well what i was saying was that nintendo has some of the more durable hardware out of each generation and gave you some numbers to back that claim
edit: i would also like to take some time to point out how durable the gamecube discs are seriously these things amaze me. i would place a disc in my game cube that looked like it had been dragged through the streets and would still play flawlessly bravo nintendo bravo:clapdos:
Oh dear, some careless human being left all this non-recyclable garbage out in the open. It’s a shame that people have such little respect for our planet…
yeah that person was your mother boom!
My mother left a bunch of Wii Us everywhere. Great burn moron. :tup:
Yeah I still have a copy of Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes for gamecube that’s like this. Scratches on TOP of the disks and they still work great. Most of -any- kind of cd/dvd/bluray you scratch on top kills it instantly. My Metal Gear game here has a bunch on the top and still works fine. Only reason why I got it too was because it was really cheap/complete and I took a chance. It’s weird how you can even use disk 2 to start a new game too I believe.
What does this mean in practise? Is there any advantages to this other than it uses less power?
It’s about efficiency, which is even more important for a console than for PC. Doing more with less. Less power means less heat is generated. Less heat means no “RRoD” for the Wii U.
For a console this is so crucial because the room for the hardware is so limited. The PS4 and Durango will also have slower clock speeds without a doubt. A lot of people believe that the PS4 and X720 will blow the Wii U out of the water. I’d be more concerned about them not blowing themselves up rather than worrying about the competition. If you’re going to put monster hardware in a console, you have two choices.
Make the console the size of a mini-ATX tower so there will be enough room for huge fans/heatsinks and ventilation
Keep the size as it is now, and risk the console overheating as it did with the Xbox 360
Nintendo took the efficiency route, by making some shrewd decisions with the Wii U like offloading some of the load normally carried by the CPU to the graphics cards (GPGPU). Here’s an excerpt from an article about what this means in terms of developing for the Wii U:
*So what do all these numbers and words mean? The part that stands out to me is “Compute Shader Support” and “Tessellation Unit” with both of those features being very prominent in DirectX 11 graphics cards. Tessellation was possible on Xbox 360/PS3 (at a high cost on performance) but has been much improved and more efficient with DirectX 11. These features alone would put the Wii U’s custom “GPU7” processor far ahead of what was possible on Xbox 360 and PS3. Compute Shading is what most likely will be used by the GPU’s in the PS4 and the next Xbox to take the strain off the CPU but not hampering the performance of the GPU (I realize that this can be referred to a GPGPU, but since all modern PC GPUs have this functionality it’s not really necessary to call it that). *
Here is a good explanation of the benefits that Compute Shading brings: *
Compute Shaders are programs that are executed on the graphics processor. With DirectX 11 and DirectCompute, developers are able to use the massive parallel processing power of modern GPUs to accelerate a much wider range of applications that were previously only executable on CPUs. Compute Shaders can be used to enable new graphical techniques to enhance image quality (such as order independent transparency, ray tracing, and advanced post-processing effects), or to accelerate a wide variety of non-graphics applications (such as video transcoding, video upscaling, game physics simulation, and artificial intelligence). In games, Compute Shader support effectively enables more scene details and realism:*
[LIST]
[]Optimized post-processing effects – apply advanced lighting techniques to enhance the mood in a scene
[]High quality shadow filtering – no more hard edges on a shadow, see shadows the way you would in real life
[]Depth of field – use the power of the GPU to have more realistic transitions of focal points – imagine looking through a gun sight or a camera lens
[]High Definition Ambient occlusion – incredibly realistic lighting and shadow combinations
[/LIST]
When you start to put all this information together, it becomes easy to understand why ports of 360/PS3 games will not really benefit much in the graphics department on the Wii U without developers totally rewriting their code. Compute Shading & Tessellation for example is something that you will not be seeing in most or any 360/PS3 ports to Wii U, and not only that but the developers making those ports on Wii U would use the same rules as 360/PS3 by making the CPU do the work that could have be done by the Wii U’s GPU and it’s newer technology. This will be the Wii U’s version of a “lazy port” with it’s extra features not even being used. *
The good news is that the GPU in the Wii U should be able to accomplish all the effects of the PS4 and next Xbox, with those systems most likely being able to do “more of it” and at faster speeds. However, with the similar technology and features that all next-gen systems will have it’s doubtful that the Wii U will get left behind in the graphics race since the difference will not be noticeable enough to warrant actually purchasing another console based on the sole reason of the Wii U not being able to run a certain game like what happened with the original Wii. It’s encouraging that we (I say we, but I mean the industry since you could argue that the Wii had the best games this gen) will finally get back to comparing who has the best games and not the best graphics in this coming generation.*
You were right Sonic. It’s $10 cheaper now!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148886&cm_mmc=BlkFri2012--414--N82E16822148886-_-na&nm_mc=BlkFri2012
Watching the industry for as long as I have, I actually find it hard to believe that Microsoft or Sony WON’T try to pump out powerhouse consoles that they’ll end up selling at a huge loss and probably end up around the $500 range. Rumors have already been going around that their consoles are what…8-10 times more powerful than current gen IIRC? I can believe it. I also believe that 3rd parties are going to have to make tough choices where both consumer and producer are going to end up being the loser. People think they’re tired of the Unreal Engine now? lol…I fully expect production costs to make a nice sizable leap once Microsoft and Sony drop their systems and then there’s going to be more 3rd parties getting killed off because their original title that they put time and effort into didn’t break even or didn’t do Call of Duty numbers.
