Some Little Known Facts About The Wii U

[QUOTE="Rockman999"]I have a couple of questions reguarding Wii software playback and system colors available at launch. Will the system upscale the resolution of Wii games and will it play all Wii games? Also, in what colors will the system be launching in(NA)? charizard1605

[QUOTE="psymon100"]

[QUOTE="charizard1605"] Is this actually confirmed?

ronvalencia

Would love it to be the 8 core model at 3.2Ghz but it's probably too expensive.

Current IBM POWER7 (8 cores) has a die size of 567 mm^2 on a 45 nm process with ~200 watts @ 3.8Ghz. Good luck in fitting 200 watts CPU into a small box.Nintendo need the 'good luck'! I imagine it will be a custom chip, and I doubt they'll go for 8 core. That's why I used my example of quad core before (not quoted, but its above).

IBM POWER7 (8 cores) 's die size is larger than the current AMD Radeon HD 7970's 352 mm^2 die size!!! I can't find the die size of the Power7 quad core. Even if the die size was 'large', could it be circumvented by using a custom chip?

Each POWER7 CPU core can issue 6 instructions per cycle while Xbox 360/PS3's PPE core can issue 2 instructions per cycle. Wikipedia says POWER7=4SMTs/Core, Xenon=2SMTs/core, I chose the POWER7 quad core meaning total 16 SMTs, whereby Xenon gets 6SMTs total. I can't see where you are getting this value of 6 instructions/cycle for the Power7 from?

PowerPC 970 (G5) CPU core can issue 5 instructions per cycle. No comment.

For games, a system with large CPU(e.g. Power7 Quad Core) with small GPU(e.g. Radeon HD 4770) would be destroyed by small CPU (e.g. AMD Steamroller Quad Core) with large GPU (e.g. Radeon HD 7850) combo (e.g. AMD Liverpool APU). Iabsolutely agree with you here. But if Nintendo put say, 32-64MB of eDRAM with whichever card, would it become quite a different animal? Plus, we don't officially know exactly which Radeon is going in there yet, how many streamers it has, GPU clock speed memory clock speed memory quantity, so many things we don't know. Sadly, we may never get to learn the specs.

Hi Ron. Some questions/comments for you. I know you're a real ninja on this subject.

All in all even if you have technical doubts, my quoted post has the sources which point to the usage of the Power7, or at least some varient of it.

Very interesting subby. I think it will do just fine. I forsee an uncertain first month but business will soon pick up eventually.

[QUOTE="charizard1605"][QUOTE="locopatho"]Will all 3rd party games be able to download, or is it just Nintendo games that applies to?locopatho

Very interesting subby. I think it will do just fine. I forsee an uncertain first month but business will soon pick up eventually.

Chemical_Viking

200 bucks and the option to play all Nintendo 1st party games with only the pro controller. Otherwise i am not interested. I might be willing to pay 250, but the second issue is non negotiable.

200 bucks and the option to play all Nintendo 1st party games with only the pro controller. Otherwise i am not interested. I might be willing to pay 250, but the second issue is non negotiable.

Fizzman

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

200 bucks and the option to play all Nintendo 1st party games with only the pro controller. Otherwise i am not interested. I might be willing to pay 250, but the second issue is non negotiable.

charizard1605

As long as i never have to use motion controls or the tablet itself to play Super Mario 9999999 and Zelda 424244, i will be content. Dont care about the graphics, but i do care about having to waste my time using annoying gimmicks. I will never buy third party games on the Wii U. Just 1st party single player Nintendo games.

Nintendo's handling of the Wii U has been shocking. The console, which will be their flagship product for the next five years at least, launches at most in four months, and people still know pretty much nothing about the system.

Since System Wars loves proliferating misinformation about the system, I decided to clear up some facts about the Wii U. It's not going to be the PS2 of the next generation like some of us might have hoped initially, and it will probably be the next Wii more than anything, but still, there are some things it is doing right.

