I think it's fair to say that neither camp has anything to brag over the Wii U's launch games ..

I was honestly starting to think he may have been immortal...

Rip to one of the most brilliant, and monstrously brutal business men to have ever existed.

 

Thanks for the insightful post about his tenure at Nintendo you did some weeks ago.  It opened my eyes and really answered some questions about why certain developers have such ire for Nintendo.

Any updates on this?

Hello,

 

In the past week, I noticed that I have been banned from the Wii U forum when I try to access it from home (right now, I'm at work using my phone as a wi-fi hotspot).  I don't think it's intentional, but I was wondering if something can be done. 

 

I assume it had to do with an abusive user and/or spambot using Comcast that has a similar hostname to mine.

 

Could an administrator/mod look into this and email or PM me?

 

Thanks

The analog, the rumble pack, the wavebird, .. THE CONTROLLER ITSELF.  Nintendo has led the way, but it's always maligned at first ..

 

.. until the competition copies it.

 

Then it's the best thing since sliced bread.

You guys sure like to make mountains out of molehills don't you?

 

If you honestly think the Wii U will be on par with the 720 / PS4 offerings, you are one diluted bunch... seriously.  The only reason anyone mention's the Wii U in the same sentence as the 720 / PS4 is because those systems haven't been released yet and the superiority of those consoles aren't that blatantly obvious... yet. When UE4 and Frostbite 3 are in full swing on the 720 / PS4 systems, no one with a IQ over 50 will be comparing the 3 consoles anymore.

 

Do yourselves a favor, and stop thinking the Wii U will offer the same quality of multi-platform titles as the 720 / PS4, because it won't.

 

The Wii U will offer awesome first party titles that will look great - for those titles, but that will be it. You can not honestly sit there and think that a console that can only allocate 1 GB of RAM for games will offer comparable games with a system that has 8GB of RAM.

 

But if some PR person from Activision mentioning the Wii U as a "next gen" console convinces you otherwise, then more power to you.

 

You are accusing us of drinking Wii U kool aid, but then say that the PS4 will be superior because it has 8 GB of RAM?  Then you say that the first party games will look great, as if the memory limitation you mentioned earlier does not apply here?  Riight.  If you were truly being objective, you'd at least wait until the other consoles are on the market (or at least close to launch) before you start to draw conclusions.

 

I think the next-gen multi platform titles will look fine on the Wii U and will give up little to the other consoles, and I am prepared to revisit this topic once those titles are released.

I think on my next podcast, I'd like to do a Wii U "myths debunked" episode starring routerbad/3Dude/Socalmuscle etc.  Even though I don't understand the technical jargon, but I can at least follow what you guys are saying.

 

Good idea, no?

I still think it's a bit premature to assume that the Wii U will not be technically capable in handling multi-platform games designed for the next gen consoles.  We will need to wait until late this year to really answer that question.

I honestly thought they were going to call it Nintendo Revolution.  I was a bit disappointed they didn't, but 'Wii' doesn't sound nearly as bad when you consider that its competitors are called 'Xbox' and 'Playstation'.  It's almost as if there's conspiracy to have some reference to porn in all the consoles' names.

Someone on Wii U daily made a few good points in my opinion:

 

"What the pundits are failing to recognize is that what we're looking at isn't the WiiU's real launch. Nintendo isn't pushing it and they're not heavily advertising it -- and this is intentional -- because It's clearly not finished (i.e. the UI isn't finished, console selling games aren't ready) and they don't want it to be overplayed by the time the real push will be on.

 

Nintendo had to launch a new console when they did because the Wii had prematurely reached the end of its life as a revenue generator -- no new 3rd party support and coasting on fumes -- and Nintendo was posting its first ever loss. Investors demanded action and Nintendo had to give it to them. They couldn't go another year with the Wii while they finished its successor. It simply had to be put out immediately, ready or not.

This may turn out to be a winning strategy however. The WiiU launched with a 1 year head start on the PS4 and n'X-Box.

 

What this gives Nintendo during the next holiday season are the advantages of having a perfectly polished console and a big lineup of excellent Nintendo IP and 3rd party games versus Sony and Microsoft's new consoles inevitably with bugs to work out and limited libraries like any brand new console. Nintendo will be "launching" into the next generation console war with an excellent library and a polished console that developers know how to program for out the gate.

 

I would be devastasted from an emotional point of view.  From a more pragmatic point of view, it's something I could live with as long as Nintendo's IPs stay alive and exclusive to Nintendo as the publisher.

