29 replies to this topic

[AdmiralClassy]

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/41185/wii-u-specs-surprising-says-sonic-developer/

Wii U specs are surprising, says Sonic developer
Wii U GPU and memory better than expected

The executive producer of Sonic And All-Stars Racing Transformed has told Official Nintendo Magazine that he was surprised by the Wii U specs, specifically the GPU and memory which are better than the Sumo developers expected.

In an interview with ONM, Steve Lycett spoke of the challenges his team faced when developing Sonic And All-Stars Racing for Wii U.

"There are always surprises and unexpected challenges when you develop on a new console," said Lycett. "When we first got our hands on the kit, the first surprise was the capability of the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). We'd been worried that we might need to re-engineer all the effects and shaders in the game, but they worked just fine."

The Sumo producer also complimented the memory which has helped his team make Sonic Racing look smart on Wii U. "The Wii U looks as good as any of the HD platforms. The Wii U has way more memory, so we can take advantage of that with less compression on elements and textures, so it will look all lovely and shiny."

Want to learn about the power of Nintendo's new console? Here's our analysis of the Wii U specs:
http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/39393/wii-u-specs-explained/

You can read the full interview with Steve Lycett in the new issue of Official Nintendo Magazine which goes on sale on 29 August. In the interview, he explains why he chose Gilius from Golden Axe instead of Tyris!

So that's good news. Quite pleased about it having a lot more memory then the ps360. And the fact that the gpu/cpu are more powerful then expected is very good. Hopefully the developers did not have low expectations just because the wii was quite a bit weaker than the ps360.

[Robotic Sunshine Commander]

not suprised

[3Dude]

Sounds like they were expecting another fixed function gpu from Nintendo.

[Foot]

THis just proves that its Easy to develop for and will receive great 3rd Party Support.

[Keviin]

Kind of what I expected, more memory. I hope there will be more to it tho.

[iShuys]

I hope the Wii U won't cost too much. They say it's going to be £279.99, I doubt it'll be any cheaper.

[AdmiralClassy]

I hope the Wii U won't cost too much. They say it's going to be £279.99, I doubt it'll be any cheaper.

I was hoping it'd be 250 quid and no more. Who says £279?

[Alianjaro]

Good news. Oh and this article tought me what GPU means. Cool!

[BanjoKazooie]

I think it will be around 350 USD. And I'm not surprised they are surprised. It'll be a good system that's friendly for 3rd party developers.

[Socalmuscle]

If they sell at $350, they will probably take a slight loss. The system is packed out with high performance, quality hardware. At the tablet controller and it is a pricy bit of kit.

I'm guessing $399. but if anyone knows how to get great deals, its Nintendo.

[iShuys]

I was hoping it'd be 250 quid and no more. Who says £279?

Hasn't ShopTo got it pre-ordered at that price? Plus they have many games available for pre-order. It's all over Google about the price £279.99 too. We'll see by September the 13th won't we?

[thehappening]

Sounds like they were expecting another fixed function gpu from Nintendo.

fact 1 i would expect some efficent fixed funtioneffects from nintendo they do efficent like no other and fact 2 hollywood wasnt fixed funtion it had araeas that were like every gpu on planet earth id expect nintendo to use fixed funtion if it ment effecent powerful effects with low hardware hit

TEV fixed funtion alllllllll rightyyyyyy thennnn

Edited by thehappening, 24 August 2012 - 02:06 PM.

[3Dude]

fact 1 i would expect some efficent fixed funtioneffects from nintendo they do efficent like no other and fact 2 hollywood wasnt fixed funtion it had araeas that were like every gpu on planet earth id expect nintendo to use fixed funtion if it ment effecent powerful effects with low hardware hit

TEV fixed funtion alllllllll rightyyyyyy thennnn

I don't think you know what fixed function means.

[Socalmuscle]

fact 1 i would expect some efficent fixed funtioneffects from nintendo they do efficent like no other and fact 2 hollywood wasnt fixed funtion it had araeas that were like every gpu on planet earth id expect nintendo to use fixed funtion if it ment effecent powerful effects with low hardware hit

TEV fixed funtion alllllllll rightyyyyyy thennnn

?

