Submitted by Rashid Sayed 588d ago | news

Wii U CPU and GPU Clock Speeds revealed, slower than PS3/360

"Well known hacker Marcan, who played a part in hacking the PS3, has found out the clock speeds of the Wii U." (PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360)

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That-Guy  +   588d ago
Nintendo never really feels like they need to capitalize on better tech. They'll still sell well with first party titles of course, but it's not a good long term stretch.
Akuma-   588d ago | Trolling | show | Replies(28)
AmazingBrian  +   588d ago | Well said
clock speeds =/= performance
Imalwaysright  +   588d ago
lilbroRx  +   588d ago | Well said
Sadly, you will not be only person who comes here and gets hammered with disagrees and bubble downs for pointing out a fact that's not convenient.

The general goal of most modern CPU/GPU is to get more performance at lower clock speeds and has been for about 7 years.

My Quad Core i5 runs at a lowers clock speed than my previous Core 2 Quad Q6600 but it outperforms it by near 3 times while using less electricity to do it.

My new GTX 560 Ti also consumes less power than my previous GTX 260 but outperforms it in every possible category by leaps.

None of the Nintendo haters here want to hear things like that though.

They don't want to understand these differences. They just wanna scream "Oh, look at those low numbers, its so weak, haha!" With complete ignorance of what those numbers mean or how they work. Pure fanboyism.
#1.2.2 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(57) | Disagree(29) | Report
crinale  +   588d ago
But this CPU's architecture is same as like 1999 (when Power Mac G3 came out). People are worried because the clock speed is not impressive AND the architecture is ancient.
PhunnyJesta  +   588d ago
But games have already proven that the performance isn't there *cough* batman "frame rate" city *cough*
AsimLeonheart  +   588d ago
Just admit it that the console is weak. Stop hoping against hope and trying to find something else to hang onto until that vanishes as well.
ExCest  +   588d ago | Well said
Exactly. People don't get it. I can have a super overclocked dual-core Pentium (if those exist) and it'll be crap to an i3. Newer architecture allows this phenomenon to exist. Calling the WiiU out on clock speeds is like saying ssd's suck because their capacity is lower than an hdd, and thus worse.
vulcanproject  +   588d ago | Intelligent
Although clockspeed alone is no real measure of performance, we have other known factors that would help shed light on the matter. Clockspeeds of the chip only confirm to us that it is exceptionally slow.

Crucially, we have information like the die sizes from anandtech's teardown and the machine's power consumption.

We know that the CPU then is really small built on 45nm, no bigger than 360's CPU and definitely smaller than PS3's. In context PS3's CPU is small(234m transistors) compared to a modern dual core chip, even a Pentium G630 is over 500 million transistors, around half of that is cache.


The reason for this is not magic, it is just a sandy bridge i5 quad core has MORE than DOUBLE the number of transistors as a Core 2 Q6600. (by the way, all these chips have higher clocks than Q6600 too) It is made on a more advanced process so the transistors it has are smaller and allows further optimal design. However if you made them on the same process size, the i5 chip will be much, much larger.

As we know the process size and die size of Wii U's CPU, then it is plainly not chock full of transistors that small. The only thing that was going to save Wii U's CPU here then was having a really fast clockspeed like over 4ghz. But looking at the power consumption it was fairly clear this wasn't gonna be happening.

We know the architecture is old, we know the die is not very big, we know the power consumption is low. Even before we knew the clockspeeds, we knew then this was not a fast CPU and all this does is confirm low clockspeeds too.

Because of the wide array of factors now known, clockspeed as well, there can be no denying how slow the CPU is. Its very small, its based on old architecture, its low power, and its low clockspeeds.
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thezeldadoth  +   588d ago
this isnt a site to post factual statements like that.
lpc  +   588d ago
Meray lun pay charay Wii U gando. Ps3 theek ha.... Gand marai reggie bhanchod kutta dala dhoka day raha ha ye gandu tum logon ko ye puri nintendo comany xbox say gand marai ja k
nukeitall  +   588d ago

You are correct, but what we often neglect to think about is how does this all balance out. We know for instance that PS3 and to a lesser extent Xbox 360 is bottlenecked at the RAM.

The Wii has 1GB minimum and it may even get more as the OS gets optimized further.
vulcanproject  +   588d ago
Well how does all this balance out?

You mean overall system performance. It seems fairly obvious that Wii U's overall system performance is not significantly greater than PS3 or 360. I said before it is more like insignificantly faster than 360/PS3.