Yeah we do. its about 2-3x average.

Gpu is modern, rather impressive, but not uber elite powerful. amd R7xx base on a 40nm process *hint hint* With a large amount of edram (32Mb, as opposed to xenos 10Mb)

CPU is impossible and shouldnt exist. Espresso is a tricore power pc 750 at 45nm (750 was discontinued before it ever went below 90nm, because it was unable to acheive core coherency for multicore). Of the same family as Gecko (750 cxe) broadway (750 cle) but not to be confused with broadway or gecko, as it appears to be a custom version of the 750 Fx or possibly Gx. (this is like i3 compared to i5 or i7).

As an architecture with an extremely short instruction pipeline, and aggressive out of order execution, and fantastic branch prediction with practically no miss penalty (xenon/cell had a 500 cycle penalty), it gets incredibly high instructions per clock, which is good because shortpiped architecture cant be clocked high.

Lower clock speed architectures also dont help with simd and flops, and the system doesnt have a dedicated floating point unit like xenon. So simd and flops are much weaker than xenon and cell (then again, so are durango and orbis cpu's) However, it demolishes cell and xenon in dhrystones and branchy code. ie Gamecode and ai.


New consoles will be taking a VERY similar route to the one wii u has taken, albeit higher end.

Wii u recieving the same games as durango/orbis is entirely up to devs. System restrictions dont apply like with the wii.

http://www.vgleaks.com/world-exclusive-durango-unveiled/ <= 3Dude, IF the specs are true (and that's a pretty big 'IF'), any thoughts? I like how you can articulate technical specifications so smaller minds like mine can comprehend.

I'm not too worried about the slow loading menus and no universal voicechat. I'm sure they will be patched in at a later date. I do agree that it was absolutely baffling that Nintendo's own Pro Controller is not compatible with SMBU. Make your voices heard so going forward the Pro Controller will be compatible with subsequent titles whenever possible.

Odd how you have changed your tune. A few months ago there was no question in your mind but that the Wii U had a Power7 CPU and there was no way it would have a 3 core broadway based CPU- what has changed?(It's all there in the history). I will no longer argue technical points but younger members on the board should know to take everything you say with a unhealthy amount of salt.

I believe one of the dev kits did feature a Power 7 CPU but for some reason, Nintendo opted for the upgraded Broadway architecture. This would explain why IBM had to issue a "correction" because the engineers who posted the tweet probably weren't aware that the final hardware specs have changed, especially in regards to the CPU.

Don't blame 3Dude for that, as many of us believed the same based on the information given.

Also I wonder if perhaps backwards compatability played a part .. Could the Wii U Power 7 be fully compatible with Wii games and peripherals? That's for hardware experts to answer ..

Hey everyone,

As I announced in a previous thread, I plan to do a podcast (the series is called "Bunkei's Corner", which I've been doing for a couple of years now) tomorrow starting @ 7:15 pm PST. The point of this podcast is to be informative as possible. I am looking to dispel some of the popular myths around the Wii U and also discuss what can we expect out of Nintendo's newest console. Though it's a podcast, it will be done live, like a radio show. It will also be recorded and made available for download. As we get closer to the time it goes live, I will provide a link to ustream where you can tune in. MorbidGod has so graciously agreed to be the "hardware expert" and talk about the Wii U's architecture and what potential it holds. You can also join in via Skype (My Skype name: Benji-man01).

If you have a question you'd like to have addressed, feel free to post it here.



Should be fun!!

Edit: Show is LIVE! http://www.ustream.t...bunkei-s-corner

Podcast is now available for download:

Should be a very fun show. I should also put up a disclaimer. My show is not for kids, it's more .. adult oriented. Think of the show in terms of Howard Stern where nothing is too "taboo" to talk about. True, we are talking about NIntendo, but I should let you know that I have a potty mouth. LISTEN AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Show is up! Link: http://www.ustream.t...bunkei-s-corner

Hey everyone,

As I announced in a previous thread, I plan to do a podcast (the series is called "Bunkei's Corner", which I've been doing for a couple of years now) tomorrow starting @ 7:15 pm PST. The point of this podcast is to be informative as possible. I am looking to dispel some of the popular myths around the Wii U and also discuss what can we expect out of Nintendo's newest console. Though it's a podcast, it will be done live, like a radio show. It will also be recorded and made available for download. As we get closer to the time it goes live, I will provide a link to ustream where you can tune in. MorbidGod has so graciously agreed to be the "hardware expert" and talk about the Wii U's architecture and what potential it holds. You can also join in via Skype (My Skype name: Benji-man01).

