The Wii U Is Heading In A Similar Direction To The Wii–Is That Really A Bad Thing For Nintendo?

The Wii U is just around the corner, and although we don’t have exact hardware specifications yet, we do know that it is only a LITTLE better than the current-gen Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. With neither of these systems making a move to new hardware anytime soon, this isn’t a huge deal right now, but what about two years down the road?

[mike1up]

How do you know that is only a LITTLE better than the current-gen PS360? Oh... the rumors, right.

Call me old fashioned, but, I prefer to get my news "straight from the horse's mouth..." and not from the horse's ass.

3rd party developers have said that the WiiU is significantly more powerful than the PS360. I guess they must have missed out on all of the rumors and gossip.

[rfeldur]

Point taken. I doubt it will be as powerful as the Xbox 720 and PS4 will be (considering they are coming two years later), but there is certainly a jump from the Xbox 360 and PS3 from the sounds of it.

You make an excellent point, mr_mike. I wasn't trying to say that the Wii U is underpowered or awful... I think the graphics look pretty darn nice. Will the graphics compete with the PS4 and 720? I have my doubts, but we really can't say 100% for sure until E3, or even really until PS4/720 are shown off... whenever that will happen.

[Stephen5543]

I think it's too early to say what direction Nintendo is heading in. So far they have only showed off what the controller can do, and at first I didn't like it....but it actually is something that I can see myself liking if it's utilized in the right way.

I'll take opinions like these a little more seriously after E3, but I do understand where your coming from with the comparison to PS4 and 720. I do believe that they will be more powerful. However, I do not think they will be as great of a jump as everyone is expecting, but then again that all depends on how powerful the Wii U actually is.

Just the fact that the Wii U is more powerful than the 360/PS3 should tell you that they aren't going the same direction with the Wii U that they did with the Wii (which the Wii for them was re releasing a Gamecube, the gen before it, with motion controls essentially). Though I do suppose that developers could just be spouting nonsense and saying that stuff so that people will buy their games on the system, but, based on the current knowledge we have....Nintendo is not heading in the same direction. We don't know much about the Wii U at the moment, so I'll end with a statement I made already. I'll take opinions like these more seriously after E3 (assuming that they show things that will cause people to react in this kind of way).

[Admiralsombrero]

You make some good points too, rfeldur, but I do have one problem.....I personally doubt that the PS4 or the Xbox 720 will be all that more powerful than the WiiU, maybe a little more powerful, but they won't blow the WiiU out of the water IMO.

And I have a reason too.

Microsoft have been so unpredictable latly that no one knows what there up to, for all we know Sony could be planning to release a super powered PS4 only to watch Microsoft release the Nextbox at the same strength as the WiiU, and then sony will be screwed when it comes to third partys (like the wii but backwards.)

The same thing could happen to Microsoft too. (Microsoft could make a super powered Xbox, and then watch sony make the PS4 the same as the WiiU strength wise.)

And since the WiiU is coming out first it would be safer, and smarter to make the PS4 and the Xbox 720 the same strength as the WiiU to ensure that they both get third party support.

I guess the same could also happen to the WiiU, but in this economy I don't see Microsoft or Sony taking too many risks.

[dcbronco]

It's hard to believe that Nintendo will launch a new console that has the same power as the current ones. Especially in a generation that has lasted so long. Anyone can spend $200 on a CPU and GPU at Newegg right now and kill the current consoles. A AMD APU would kill them graphically and probably on the processor side too and that can be bought for $100.

Nintendo can't be that stupid. Rumors that it will be on par with this generation are a smoke screen. But I doubt Microsoft or Sony is stupid enough to believe the rumors.

[iamnsuperman]

"3rd party developers have said that the WiiU is significantly more powerful than the PS360. I guess they must have missed out on all of the rumors and gossip"

actually the third party developers haven't really been so consistent on that statement. Some say it is some say it isn't really that powerful and more on par. The only way we will know is hopefully at E3

[mike1up]

I have heard that the WiiU is as easy to develop for as the 360, but never on par graphics wise.

But fair enough, I could have just missed it. I won't ask you to provide links, seeing as how I am too lazy to do the same.

[iamnsuperman]

@mr_mike

here one example: http://www.t3.com/news/deve...

