I partially agree, but where would RAM fit in to this conversation? And I think another thing to add to this is the real world performance of a Ferrari, i mean, on the test track they can say 240MPH that and 0-60 in 2 seconds that but while actually driving on a road you will never go over 80 mph most likely.

RAM is short term storage. It's used for three things:

1. Multitasking. Every program launched sits in RAM. The more programs up, the more RAM you need.

2. Load times. Storing part or all of a program in RAM allows for reductions in loading speeds. RAM is very fast compared to disc or drives.

3. Textures. The more RAM you have, the more textures you can load at once. You can also load higher resolution textures, albeit not as many of them.

If you look at the design of the PS4, this is exactly what the machine does. The sharing and social functions require multitasking. The emphasis on sleep modes and instant play requires load time reduction. And high resolution textures help with that "next gen" feel.

But the question most people wonder, is if the Wii U can compete with such tech. Clearly the PS4 is a stronger system, on paper. And because of this, people draw back to the last gen where Wii was outmatched by the HD twins. However the Wii U architecture isn't as lacking as people presume. The Wii simply couldn't do what the HD twins could, but the Wii U can do everything the PS4 and Durango can, just scaled back slightly. You won't see as many people on screen. The textures will be lower resolution in some games. The physics won't be as impressive. That kind of thing. But in terms of image quality, and if the system can run stuff like Deep Down? Yes, absolutely. It just won't be as impressive in a 1:1 comparison.

This generation is going to be like the Genesis and SNES, or the PS2/Xbox/GC gens, where the competing systems are all capable, with some compromises, and a few games on each that just wouldn't work on their competitors.

People really need to get the idea that the Ps4 and 720 are going to be superpowered wonder machines out of their heads. They aren't going to be sporting 7k Radeons or 690+ Nvidias, i7 type processors, etc. One, Sony definitely can't afford it, and MS can't afford another generation of their gaming department not making much profit. Two, those types of components are not easily shrunk into a console unless you want another generation of overheating lights of death. Three, unless your development studio has serious financial backing, it will take several years before you see more than one or two games with super duper next gen graphics. It's not this generation of consoles holding back the next generation of graphics, it's the skyrocketing costs of making games.

Now, gadgets and gizmos? Absolutely. More emphasis on online with all sorts of marketing buzzword PR speak? Certainly. But consoles releasing in 2013/2014 with high end pc components and under 300 dollars? Not even remotely going to happen.

I'm almost positive they will both be more powerful than the Wii U, but it will be hard to tell for the most part, and unless you're an extreme AV enthusiast, you're probably not going to notice until someone points it out.

Wall of text? I had no problem reading...

We live in a world where Twitter and Texting are dominant forms of communication, and your typical news source would rather offer soundbites and flashy headlines than any in depth information. People don't bother paying attention if the topic can't be boiled down to 150 characters or less.

Such is our silly species. "Hey, we've invented these amazing communication devices that let you talk anywhere to anyone!" "Sweet, I'll limit myself to text messages and character limits! Lol, who was Morse?" "Hey, we invented technology to give you as much information as you could ever want!" "Great, but I'm busy. Is there a cliffnotes version? CSI is on."

This would be the last thing I would think about in the 90s...

My friends and I used to debate this all the time back then. In fact, while I was immensely sad that the Dreamcast failed and Sega had to leave the console market, I (and I think many other fans) were very excited about the possibility of Sega and Nintendo making games together. During the 90's this was almost blasphemous talk of course. But it was fun to think about.

Honestly I can totally see this happening. Nintendo isn't Apple rich, but right now they are sitting on a HUGE amount of cash and they need every edge they can get against Sony and MS's next systems. They may speak in public about "not being competitors", but they are, they know it, and they know what failed them last cycle was the software content the Wii had. Sega not only has great IP's, they have A LOT of them, they have experienced developers, and a strong brand (if tarnished a bit, but it is well known and popular even after their mistakes). The best part is that Sega has let a lot of those IP's languish, so even if Nintendo bought them and put out say....a Panzer Dragoon or Shining Force game, no one would complain about rehashed content. We've already seen Sega get closer to Nintendo, and honestly I can't see Sony or MS buying them except to screw Nintendo out of exclusives. Sammy isn't happy with Sega as the division has been bleeding cash for years, so I wouldn't be surprised if Sega was quietly on the chopping block either. It's really the perfect storm, so I can absolutely see the rumors being true.