Wii U has strengths and weaknesses but like a lot of things, the lowest performing aspect will effectively limit maximimum performance in the end.

We'll see some really nice looking Wii U games but don't expect anything that blows away 360/PS3 nor anything a budget gaming PC can't already do/has done for years now.

The amount of RAM Wii U has is already a strength compared to the other consoles, so a bit more free RAM isn't really going to help much. Whereas something like PS3's RAM was critically important versus 360 so every last megabyte counted when Sony shrunk the OS.

Nintendo could look at freeing up CPU cycles if the OS uses a bit. Don't expect too much though. Even a massive clockspeed jump on PSP (when sony unlocked the CPU from 222mhz to 333mhz) only slightly improved graphics.

Wii U's CPU is just outright slow even by 2005 standards which is pretty amazing really. Devs now have to work with what they have got.
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TAURUS-555  +   588d ago
next gen ...haha
Muerte2494  +   588d ago
This is like PS3 is Doom....
articles all over again. When Xbox360 launch is was $400 for the premium and $300 for the arcade. The Wii U launch price was $300 basic, and $350 deluxe. The author also failed to mention that these were simply ports and nothing else. The developers simply rushed out a product just to say they had something available at launch. I already own a ps3 and Xbox360 so why would I buy a Wii U for multiplatform games? I'm buying it for titles that I can only get on the WII U.
AsimLeonheart  +   588d ago
You maybe buying Wii U for exclusives but many including Nintendo were touting the "superior" multi-platform games. Please dont change your stance once the Wii U has been proven weak conclusively.
lpc  +   588d ago
Meray lun pay charay Wii U gando. Ps3 theek ha.... Gand marai reggie bhanchod. Wii U aur puri nitendo gand marai ja k Microsoft say .
Theyellowflash30  +   588d ago
The only thing thats been proven is that current generation games are CPU dependant and Wii U asks developers to use new modern tech a GPGPU that assigns the GPU tasks the CPU would usually do. Its obvious developers are rushing ports out, leading to some bad ports.
Blaze929  +   588d ago | Well said
I think Wii all know the Wii U is pretty much what should have been released 6 years ago.
Errod88  +   588d ago
100% agree with you on that one.
MEsoJD  +   588d ago
I agree as well. This is Nintendos first hd console and it's really showing. Now they are going to play catch up. I'm afraid that it's going to be Wii all over again. While we will get some first party gems, everything else including third party will suffer.
Where's the incentive for consumers with 360/PS3 to pick up the WiiU? For me, it's certainly not the tablet controller. At this point, I'm going to consider picking one up until a discount and some more quality games come out. $300 is asking too much for what they are offering at the moment.
bigfish  +   588d ago
i dont know if its just me, but i kind of like weaker hardware,, its something rudimentary and mechanical about it,, like pushing a small 1.2 Litre car engine to its limits rather then a hulking big V8 engine that will not be pushed to its extremes,,, more basic hardware has a novel feel about it, that big specs and chips dont have. do others share the same feeling or is it just me?
ozzywazzy  +   588d ago
^ This is what Nintendo has come to.
JamieL  +   588d ago
I don't know that I can say I "like", or prefer weaker hardware, but at the same time I can't say I'm against it in any way either. I still plug in the SNES from time to time, and I still have fun. I LOVED a lot of the Wii games this gen as well. I also love the latest “most cutting edge” games too though. I think it just boils down to, I love “GAMES”, I have since I was 3 and handed an Atari 2600 joystick. I still remember my first NES Christmas, it was f#%kin epic to actually own Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt, and be able to bust it anytime. I just like games, no matter if it’s on the most powerful PC, or an sorry old Tiger Watch, I don’t care I’m down period. I guess I can say, it doesn't matter at all to me either, as long as the game's fun.
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deafdani  +   588d ago
As a big Nintendo fan, you embarrass me. If weak hardware excites you that much, go play an Atari 2600.
Man-E-Faces  +   587d ago
Nintendo "CAN" do both you know, release good games and have their console pack a punch SNES is a good example of this. You know what pisses me off about Nintendo and shows just how cheap profit driven scrooge of a company they have become is when Reggie says "It only takes 1 game sold at launch to turn a profit on the Wii U", this really disgusts me with all the profit turned from DS,Wii and now 3ds they couldn't pack the Wii U with better guts and take a loss for at least a year or two and truly future proof the Wii U against the PS4,next Xbox, or better yet why didn't they just wait a half year longer, why rush it out to the market when it's clearly not much of an improvement over the PS3,360. Do they really think people are going to choose to buy their multiplats (if they get any) over their PS4, next Xbox? Heck people who own a PS3,360 right now are/will probably still buy their multiplats for those systems instead of their Wii U.
#1.6.4 (Edited 587d ago ) | Agree(1) | Disagree(2) | Report
wiiU2 in 2017. will be announced 2016.
#1.7 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(8) | Disagree(3) | Report | Reply
Zhipp  +   588d ago
...That actually sounds pretty reasonable.
donman1  +   588d ago
More nonsense post from faceless so called hackers/specialist.