• The Wii U uses a proprietary Blu Ray disc format for its games. Much like the Wii, which used a proprietary DVD format that Nintendo specifically developed for the console, the Wii U uses a modified Blu Ray format. A Wii U disc holds 25 GB of data per layer, which is the exact same as a Blu Ray disc. In spite of this, however, the Wii U will not play Blu Ray or DVD movies, a decision Nintendo probably made to avoid licensing fees.
• The Wii U will be the first console to have every single one of its games release at both retail, and digital, day one. The Wii U eShop will have every single game available on it digitally from day one itself, just in case you like digital better than retail. And for those of you worried about Nintendo's DRM that ties purchases to your system, and the lack of user accounts...
• The Wii U has user accounts. Only seven years late to the party, the Wii U is the first Nintendo system that supports user accounts. All purchases, achievements, and game play time tracking will be tied directly to your user account. More importantly, there will be support for multiple user accounts per system, unlike the Wii and 3DS.
• No more Friend Codes. This of course means that there will be no more friend codes on the Wii U. Your one user account can be used to add friends, access leaderboards, track achievements, and more.
• The first system ever to have a social network integrated at the OS level. Nintendo is creating an entirely new social network for the Wii U (which it promises will later come to the 3DS too) in the hopes to recreate that feel of community gaming that existed before the rise of the internet, on the internet. Miiverse has status messages, video and screenshot sharing, messaging, user tips and help, and more. The Wii U thus becomes the first system to integrate a social network at the OS level.
• The Wii U (probably) has 1.5 GB RAM on the final retail system... and 512 MB of this is saved for the OS. In what is unprecedented, Nintendo is reportedly dedicating 512MB of its system memory to just the OS. This is probably to enable full multitasking, Miiverse, streaming to the controller, and more, all at once, but it hints at a fully featured OS for Nintendo's new system. For context, 512MB is the total RAM that Xbox 360 and PS3 have available to them. Nintendo is apparently saving that much just for OS processes.
• Your WiiWare and Virtual Console purchases will carry over to the Wii U. Nintendo has announced that all of your WiiWare and Virtual Console purchases made on the Wii will carry over to the Wii U. The exact process that will enable this is as yet unknown - it might be similar to how Nintendo managed it on the DSi and 3DS, but they might retroactively enable user accounts on the Wii.
• The Wii U will play used games. Unlike both the next Xbox and the PS4, which are rumored to block used games, the Wii U will play used and borrowed games without any restrictions or limitations.
• Free online: The Wii U will offer free online play, and basic Miiverse access. Nintendo did, however, state that it was looking into offering a PS+ kind of tiered paid service for the system.
• 3D Compatible: The Wii U supports the HDMI 1.3 output standard, which means that if it is connected to a 3DTV, it can output 3D images, if the software supports it.
• The Wii U is open: It allows for any hard drive and any SD card to be plugged into the console and used for storage via its USB slots and SD card slot. You can use any hard drive you want to with the Wii U, like the PS3.
• Media functionality. Nintendo will not allow for DVDs and Blu Rays to play on the Wii U. However, they have expanded the media functionality of the Wii U, allowing for Amazon Instant, Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Youtube. There is also allegedly an eBook marketplace in the works.
• Apparently, there will be an apps marketplace. This is one of the oldest and most persistent rumors about the system, and we haven't received confirmation about it either way, so just take it with a pinch of salt.

So yes, the Wii U might be doing a lot wrong, but there's a lot that is surprisingly progressive about it, even more so when one considers that this is all coming from Nintendo.

charizard1605

So to summarise your post...

• Large disk format
• "PROMISED" day one digital releases...
• User accounts...
• No more friend codes... Confirmed it does still use friend codes.
• Social Network Nintendo style... 1 hour delay from each message.
• Rumoured
• Plays used games... 720/PS4 not allowing this is irrelevent since they aren't even released and its all rumours.
• Free online...
• Wii U is open?... Might have something to do with the lack of hard drive space the box has (8GB)
• Doesn't play blu-ray or DVD... Has every subscribtion service
• Apps store...

Sounds like a must buy.

Charizard I think you should try getting this topic stickied since I dont think its going to die before Thursday. Could just update it come Thursday with all the facts that they announce ;)

Unless the Wii U supports USB 3.0, the issue of hard drive space could be a potential bottleneck for people who want to download games, and at any rate it's a less elegant solution than having an internal HDD (especially if you don't own a USB 3.0 HDD). I'm not sure why Nintendo is so opposed to using an internal HDD, but in this day and age it seems decidedly old-fashioned. Oh well, as is always the case with Nintendo, "maybe next gen."