Sony and Microsoft aren’t stupid. This isn’t 2006. A $500 console might as well be a $800 console. Even if it is 8-10 times more powerful than the current gen consoles, they will still have the same issues as the Wii U. Developers will have a learning curve and the first generation titles won’t measure up to expectations (most gamers feel that it should match what can be done on a PC with a $200 gfx card, which is ridiculously unrealistic). In a sense, the Wii U will have a bit of an advantage because by then, developers would have a full year of experience with the hardware under their belt and the games will show for it.
Then there’s the issue of how they plan to put this monster technology in a comparably sized console without melting itself to pieces… They can’t just ignore the physics here … More power = More heat generated.
I didn’t say they were stupid, Microsoft and Sony are more well known for trying to push graphics right now. I’m just looking at how things are going to cost and how they’re going to try to make a profit for it. I’m also fully aware of Launch game jitters which is why I said earlier we won’t know the true potential of this console until 1-2 years out. We will see what happens come this E3.
The end of the day though it’s going to be about games period. The industry as a whole right now is down overall. I actually don’t wish ill on anyone in the industry since if all 3 companies are flourishing then that’s good for everyone involved.
100% agree. Good competition means that consumers win in the end.
You hit the nail right on the head … it’s about the games. It’s the only reason why I would own a Wii U. You will never be able to play Mario or Zelda on the PC or anywhere else. If I was so interested in graphics, I’d take the $300 and buy the newest Nvidia gfx card (whatever that may be … GTX9000?)
GT has a Wiiu vs. 360 comparison vid up for those interested
There weren’t really any horrible differences that I could spot out at a glance like with Arkham City. Most of the people who are commenting on the game in Miiverse seem to be enjoying it with little issues. See one person complain about voices cutting out but it seems the biggest issue is that there isn’t enough people online to play with yet.
Don’t care much for the Youtube app. Watching vids on the WiiU browser, however, is great.
Hulu and Amazon are both useless if you don’t live in the US. I was really hoping I could use Amazon. 
Miiverse is probably Nintendo’s ace in the hole. Being able to take screenshots, draw, and post … very cool concept. There have been some hilarious stuff too.
Is super mario bros u online in any way? Co-op play or multiplayer? If not, wtffff? nintendo needs to make these things standard. Theres no excuse for it in this day and age.
Also, I know nintendo makes top quality stuff, their systems never die (ive never had a nintendo system die on me. The gamecube froze once ever while playing metroid prime and thats it.) but I have heard of launch wii’s dying out of the box or freezing up a ton during gameplay. So I think ill wait it out until I pick one up.
Actually, Bayonetta 2’s review is what will be the deciding factor for me. If its as good as the original, ill pick it up along with the usual games like mario and whatever 1st party stuff is released.
I agree that online multiplayer would have been GREAT and the absence of it is mind boggling. It’s hard to imagine that online multiplayer wasn’t considered, so my best guess is … not enough time. That’s the great thing about DLC.
There’s been lots of reports of systems freezing, and there’s supposed to be a patch coming next week to address the issue. This is a completely new OS, and bugs like this is expected. I’m going to wait for similar reasons (and hopefully Nintendo will release a DVD or memory stick with the day 1 system update instead of downloading it).
I remember noting that the Wii U browser was absurdly smooth. I hope they’d get around making a TwitchTV app for the Wii U.
[media=youtube]7xN39UTxDxs[/media]
Obviously, the new CoD game takes the award for the best use of the gamepad ^
Good work Activision.
So I went ahead and went to old navy because my girl said she wanted some pants.
Ended up only standing in line for about an hour and still got NSMBU. They actually had a whole bunch to giveaway.
They are also giving away 1000 wii u as well. Got home and entered the code and I didn’t win one. Not disappointed though because I did not even know about that until I stepped in the store. Woulda been nice though.
Now I have NSMBU and no wii u. Holding off untill next year may be harder now hahaha.