I will use this as my source. This is the real specs of the Wii U.
MEsoJD  +   588d ago
.... do you have a source that isn't called,"zeldainformer&quo t;?
profgerbik  +   588d ago | Well said
Been saying this forever but I just get called a fanboy or a troll but I just realize what Nintendo has been doing for years now and I am tired of it.

Richest gaming division in the world yet they produce the weakest cheapest devices in the gaming industry.

God I sound like broken record but when will people open their eyes and stop accepting this type of business practice? Nintendo is practically raping it's consumers blind and they could careless. They remind me more of Apple than Nintendo these days.

The Wii U isn't even worth the money it cost now. Just like the 3DS was never worth $250 when it was first released also.

How can you price something that is weaker, has less features and simply cannot out perform 7 year old consoles pricing it for more than what those consoles sell for now?

I mean fuck you can get a Xbox 360 for $99 and a PS3 for $200 yet they still out perform this new system.. So Nintendo feels it should cost more than those? How does this add up to people? It doesn't to me that is why I stopped buying Nintendo's cheap crap.

Thing is I am not even a graphics whore, I just enjoy good games but it's getting to a point in time where you just expect better hardware because it's easily available.

Just like you wouldn't expect to be driving a steam powered car in 2012 still, as much as it may get you by just fine without it being a problem, you still have to think why the hell hasn't it gotten any better or changed yet? Pretty much how I feel every time Nintendo releases something new..

People are still making excuses for this thing saying oh well it may not be as powerful as the PS4 or 720.. Really!? No, I think there is a snowballs chance in hell it would be, considering it's not more powerful than 7 year old systems, it would make literally no sense at all if was close to the PS4 or 720..
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admiralvic  +   588d ago
While a lot of people come in with these insane requests, does anyone remember that the gamepad is ALSO included? To me I always felt like that was where a good % of the costs went. I mean, did you REALLY expect a device on par with the PS4 / next Xbox with the gamepad all for 300 dollars? To me that just seems insane. By no means am I defending the Wii U, but people seem to act like the gamepad is a 10 dollar freebie included so people can use the device, but in reality it's a nifty device that lets you play without looking at the TV. Do I think that justifies it existing? No, of course not. Do I think it should be factored into the price? I don't see how you could logically explain Nintendo losing money on every gamepad and selling the system at 200 or so (what it's probably worth).
KiLLUMiNATi_89  +   588d ago
That's why I skipped it.., ill wait for next Xbox or ps4... Nintendo is so so deceiving.......
#1.9.2 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(7) | Disagree(2) | Report
FATAL1TY   588d ago | Trolling | show
nerdkiller   588d ago | Off topic | show | Replies(3)
sackmunchers   588d ago | Spam
BuLLDoG909  +   588d ago
Well atleast all them BS articles stating "next gen" has started can stop until the true next gen actually starts....
Its a disgrace that lesser tech releasing over 5 year from whats currently available was ever considered next gen...

The WiiU will never produce the same sort of success that the wii brought in, a big chunk of the casual market must feel robbed by the gimmick that was the original wii, and now the more hardcore gamer finally hears the truth about the wiiuU..
when the next PS and xbox release.. damn, even when there officially announced and show some demos, the wiiU's going to be forgotten about as if it were the equivalent of 6 year old tech.. oh wait...
scissor_runner  +   588d ago
Why is lesser tech Producing better frame rates and rendering to two screens? I'm not seeing screen lag or of lower avg fps. If the wiiu can do this then iPhones will blow next gen ps and xboxes completely out of the water.

This reminds me of the Xbox 360 sucking yet some how producing gears of war.

Man you really have to love those closed systems!
jessupj  +   588d ago
I agree.

People keep going on about "it's not about the power, it's about the next iteration of the console that determines if it's next gen"

But really... how can you call the Wii U next gen?

I don't care what people say, when you hear the words 'next gen' you expect a significant increase in power. From what we've seen it's slightly better than current gen consoles.