Boot to account select - 19 seconds

Account select to Mii - 5 seconds

Enter Miiverse - 9 seconds
Leave Miiverse - 2 seconds

Enter Settings - 14 seconds
Leave Settings - 16 seconds

Enter E-Shop - 16 seconds

Clock speed isn’t everything, and sometimes power is a matter of efficiency, not pure numbers.

The only part of the article that matters. Better articles have done the work that this one didn't. The system doesn't need the high clock speeds of yesteryear, because it runs everything more efficiently. It's running the same games, day one, on a system that is smaller than the PS360, with far less heat and power consumption. Demos have shown the system is not a graphics slouch by any means. A basic understanding of development costs would tell anyone that for the next five years (long enough for the generation cycle to age), most companies won't be able to afford the graphic detail shown in UE4, Cryengine, or Luminous, but if they could (since the engines are scalable), the Wii U would handle them just fine.

This obsession over hardware power is stupid, petty, and pointless. Graphic capabilities right now produce some incredible looking games. The next huge graphics hardware leap won't be happening until high end GPU costs come down substantially, and anyone expecting the Wii U to be substantially less powerful than the next gen Sony and MS consoles is going to be very disappointed.

Why would you need this on a home console? On a portable one yeah but to me this is pointless......

It's about possibilities. The panorama view opens up new ways to see the world, sort of like a virtual vacation. There's the potential of integration into other services. Imagine wanting to meet with a friend from Miiverse or just curious to see where they live. Open up maps on the system, get directions, even just peer through the Gamepad to see their town. The 360 streetview is handy for gauging landmarks before programming it into a GPS device. If you have a large screen, you can look at larger areas, and more detailed close views.

It's pretty cool, it recognizes and capitalizes on one of the best aspects of the Google Maps (exploration), and it looks like fun. Plus, it also illustrates that Nintendo has a working relationship with Google (which is a good thing), and nothing precludes this from coming to the 3DS. Imagine looking up directions on the Wii U, scoping out the location, and then transmitting it to the 3DS to have the directions on the go. Granted, it's not likely to replace smartphones, but it shows the potential of the idea and what directions Nintendo is exploring, as well as the partnerships they're engaging in.

The question we should be asking is why is it slow -- bad programming? Or is it the CPU low clock speed? Or something else?

It's programming. The complaints about the slow OS and freezing didn't start until after the day 1 patch. The machines had been with various game media persons for months with no problems. The Wii U OS is far more sophisticated than the Wii's OS was. The speeds will improve eventually. We'll have to see how aggressive they are about squashing problems like this, which I think they will be considering this is now their flagship device.

That said, unlike other devices, I'm not constantly flipping around from one application to the next, and my load times aren't really that long as to be unbearable. Then again, I grew up during the adoption of CD's as a gaming format, and by god those load times were atrocious, easily a minute or more in some of the worst offenders. One of the reasons why many gamers don't notice long load times in most games today is due to learning from that era, and now load times are masked under technologies like streaming. If anyone remembers Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (an amazing game btw, hopefully it gets a reboot), it was one of the first games to feature a large world with almost no load times, which was unheard of in the Playstation One era.

Nintendo should just buy those old Rare IP's and make the games themselves. They're pretty much synonymous with the Nintendo name anyway.

I've tried to get this to work, but my system refuses to load the files even if I transcode them. The farthest I got was VLC streaming but when I load up the file on the Wii U the browser just outputs a bunch of gibberish code. Plus, I'm not too keen on converting everything to MP4.

Both have their flaws but I think the safest option would be disc. With cartridges they can gather dust easily and I remember reading article about blowing into your cartridge was actually making it worse than helping the problem. I would however switch to cartridge if they made new designs without that open gap thing and more slimmer than the original.

The reason they say blowing can make it worse is because when you exhale forcefully it's possible to get moisture on the contacts, which means potential rust corrosion which makes the contacts even more unreliable. I've never heard of it actually happening though.