Unless the Wii U supports USB 3.0, the issue of hard drive space could be a potential bottleneck for people who want to download games, and at any rate it's a less elegant solution than having an internal HDD (especially if you don't own a USB 3.0 HDD). I'm not sure why Nintendo is so opposed to using an internal HDD, but in this day and age it seems decidedly old-fashioned. Oh well, as is always the case with Nintendo, "maybe next gen."

Timstuff

Unless the Wii U supports USB 3.0, the issue of hard drive space could be a potential bottleneck for people who want to download games, and at any rate it's a less elegant solution than having an internal HDD (especially if you don't own a USB 3.0 HDD). I'm not sure why Nintendo is so opposed to using an internal HDD, but in this day and age it seems decidedly old-fashioned. Oh well, as is always the case with Nintendo, "maybe next gen."

Timstuff

Charizard I think you should try getting this topic stickied since I dont think its going to die before Thursday. Could just update it come Thursday with all the facts that they announce ;)

Gamingclone

[QUOTE="Timstuff"]

Unless the Wii U supports USB 3.0, the issue of hard drive space could be a potential bottleneck for people who want to download games, and at any rate it's a less elegant solution than having an internal HDD (especially if you don't own a USB 3.0 HDD). I'm not sure why Nintendo is so opposed to using an internal HDD, but in this day and age it seems decidedly old-fashioned. Oh well, as is always the case with Nintendo, "maybe next gen."

charizard1605

[QUOTE="charizard1605"][QUOTE="Timstuff"]

Unless the Wii U supports USB 3.0, the issue of hard drive space could be a potential bottleneck for people who want to download games, and at any rate it's a less elegant solution than having an internal HDD (especially if you don't own a USB 3.0 HDD). I'm not sure why Nintendo is so opposed to using an internal HDD, but in this day and age it seems decidedly old-fashioned. Oh well, as is always the case with Nintendo, "maybe next gen."

psymon100

[QUOTE="Timstuff"]

Unless the Wii U supports USB 3.0, the issue of hard drive space could be a potential bottleneck for people who want to download games, and at any rate it's a less elegant solution than having an internal HDD (especially if you don't own a USB 3.0 HDD). I'm not sure why Nintendo is so opposed to using an internal HDD, but in this day and age it seems decidedly old-fashioned. Oh well, as is always the case with Nintendo, "maybe next gen."

charizard1605

Yes......but the PS3 have a 320GB internal HDD and BRay.Big difference.You don't need to buy a external hdd with a PS3orXBOX360.

CheapNintendo it will be always cheap....they release a XBOX360 7 years late with no HDD and no BRay and no regular controller,you need to pay extra 50euro for a regular controller....this is for laughs.

Nintendo's handling of the Wii U has been shocking. The console, which will be their flagship product for the next five years at least, launches at most in four months, and people still know pretty much nothing about the system.

Since System Wars loves proliferating misinformation about the system, I decided to clear up some facts about the Wii U. It's not going to be the PS2 of the next generation like some of us might have hoped initially, and it will probably be the next Wii more than anything, but still, there are some things it is doing right.