The Wii U is current gen, plain and simple.
The_Infected  +   588d ago
Yea you know I really wanted to like the Wii U but after hearing this they can keep their old new console! This isn't next gen this is crap. I'll wait for Xbox 720 and PS4 the "REAL" next gen systems.
ATi_Elite  +   588d ago
WiiU Emulator coming REALLY REALLY soon to a PC near you!

(I may not buy Nintendo Consoles but I sure as heck will buy Nintendo Games and play them on my PC)
fatstarr  +   588d ago
I dont know man, wii emulation crippled most superior pcs that were speccd up

I lvel cpu's or quad cores
4-32 gb of ram
2x mid tier or better gpu

now wii emulation is 90% stable, and usable
I think theres along way to go for wiiu. but if its still truly built upon the gamecube/wii architecture things may happen faster.
DarkHeroZX  +   588d ago

My Asus 17" gaming laptop runs Dolphin at 100% with huge power to spare. I don't think the Wii U is going to cause a huge bump in performance.
WiiUsauce  +   588d ago
I've heard that development costs for next gen games are going to be astronomical. In my personal opinion, I think current gen games still look amazingly beautiful. games like Gears of War Judgement, God of War Ascension, Ni No Kuni, Journey, Bastion, ect. If developers can still make great looking games like those I listed on Wii U, I'm okay with that. Plus, I'm still getting the neXbox and next Sony console anyway, so I really could care less.
farhad2k8  +   588d ago
Glad to see all the comments 'protecting' the Wii-U get bombarded with disagree's. I'm sorry but if a so called 'next gen' console is on par/worse than the previous gen, it's just not cut out to be a leading console, but since this world is cruel, and things like CoD, iPhone 5, Beats Headphones exist, I guess the Wii-U can too. I just don't get it. Unfair world we live in, time to listen to some Mad World.
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fatstarr  +   588d ago
when one understands that, thats just a number clocked down and that its a clock speed.

know that those numbers can be over clocked for more oomph and to push the hardware to its limits, when you disregard its low energy consumption and low heat .

these numbers are really low but they still produce comparable material because the parts were built /designed / modified to run at those speeds.

you want 2.7ghz with a fan spinning for its life or a quiet system that pulls out the guns when it has to.
#1.18 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(1) | Disagree(1) | Report | Reply
scissor_runner  +   588d ago
Look at that speed now tell me how can you run so many ports on a CPU the is one third of the speed of the target platforms. How is that even possible?

If the wiiu is so weak why can it even do such a thing? This is like a 4 cylinder keeping up with a 12 cylinder. How is that even pOssible? Please ask and answer that question if you want to keep claiming you know this tech.

Some thing is helping this tech keep pace with chips that run at much higher cycles. I wonder what that could be?

Try benchmarking an overclocked amd chip against an i7. Sure the amd runs faster but the i7 will smoke it.

I guess every one will just wait till Sony does the same thing with an apu then it will be high tech.

Sony always had better tech hype men though.

I'm pretty impressed with the tech so far and I'm wondering how high they can ram this chip at a lower nm. What if over clocking was introduced?

The GDC should be lots of fun now. By the way bops2 runs just fine on this slow CPU for some reason? Maybe nintendo will give someone the factor 5 card. Who knows but many are trying to crack this egg.
WiiStation_360  +   587d ago
Proof that a 4 cylinder can keep up with a 12 cylinder... http://www.youtube.com/watc...

It's not what you have, it is what you do with it that counts. :D
UnwanteDreamz  +   583d ago
lol nevermind the fact that the Lambos almost twice as heavy or that the Civic wins in a quarter mile but has a lower top speed.

Either way it's a strawman .
showtimefolks  +   588d ago
most people who work in the gaming industry say that nintendo was a gen behind anyway so they are basically catching up to sony and ms.

also 3rd parry troubles will continue for nintendo long term. when ps4,xbox720 are released you can bet they will be a lot more powerful than current gen consoles. ps3,xbox360 came out 6-7 years ago so now when a new machine is released it will be quite an upgrade over the current systems

i am still happy that nintendo's 1st party games will be in HD like my favorite zelda. but to all the nintendo fanboys or fanboys in general who say wii-u is next gen than they are just wrong.

the real competetion is between ms and sony so that's why both will ignore wii-u and so will a lot of big publishers when it comes to big games. don't expect GTA to come to wiiu. there is a bigger chance of GTA coming to VIta before it comes out on wii-u


well let's see wii had such great 3rd party support oh wait. the last N console to get great 3rd party support was NES now think about how long ago that was. wii was one time thing now a lot of those casuals have moved onto mobile gaming since its cheaper and kinect/move has a sold well too.