Personally I liked cartridges because they could take a lot of abuse. I'm noticing in a lot of used game shops that it's getting harder to find older disc games, and the ones that are available tend to be scratched up (though mostly playable). Cartridges are still easy to find though, even as far back as the old Atari stuff.

Still, physical memory can be pricey, and unlike discs, you have to deal with longer manufacturing times. If you estimate the market properly, you could end up with too few copies for sale, which could cost you sales you'd otherwise have. By the time the second shipment arrived, interest may have shifted elsewhere. On the other hand, if you make too many, and it doesn't sell well, you're stuck with an expensive inventory and you're out a bunch of money. Discs can be printed fast, almost on demand, so it's much easier to keep shelves stocked. Plus you save on production costs, since you don't have to deal with any memory chips or boards, it's just a disc with information burned on it. Also, cartridges usually had a minimum order amount required for production, which discs did not.

That's why the PS1 had a huge advantage over the N64. Their games were cheaper to make, cheaper to sell, and easier to keep supplied. Far less cost and risk compared to cartridges, and much easier for a niche gaming company to get a game on the market without spending a fortune. It also didn't hurt that Sony licensing fees were cheaper than Nintendo and Sega's. I miss the era of 40 dollar console games. =

Still, I liked cartridges for what they were, and sometimes I miss them.

If you didn't want to hear the opinions of others, you shouldn't have asked. You've clearly made up your mind about the purchase before you had even posted, so you didn't really need us, unless you were trying to drive traffic to your Youtube channels. Nobody here is saying Wii U sucks, most of us own one and think it's great. All we said was that for 60 bucks it's a questionable purchase if you have other options, and if you don't, it's not bad for what it is. Don't try to make this into something it's not.

Honest answer: If all you have is a Wii U, and you really like the ME franchise and haven't played ME3 yet, it's your best choice because it's your only option. The game is certainly playable, even with the port issues. However, compared to every other version of the game, it is noticeably inferior in both playability and value for the money. The Trilogy (ME1, 2, and 3) was recently released for PC, PS3, and 360, look, sound, and play much better, and contain almost all of the DLC for a cheaper price.

I say this with all my love for Nintendo, and I don't want to push players away from the company, but EA hasn't taken a Nintendo platform seriously since the SNES days and as a result the vast majority of titles it releases for Nintendo systems tend to be the worst versions, watered down and shuffled off to some underfunded overworked b-team studio just so the publisher can milk more money out of consumers.

And I haven't even mentioned Origin yet.

I haven't found any programs that will let me stream content from my PC to my Wii U, yet. Some work for the Wii, but apparently the way the Wii U handles things in the browser/operating system are different enough that those programs aren't compatible. If there is one that actually does work, I'd be interested to try it out.

I hope this is real. Would be a great surprise for us. And does anyone have the source for Nintendo saying their were more launch window surprises?

"I think we will continue to surprise the fans with announcements and information," Fils-Aime said. "I would not go so far as to say you know everything in our launch window."

http://kotaku.com/59...oming-surprises

I don't think it's worth 60 bucks unless you have people to frequently co-op with around a television, but it would be nice to see more of these types of games. Some of the best gaming from the 16/32 bit generations were arcade ports, lots of quarter munching multiplayer action. So much time sunk into stuff like Turtles arcade and Time Crisis. ><

When it gets cheaper, I'll definitely pick it up.

It's interesting to see the parallel between the sales of the Wii and DS versus the Wii U and 3DS. Nintendo has (imo) done a fairly poor job of communicating that the U and 3DS are completely new systems to "mainstream" customers, and it's not unusual to see people who think they can buy a 3DS game and use it in their DS, or think the Wii U is a controller addon for the regular Wii. The naming convention is too similar, and yet also so muddy. I wonder how many sales of each were the result of poorly informed employees and customers? Not that Nintendo cares in regards to sales, of course, but it is an image problem. I'm sure the economy factored into the decisions of some customers as well, since the Wii and DS are now very cheap and have a large library of cheap games, but it reminds me of the struggle Sony had getting people to ditch the PS2 for the PS3.

