

Mariokart is rumored to be 1080p @ 60 fps along with Smash ... Hopefully when it is released it isnt 720 rendered and 1080p output...

[Neonridr]

no Pikmin is definitely 60fps. Rayman is 100% native 1080p/60fps. Digital Foundry did a test on that.

[stragomccloud]

Actually, optimization isn't a problem on PS4 and XB1 since it's a very familiar architecture made from off the shelf mobile parts.

[deafdani]

Pikmin 3 is 720p. So is Mario 3D World.

That leaves us with Mario Kart 8, which hasn't been released yet, so the jury is still out on that one.

Don't spread misinformation, please. Anyway, 720p or not, Mario 3D World is still a marvel to look at, both artistically and technically. So, who cares?

[Neonridr]

for new development it won't be an issue. I was merely referring to games that are developed with multiple platforms in mind. Assassin's Creed, CoD, BF4, etc, were all holding back the PS4 and XB1 versions because the code was not being built for the ground up for the next gen versions. They basically upgraded the resolution and added a few bells and whistles, but the game still didn't run flawlessly because x86 architecture is nothing like the Cell processor / 360 architecture.

[stragomccloud]

Oh okay. Thanks for the clarification Neonrdr.

It was not my intent to spread misinformation regarding the resolution of Super Mario 3D world. I should have checked my facts. Super Mario 3D worlds is indeed 720p 60fps. My mistake. I'd edit my original posting if I could.

[Joey_Leone]

Stop talking and bring out the games then.

[R00bot]

They've already brought lots of games, certainly more than Sony or Microsoft have brought to their next-gen offerings.

[3-4-5]

Wii U just needs more games that everyone wants to play.

* Mario Kart & Smash Brothers will help, but it needs a few more.

The hardware is fine.

If 50 new awesome SNES games were released this year they would sell a ton. It's the games not the graphics.

[herbs]

The Wii U is the last console with exotic hardware like a console should have. The Xbone and PS4 are just streamlined entry and mid level PCs built for the masses. I just built my first gaming PC for $500 and now I have access to an enormous library of awesome games for a fraction of the price all running in 1080p 60fps 64player no problem. I use my Wii U pro controller and have set up my Wiimotes-Nunchucks for FPS's which admittedly was a huge pain in the ass to get to work but the end result is awesome...

[BattleN]

I like this kind of info becouse I'm not familiar with nerd spec talk so thanks to news like this it's made easier to understand haha!

Glad wiiu can hold its own! Wii u what a relief to know!

[deSSy2724]

At the same time, X1 and PS4 are very different compared to Wii U.

Now, you tell me.... which arhitecture is developers choice?

[Neonridr]

XB1 and PS4 allow developers the luxury of creating games across PC/PS4/XB1 seamlessly. The Wii U definitely has a different architecture as it is still built around Power PC tech.

Thus the Wii U requires some extra time and effort to optimize properly, something 3rd party devs are not going to want to waste their time on sadly.

[deSSy2724]

Exactly that was my point. You wont see big 3rd party support because of that but not only because of that, hardware wise, Wii U is between PS3/360 and PS4/X1 (closer to PS3/360).

[mate9791]

Right lets stop being stupid now all this power talk just equates to what results you get out of your hardware so highly efficient is powerful ??? when we associate power to actual graphics results.

[lemoncake]

The console is great at bringing nintendos cartoony art style games to the hd era, shame there aren't more companies making and bringing those types of games to the console as the wii u might have had more success.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

It will have more success, once people realize that photo realism is becoming overrated and that there is money to be made using less expensive art styles that will still look gorgeous.
That goes for all systems,btw. I'd love to see more art styles for more games across all systems.

[kwandar]

The issue, as the author states, is that 3rd parties are going to be reluctant to develop games specifically for the Wii U, without lots of Wii U consoles in the market.

They already have development teams that can run X86 architecture that can be ported to PC, XB1 and PS4 without much issue. Wii U however is a whole different kettle of fish/programming.

Nintendo needs to "buy" 3rd party development and exclusives to start to move market. Sony did it with the PS3 which was a flop for the first year. Nintendo can too, and they have the cash to make it happen.

[Radentangr]

Do Nintendo really need to buy third party support? Once Mario Kart is released they have all the same heavy hitters out from their Wii generation. Perhaps they should use the money to market the console differently with the release of Mario Kart? Then they can cater to the family by bringing a Nintendo inspired match 3, bubble pop and other mobile style games like a Mario World city builder to market. The market does not need Nintendo to jump on the same meat train as others, they have the IPs to dominate while focusing on the family.

