19 replies to this topic

[andodel]

First off, we all know it's not possible for them to magically add in any new parts to the console. That being said, they could in fact release it under clocked and then bring it up later if they want to. The 3DS actually had/has the same thing, where Nintendo supposedly only had half of its processing power in use (Read this a long time ago).
All it would require to change this is a simple system update.

[Fig]

And to add to TRON's question, what would be the advantage to underclocking Wii U until a later date? Is it only so Sony and Microsoft won't have a clear vision of what Wii U can really do? Because I figure that if they were really curious they would purchase a Wii U and hack it to find out for themselves.

[Plutonas]

but I think if they update the "bios" of the console (patch), they can oc it a bit, or unlock already existing hardware. I will give u an example. Wii U specs, do not refer than wii U pad, includes an additional gpu chip inside it.. And it is locked!! why? Wii U pad can easily get mobility parts inside it (cheap), so it will drain much less resources from wii U... The most recent huge interview by Iwata, if u notice when he refers about the wii U specs... he says : GPUS not GPU

Edited by Orion, 25 June 2012 - 04:22 AM.

[Desert Punk]

The psp underclocked to give extra battery life but thats not relevant for a home console. The 3DS has 2 arm 11 cpus and when the 3DS was launched one cpu ran games and the other did all background tasks, wifi etc. Later versions of the operating system optimised the code for the operating system etc and created some spare capacity in the 2nd cpu so that the some game code could also be run on this cpu. We don't know how much of the 2nd cpu can be used its been rumoured as high as 50% but others have stated less like 30%. The likely way the wii u could increase performance is by an optimised operating system that frees up more cpu resources to be used by games like the 3DS example. I think this is quite a common thing though across many platforms where such optimisations allow later games to perform better than earlier games. If you hand assemble critical operating system code to reduce its size and make it faster you are effectively enhancing the performance of the console for actual games. I remember reading about a pc gamer who spent serious time trimming back his windows operating system removing un-necessary parts and making the whole system as efficient as possible even though the pc in question was low spec with not a lot of memory and got 3x the frame rates in his games and he was only using onboard graphics if I remember rightly. So the game code itself was the same but the underlying operating system underneath became much more efficient.

[Penguin101]

I reckon everyone will be relatively disappointed with the nextbox compared to people thinking it'll be a huge leap, far greater than teh Wii U. It'll be around twice the power of the Wii U, not 4, 6 or 8 times.

The nextbox will probably have a 6-core POWER7 with 4 threads a core, this would make it (in total) four times the power of the 360) However dedicating two cores to the kinect2 and other future peripherals. This would allow all 4 remaining cores dedicated completely to the games. Where the Wii U is in my opinion likely to be running a 4 core processor with 3 threads a core, being twice the power of the 360, but sharing those threads for the OS and controller system and future peripherals.

I reckon the GPU of the nextbox will be 4x the 360, whereas the Wii U (again in my opinion) will be around twice the power of the 360. It still gives a significant leap, but not enough for it to be such a leap where the Wii U will be left in the dust.

The same with RAM. I *think* the Wii U will have 2GB RAM with 512mb dedicated to the OS. Where the nextbox I reckon will have 4GB, with an unknown amount dedicated to the OS.

As far as PS4 will go I'm not sure. There are too man rumours, Sony are too scared to show anything indicating a PS4 being even near ready, they wont even show off a tech demo. Recently Sony have said they wont release anything until they can show a significant leap. So the PS4 is totally a wildcard

Edited by Penguin101, 25 June 2012 - 05:13 AM.

[Hinkik]

Yes it's easy to do.

They can just send an update that changes the BIOS setting to whatever clock they want.

[MorbidGod]

Yes, it is entirely possibleit could be under clocked to allow for it to be unlocked. It is more likely, like Desert Punk said, that it will just be optimized better in the future (maybe that dedicated ram to the OS will be freed up at some point).

Xbox 720 will not have a POWER7 if that leak Doc is true. It will have an ARM or AMD x86. It seems to me they haven't decided what company to go with.

[Nollog]

First off, we all know it's not possible for them to magically add in any new parts to the console. That being said, they could in fact release it under clocked and then bring it up later if they want to. The 3DS actually had/has the same thing, where Nintendo supposedly only had half of its processing power in use (Read this a long time ago).
All it would require to change this is a simple system update.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_32X
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_CD

They unlocked a core on the 3DS.
I don't think this sort of thing is beneficial, but it could be done.
I mean, the original plan for Nintendo was for one core of the 3DS to be used solely for the menu etc., but I guess when third parties asked for more power Nintendo just unlocked it for them.

[Meelow100]

All I have to say is if they didn't future proof the Wii U to compete with the PS4 and 720 than I will be mad, I don't understand why Nintendo is so scared to spend money,

[bejfever]

Would it be feesible to have a RAM expansion like they did with the N64?
One of the biggest problems with 360ps3 was the small 512mb RAM. Whilst WiiU will have a nice 1GB ish amound of RAM, in the future when ps4720 comes out; it'd be good to see an upgrade. 2-4 gb perhaps.
Obviously it doesn't seem like they're doing this. No rumours or speculation; so can anyone answer my why this would not be viable? Did the N64 memory expansion teach Nintendo a hard lesson?

[MorbidGod]

All I have to say is if they didn't future proof the Wii U to compete with the PS4 and 720 than I will be mad, I don't understand why Nintendo is so scared to spend money,

Its not that they are afraid to spend money. I am sure developing the Gamepad cost an arm and a leg. But Nintendo will always favor gameplay over graphics.