• The Wii U uses a proprietary Blu Ray disc format for its games. Much like the Wii, which used a proprietary DVD format that Nintendo specifically developed for the console, the Wii U uses a modified Blu Ray format. A Wii U disc holds 25 GB of data per layer, which is the exact same as a Blu Ray disc. In spite of this, however, the Wii U will not play Blu Ray or DVD movies, a decision Nintendo probably made to avoid licensing fees.
• The Wii U will be the first console to have every single one of its games release at both retail, and digital, day one. The Wii U eShop will have every single game available on it digitally from day one itself, just in case you like digital better than retail. And for those of you worried about Nintendo's DRM that ties purchases to your system, and the lack of user accounts...
• The Wii U has user accounts. Only seven years late to the party, the Wii U is the first Nintendo system that supports user accounts. All purchases, achievements, and game play time tracking will be tied directly to your user account. More importantly, there will be support for multiple user accounts per system, unlike the Wii and 3DS.
• No more Friend Codes. This of course means that there will be no more friend codes on the Wii U. Your one user account can be used to add friends, access leaderboards, track achievements, and more.
• The first system ever to have a social network integrated at the OS level. Nintendo is creating an entirely new social network for the Wii U (which it promises will later come to the 3DS too) in the hopes to recreate that feel of community gaming that existed before the rise of the internet, on the internet. Miiverse has status messages, video and screenshot sharing, messaging, user tips and help, and more. The Wii U thus becomes the first system to integrate a social network at the OS level.
• The Wii U (probably) has 1.5 GB RAM on the final retail system... and 512 MB of this is saved for the OS. In what is unprecedented, Nintendo is reportedly dedicating 512MB of its system memory to just the OS. This is probably to enable full multitasking, Miiverse, streaming to the controller, and more, all at once, but it hints at a fully featured OS for Nintendo's new system. For context, 512MB is the total RAM that Xbox 360 and PS3 have available to them. Nintendo is apparently saving that much just for OS processes.
• Your WiiWare and Virtual Console purchases will carry over to the Wii U. Nintendo has announced that all of your WiiWare and Virtual Console purchases made on the Wii will carry over to the Wii U. The exact process that will enable this is as yet unknown - it might be similar to how Nintendo managed it on the DSi and 3DS, but they might retroactively enable user accounts on the Wii.
• The Wii U will play used games. Unlike both the next Xbox and the PS4, which are rumored to block used games, the Wii U will play used and borrowed games without any restrictions or limitations.
• Free online: The Wii U will offer free online play, and basic Miiverse access. Nintendo did, however, state that it was looking into offering a PS+ kind of tiered paid service for the system.
• 3D Compatible: The Wii U supports the HDMI 1.3 output standard, which means that if it is connected to a 3DTV, it can output 3D images, if the software supports it.
• The Wii U is open: It allows for any hard drive and any SD card to be plugged into the console and used for storage via its USB slots and SD card slot. You can use any hard drive you want to with the Wii U, like the PS3.
• Media functionality. Nintendo will not allow for DVDs and Blu Rays to play on the Wii U. However, they have expanded the media functionality of the Wii U, allowing for Amazon Instant, Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Youtube. There is also allegedly an eBook marketplace in the works.
• Apparently, there will be an apps marketplace. This is one of the oldest and most persistent rumors about the system, and we haven't received confirmation about it either way, so just take it with a pinch of salt.

So yes, the Wii U might be doing a lot wrong, but there's a lot that is surprisingly progressive about it, even more so when one considers that this is all coming from Nintendo.

charizard1605

• So basically, Nintendo being cheap again. Maximising their profits and not giving a damn about added functionality for their customers.
• And looking at their current trend of actually pricing the digital versions HIGHER than retail, I don't find this appealing at all; at least not from nintendo.
• User accounts. Big whoop, like you said, its extremely overdue.
• Facebook, Twitter etc. have been an integrated part of the 360s OS for a while now.
• More likely situation is that nintendos OS is just poorly optomised. The PS3 OS has a much larger footprint than the 360s, yet its pales in comparison. So yeah, this means nothing.
• Thats expected.
• Yeah, the 720 and PS4 are RUMOURED to block the games. A rumour which we've heard nothing of since, chances are it isn't true.
• So the service will be just as bad as PSN. YAY
• Yeah, they kind of have to allow that considering they're launching a console in 2012 with hardly any storage. Embarassing.
• Wow so everything the PS3 and 360 can already do.
• 360 has an app marketplace. Who cares

Yes......but the PS3 have a 320HDD and BRay.Big difference.CheapNintendo it will be always cheap....they release a XBOX360 7 years late with no HDD and no BRay and no regular controller,you need to pay extra 50euro for a regular controller....this is for laughs.AtariKidX