[kwandar]

Yes, they do need to buy third party support (or defray development costs), until the install base increases to the point that developers can make money on AAA games.

Let me put it this way - games sells for $50 retail, which means that the developer/publisher is at best getting $25. With an install base of 5MM units only, they have to sell to 40% of the install base, an impossibly high number. That is before I even start to factor in marketing costs.

Realistically the install base has to be >20MM to make money. A "hit" would sell to 10% of the install base and that would only cover a $50MM development budget.

[elninels]

I think I would actually play a Mario world city builder.

[Chrischi1988]

Most new 3rd Party games cost $70.

Then a port with optimizations doesnt cost the developers 50million. We are talking about multiplatts here and not an exclusive game. Nintendo has enough exclusives, the problem is the 3rd party support.

I read somewhere, that for devs a console starts to become profitable, if the install base reaches around 9 million consoles, not 20.

Then again, if I were a baker, who makes great bread and get 3 different orders, one for 50 breads, 1 for 100 breads and 1 for 150 breads, I still make profit on all of them, yes I make most on the third order, but I am in the business for profits and not for, I gain more here, yes, but you gain even more, if you do all.

[kwandar]

@Chrischi1988

I actually run a software company (no, not games :) and your bakery analogy doesn't quite work.

The issue is resources. You only have so many people, and you aren't allowed to idle them for too long, as it costs way too much money. So transitioning between platforms isn't that simple.

To use your bakery example, it would be like adding an expensive new specialized oven in order to serve those 50 people, but being unable to use the oven to serve the other 250 people.

There is a high fixed cost, and you want to reduce the risk by ensuring that what you can produce has the widest audience possible.

I take your point about game costs ($70) and development costs (I was shooting from the hip) but would point out that our of the $70 there is also a licensing fee to Nintendo which I'd guess is 25 - 30%?

[Radentangr]

@Kwandar

Thank you for the reply. I just don't see how third party support can fix the fact most casuals believe the Wii U is a peripheral still? Plus how would a weaker console port of Fifa or Destiny help drive sales on the Wii U? The cost to fund AAA is insane, they are better off creating mobile device spin offs that promote the Wii U (for example the Yoshi Game on Nintendo Land). How many buyers could they get from making a mario kart one level demo on iOS and linking it out saying "get the full experience only on the Wii U"? My point is, marketing is needed more than third party support simply because casual gamers will only buy 5-10 games et al and Nintendo has that covered with their own IPs.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

You know, I almost agreed with you, but then you mentioned "buying third party support".

Think back to the kinds of games that Nintendo got from people like EA and Warner Bros and others during the launch of the Wii U.

Bugs everywhere, poor graphical optimization, missing DLC, entire modes gone, better deals on similar games going to older consoles, there were tons of mistakes made by these third parties.

Mistakes that could have been avoided had they taken the time to get used to the architecture, then either make the ports better, or made exclusives.

Now, are you seriously telling me that you think Nintendo should PAY for examples like Sniper Elite V2, Mass Effect 3, and so many other bad ports?

Because that's likely what will happen with most of them, going forward; many of the ports, will be bad ones.
I, for one, do not want a game like The Witcher when it's not going to get any of its DLC and will be poorly optimized on top of that. I'd rather see The Witcher's devs make a game that's built around the different architecture of the Wii U.

Look I get where you're coming from, but let's get realistic here: EVEN INDIES ARE SUPPORTING THE WII U WITH BETTER GAMES THAN THE MAJORITY OF THE BIG NAME AAA THIRD PARTIES...

There's very few exceptions, and two of them[TW101 & Rayman Legends] were built as exclusives, around the console, properly.

No, doing what the PS3 did by driving themselves into debt to grab every third party game that hits the market, is not a good strategy.
If they're going to pay third parties to do anything, then they should go out of their way to pick a select few of them to develop exclusive games, that are built around the console.
Games that won't be dumbed-down ports with missing bits and worse visuals.

The multiplat gate is pretty much shut to Nintendo now that people like Bethesda and EA have either stopped trying on the Wii U or never wanted to try at all, due to not wanting to learn how to make better use of the different architecture.

Wii U's path to success lies, for the most part, in better exclusives that won't rely on super-photo-realistic graphics.[or very specific multiplats that don't use said graphics, like The Lego Movie Game]

Most AAA third parties cannot be trusted to develop for the Wii U at this point; it's either support the indies that will become the next big AAA devs to get an in-road early, or do what's listed above.