And we must remember Nintendo wants to keep the Wii U affordable. Unlike Sony and Microsoft, whi makes money from other products, Nintendo is a gaming company only. They can't sell at a loss.

[silverismoney]

a pointless thread they would all be close in this day and age sateration point has been reached MEANINGLESS and please tell me were bankrupt sony gets the money to pay for this a new console alone would finish sony

people need a reallity check move flopped theres no innovation at sony a dualshock and a ps4 = A MASSIVE FLOP

[bejfever]

a pointless thread they would all be close in this day and age sateration point has been reached MEANINGLESS and please tell me were bankrupt sony gets the money to pay for this a new console alone would finish sony

people need a reallity check move flopped theres no innovation at sony a dualshock and a ps4 = A MASSIVE FLOP

Please use some punctuation.

[silverismoney]

stop trying to bypass my facts with net grammar policing,, i clearly know what im saying so stop changing the subject to grammar the subject is wiiu etc and qouting systems that dont exist and one company being near bankrupt is beyond stupid

a company with a total fail motion controller a 3 gen old standard controller nothing new to offer us,, so a slightly more powerful box with ps4 on it and a dualshock IF SONY IS THAT STUPID THEN WELCOME TO SEGA LAND AT THE TIME OF THE DREAMCAST = DEATH


SOME FACT TO CHEW ON if x720/ps4 has no wm+ or better it isnt next gen, if it doesnt match or better the dualscreen offered by wiiu gamepad it isnt next gen, just as psvita is not next gen it lacks all the things outside of processors the things needs to be next gen

psvita is sonys second handheld in a row not competing with DS family theres no dual screen or touch screen psp ... theres no dual screen or 3D psvita and the touchscren is phone like not GAMING TACTILE LIKE in design so in REALITY psvita apart from power is 2 GENS BEHIND

ps4 will not have anything on par with wm+ it will have nothing on par with wiiu gamepad and kinect and xpad cannot offer anything like the wiiu gamepad experience or the wm+ and mouse pointer experience

yet 3DS offers everything a psvita offers and wiiu supports a classic pad pro so how can any other company compete the answer is simply they cannot AND THATS WHY THE INDUSTRY IS TRYING TO IDIOT US ALL WITH TABLETS AND SMARTGLASS AND PHONES

nintendo has won what remains of sony and ms is dieing soldiers on the battle field they will die the wunded will return home THE WAR IS OVER sony and ms and the industry just wont admit it

smartglass sorry more like ass gas the things a gimmick

something else i pondered THE RAM gamecube had custom fast 1t sram and very slow dram wii had custom fast 1t sram and half desent gddr3 dram

so wiiu has edram and edram level 2 catch MAYBE but is the main ram 1 pool or 2 and is 1 of them FAST RAM LIKE 1T SRAM OR FC RAM OR EVEN IBM EDRAM ACTING AS MAIN RAM LIKE GC/Wii did with 1t sram

Edited by silverismoney, 26 June 2012 - 06:48 PM.

[bejfever]

Silverismoney,

I more than agree with you with most of what you say. I believe sony will do some type of vita-ps3 crossover controller. Not sure what Microsoft will do, seems they want to follow the kinect route. If they don't follow the touchscreen controller route, they're going to loose out. I presume these companies can get around the patents that Nintendo have on such devices. Sony would not let themselves go bankrupt in the game consoles department, they're way to big of a company to let that happen.

And for the kind benefit of others, if you use punctuation, we can all read what you are saying without having to decode it. I seriously have to read over what you have written far too many times to understand your statement (putting me and probably others off your comments). So to keep the interest and response levels high and correct in what you're saying, help us all out and tell us when to breath. The funniest part of your response: "i clearly know what im saying so stop changing the subject to grammar the subject is wiiu etc," - well you do know what you are saying yes, because you are you and you wrote it. Communicating the right feelings and meaning to others correctly, can save a lot of time and energy. You will get plenty of misinterpreted responses, and arguements going the wrong direction when you're not clear.

[Soul]

Silverismoney,

I more than agree with you with most of what you say. I believe sony will do some type of vita-ps3 crossover controller. Not sure what Microsoft will do, seems they want to follow the kinect route. If they don't follow the touchscreen controller route, they're going to loose out. I presume these companies can get around the patents that Nintendo have on such devices. Sony would not let themselves go bankrupt in the game consoles department, they're way to big of a company to let that happen.

And for the kind benefit of others, if you use punctuation, we can all read what you are saying without having to decode it. I seriously have to read over what you have written far too many times to understand your statement (putting me and probably others off your comments). So to keep the interest and response levels high and correct in what you're saying, help us all out and tell us when to breath. The funniest part of your response: "i clearly know what im saying so stop changing the subject to grammar the subject is wiiu etc," - well you do know what you are saying yes, because you are you and you wrote it. Communicating the right feelings and meaning to others correctly, can save a lot of time and energy. You will get plenty of misinterpreted responses, and arguements going the wrong direction when you're not clear.

Gaming helmet from Microsoft proberly.

[uh20]

there might be small improvements made but aside from just better software game engines, there should'nt be anything more than a 30% boost in its lifetime

[3Dude]

there might be small improvements made but aside from just better software game engines, there should'nt be anything more than a 30% boost in its lifetime

That assertation is in sharp contrast to every console ever made.

Even the nes improved dramatically more than 30% in its lifetime.