for all the money nintendo spent on the gamepad, they should have spent that on actual specs because when ps4,xbox720 comes out wii-u will become last gen agai.

publishers have been saying this for a while now that the tech is old and its holding back the industry so how are those same publishers gonna jump on a wii-u system that is basically a ps3,xbox2360?

i know some people are hating on wii-u and i get that but facts aree facts nintendo had a chance to really take next gen by the horn and have a year ahead start but like always they went after gimmicks instead of actual system upgrade
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richierich  +   588d ago
Wow I can't see Nintendo surviving the next gen battle now
Nerdmaster  +   588d ago
I agree. It won't sell anything, just like Wii didn't sell at all because it was much weaker than PS3 and Xbox 360. Or like DS didn't sell because of the PSP. Or 3DS because of Vita.
gazgriff2k12  +   588d ago
these guys dont rememer much (silly graphics hoes) the wii, DS, ps2, ps1 all outsold there competion dispite being the weakest console of the time. its been proved again and agian that graphics mean shit go and try crysis 2 maxed on pc then have a go on timeplitters 2 ps2 and tell me which 1 u had the most fun with
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Lior  +   588d ago
Lol wii sold the most compared to ps3 and 360 because all the parents bought it
zebramocha  +   588d ago
The wii did so well because the wiimote and the ps360 are 30 mil in reaching distance of the wii,3ds sales were no better than the ps vita until price cut,ds cheapest handheld.
killerhog  +   588d ago

Ps1 was better at rendering 3d polygons, Saturn better at rendering 2d. So its a matter of opinion of which was stronger. Dreamcast was the weakest of the 128 bit era. Though they say, the Dc had a lot of untouched power, but I don't know if it would of made a difference. Ps2 games were looking better than Dc games of its last year and only got better with time.
Legion21  +   588d ago
Please tell me this is sarcasm.
dboyc310  +   588d ago
The wii u doesnt cater to the same audience that the wii did. Plus the "casual" have invested themselves into the ios and android platform hence the lack of wii consoles sold. Nintendo has themselves cornered up next gen I honestly see the competition slaying them since it doesnt have the casual appeal that the wii had when it came out. Yea you can bring up how much they sold this gen but have you forgotten what happened to it the last 2 gens? This gen the casual saved them and I truly dont think they will do the same this time around.
miyamoto  +   587d ago
people did not buy the wii for the specs, the wii sold more "initially" because it was the cheapest price home console

it was a safe bet & an easy way to make money

now people did not get the PS3 or 360 for the expensive price, these consoles sold "initially' because of the HD specs.

if i remember right Nintendo is gunning for the casuals and these PS3 & 360 gamers to play with their Wii U HD console

We will see if they can be 'successful' on these two goals
TheUndertaker85  +   587d ago
@dboyc310: I hope you aren't trying to be serious.





Nintendo's own commercials show their real interests. Kids and casuals.
TiberusX87  +   588d ago

The Wii was pretty much a reboxed GameCube with motion controls and it outsold everything. Heck, it was the same all the way back with the Gameboy too, which was also underpowered compared to the competition.

It's always been that way. They play a different game and do their own thing.

I don't limit myself by discounting anything and go where the games are. Hardware is irrelevant if there aren't good games available for the platform.
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richierich  +   588d ago
The Wii had a revolutionary motion controller that made it fun for people of all ages to play even old people who have never played videogames. Almost everyone can pickup and play. The Wii U has a touch screen controller that doesnt exactly revolutionise the way people play games as we have seen with the launch titles. And it also costs more than the PS3 and 360 because of its controller. I dont think it would have killed Nintendo to put higher specs than the current gen consoles considering high speed ram is dirt cheap and cpus and gpus have dropped in price over the last 6 years
killerhog  +   588d ago
I never met an old person/couple playing wii. The only old people I seen play a wii was actors in its commercials. Not even people my age (female or male) wanted to play it for my sis bday.
Imalwaysright  +   588d ago
Motion controls have been around since 1982 (google "le stick") There was nothing revolutionary about the Wii. I agree however that price had a big role in the Wii succeess but i remember that at some point MS released a 360 SKU that was least expensive than the Wii and the Wii still outsold it every single month. The thing was obviously popular and far from being a fad.