To be honest there are mix messages coming from developers about it's specs. Again there is really no way of knowing until Nintendo say something

[mike1up]

@iamnsuperman (2nd comment)

Well done, I actually do remember that statement. In all honesty I did interpret it a little differently at the time given the context (ports, early dev kit etc.). But who is to say that I wasn't wearing my rose tinted glasses that day?

Anyways, I can't really argue against that statement. You got me.

[ronin4life]

I think it this confusion may well be down to the simple fact that this is a Nintendo console, and Nintendo makes their consoles a little.... weird.

Take the 3ds, for example. Obviously weaker than the vita in graphical power, of course. But it has something special: Built in shaders/fogers. What takes the vita a lot of on board resources and energy to create the 3ds has built-in and ready to run without taxing the systems power.(how good these shaders/fogers are I don't know, but Monster hunter 3g runs at what feels like 60fps with dynamic shadows from a single specified light source in full 3d, and it looks pretty awesome.)

Nintendo has always made their consoles out of cheaper parts and combined them in ways that makes them unique and more capable than on paper specs would make us believe...
Like Frankenstein...O.O;

[mike1up]

@rfeldur (I had a little lag, and apparently didn't hit reply)

Fair enough.

Sorry if I came off as the typical "raging fanboy". My self-control is improving though, I am down to only 4 rants a day.

[Nutsack]

gimmicks: truths.

Wii sold on Wiimote and Wiifit, not by a large library of great games (outside the same old 1st party IPs Mario, Zelda etc)

DS sold on a weak one touch screen

3DS sells on weak semi 3D that most devs even stopped using.

WiiU sells on a weak one touch controller, while all smartphones, tablets, psvita has multitouch

gimmicks sell Nintendo systems, sad but true.

[dark-hollow]

Your argument just went right through the window as soon as you mentioned the DS.

Wither you liked the touch screen or not, it had a huge library of great games to backup it success.

[corrus]

Sad but true awesome song about the developers remember Crytek first they had said that WII U is powerful enough for Cryengine 3 but after that they have said no Crysis 3 for WII U what means this that WII U is not powerful enough to run Crysis 3

[StraightedgeSES]

So 3d is now a gimmick?

[Ck1x]

No just when Nintendo decided to use it as a glasses free version for the 3ds! In any other application its a killer feature... lol
For as much as people comment on the 3d funtions of the 3ds being a gimmick. You don't hear the same claims of Sony including a rear touch screen on the PSV as a gimmick in the same fashion

[bothebo]

@Ck1x

That's because Sony was a lot more innovative with the new features they added in. Such as an OLED screen, rear touch screen, normal touch screen, two cameras, and motion controls. Yeah, that sounds like a gimmick right. You wanna know why people are interested in the Vita aside from games? Hardware Baby!

[Uncharted2Vet]

3d has been a gimmick since it was invented.

[Nutsack]

@ ck1x

One small difference: the other features of the PSVita are all high end. So that back touch might be gimmick too, but the CPU and GPU are for a handheld really high end. It has two analogue sticks that real gaming needs. It has multitouch on front as well as the back (not one touch weak stylus input), it has OLED visuals etc etc etc

THe 3DS doesn't have this. Compared to the PSVita its average hardware, basically it has only the 3D factor to wow nothing more really.

And that glasses free '3D' is just some sort of semi 3D. Its more like enhanced 2D.

[ronin4life]

You don't "need" a second stick (edit: to make good games). And for those that do, you have the cpp

That "weak" stylus support occurs on a second screen that enables usage without obscuring sight of the first and offers better precision. ( try adding this support to the vita via a peripheral...)

Its ignorant and incorrect to call the 3d "enhanced 2d", regardless of your personal opinions about its functionality or effect.
Furthermore, regardless of overall power, all of the best 3ds games fully utilize that 3d effect. Can you say the same about the vitas touch panel?

And even if everything you said did make the 3ds the "lesser" system, you know what doesn't? Its large lineup of incoming games, across all regions; something not even an e3 blowout from Sony could hope to match. And Nintendo will be announcing more games themselves at e3.