<edit: OK just noticed the word "some" in there. possible. But it would be in addition to the now industry standard programmable variety. These days, it isn't necessary though. In fact, by "presetting" functions, you limit the artistic and engineering talents of those who want to set their own. Not just turn on a feature that may or may not have been set up by someone less talented who may or may not have less artistic vision. better to provide reference code instead...>

Fixed was back in the day when they were still inventing cool new things in the hardware for the devs to play with by simply turning it on. now, the devs make that call with programable shaders.

Also, just saw the Xbox 360 with weak sauce Kinect retailing for $399. And folks really expect the far more powerful Wii U hardware plus camera-toting, touchscreen-packing, motion-sensing, NFC-capable GamePad to be $300 or less?

Edited by Socalmuscle, 24 August 2012 - 03:14 PM.

[3Dude]

?

<edit: OK just noticed the word "some" in there. possible. But it would be in addition to the now industry standard programmable variety. These days, it isn't necessary though. In fact, by "presetting" functions, you limit the artistic and engineering talents of those who want to set their own. Not just turn on a feature that may or may not have been set up by someone less talented who may or may not have less artistic vision. better to provide reference code instead...>

Fixed was back in the day when they were still inventing cool new things in the hardware for the devs to play with by simply turning it on. now, the devs make that call with programable shaders.

Also, just saw the Xbox 360 with weak sauce Kinect retailing for $399. And folks really expect the far more powerful Wii U hardware plus camera-toting, touchscreen-packing, motion-sensing, NFC-capable GamePad to be $300 or less?

That depends on your interpretation of far more powerful.

Its just not in the cards to have an uber leap in power again at this point in time... For so many reasons. The most damning, has been the fact that the reliance on, or rather, the full on abuse of Moores law has finally reached its consequences, as Dennard scaling hits the inevitable wall of physical limits. As of right now, we can't simply continue advancing in power the same easy way we did from 1970-2005/6. Don't mistake what I'm saying. This is very much a NOW problem, silicon integrated circuitry, as we've been using it for the past 30+ years has hit its physical limits for the easy power upgrades so many are SO very used to enjoying. Its been going on so long that people just seem to take it for granted.

Once we overcome the silicon problem (graphene? optical?), we will be back on track, with a performance rate growth similar to what we enjoyed with dennard scaling.
Maybe even in time for the next consoles!

(Personally, I'm expecting a 350 wii u price point.)

[Tricky Sonic]

I like this article. Maybe it will make more developers think twice about ignoring or underestimating the system.

[neverwinteru]

i just want to see a first party title that is developed ground up for Wii u.

im not really surprised but this just makes me more confident in the power.

[thehappening]

im getting a bit fed up with HOW MUCH RAM isnt the question what ram and how is it used set up in the wiiu 2gb of iphone ram and a huge os = zhit games performance....give me custom fast ram and massive bandwidth edram

THis just proves that its Easy to develop for and will receive great 3rd Party Support.

3rd party support has zero to do with that the 3rd partys non wii support was hatred of the company nintendo please explain ps2s huge support the worst console to code in history

Edited by thehappening, 25 August 2012 - 01:43 AM.

[Tricky Sonic]

im getting a bit fed up with HOW MUCH RAM isnt the question what ram and how is it used set up in the wiiu 2gb of iphone ram and a huge os = zhit games performance....give me custom fast ram and massive bandwidth edram




3rd party support has zero to do with that the 3rd partys non wii support was hatred of the company nintendo please explain ps2s huge support the worst console to code in history

Actually the Sega Saturn was the worst console to code for in history. But I agree. Nintendo has always been hard on developers. Ease of coding or system power hasn't been what alienated 3Rd party developers. Nintendo did that themselves.

[Foot]

im getting a bit fed up with HOW MUCH RAM isnt the question what ram and how is it used set up in the wiiu 2gb of iphone ram and a huge os = zhit games performance....give me custom fast ram and massive bandwidth edram




3rd party support has zero to do with that the 3rd partys non wii support was hatred of the company nintendo please explain ps2s huge support the worst console to code in history

Well in terms of RAM, I think they should go with ddr3 (which they probably will) as its the most efficient for gaming.

But in terms of 3rd Party support, I'm saying that Nintendo has made it easier for developers to bring their games over with better coding. And in no way did I mention Wii, but the reason the Wii got minimal 3rd party support is because of the older, weaker architecture implemented. With the Wii U, Nintendo is using architecture from 2010-2011 and powerful enough to make other Next-Gen games port onto the platform, or even co-develop!