Wii U is 'tremendously powerful', says Nintendo. Questions need for competitive platforms

NewsPublish Date 08/06/2012 - 10:27am GMT+1

Next Nintendo console 'pushes out great graphics,' reckons Reggie.

The Wii U is a "tremendously powerful system", Nintendo of America's president Reggie Fils-Aime has claimed, before questioning "the role" of competitive platforms.

"We're about to launch a tremendously powerful system," Reggie told IGN.

"A system that pushes out great graphics, a system that has an opportunity to do a lot of things.

"I think in the end, the consumer choice is going to be... Once I buy my Wii U, that satisfies my Nintendo cravings and my cravings for all of these other great multi-platform franchises, then what is the role of a competitive platform? It's going to have to live on the backs of some sort of unique proposition, or unique content.

"And to me that's the million-dollar question. Of our potential competitors down the road, who's going to have that compelling content that's going to say, hey, now I need to branch out and pick up this additional system? I think it's for them to answer."

The technical capabilities of the Wii U still haven't been formally addressed by Nintendo, with a spec sheet released earlier this week failing to deliver specific information on the hardware's GPU, memory or processing power.

The console is rumoured to be on par with current generation HD systems and significantly less powerful than Xbox 720/PS4.

Back in March, however, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford said that "the Wii U version [of upcoming shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines] has so much more to offer", adding that "no other platform can do what the Wii U can do".

Earlier today, UK retailer ShopTo pinned a £279 price on Wii U.

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Diggylove

Flop in the making.... great graphics? I wont be shocked a the awesomeness of the Wii-u as they are all still sitting on the shelves next year.

Posted 18:15 on 08 June 2012

Wido

You can use two Wii U Gaming Pads, but using two of them will half the fps to 30fps from 60fps according to Kotaku. However, launch games for the Wii U have not been developed to use two Gaming Pad's, so expect more details nearer release or after on that front.

The Wii U does support backwards compability, and even Wii VC can be transfered over to the Wii U.

@CheekyLee - I disagree. Uncharted easily outshines any 360 exclusive any time of the day for quality.

Posted 14:27 on 08 June 2012

FantasyMeister

I just spent a couple of hours trawling YouTube for any Wii-U footage that screams next gen (or even 'incredibly powerful') rather than current gen. There isn't any at this stage, and until there is I'm keeping the Wii-U in the current gen category.

What should be troubling everyone is that this is E3, this is where you're meant to be amazing people with what your new console can do. Nintendo haven't done that.

Having said that, it was exactly the same with the Wii, and given the Wii's installed userbase I think they'll do ok out of it, but for core gamers who like the latest and greatest there really isn't much to see here. Move along now.

Posted 13:33 on 08 June 2012

tvr77

The impression i get is that its pretty close to this gen but with some extra bells and whistles like what the gamepad can do etc.

Posted 13:11 on 08 June 2012

Clockpunk @ pblive

Ah, so the console has three main controller 'types'...? The Wii nunchuck duo, the new WiiU Pad, and the 'classic' controller...?

Either way, backwards compatability with that huge back catalgoue is an important element...

Posted 12:35 on 08 June 2012

Endless @ pblive

I'm pretty sure I read the other day that you can have two tablet controllers used simultaneously....i'l be damned if I can find the link again though.

Posted 12:30 on 08 June 2012

pblive @ Clockpunk

Yep. It's pretty much used in the new games as well as the other controllers, since the Wii U can still only use one tablet controller.

Posted 12:24 on 08 June 2012

CheekyLee @ Clockpunk

You have misunderstood how the Wiimote works. The 'sensor' is inaccurately named, as all it actually does is emit light for the camera in the Wiimote to pick up. So, theoretically, the sensor itself is redundant. It is a good point, though, and it would be nice if someone with access to someone who can answer it were to ask.

Posted 12:23 on 08 June 2012

Clockpunk

Could someone please clarify - does the WiiU incorporate the Wii sensor in any way/shape/form, or is the back catalogue of games that require the Wiimote completely redundant now...?

Posted 12:18 on 08 June 2012

CheekyLee @ dav2612

THIS^

For all its superior horsepower, the PS3 has not really given us any experiences that completely outshine the 360. (Often, multiplatform games were less impressive on PS3.) And, for all its limitations, the Wii still managed to throw some of the best games of this generation at us. The bottom line is that most of us don't have a clue what any of those numbers on spec sheets really mean, and they can all be rendered even more confusing by the addition of each and every single piece of custom hardware added. (Example: The 68000 processor on the MegaDrive ran twice as fast as the theoretical maximum speed of the SNES 5A22 processor.)

Posted 12:13 on 08 June 2012

MJTH @ dav2612

True, seeing what can be done on the wii u is good to see, but since theWii U has specs closer to this gen then the next gen, showing what devs can do probably won't look much better then what they can already do. I feel a full list would be better right now so everyone can get their answers in a simple yes/no format now before the games console comes out

Posted 11:49 on 08 June 2012

dav2612 @ MJTH

I always think an example of what developers can do with the specs is much better than list of stats.

Posted 11:42 on 08 June 2012

MJTH

What people most want to see is a specific hardware specification sheet that says what is inside this thing and how much ram and memory does this thing have, and then have someone who knows what this stuff means whether it better or not.

If you want people to believe you Reggie show us the specs PDF, before it's release and someone opens the thing up and starts a rumour that its under powered.

Posted 11:25 on 08 June 2012

Batmamerc

Reggie is optimistic at least isn't he and think randy is referring to what can be done using the tablet controllers capabilities like an alien radar to see aliens through walls etc like shown in the zombiU trailer, which yeah isn't going to be done by Xbox or ps3 unless it gets delayed till the next gen when they have ripped off Nintendo by then, again.

Posted 11:17 on 08 June 2012

Woffls

There's lots of rumours saying lots of different things about its power relative to current gen systems. I've seen as many saying it's significantly more powerful, but the story people want to read is that Nintendo are just about to enter the current generation, so that's the story that gets run.

Posted 11:07 on 08 June 2012

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