*breath in..... ahem...
Okay, I'm good.^_^;

[bothebo]

@ronin4life

I'm sorry where are these games you are talking about? Are you referring to Kingdom Hearts or are you referring to the awful first party titles? LOL a blow out E3 from Sony could easily surpass Nintendo's titles. Sony stated they would like to sell 10 million units by the end of the fiscal year. They have 1.8 million in sales right now. So, clearly they have something MASSIVE in store for E3. What is it? The rumored 20 NEW GAMES. Nintendo won't come close to that, or they'll try to drown you with re-hashed first party title games which just suck.

[Nutsack]

Ehm, you DO need a 2nd analoge stick to have a better gaming experience. Why do you think all the core gamer home consoles show this dual analoge stick? Games like FPS are pretty much unplayable without a 2nd stick for sure. Lol Nintendo has even admit this with bringing out that bulky add on that brings the 2nd stick.

That weak 3DS stylus support on a 2nd screen enables usage without obscuring sight? No need to add a peripheral to the PSVita to do touch without obscuring sight, thats what the back multitouch can be used for EH?

2nd, even with fingers on the front screen, the PSVita has a 5 inch OLED big screen. Weak 3DS has to do with old LCD screens, one small 3,53 inch one and one even smaller 3,02 inch one. The latest with a 320 x 240 pixel reso. Small viewing screen is small mate.

Uh, it is an enhanced 2D or lets sake fake 3D effect. I've tried it and it just adds some dept. Its not even close to real 3D. Its pure observation and correct. Its ignorant to say that fake 3D in the 3DS is real 3D instead.

I can say that the launch line up of the PSVita blows the launch window of the 3DS out of the water. There were virtually no games for it. PSVita has some games that actually use all panels like Escape Plan and Little Deviants, Uncharted uses it all well integrated too. It brings much more than the gimmick 3D on the 3DS. Heck most people turn off the 3D on the 3DS as it doesn't do a lot, a bit of dept and always the need to look at the perfect angle to not have weird effects on the eyes.

Large line up of incoming games? Have you easily forgotten that the 3DS had virtually no games at all? The PSVita is just out 2 months in USA and EU, it has games that look and feel like its brought by a powerful home console. 3DS mostly floats on Nintendo's first IP's only again. Mario, Zelda... here we go again.

And E3 might surprise you. Sony is actually pretty much the only company between the big 3 that really shows its love for all gaming. MS is just interested in Kinect and XBL, Nintendo has an overfocus on the same old same old 1st party games and has no clue what a real good online system is even about. I bet that Sony has better announcements for a gamer for both their PS3 as PSVita than Nintendo will for their 3DS and Wii(U).

Keep breathing, don't hold that breath for the Nintendo conference....

[Admiralsombrero]

@corrus

I guess you didn't read this then...
http://inintendo.net/index....

This is the most important quote..

"Crytek aren't developing a game for Wii U, but this lone employee allegedly got a single level of Crysis 3 running on Wii U at roughly 30-35 frames per second in 720p HD. Worth noting is that the level was supposedly running on high textures, xpaa filtering, no water shaders, and ultra level lighting.

The tablet controller was also streaming content at 480p, and according to this rumor Crysis 3 would be capable of running in full 1080p HD if tablet streaming was turned off."

Sure it's only a rumor, but it's n4g we belive every rumor around here ;)

[mamotte]

So you still have a phone with buttons?

[ThePsychoGamer]

Region locking is never a good thing. It hurts developers, publishers, and prevents gamer's from playing games they bought. f Nintendo continues this on the WiiU (Which they most likely will) then yes, it will be bad for Nintendo, and the rest of the gaming industry

[ronin4life]

It won't affect them, and it may actually be helping them financially, as imports from America cost less than other regions and the yen to dollar has been awful on Nintendo.

But it does suck for those of us who may want to import.....-_-;

[ThePsychoGamer]

I'm pretty sure that Nintendo wouldn't have to deal with exchange rates, since they are not directly involved in the import process. But it will affect them negatively by

1) Limiting total total game sale. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would have imported Fatal Frame 4, had Nintendo not region locked the Wii.

2) It can increase piracy, this one is kind of ironic considering Nintendo sited Piracy as one of the reasons they region locked the 3DS. We've seen this happen with the game Xenoblade. Right after it released in Europe, but before it was known if Nintendo would release in the US, Xenoblade was pirated quite a lot. This was most likely by people who hacked there Wiis in order to import the game, but then gave in to temptation and decided just to pirate it.