Hopefully both at once.

[kwandar]

If Nintendo are going to guarantee $10MM (likely $5MM cash and $5MM cross-marketing promotions) then they are also going to specify the parameters of the game (ie. it is "AAA",)that the game must be "native" to the Wii U, and that it be exclusive to the Wii U for an initial period.

Ten million sounds like a lot, but if it drives consoles sales, it is a drop in the bucket.

Nintendo likely recovers 25-30% from sales of 3rd party IP on its console too, so what Nintendo would really be doing is eliminating their profits on 3rd party IP in favour of gaining console sales. Nintendo is still earning on their own IP on the added consoles sold.

In fact, I'd argue it is the ONLY realistic course of action for Nintendo to take to generate console sales.

Do it a dozen times on AAA 3rd party IP, particularly with some timed exclusivity, and Nintendo will rocket. 3rd party, particularly in what I'd call the "hard core adult" genre, is something Nintendo needs to push, particularly given "stigma" of the Wii in the "hard core adult" marketplace.

[DC777]

Wtf does "next gen" look like. Please explain. No pictures just define "next gen" graphics and what the qualifications are.

[pleasuretokill]

Coming from a PC gamer? I'll tell you what "next gen" SHOULD look like! 1080p/60fps MINIMUM on all games.

1080p has been a common resolution for almost a decade now and we are still having to upscale games to that res? Pathetic. Xbone and Wii U specs are TERRIBLE for 2014 and while the PS4 is the best of the bunch, even it is not as powerful as it should be.

Hell, my 3570k/680 from 2012 are running almost everything 1080/60 and most games I can run higher and/or downsample from 1440p and above. 720/30fps in 2014 is absolutely, 100% pathetic.

PC is where performance is at, consoles are weak. End of story.

[Metallox]

PC doesn't have Super Mario 3D World, and that's a huge loss.

[BOLO]

@ Metallox

"PC doesn't have Super Mario 3D World, and that's a huge loss."...Not until the Wii-U gets emulated just like all the other Nintendo consoles before it.

[DC777]

Well as a pc gamer I agree with all you said there.

All this next gen talk is just a fantasy. These games are only aspiring to be the same as maxed out pc graphics. It's no magical, phenomenal leap. Yes 1080p has been the household standard for years now so it's sad to see game consoles who have standardized hardware still not achieve this level. Granted games like mario 3D World are lovely buy being 720p or 1080p probably would look no different. But really there isn't much excuse to go around in this day and age.

Still I think people have this dream of "next gen" graphics that simply isn't reality. Look at videos of a few pc games on ultra. That's all there is. Even a lot of the fancy E3 demos we saw with all the hype and fanfare have already been dumbed down. The next gen fairy isn't coming. Sorry.

[Chrischi1988]

I am a PC gamer and can pretty much say, that in 2005 1080p was no standart, but ok^^

I had a PC with an ATI X800 XT, which was a High End graphics card model back then. Most people did not have a screen for 1080p. 1080p was maybe possible, but far far away from being standart.

60 frames per second is also just a thing, most people like to say, but in real, you dont need more than 30, because the human eye cannot tell the difference. A game starts looking fluid at 24 frames, like in a cinema.

I agree, that PCs are superior, but please stop spreading this stuff, that way, you wont make many friends with it.

[blastergun]

Wii U is the best console for me right now. Off tv play..touch screen, beautiful graphic, exclusive first party games, retro games,great unique games..

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

Remember that you can not truly judge WiiU's performance from Nintendo's own 1st Party games.

Nintendo has admitted many times that they were not as prepared for HD development as they thought they were and that they are/were playing catch-up.

It was a mistake for them not to be ready.
Next Gen Launch they need to have a 1st party game in Launch that shows what their console can do for 3rd Party Photo-realistic graphics.

-If they take the responsibility to show this for themselves then all of the rumors and disinformation would be less effective.

(Anyway, this article gets "Excellent" & "Yes")

[BladerunnerZX]

The Wii U is a good gaming console that just has not found its place... I wonder if it ever will.

I know that the Wii U is slightly more powerful than both the 360 and the PS3 and some of the games on both those systems look great to me games like Halo 4 and The Last of Us.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze looks really nice too.

[kwandar]

Actually the Wii U is considerably (not just "slightly") more powerful than the 360 or PS3.

[BladerunnerZX]

I agree.

[lilbroRx]

The Wii U is over twice as powerful as the PS3 and 360.

