19 replies to this topic

[ianh05]

I had this idea a week or so ago but never got around to typing it up so here it is. Wii U is currently the only console with 2 screens and a lot of games will make use of it for that games benefit but why stick to only using that second screen for additional gameplay on a single game? Dual gaming on a single console is now possible! Currently if you have a brother, sister, friend or someone else over who wants to play a different game they can't until you finish.

Dual Gaming:

*Play 2 different games at once using each screen to play a different game.
*Could (maybe) be possible with games on your hard drive.
*Player one could use pro controller with the TV while player two uses the gamepad and it's screen.

Thoughts/Suggestions?

[UnholyVision]

Not possible in the least on a console. At least not on any graphical games. I mean your needing power to run games at low frame rates and to top that off the video feeding to the gamepad alone still takes a tole on the systems hardware. Then say if it was even possible to add in a third gamepad to the already two gamepads for two players your frame rate would drop even more than it does just adding in a second gamepad. (This is if the system could even take the toll of both games being processed). Basically going from sort of fair rates to snail rates. Meh, no thank you.

Edited by UnholyVision, 16 December 2012 - 10:47 PM.

[AndyG]

This would never happen, i even doubt that the 720 and omni would be able to handle it as well when they come out.

[ianh05]

I was thinking if it can handle giving 2 players 2 different views in local co-op maybe if you split a game down the middle 1 person could play one half while the other person played the other half.

[Mitch]

Then say if it was even possible to add in a third gamepad to the already two gamepads for two players your frame rate would drop even more than it does just adding in a second gamepad.

So does that mean if they added 4 gamepads the frame rate would drop even lower than if they added 3?

Edited by Mitch13pavel, 16 December 2012 - 11:21 PM.

[UnholyVision]

I was thinking if it can handle giving 2 players 2 different views in local co-op maybe if you split a game down the middle 1 person could play one half while the other person played the other half.

Not sure if I am reading this right and I am seeing this in two ways.

If your saying that the same game has been designed to have two different happenings running basically side by side. Then sure that could happen if the developer designed the game in a way to work with the limitation of the hardware in the console. Then say one player could be playing this mini game while the other plays that one. It still would be having to process two thins per se, but if designed right the code could be sufficient enough to work in this sort of environment. Yet this still would mean a game would have to be sort of dubbed down in some areas to lower the overall load on given hardware.

If you mean two games as in one physical and one digital or two digital than no. You could say cut some includes in the main cpp file per se to cut out some of the game, but that would just lead to errors and more load. You would end up having the system needing to seek the SSD or external device in order to sort of rebuild the data needed at that given time. If for some reason it was loading from two individual drives it would take a bit of load off each device in terms of reading and writing of what is happening in the software. Yet that still is having to load all these thousands of lines of data be it code, music, models, et cetera to take a chunk of processing power to display/output. (Luckly, the Wii U does have a sound card per se to sort of take a little load off the other parts of the overall computer, yet still).

Not possible on a console. Specially with the fact they love to not assign each part a separate function on each piece of hardware. Instead they share loads between parts to make up for the lack of this or that.

So does that mean if they added 4 gamepads the frame rate would drop even lower than if they added 3?

Adding a second gamepad lowers frame rates due to the fact the hardware is trying to feed decent rates to each device limited within the hardware. Add more gamepads into play and you would have another split based off what the software is design to split it at & the limitations of said hardware's overall capabilities of feeding. Nintendo has said themselves via Twitter that adding in another gamepad the game halves to 30fps. What do you expect to see when you add more feeds with three, four, et cetera controllers?

[ianh05]

I'm no tech wiz, it was just an idea I hope to see put into use... even if it's just for VC/downloaded games

[PedanticGamer]

So does that mean if they added 4 gamepads the frame rate would drop even lower than if they added 3?

Depends how the devs optimize the game. They could just downgrade the graphics as more people are playing.

[GAMER1984]

that could be amazing and a great marketing tool. "you can play two seperate games on our console". i think it could give them a leg up with the 5 player local multiplayer.

[Gamejunkie]

This is never going to happen for technical reasons if nothing else. There is no way a console like the Wii U has the resources to not only run two games at the same time but also to transmit one of them to the Gamepad. I very much doubt that even the successors to the PS3 and 360 will be able to do this.

[UnholyVision]

Depends how the devs optimize the game. They could just downgrade the graphics as more people are playing.

Yes, technically speaking they could. but how low do you think they are going to go before they go, "Oh this will not sell because it looks like poop"? Being as a lot of gamers today go for graphics (Console gamers and the idea of great graphics. xD) even on a console. Specially if it is on multiple platforms. It would drive some people over to the others where 2-4 players could be played without the downgrade. (Still a sell for them, but why stock shelves with games not selling).

Edit: I said "stalk" when I was meaning "stock". Great error that I noticed in a quote of my post.

Edited by UnholyVision, 18 December 2012 - 12:06 AM.

[Alex Atkin UK]

It would be far far too complicated and any game which supported it would only be able to utilise less than half the Wii Us capabilities.

Multi-tasking is never simple, even on PC its not practical to run two games at the same time unless they are fairly simple. It would be a lot of work for very little gain.

I would much rather see games utilise every drop of power of the Wii U than artificially cap its abilities for a function hardly anyone will use.

[PedanticGamer]

Yes, technically speaking they could. but how low do you think they are going to go before they go, "Oh this will not sell because it looks like poop"? Being as a lot of gamers today go for graphics (Console gamers and the idea of great graphics. xD) even on a console. Specially if it is on multiple platforms. It would drive some people over to the others where 2-4 players could be played without the downgrade. (Still a sell for them, but why stalk shelves with games not selling).

True, that's the same reason so many game releases show of pc footage (far cry 3, battlefield, moh etc) even when the pc is not the primary platform.

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

Just NO.

[ianh05]

Just NO.

Why not?

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

Why not?

Just the worst idea ever.

[ianh05]

Just the worst idea ever.

Really? I think it would be great for families and maybe even friends who don't want to play the same game. This way the console could be shared by 2 people.

[PipoPito]

Really? I think it would be great for families and maybe even friends who don't want to play the same game. This way the console could be shared by 2 people.

Yes i would be great for Families who don't want to play the same game, but don't you think it would make the console really slow. People just have to be patient and wait for their turn to play or just play the same game. But thats still a good idea.

[CNR]

This idea looks better on paper then it would in real life, unfortunately.

Edited by Oblivion Comet, 22 December 2012 - 11:45 PM.

[Nollog]

I think it's a good idea, and something Nintendo were thinking about at the start.
Downloadable games like Chinese checkers could be played on the upad while another person might be playing nsmbu on the tv.
A real multi-tasking console is a long way off though.