• So basically, Nintendo being cheap again. Maximising their profits and not giving a damn about added functionality for their customers.
• And looking at their current trend of actually pricing the digital versions HIGHER than retail, I don't find this appealing at all; at least not from nintendo.
• User accounts. Big whoop, like you said, its extremely overdue.
• Facebook, Twitter etc. have been an integrated part of the 360s OS for a while now.
• More likely situation is that nintendos OS is just poorly optomised. The PS3 OS has a much larger footprint than the 360s, yet its pales in comparison. So yeah, this means nothing.
• Thats expected.
• Yeah, the 720 and PS4 are RUMOURED to block the games. A rumour which we've heard nothing of since, chances are it isn't true.
• So the service will be just as bad as PSN. YAY
• Yeah, they kind of have to allow that considering they're launching a console in 2012 with hardly any storage. Embarassing.
• Wow so everything the PS3 and 360 can already do.
• 360 has an app marketplace. Who cares

RR360DD

You need to cut back on the...

Yeah, the 720 and PS4 are RUMOURED to block the games. A rumour which we've heard nothing of since, chances are it isn't true.RR360DD

[QUOTE="RR360DD"]Yeah, the 720 and PS4 are RUMOURED to block the games. A rumour which we've heard nothing of since, chances are it isn't true.GunSmith1_basic

It was an apparant issue due to third parties not liking it, so even if its true and third parties are forcing MS/ Sony to do it, why would they let Nintendo get away with not blocking them?

Sounds like BS to me. They've already implemented things like online passes which is effective enough. Theres no reason to block used games.

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"][QUOTE="RR360DD"]Yeah, the 720 and PS4 are RUMOURED to block the games. A rumour which we've heard nothing of since, chances are it isn't true.RR360DD

It was an apparant issue due to third parties not liking it, so even if its true and third parties are forcing MS/ Sony to do it, why would they let Nintendo get away with not blocking them?

Sounds like BS to me. They've already implemented things like online passes which is effective enough. Theres no reason to block used games.

[QUOTE="AtariKidX"]*fanboy dribble*charizard1605

Dude. It is a PowerPC, the POWER7 same as the WATSON architecture by IBM. Just picking a couple of specs, 4 by simultaneous multithreading (SMT) per core, and quad core (they go to 8 core, but I chose the minimum for this example), therefore 16 SMT threads for the CPU; also - 1.2billion transistors, 4MB L3 cache. Compare that to the Xenon in the 360.2 by SMT per core, and 3 cores, therefore only 6 SMT threads for the CPU, only 0.165billion transistors, and not one single byte of L3 cache.

What were you expecting?

psymon100

fanboy dribble....??lol You didn't show anything new.Nintendo just try to copy the PS3.lol

PS3 have all of them,user account/both retail, and digital games/ play used games/Free online/3D/,and many more.PS3 also have a 320HDD and it can play BR Movies and 3D movies....the WiiU don't.FACT.

Buy a PS3 and you can have all of them and more....and cheaper.FACT.:cool:

[QUOTE="RR360DD"]

[QUOTE="GunSmith1_basic"] kind of odd don't you think, that they haven't dismissed the rumour, which would be the simplest thing. They must at least be considering it. At any rate, this is an issue that was brought up largely by MS and Sony themselves. Since allowing used games is now an issue and this is a thread about giving WiiU info then why not explain the used game situation on the WiiU?charizard1605

It was an apparant issue due to third parties not liking it, so even if its true and third parties are forcing MS/ Sony to do it, why would they let Nintendo get away with not blocking them?

Sounds like BS to me. They've already implemented things like online passes which is effective enough. Theres no reason to block used games.

Nintendo is supposed to be bending over backwards to please third parties this gen, or at least thats what they keep saying anyway. I agree, I don't think the Wii U will get that much support, but not because of allowing used games.

[QUOTE="charizard1605"][QUOTE="RR360DD"]

It was an apparant issue due to third parties not liking it, so even if its true and third parties are forcing MS/ Sony to do it, why would they let Nintendo get away with not blocking them?

Sounds like BS to me. They've already implemented things like online passes which is effective enough. Theres no reason to block used games.

RR360DD

Nintendo is supposed to be bending over backwards to please third parties this gen, or at least thats what they keep saying anyway. I agree, I don't think the Wii U will get that much support, but not because of allowing used games.