I do believe that the patent for the Wii U tablet controller confirms that the tablet controllers will use a rechargeable battery. They could likely use the same battery as the 3DS cutting cost while still having a relatively log battery live since the tablets are mostly dump terminals.

correct they have stated that they will not invest heavily on the ps4 as they did on the ps3 but please stop saying sony isnt finacially stable  because thats just incorrect.

nintendo could have sold twice as many wii's and im pretty sure they still wouldnt even come close to sony's revenue

dont be a fanboy as its pretty likely the ps4 will be stronger

Don't be a fool. The PS3 lost Sony so much money they lost all profit they've have had within the console market. Worse many of their other departments aren't doing overly while on their own for a few years. Nintendo is a much bigger company than many realize. They've made profit off of the Wii since the beginning likewise with the DS. Nintendo hardware has made Nintendo billions of dollars while Sony has lost billions and only recently to my knowledge began making a profit. The razor edge model is dead at least to the extremes of the PS3. The Vita is Sony's future attitude toward hardware going forward. Low R&D using mature technology while taking advantage of developments in hardware. Really I wouldn't be surprised with Sony taking a lower cost direction with PS4 depending on the result of the Vita.

Actually, it has been confirmed.

It hasn't been confirmed merely that the original concept behind the Wii U is one controller per console, but they are looking into the possibilities of using two. We really don't know if the current Wii U build can play two utablet controllers, but since they are looking into ideas regarding using two controllers its likely it is on paper at least possible.

Bandwidth is far more likely to be the reason behind the current two controller limit regarding the utablets depending on what technology Nintendo is using to stream video and content. It shouldn't be impossible to support four utablets if they upgrade Wii U's Bluetooth or other wireless technology. Eventually these controllers will start to hit the graphical abilities of the console, which may already be an issue past two controllers other than bandwidth simply based on the sort of uses Nintendo plans for these tablet controllers.

the ps3 looked 50% better on paper then the xbox 360 but it wasnt just remember that ppl

Don't get overly carried away with the silliness of this info's source say that the Wii U is 50% more powerful, because that is completely impossible given their own rumored specs. Alpha dev kits are created with of the shelf parts for the most part, so the only 40 nm 4000s series card is the 4770, which is four times more powerful than the Xbox 360, and a more modern quad core would completely outperform the Xbox 360.

It says right in the article that these are for the March 2011 devkits. The real Wii U will likely be much more powerful.

If this rumor is true this is extraordinary actually. 768 MB of embedded dram is outrageous, much less this also states that another version is experimenting on 1 GB of embedded dram. This is actually not a bad thing if this would happen you can do a lot more with 768 MB to 1 GB of embedded dram than the 1-1.5 GB of rumored and speculated ddr3/gddr3/gddr5. This would greatly increase the performance of the rumored R700 GPU and the CPU considerably. This also sounds like complete unicorn tongue. 768 MBs of embedded dram would be extremely expensive much less if the other version of 1 GB would end up being the final amount.

Edit:

Coming from Neogaf if this rumor is true the site who give the information may of gotten their terms wrong. Instead of 768 MB it could be 768 Mb, which would be 96 MBs of edram, which is more realistic though still expensive. There would still have to be main memory of some lesser ram.

Can't see much truth in those.

Surely if there is any truth to these rumours then it's 768Mb(96MB) and not 768MB. However I don't even see that as been true as one thing that we do know is that the chip and eDram will be made using IBM's 45nm node, not 32nm which is where I believe that the 1Gb of eDram becomes possible.

Also from what we have heard about the overall Wii U performance then a quad-core 3Ghz CPU seems overkill. Bear in mind the Xbox triple core isn't comparable to an Out of Order chip. A proper dual-core coming in about ~2.5Ghz would surely be more than enough to feed what will most likely be a custom Redwood core(400SP).

Actually using IBM's edram the maximum amount of edram that can be embedded per core is 32 MBs. That means embedding a total of 96 MBs to 128 MBs is completely possible at the 45nm process. A dual-core wouldn't be enough. For one thing I have no idea where you came up with the idea that the Wii U uses a custom 400SP GPU. All the leaks and rumors point to something more around 640SP to 800SP. A custom gpu around the capability of a 4770 or 4850 is highly likely.

I think it will cost $350 in America and £319.99 but it will probably be dropped to about £300. Hopefully there can be another retail battle that will drive the price down like with the 3DS.

That all depends on how much room Nintendo has to at least break even from each console sold. Nintendo unlike Sony or Microsoft aren't going to look at loosing money at launch, so if it costs $300 U.S. to manufacture or more its unlikely the price of the console will go down for a year after launch. That's about how long it takes to launch a new version of the console with its chipsets shrunken one die size down to lower costs.