O.T. im still buying a Wii U for Zelda so to me is not a big deal. If i want performance Ill wait for the PS4 and stick with my PC.
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Feralkitsune  +   588d ago
Well, the Wii was a hell of a lot weaker than PS3, and 360 but look how that turned out. You guys need to realize that you likely aren't nintendo's target audience in the first place.
ozzywazzy  +   588d ago
But neither are the casuals and soccer moms who did most of the buying for the Wii. Nintendo is stuck between a rock and a hard DICK!
cooperdnizzle  +   588d ago
Yes that is true, but how the hell do you come out with a console 6 years later and still have a weaker console then current? I get the wii being underpowered totally, and i would get if the wii u was underpowered to the ps4/720 but being weaker then a ps3 years later, pretty lame. They should have at least made it stronger then what is already out there, and let sony and m$ come out with the stronger tech again
MEsoJD  +   588d ago
While the Wii can be considered a success for Nintendo the same cant be said about third parties. Casuals would buy very little software and this is a big reason why the console is basically dead. While the motion controls created a lot of hype, it didn't bring longevity to the console. Sony/Microsoft depend on software sales largely for profit and try to ensure longevity(hence why they are 6 to 7 years old and still strong).
I think it was a very bad mistake not to have the original wii launch without hdmi. Now they are starting new while Sony/Microsoft have already learned a lot.
Eyeco  +   588d ago
If that's so , why has Nintendo stated many times that there trying to appeal to the hardcore ? Which pretty much accounts to PS3, 360 and to a lesser extent PC gamers , and your right it doesn't appeal to them, why do you think all these hate articles are comming out ?

PS3 and 360 owners aren't gonna fork out $350 to play games they already own or can play on their consoles especially with zero graphical difference and in some cases worse. That's why the Wii u is getting hate because its tryibg to appeal to a demographic that has no real reason to buy it.
specialguest  +   588d ago
Wii was a weak last Gen tech console, yet it destroyed the competition in profitability and sales. This proves that high specs doesn't equal winning the console war.
Sheep4life  +   588d ago
Lets be honest, the Wii only proved that it could get the people who have never or don't play games to buy their console. Just ask Microsoft, before the Kinect launch, Microsoft was sinking in sales. After Kinect launched, Microsoft has taken over sales in the US. Now ask yourself, does the Kinect make the Hardcore experience any better (is Halo any good with Kinect)? Exactly my point. No it doesn't, but the parents and small kids love it. The response I get from many of my family members who don't play games is, "The kids love it, they play 2 hours, and they are ready to go to bed."

Take a really good look at the Wii library. You will see it is full of first party software. Where are the Third party games? Exactly, no one has the resources to build a game for the Wii. Besides, research shows that the casual gamers are buying the shovel ware, and if it isn't mario brothers or zelda the games do not sell on the Wii.
profgerbik  +   588d ago
I can't believe you ever saw it period. I honestly feel like you were missing something or just being brainwashed if you thought anything about the Wii U was next gen.

About as next gen as it's get's is Nintendo's next console. Other than that it's not next generation anything.

I also don't get why this is a shocker as Nintendo has been doing this type of crap for years now for literally no reason other than being money grubbers.

People can talk about how Nintendo is the boss at selling, true that but you can play their cheap ass devices while you brag about their sales. Clearly they care about their consumers a lot by constantly giving them cut down crap just to sell to you, when everyone knows they have far more money than any other person in the industry right now and are capable of doing so much more but they never do.

They would rather keep making money of their fans who never expect more from them. Just like Apple, Nintendo knows they can get away with just about anything and people will buy it.
#2.5 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(9) | Disagree(2) | Report | Reply
Quetzll  +   588d ago
Nintendo has the least amount of money. Strictly games/systems. There are no Nintendo TVs or operating systems. They haven't been selling multiple forms of media, like M$ or $ony, for decades now. So they're excused from needing to directly compete with two other mega-media brands. Gamecube had to compete directly with Xbox and PS2. The only thing that made the systems sell were their exclusives. Nintendo took the biggest hit, being a strict game company. Obviously, they had no choice but to learn from this, since for now on, they're competing with M$, $ony, and PC. So, the Wii was meant to be different. The Wii also had to be inexpensive. But, overall, had to have memorable, unique, and fun games. Which it had plenty of.

Also, the fact that the launch games look as good as they do should be enough for you to recognize its potential.

I mean, come on. Have you even imagined what the next first person Metroid is going to look like?
madjedi  +   587d ago

And who says nintendo will bother invest that heavily into new dev software required to make a next gen metroid or zelda.