The Wii U and 3DS needed stronger naming, system design, and packaging differences. Even the old "Super" title would have worked, like "Super Wii" or "Super Gameboy". Or heck, go old school, and start using the Nintendo name in the consoles again. The system design is another sticking point. The Wii U and 3DS don't really look much different than the systems that came before then. To the uninformed eye, it looks pretty much the same, which isn't a good way to reel customers in, and this extends to the packaging differences, which are incredibly small. The Wii U games come in a blue case, and the logo is in a different spot, the 3DS is almost exactly the same minus the logo change. Again, these differences may seem small, but they're important.

Really, what bugs me the most is the baffling decisions that the marketing team for Nintendo makes. It's clear a lot of thought went into what they want the Wii U to be, but they've done a terrible job of communicating that to customers, which is why I think the hype hasn't really been there this time around, and why people end up arguing about things like system specs and other launch issues. The system on paper should be a home run, but it just seems like the company hasn't realized why the E3 showing wasn't well recieved.

Then again, with Microsoft trying to copy Apple and Sony doing god knows what, maybe Nintendo has this figured out better than us armchair critics realize.

Nice picture by the way.
Although it might sound ridiculous, I think what Noonabites said is the best bet. Nintendo are going out of there way to try and achieve a user friendly Miiverse... too user friendly, some might argue.

I'll take that over booting up the system and seeing pegasus generator pictures everywhere. It's also why I turn off any online voice features when I'm not playing with friends, because the majority of the time it's just people acting stupid, nerd raging and swearing up a storm. It may be a public system, but it's Nintendo's service, and the last thing they need right now is news sensationalism about Miiverse corrupting our children (more than usual, anyway).

Well, of course I am responsible. That's not the point. I was just shocked at how easily the thing busted. Never broke a touchscreen in my life.

Anyway, since typing this out, and speaking on the phone to reps for about an hour, they decided to cover the damage because it is a new console and because I wasn't a total ass (i'm assuming). Also noted that this is the very first repair instance of a wiiu yet in North America. I guess that's kinda cool in a weird backwards way!

All's well that ends well right?

<3 Nintendo's customer service.

And about that Youtube video: further evidence that Nintendium should be on the periodic table:

IGN has gone downhill. It's not a good news site - most other sites break news faster and more often. It's not a good article site - generally full of misinformation or "I got paid to do this by the advertiser" type of junk. It's not a good review site - many of the reviews lack objectivity....some have outright bias. It was great before Matt left, a real feel of energy from the IGN team....now it's pretty much Greg and Sony/MS love.

soo expect games that do not implies lots of units on screen and less players in a multiplayer mode for future games and things like that

Edit: but in games like AC 3 there are moments with a noticeable big number of units on screen and it works fine :/

You'd have to have a hefty number of units with a high level of physics all going on at once to see a severe impact in performance. Something like Supreme Commander for example, which can have an ungodly amount of units in multiplayer. Your average game just isn't going to see that.

More to the point, the biggest limiter with CPU power is whatever you don't want the GPU to handle. GPUs these days are effectively second computers, and are designed to take as much load as possible off of the CPU so that it can focus on more important tasks. This is where having a boatload of RAM and a fast transfer rate come in, as the game is swapping huge files like textures and complicated physics systems on the fly. Bad code slows this down, and this is especially noticeable on PCs, where poorly optimized code can bring even the most powerful systems to their knees.

There is also the issue with ported code, in that every system is built different. This is no different for consoles. The PS3 is, on paper, theoretically more powerful than the Xbox, but many games just don't run as well. Not only is it difficult to program for, but studios push developers hard on deadlines....which leads to inferior versions. At this point in the current generation, it's not as bad. Many developers have figured out how to wring out the best performance from both systems. However, now the WiiU has an entirely new architecture, and the short development time plus the general attitude of companies like EA toward Nintendo has resulted in a number of games that don't really tap into the potential of the system at all.

The system can produce some truly next gen graphics. The Zelda demo and the Japanese Garden demo are simply stunning. Give it a year for developers to get a handle for it, and you'll see some truly jaw dropping stuff.