I'm guessing it is going to be around 300 or 400 dollars, because the technology is stronger than the ps3 and xbox 360 apparently.

Its not overly expensive to buy chipsets for a console at mass production levels that is superior than the PS3 and Xbox 360. When matter of cost comes to play is what manufacturing die size Nintendo ends up utilizing and what transistor count the chipsets will end up with. There are options commercially available that could utterly destroy the PS3 and Xbox 360 yet Nintendo would still come in under the manufacturing costs of those consoles as they where originally. Specifically those options would merely mean Nintendo has to spend a little more than twice the money it originally did on silicon. Current statements point to the possibility of the system being higher end than I and many others originally expected, so I'd be shocked if this console launches under $350 U.S.

That would be £212 to £243. I hope Nintendo won't make it more expensive in Europe as they have with the 3DS. On the topic of price, I wonder how much additional controllers will cost. With the rumoured HD touchscreen they could be very expensive.

Based on the rumors IGN asked a manufacturer how much such controllers would cost to manufacture and the guess was around $25 U.S. Whether its more than $25 to manufacture depends on the capability of the screen and how much internal guts the controller has (enough to decode video or enough for some functions without streaming power from the console). Retail my guess is $80 dollars.

Well the current price of the Wii is $149 and Reggie has said it won't be around there- I think we all know that.

The CURRENT price of the PS3/Xbox is $249/$199, that could be down $50 at the end of the year, or including some games. I just don't see how Nintendo expect to have a successful launch of a console that is priced at $350-400 which will be competing against consoles that play the same games, barring a few Nintendo 1st party games, but cost 1/2 the price.

Wii U will not be competing with the PS360 consoles. For the love of god get that through your skull right now. We're not completely certain on the consoles capabilities, but enough points towards it being a arguably significant upgrade over the current HD consoles. The Wii U's competition isn't out yet nor are they in the public mindshare yet. No doubt Microsoft's and Sony's next consoles will be more powerful, but if your expecting truly night and day differences your going to be disappointed.

Feldo's prediction of $350 to $400 may end up being in the ball park. With 3DS launching at $249.99 merely eight days from now in the U.S. an odd thought came to mind to gauge how expensive Wii's successor possibly could be come it's eventual release that I didn't think of earlier. I decided out of curiosity to compare the prices of Nintendo's handhelds at launch to the corresponding consoles.

The Game Boy Advance launched in North America on June 11, 2001 at $99.99. The GameCube launched in North American on November 18, 2001 at $199.99. The original DS launched on November 21, 2004 in North America at $149.99. The Nintendo Wii of course launched in North America on November 19, 2006 at $249.99. A pattern emerges though perhaps a little shallow only going back two generation cycles, but I likely could argue to extend it to Game Boy which released in 1989 and SNES released in 1991.

The resulting figure is beyond the sort of prices I expect from Nintendo, but if this interesting pattern holds true for another generation Wii's successor could be as expensive as $349.99. I bought a PS3 at $599.99 so I more than likely would still buy Nintendo's next console at launch even if it was $349.99, but some maybe reluctant if this prediction is correct.

The Wii's successor will likely be more expensive at launch than the Wii. Like the 3DS I expect Nintendo to have a larger hardcore focus next gen and focus on getting third party support early on. Just how more expensive is anyone's guess, but in my opinion it could range from $279.99-$299.99. I don't expect it to be anymore expensive than that. Nintendo is likely going to try and keep the Wii's successor being marginally cheaper than what they expect the price of their competitors new consoles to launch. Truthfully as long as its cheaper than $400 I'm likely to be an early adapter.

If we go according the rumors based on my own estimates Nintendo should be able to manufacture the Wii U even if the chipset is on the high end of the previous rumors for $250-290 dollars US. $299.99 looks to be completely within the realm of possibility even with profit at the beginning. The issue is that some rumors and speculation I've read at Neogaf would mean that the Wii U is going to be noticeable more expensive than the previous GPU rumors would paint it. Still I doubt it will be more expensive than $349.99 US.

Well I have heard a rumour from someone who's brother works for a big game developer and he told me the the price in the UK will be £250-299....Of course I can't say this is definite...but his brother has worked for this company for many years on Xbox,360 and PS2,PS3 software and they working on Wii-U now too.
The Wii-U looks great and is...but its not really next gen.A lot of it is of the shelf parts that have been around a while.
The days of massive profits are over (for now) and adaptability is the name of the game.
My friend did stress this is a rumour within the company but I think this sounds about right.

It wouldn't overly surprise me if PS4 is heavily based on off the shelf parts with their direction with PS Vita, but I highly doubt this will be the case with Nintendo's Wii U. Its highly unlikely that the final chips will be off the shelf parts especially with Nintendo's history. Early dev kits often are made using off the shelf parts, but early dev kits don't usually represent final components. First, second, and maybe even third generation dev kits for Wii U no doubt use off the shelf parts, but the final components will be heavily customized.