Of oucrse making a game to show off that power will cost twice as much and take possibly twice as long to develop, so most games won't.

[SonyROXitoohya]

WiiU would do better if..u know...they actually released some games, as in more then 5 a year. The console is a joke and not because it's power or lack there of, no it's a joke because there is barely any support for it including first parties. Releasing 3 first party games a year is t going to cut if nor is having 1 or 2 third parties. The system is and will continue to be doomed unless it gets a ton more support, sadly that is highly unlikely.

[marloc_x]

"See ya at E3 SonyROX.."

[iplay1up2]

What the heck are you talking about? 1.Nintendo Land, 2.Zombi U, 3. Sonic Lost Worlds, 4.Mario and Sonic Sochi, 5.Wonderful 101, 6.Pikmin 3, 7.NSMBU,NSMBLU, 8.Wind Waker, 9.Super Mario 3D World, 10.Lego City, 11.Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, 12.Wii Fit U, 13.Dr Luigi, 14.NES Remix, 15. Monster Hunter Ultimate Those are all Exclusives and I am sure I left a couple out. Now Still coming this year......Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros, Monloths X, Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta 2, Sonic Boom, At least 2 more from Indie Shinen, and those are just the ones I can think of. So go troll elsewhere. There are a TON of GREAT games out NOW for Wii U.

Plus Some great ports, Like Rayman, Bops2, Duex Ex, Splinter Cell. Need for Speed, Trine 2....Uh yeah there are only 3 games out for Wii U worth playing.

[skipper]

Heh, I never even realized how many exclusives there were out already. Though I have 6 of them.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

There's also over 120+ games coming from other indie devs. Stuff like Cryamore and A Hat in Time and Reven.
Wii U is an indie game heaven in the near future, if not already.

[IPLAY2]

Says the soon to be the ONE BUBBLE WONDER. Your Comment is not only not true, but also unfounded. You are clearly a fanboy. Do you even own a next gen system? Wii U, XB1, PS4? If you do you would know as of right now Wii U, has more games than any other Next gen system.

[GW212]

He's an Xbox d-bag. Gotta love his handle though, right? Stealth trolling, it's good stuff.

[Bdub2000]

Wonder if I could tape my wii u to my X1 for dual GPU's ?

[Geekman]

Positive Wii U news=240. Negative Wii U news=310.

[Hicken]

Not much of a difference, really.

[cyguration]

This will probably get to 500 before it's done.

Negative Wii U news is so much more popular because people hate NIntendo so much.

[mii-gamer]

Very well researched and reasonable article.

[Ulf]

The author mentions "Artificial Intelligence" as being something the eDRAM on the GPU can speed up. The makes NO sense.

He also quotes another (unknowledgable) guy stating that bandwidth only makes sense for a GPU which makes "scattered reads" around memory, which is bad for performance in the first place. Nope. That'd be true IF you had a small number of pipelines doing different, simple operations, sure. And the number of professional game devs who would misuse such a tiny GPU as the Wii U has is hopefully "0".

Bandwidth needs to scale with the GPU's pipes, for it to be efficient. So yes, in that regard, the Wii U's GPU bandwidth is really pretty unimportant. It only has 160 shader pipes, iirc.

Are we, um... sure this guy knows what he's talking about?

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Not saying the guy's a genius, but even knowledgeable professionals make mistakes.

[Ulf]

He made a lot of mistakes though (admittedly he's only a journalist).

The worst part is that he takes the word of an obviously unknowledgable "professional" for the gospel truth. The blind leading the blind, as it were.

[Ulf]

Replying to myself, because edit got disabled:

Next:
"I can’t detail the Wii U GPU but remember it’s a GPGPU. So you are lifted from most limits you had on previous consoles. I think that if you have problems making a great looking game on Wii U then it’s not a problem of the hardware."

Lifted from most limits on previous consoles, because its a GPGPU? Wow. Just wow. GPGPUs are not so magical, my friend. If they were, we wouldn't need CPUs any more, at all. GPGPUs are very good at embarrassingly parallel problems (this is the actual term for this class of problems), and they basically suck at most other problems.

Guess what the classic embarrassingly parallel problem that most games have to solve is? Yep, rasterized graphics rendering. The only other typical games problems that fit into that category are mesh skinning (which is yeah.. graphics), image processing (yep, graphics), and to a lesser degree things like pattern recognition and animation.

You can do narrowphase physics collisions (collisions on lots of trianlges) on complex models with GPGPUs pretty well too... except those kinds of models are generally just dumb to use, since they chew up tons of memory, and no one notices the precise collisions in an action game anyway. Broadphase physics work is still better done by a CPU, because it involves branching and striding over lots of memory (two things GPGPUs stink at).