If you have a question you'd like to have addressed, feel free to post it here.



Should be fun!!

Edit: Show is LIVE! http://www.ustream.t...bunkei-s-corner

The issue (or possible issue) with the wiiU is a lack of power compared to what the ps4 and 360-2 may have, and more power does not just mean better graphics. It opens up more opportunities for what one can do with a game. More obviously people are cautious as third party support in recent years for the wii has been nearly non existent, largely as companies seemed reluctant to downport to the wii despite it being by far the best selling/most owned console at the time.

So yes the wiiU is next gen, but I do understand what people claiming it is not next gen are worried about (discounting the trolls who are saying it of course).

Time will tell all. So far, 3rd party support for the Wii U does not seem to be an issue. Nintendo is looking to make amends for the lackluster support for the Wii due to arrogant, and frankly, appalling decisions that were made.

I think people expecting the PS4/Xbox Durango to blow us away with graphical realism will be in for a disappointment. I have little doubt that it will be more powerful than the Wii U, but I don't think it's going to be that great of a difference. It's also worth mentioning that by the time they come out, the developers will have 1-2 years experience with the Wii U. Most developers praised the console for the straightforwardness of its design and that Nintendo went through great lengths to minimize the bottlenecks developers typically find. Because of these factors, it's also possible that you may not see any noticeable degradation between the Wii U and its "next-gen" competitors in terms of gameplay/eye candy.

This Christmas the children of the world will do more advertising for the Wii U than Nintendo could ever pay for.

Quoted for truth. Once kids see how cool the Gamepad is, the demand will ramp up.

I think for us 28-55 year olds. We are entering into mid life crisis where we try to relive the fond memories of our childhood lol.

No but seriously (I'm 33). When I was a kid, besides my family, Nintendo has given me my best childhood memories. Even my parents, who didn't even play videogames much, remember those days.. I remember when my mother got me my first color TV with NES. I had Super Mario Bros, and spend nights upon nights beating the game and finding all the shortcuts. Then, my mother brought home Zelda. I was just flabbergasted at the level design and the overworld, and then find out that there was a second quest?? Wow! The hits keep coming .. Wizard & Warriors, Faxanadu, Crystalis, Paper Boy, RC Pro Am, Zelda II, Mario 2 & 3.

Then the SNES came out .. Mario World, obviously one of the best games EVER made, but when I popped in Zelda. When I went outside as Link in the thunderstorm towards the castle ... I remember just stopping and taking it all in. It was breathtaking. Ahhh .. that's why I'm a Nintendo fanboy, and I want them to win this round of the console wars. DEATH TO MICROSOFT AND SONY.


LONG LIVE NINTENDO!!!

Why bump such an old thread when there's like 6 or 7 specs threads?

"thehappening" guy was funny as heck. I thoroughly enjoyed the arguments between him and 3Dude etc. I haven't seen him post recently.

like iv been telling you people for like 2/3 tears wiiu cpu will follow broadway its based on 2010 45nm powerpc 400 tech
with the cores BROADWAY ENHANCED AND A CUSTOM 3MB EDRAM CATCH the cores are 5 instructions per clock efficient clearly the cpu is a 3x core powerpc as in POWERPC 476FP but not fp instead Broadway 2 ….
the expected clockspeed is 1.6ghz to 2.0ghz as thats powerpc 45nm 400 clockspeed it maybe higher say 2.4ghz but i expect a 1.6ghz tri core aditional to the cpu is a dedicated sound processor a DSP and a ARM CO CPU like starlet in wii…..
the cpu vs ps3 and x360 would be 3x core powerpc out of order a sound dsp and a arm co cpu vs the cpu of x360 in a like for like comparison……
we are looking at a cpu around 15 x more powerful than wiis broadway it supports SMP and has the worlds bext singlecore per core performance in the world off the shelf this powerpc core is twice the cpu a ARM A9 IS CLOCK FOR CLOCK so a tri core at 1.6ghz would be a very least 3 x as powerful as a 1.6ghz dualcore ARM A9
it has 5 instructions per clock per core vs 2 instructions of x360s xenon cpu and it processes in out of order not crappy inline like x360s xenon also each core boasts 5 execution units xenon only has 1 execution unit per core
xenon of x360 has 1 execution unit per core 3 in total wiiu has 5 per core 15 in total wiiu has 3mb edram catch (edram twice bandwidth of sram per clock) x360 has 1mb sram catch
x360 has no sound processor or buddy cpu wii u has a ARM BUDDY CPU (STARLET 2) AND A DEDICATED DSP SOUND ENGINE
its clearly at very least 2x x360s cpu power with amassive catch me,memory
other factual things i know
x360 3.2ghz x2 instructions = 6400 instructions x 3 cores = 19200 instructions inline
wiiu cpu if at 1.6ghz 5 instructions x 1.6ghz =8000 x 3 cores =24000 instrutions out of order not crappy inline then ad sound dsp and arm co cpu CLEARLY EATS X360 FOR DINNER WITH A MASSIVE HEAT SAVING POWER USE SAVING AND MASSIVE RELIABILLITY IMPROVMENTS
FLOPS NOT NEEDED ON CPU AS GPU DESTROYS FLOPS OF X360 PS3 AND WII GPUS CONBINED AND IS COMPUT SHADER READY
ITS ALL CALLED COMMONSENSE