Microsoft will most definitely try to round up the pursuit for the gamers choice over the 3 next gen consoles, especially pushing themselves further ahead of PS3. This I am sure of; they want to capitalise on the success of Live, and be able to force Kinect into the mainstream. They will also take some PS3 gamers away from their pedestals, and finally settle a score. I don't' think they will care about costs too much, they will keep throwing money at 720 or whatever till it works, pulling gamers into their consumer base, and will most likely make it an awfully powerful machine and with great potential...somehow. I reckon they are watching Nintendo closely here, and would expect there to be a clash at some point. It would be interesting to say the least! Nintendo will hopefully stand to the mark! They haven't competed properly in years. GO NINTENDO!



XBox fan-boys can go ahead and state that the Wii U will have nothing on it, and I know it has been spoken of before that next gen won't be so 'next gen' when it comes to recently-produced hardware, but Microsoft can work very very hard if they want to. Don't quite understand the unintended contrast stated here. But, sounds to me Jikayaki, that you're suggesting ARM will make the 'loop' more powerful for sure, but will be closer to the Wii U's potential in hardware more so than we understand. Don't know how you've come to suggest all of the above, but i'd be interested in reading a link? Would be good to check out new XBox rumours, if there is any. Might be similar to the way Wii U supposedly had information 'leaked' all those months ago, before E3

All I'm saying is even with ARM architecture its rather easy for Xbox Loop to out perform the Wii U. It certainly isn't a certainty. If the Next Xbox is ARM based its also possible that in some ways the Wii U using more conventional hardware would have some advantages. ARM architecture however would be in Nintendo's favor if it is in the next Xbox. Development for ARM is focused toward mobile devices I doubt creating a chip equivalent to modern desktop chips would be a wise investment to the point that more conventional hardware would cost less.

Well, no doubt Nintendo are trying to hit a sweet spot, between making the current gen consoles obsolete, thus forcing Sony and MS to bring out new machines, and having a console with enough power so that if the competition does bring out those machines anyway, the Wii U itself does not become obsolete.

With all the hysteria about console wars online right now, it is difficult to predict who will do what, but it is hard to see why Sony and MS would launch their next gen machines now. They can more easily keep in touch with the Wii U by adding more ram and, in the case of the Xbox, a higher capacity disc drive, to their current consoles.

Only time will tell, but we can be sure, whatever the competition do, the Wii U will be relevant for some time to come.

Outside trying to keep the Wii U relatively affordable while remaining within a level of improvement over the current HD consoles that would stop PS4 and Xbox Next from completely overshadowing them I don't think Nintendo cares much what Sony and Microsoft do. Nintendo's strategy going forward still has itself firmly rooted in their blue ocean strategy with the Wii. They'll be competing far more directly with their rivals' systems true, but the focus in on differentiating themselves from Sony and Microsoft and giving unique experiences that don't exist outside their own hardware. This is why 3D was added to the 3DS and why Nintendo is going forward with the tablet controller. The rumored power of the system already makes the PS3 and Xbox 360 obsolete anyway.

The WiiU has some specifications, ie significantly more RAM than ps3 or Xbox (for the record ps3 is more powerful but xbox has more RAM). This gets people excited and they think the WiiU will step up past the other consoles in power, but really that RAM is used to stream video audio and touch programming (well you know what i mean) to the controller. So we aren't sure what the console has but i remember Iwata saying when he first announced it in mid-spring, that the power is great but that that wouldn't matter once you see the console (which is evident when seeing the controller). I'm assuming this means Iwata doesn't want us to focus on the power (unsettling). Though i still expect a lot from this console and even if the power equals that of the ps3 (not taking into account the power used to stream) i hope it makes enough unique , fun games to bring a whole new kind of game to the table that isnt as hard to come up with good uses as the Wii (sooooo much shovel-ware). This Ninovation has a more obvious hardcore or classic gaming use unlike the Wii's motion . The power is important but i can see many uses for a ps3 power level wiiu controller......... and i know Sony has the PSVita but that doesnt come with the console and connects differently so developers wont be as open to it as the wiiu. In summary to this ridiculously long and repetitive post: I feel the power is equal to or greater than the ps3 with greater RAM than the xbox. But the design of the wiiu seems to easily overcome any worries..... although i see MANY uses for a super powered, online integrated wiiu......... mmmmmm, open world MMO action...... yoshi.....?

The Wii U won't be overly burdened by streaming to the controller. Going off of sources such as the Wii U tablet patents, the speculation regarding Nintendo using Eyefinity technology, and the current supposed specs of the Wii U kets from leaks and rumors streaming to the controllers won't be much of a burden. The big unknown currently is focused more primarily toward bandwidth, which would determine how many Wii U controllers can be used at one time. Your spinning Nintendo merely being Nintendo negatively. Nintendo is still very much carrying forward the marketing strategy of the Wii and DS with the Wii U. At the same time Nintendo has been burned by being too open and honest about specs before and the Wii U is likely still not completely taped out.