[Blacksand1]

Most people already have a Wii so i do think that many people going to buy this, only the core gamer's. Soccer mom's already have the old one so i don't see many of them going to get the new Wii. They better have a good price point for it, because if you have more then one child it's going to be a problem.

[Shok]

Lol at these articles, seriously. I'm not even going to say anything. Just tired of these sites acting as if anything spec-wise has actually been confirmed.

I'm done.

[rfeldur]

I understand that many sources say that the Wii U is going to be the same or weaker, and that's frustrating.

This article doesn't say that though, or at least it certainly wasn't meant that way. Here is what it says:

"The Wii U is just around the corner, and although we don't have exact hardware specifications yet, we do know that it is at least a LITTLE better than the Xbox 360 and PS3, if rumors prove true. "

It says that rumors say it will be at least a little more powerful and that we don't know exact hardware yet. Even developers have pointed to it being better but not 9 or 10x more powerful, double perhaps? No one knows. The article was positive about Nintendo's future, not negative.

Personally, I really look forward to what the Wii U has in store, and plan on getting it on day one. :)

[Shok]

"This article doesn't say that though, or at least it certainly wasn't meant that way. Here is what it says:"

"The Wii U Is Heading In A Similar Direction To The Wii"

You should've fixed the headline then bro. I'll admit I didn't read the article but that's only because there was no question mark in the title, implying that you believe as a fact that it IS heading in the same direction as Wii, see what I'm sayin?

Title was misleading.

[Ck1x]

I agree Shok!
And these articles almost always start off the same way. By stating that nothing has officially been confirmed at all, but lets speculate anyways and paint that as proven facts...

[rfeldur]

I agree that it could look that way. I should of put a question mark. The article was really discussing whether or not IF it does "go like the Wii", is that really a bad thing?

I talked about how successful the Wii was early on, etc, etc.

Point taken though, title choice could have been a lot better. And honestly, I should have included more of the article in the caption, the way it looks- it sounds a little negative at first.

[Shok]

Thank you for the civil reply and open-mindedness. Much appreciated.

[finite]

Do you really need power a pure power house like Sony and Microsoft always seem to push for, to make a good machine, Maybe just flexibility, easy to code games for and enough graphics, ram and CPU cores for it to hold great games? Look at the 3DS and Vita or PSP and DS. The low end machines are still killing the high end machines.

[Siren30]

"although we do not have the exact hardware specifications yet, we do know its only a little better than the current-gen xbox 360 and playstation 3" Wtf? If we don't know the hardware specifications then how do we know its only a little better than the 360 and ps3?

[juaburg]

What a stupid article. Geez.

[StraightedgeSES]

I hope some of you idiots know that its the install base that determines if the console still have 3rd party support not the power of the console. if the power of the console really mattered then the ps3 would be out selling the 360.

[GraveLord]

Good for Nintendo.
Bad for us N4G visitors.

[ronin4life]

I disagree with the notion that the wiiu will(with absolute certainty) lose 3rd party support once its competitors launch their next consoles. The 3ds is holding and gaining support just fine against the vita. And Nintendo seems to understand that if they don't play their cards right, they will lose that much needed support and are setting things up to ensure that doesn't happen.

[Ck1x]

Not to mention that the 360 didn't lose support in the face of the ps3 either... The real question is, How does both Sony and Microsoft stop new gamers from purchasing a 360, ps3 or WiiU over what is most likely gonna be much more expensive consoles in the ps4 & 720? Because it seems that Sony is facing this issue right now with trying to get the PSVita in peoples hands over the PSP. Transitions are tough and going from one platform to a new one, a company must be certain to point out why this new device is a much needed one. And while PC gaming has adopted and stayed true to their evolutionary update in graphics approach. This business model simply doesn't work for the consumer electronics arena. Unless of course you are Apple!

[arbitor365]

I have been saying that it will be the Wii all over again, since it was revealed last year.

anyway, the hardcore fans of nintendo will be happy with it, regardless. They were happy with the wii apparently, despite al its flaws. As long as it has their big franchises like Mario and Zelda, they can overlook the deficiencies in graphics and features

still, i cant wait to see the damage control once the wii u goes up against the next playstation and xbox consoles. the "next gen fever" surrounding the wii u will quickly dissipate and seem very foolish upon recollection. Like “this is what we thought next gen was gonna be?”