Look at nintendo's lineup, nothing there screams, superbly detailed worlds or games like ms and sony exclusives.

Why do nintendo fans, believe they will see the wii u's uncharted 3, that is sony or ms style . Nintendo makes very heavily stylised games, not detailed graphical games.

Nintendo could make their benchmark equivalent to halo 4 or uncharted 3, but i don't see nintendo spending the money to advance their games that far.

I do love the spin attempt here trying to excuse nintendo for releasing weak hardware yet again. After being the only manufacturer to be making a profit day one and selling 90-100 million units.

That is more bullshit than campaign promises.
STGuy1040  +   588d ago
I believe comparisons speak for themselves:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Wii U Graphics Comparison
shiningpen   588d ago | Spam
Neonridr  +   588d ago
lol, yet somehow Ubisoft can make AC3 look at least identical to the 360 and PS3 versions with that slow of a processor on a launch title (which we all know is a poor indication of what games can truly look like - compare Madden 13 to Madden 06 on the Xbox 360).

People just don't seem to understand that the clock speed isn't the only thing that dictates how good a processor is. Processors today don't have to be 3.0Ghz per core to achieve the same results as chips from back in 2005/2006. You can probably achieve the same results with MUCH lower clock speeds since the chips themselves are more advanced.

And we all know that the Graphics card is built around a GPGPU, so we all know that calculations that would normally be done by the CPU can be offloaded and done with the GPU instead.

I am not saying that the Wii U is super advanced or anything, I fully expect the 720 and PS4 to be significantly more powerful, but if the Wii U can at least match the 360 and PS3 with that weak of a CPU and the GPU, then what does that say about the power of the 360 or PS3?

Just relax and enjoy the games.
wishingW3L  +   588d ago
and by offloading CPU work to the GPU they are eating its resources instead of using it for what it was designed for. To push graphical effects.

GPGPU is a double edge sword....
#4.1 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(15) | Disagree(9) | Report | Reply
SandwichHammock  +   588d ago
Earlier on, yes, your statement would be correct as pinoneering GPGPU processors needed what one could call middleware in a sense, to change data that a GPGPU could use.

With current day GPGPUs they are far more advanced and are designed for this type of thing.

From a technical and gaming perspective I really don't like GPGPUs as I strongly believe small nM APUs with dedicated task cores are the way of the future.
lilbroRx  +   588d ago
Go do some research on GPGPU. It can do the those processes a lot more efficiently sense it doesn't have to barter with the CPU.

Its actually all around better.
scissor_runner  +   588d ago
I love the ideas floating around apus but they will run into similar problems since they are basically the same thing. The wiiu is designed around load balancing using some radical methods. Lots of free compression for almost every thing.

It would be nice if ms and Sony just gave us two wiius duck taped together but the last time I looked the next Xbox was only going to be 20-30% more powerful and that was used for kinect 2.0. Hey but plans change every day. So who knows.

Nintendo has one heck of a weak system here and I'm pretty impressed they could get that much out of it.

So a $600 ps4 should be way more powerful!
Beastforlifenoob  +   588d ago
Why does everyone say "compare madden 06 to 13" or something, how do you know it's going to improve? What if Assassins creed 3 had maximized the possible graphical efficiency on the WII U. How do you know the graphics are going to get better over time? The graphics of the WII rarely changed over a time of like 5 years...
PopRocks359  +   588d ago
I'll give you three contradictions there.

Iwata stated that not a single launch game used more than 50% of the Wii U's power for one thing.

Gearbox claims the Wii U version of Aliens Colonial Marines will look the best.

The makers of Nano Assault Neo stated that they were able to do things graphically on the Wii U that they could not on the 360 or PS3.
RmanX1000  +   588d ago
Power shouldnt matter as much. Games should. As long as i enjoy games on a system, i will buy a system. Power is irrelevant to me as long as the gameplay is solid fun and not repetitive.
#5 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(8) | Disagree(15) | Report | Reply
wishingW3L  +   588d ago
1.2 GHZ CPU? On top of it a modified Wii CPU! -_______-

At the very least the GPU should have like 200 cores... But really, why are they even selling this console at such a high price tag?
#6 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(19) | Disagree(5) | Report | Reply
PirateThom  +   588d ago
Profit. Pure profit.

The tech in the screen is no better than the console.
PopRocks359  +   588d ago
The console is being sold at a loss though.