And where this at?

That comment is likely from speculation from Neogaf or somewhere else. We already know if they stick with R700 architecture it will be custom to some degree because of the likely hood of Nintendo using Eyefinity technology. They also may switch from VLIW5 architecture to VLIW4 architecture basically lowering transistor count and TDP while keeping the same performance. In the end the final chip may be an altered low end 7000 series card. AMD's latest architecture easily could of been on the table back when alpha dev kits started being produced and sent to developers, but according to the time line within an article from around the pre and post E3 leaks all that would of been available to mimic the performance of lower end 7000 series cards was 4870-90 and the 5770, which was rather new on the market.

firstly i really hope this epicly high power rumour is true, are the quotes definite or possible quotes anyway regarding reasons not to make games for wii u, it seems there should be none untill u realise that the sliders arent clickable like R3 and L3 on ps3. i hate to give bad news but this may make life harder for developers plz someone prove me wrong but i dont know what buttons can replace the click buttons on ps360 controllers. how would you sprint in battlefield

This shouldn't be an issue. The touch screen can handle some functions removing them from face buttons.

I wouldn't expect that. Rumors of the Xbox "Loop" are pointing to a smaller, cheaper Xbox Next with ARM 6-core processor. For those who don't know, ARM is whats in most smartphones and tablets. These processor by 2013 are said to have power just as good as Xbox 360.

If this rumor holds true, this would mean the Xbox "Loop" is going to be on par with the IBM Watson CPU and the ATI/AMD RV770 inspired GPU.



Where have you heard it was from the 48xx series? And the RV770 is the base for all newer cards, or most, from AMD. Which means Nintendo might have started with the RV770 and AMD has been updating it since. Also all rumors point towards the GPU pretty much being done, if I remember correctly, and CPU still be worked out. Or that could be swapped.

My statement was based on a supposed leak regarding the GPU being a RV770 in the alpha devkits. Since alpha devkits are usually made using of the shelf parts that limited the range in power of the GPU realistically from 3x to 5x the power of Xbox 360 based on the commercially available cards. A statement from an article around or shortly after E3 pointed to the alpha devkits having 1TFLOP of performance or more. This moves the alpha devkits more toward 4 or 5 times the power of current hd consoles. The HD 5000's where in principle based on 4000's. AMD often reuses designs between card gens gradually introducing new hardware designs.

Don't simply look at the capabilities of mobile devises when considering the power of the rumored Xbox Loop even with an ARM processor it could easily out perform Wii U. However if the rumored Xbox Loop is the next xbox and ARM based it certainly would improve the possibility that Wii U and Xbox next would relatively close in capability.

This seems relevant.



It says Nintendo Wii vs PS360, but he just made a typo.

This merely goes along with the rumor that the Wii U uses a GPU based on the RV770 series of ATI Radeon GPU. This narrows the expectations down to a specific range, but still were talking about a GPU from about 3 to 5 times as powerful as current HD consoles, but with developers earlier pointing toward the Wii U's GPU being around a Radeon HD 4850 and more recent rumors of it being around a Radeon HD 4870 in power we can at least hope that the Wii U is around 4 to 5 times as powerful as Xbox 360.

Here is an interesting piece of information pulled up by Bgassassin from Neogaf. The article in question is from earlier in the year and was apparently not looked at closely previously outside further confirmation along with other sources that the GPU within the Alpha dev kits was a Radeon HD 4000 series card. If the article is correct the GPU within the Alpha dev kits may of pushed beyond 1TFLOPS. Basically the card within the early dev kits would of had to been a Radeon HD 4870 at least to reach that level of performance and that certainly would of explained the over heating issues rumored with the first dev kits.

http://translate.goo...611_452478.html

Thread regarding the Wii U from Neogaf where Bgassassin posted this info: http://www.neogaf.co...434824&page=178

From everything we've heard in my opinion this is what I see Nintendo's online service basically being. First there would be some basic infrastructure and a Wii U account (it could still use friend codes or something equivalent to tell you the truth). Then each publisher would have individual services such as Origin or Steam. Hopefully this is all set up where you don't have to use multiple accounts for different games, but that is a possibility.

Most current information and rumors from developers telling IGN that Radeon HD 4850 was the closest commercially available GPU, the rumors of R700 series GPU, specifically RV700 core, and Power7 based CPU all point to Wii U being at least about four times as powerful as Xbox 360. I certainly wouldn't call it next gen, but it should be able to pull off anything current PC games have accomplished and perhaps a little more with optimized code.