a little something posted at my nintendo news clearly the truth power7 = not in wiiu UBISOFT CONFIRMED OVER 12 MONTHS AGO LIKE Wii BUT MULTICORE

vgleak reconfirms this with tricore powerpc plus custom 3mb catch

wiiu cpu is 3 single thread out of order cores each core has a graphics data burst pipe /buffer and a locked level 1 catch its called 3xpowerpc broadway cores and 3mb of edram catch that is the cpu theres no if or but or dream thats the cpu acept a fact as a fact and forget your 120watt power7 12 thread fantasys

I was looking at some older Wii U Hardware threads, and *shock* ..

I can't believe this, but it seems he came the closest to being correct.

Ive already given out all.the info i currently have.... Anything else would be broadway and not espresso.

We know they are both 750's, and no additional fp or vector crunching units were added (probably helps a lot with that tiny footprint.) but aside from that, we dont know anything. We dont even know what kind of 750 its based on, ibm stopped releasing non private documentation/roadmaps on the family in 2004.

The last 750's i know about are the fx and gx (broadway was a custom cx/cl) and they have about twice as many transistors as broadway 40 million vs 20 million..... and the physical footprint of fx matches up well taking into account the 45nm process size vs. the 90nm process size of the original.

so, we have a core, thats clocked 70% higher than broadway, has at least twice as many transistors (per core, so thats 120 million vs 20 million, and nowhere close to the 1/3rd xenon transistor count some are trying to push, as xenon had 165 million) as broadway, and then x3 for being tricore..... and then any other improvements, if any, are probably going to remain a mystery until documentation is.... aquired.

on top of that, we know there is an audio dsp, which completely removes the burden of audio from the cpu, (which on average took 1/6th the 360's cpu power, or up to 1/3rd, for audio intense games like racers) and a dual core arm coprocessor in the gpu die that helps with io, system, and some os stuff, which the 360 cpu had to handle as well.


Honestly, judging by what ive seen in the deceptively simple appearence of nintendo land. Im not worried at all.

At least not for 1st party games.

Thanks for the info. I'd still like to have you on but only if you're interested. I think there are people out there that would benefit from your knowledge of computer architecture.

I will be up for answering anything. Just ask, and I'll give you what I know.

And I respect 3Dude. He isn't always negitive, and usually supports what I say or he says what I would have lol

Excellent! Usually I do my podcasts in the evenings on a weekday. Does that work for you?

Ha ha what? You dont like my 'opinion' because even when somethings being positive about wii u i say its wrong?

That would probably be because whether information is correct or not has nothing to do with whether the information is being positive about the wii u or not.

You want to know where my knowledge come from?

Here. Its only six Mb, so you should be reading as soon as you click on the attachment.

What about responding to my post?

It just happens that I have my own podcast, and I was thinking of having a hardware expert (like 3Dude) on to dispel the myths around the Wii U's architecture (like in the form a Q & A). Would you guys be interested in participating in something like that?

For 3Dude, (sorry I messaged you about this, but I'm not sure if you gotten it) .. would you be up for an interview?

Lastly, I have a general question. Someone here posted a link to a great article that described the Wii's architecture and how it was actually quite superior to the X360/PS3. Does anyone have that link? I can't remember which thread it was posted in or who it was posted by.

Thanks in advance and anxiously awaiting to hear your opinions!!

~Ben