GPGPUs are very limited use (in games -- they are very useful in science, because there are lots of embarrassingly parallel problems to solve in that space, like protein folding), no matter what the businessmen trying to sell you a new GPU try to tell you.

If you could come up with a game that revolved around embarrassingly parallel problems (outside of the obvious graphics problem), well.. that'd be wierd. Also, you'd probably want your game on the PS4 and XB1, and not so much on the Wii U.

[lilbroRx]

Its makes no sense "to you" because you have no idea what you are talking about, know little of how hardware works, and because you probably don't won't anything positive about the Wii U to be true.

Its makes plenty of sense to me as write software, deal with a lot of different hardware and have worked on games before.

Every statement you say is just showing how little you know, especially about GPGPU.

[Ulf]

Oh.. give us examples?

[mysteryraz11]

guy sounds like a typical wii u fanboy who brings up the pc when he talks about the ps4 and xbox one, the wii u is a terrible console

[lilbroRx]

Because to Nintendo haters, anyone who is not a Nintendo hater is a fanboy. Getting butthurt about someone pointing out that the PC will always be superior to consoles is a sure sign of fan boyishness.

There is no looking at Nintendo objectively, or factually. There is only hate and disparagement.

People can speak well of something without being a fanboy.

[mysteryraz11]

wii u fanboys cant accept the fact there console is a failure, so they have to bring the pc up to say power doesnt matter, well guess what ppl want stronger consoles, only pc/wiiu fanboys say this shit ps4 has everything I need, superior exclusives and multiplats to a wii u

[clouds5]

Great article. I will never understand how you could spend 500$ on a xb1 when you can go for similar powerful gaming pc with the same money. And this is right when the console launches. In a year you will get an even stronger pc for that money.
WiiU is a great little system and I'm having alot of fun with it due to several facts:
-offscreen TV / couch coop with my wife!
-amazing fun exclusives
-new and interesting gameplay or at least improvements thx to the 2nd screen. It makes alot of games more fluid and it never takes you out of the experience like endless menus on other consoles.

I'm telling this since one year: PC + wiiu = win. (And in a few years we will see if the ps4 has enough good exclusives and price drop to justify a purchase)

[DC777]

Exactly. Having a great time with my recently built rig and Wii U. Great mature steam library on one, off TV play and cartoony old school fun on the other.

[CrowbaitBob]

Reasons I find a PS4/Xbox One purchase feasable, even though I already own a PC capable of running any game on the market at High/Ultra settings:

-Friends who don't game on PC
-Exclusives
-Ease of communication
-Hassle free gaming

I love my PC, but there have been a lot of times when things simply didn't work the way they should and it turned out that, as simplified as PC gaming has become, console gaming is still so much simpler.

In the end, there's no perfect platform, so comparing PC/PS4/Xbox One based solely on price and technical specs is silly from a gaming perspective.

What's truly important is the games and the overall experience.

[clouds5]

I agree. Sometimes I love fiddling around with my pc to try and get things to work and sometimes I just wanna insert the disc and have fun. It was a nice sense of achievement when I got my 360 controller working on mass effect 2 for example :)

But if I had to chose one gaming system i would always chose the pc. It is most versatile and offers all genres, where action rpgs and RTS games don't really exist on consoles. And adding emulators into the formula it pretty much plays anything. Even though i have a ps2 I never completed a game on it. PC just offers a better experience.

But I wouldn't wanna miss my wii u. It is unique and offers something no other system has. I can't believe how people can say the touchscreen is a gimmick... It really adds to the gameplay experience. It's subtle but when you go back to endless d-pad menus you realise how good it is.
The only reason I can see on that list of yours is "exclusives". But as I said this will take time.

[CrowbaitBob]

Last generation it was Sony pushing hardware that was unique to design for. The difference is that Sony has highly talented second party developers, along with loads of third party support. For some reason Nintendo has really struggled with third-party support ever since Sony jumped into the gaming business.

I'm afraid Nintendo will have to rethink their hardware strategy next time around. With game development budgets skyrocketing, it's in a console manufacturer's best interests to make their platform as easy to develop for and port to as possible.

[swice]

Dear Nintendo,

Thank you for making us realize how lazy and greedy a lot of devs are.
Also, thank you for not giving up on Wii U. I'd like you to show them all how it's done. Also, thank you for not going mainstream and ruining your IPs.