And besides, the screen is mostly just streaming the content, it's not generating or rendering anything at all.
#6.1.1 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(4) | Disagree(1) | Report
richierich  +   588d ago
The controller is the main reason its so expensive personally Id rather have a more powerful system rather than a tablet controller
Detoxx  +   588d ago
Once Next-Gen releases the WiiU will die
LOL_WUT  +   588d ago
Detoxx  +   588d ago
deafdani  +   588d ago
No, it won't. It may not get the same third party support as the other next gen consoles (or it may, we still don't know), but it won't die. No Nintendo console has died in the market, ever, with the sole exception of the Virtual Boy about 17 years ago.
LightofDarkness  +   588d ago
Architecture > clock speed. The end.

Well, sort of. It's a very detailed topic, but that's the short version. Clock speeds haven't really gone up THAT much since about 2008. Architecture/process refinements (smaller chip sizes etc.) are what really drive performance increases these days, and after that, extra cores will be the next port of call.
#8 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(13) | Disagree(5) | Report | Reply
crinale  +   588d ago
I agree. But still, it is basically the SAME architecture of Gamecube's (or Power Macintosh G3's) CPU.
LightofDarkness  +   588d ago
This is also true. However, I believe that the system's major performance boon comes from its GPU, which is quite far ahead of those found in PS3/360. Honestly, I believe that this coupling will only deliver image fidelity slightly above that of the PS3/360, as high-end 1080p gaming requires much more power and yet more RAM for textures and AA comparable to a modern PC game; while more advanced physics, AI and other details will require more CPU power.

It's a more "sane" trade-off (GPU power is obviously preferable to CPU grunt for gaming applications) from a design point of view as it is a gaming system. But it's also incredibly conservative and clearly not operating on the traditional "razor-blade" model that most consoles adopt.
wishingW3L  +   588d ago
it's a modified Wii CPU. There is no way to spin this. -___-
blackbirdi  +   588d ago
what a shame !
LOL_WUT  +   588d ago
Really? I thought it was a known fact that it was weaker. Just like wishingW3L said there is no way to spin this...
blackbirdi  +   588d ago
well if you follow the last year rumours that the wii u using power pc 7 processor @3.5 ghz and with 2 m cache ... and then you found out that's not any near to that you will be dispointed ....and the price tag is too high for this specifications :/
Schawk  +   588d ago
this is crap they say bad framerate on blops2 but every video i have seen claims steady framerate, players on youtube who own all systems and played blops on more than one system have the wii u on top most steady framerate no screen tear best version.

o yea cant wait to get mine tomorrow LOVLEY

check youtube and listen to people who played the multiplats on more than one system and get there opinion

New tech new architecture , 2.3Ghz cpu's now trash p4 3.6Ghz
#10 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(8) | Disagree(18) | Report | Reply
Schawk  +   588d ago
Bring on the disagree's fanboys, but deep down you know im right and i know you want a wiiU ahahah
Roll on tomorrow
Neonridr  +   588d ago
Nobody cares to listen to reason unfortunately. I totally agree. You can do a lot more with less speed nowadays because the chips are designed more efficiently.

Everthing is going the route of efficiency over power nowadays. It's not all about brute force as much as some people like to disagree.
sandman224  +   588d ago
@schawk dude I own blops 2 on ps3/360/wiiu. And I can personally tell you the the visuals are better than the ps3, on par with the 360 if not slightly better, but the frame rates do stutter while playing multiplayer. Mainly when there's a lot of explosions/smoke going on the screen. I can't say anything about the campaign as I haven't played it yet. I hope the frame rates on multiplatform games get better later in the consoles cycle. If not ill be a disappointed wii u owner.
younghavok  +   588d ago
im one of those whose played two versions of Blops 2, and yes the Wii U looks better than the 360 version, and the framerate issues Ive never noticed. I've also heard about the Wii U not being good with alot of characters on screen, yet AC3 plays just fine and typically has a lot of objects and characters on screen. Clearly the clock speeds arent mattering as much as people are trying to make it seem. And if they do, than I'm going to be honest, why pay 200 for a PS3 that cant run a game as well as weaker hardware, and without the backwards compatibility and without the incredible new controller? I'd rather just spend the extra 100 for what the Wii U can do over it. Its a value regardless of how you try to spin it. Why cant we just enjoy the damn games?
yesmynameissumo  +   588d ago
That's great and all, but when I talk games, I don't stroke specs. I stroke games, experiences and immersion. The damn thing could have a hamster running on the wheel of death to produce the visuals...if it's as fun as ZombiU, I'm down.
deafdani  +   588d ago
You made me laugh with the hamster mental image. XD
WildStyles  +   588d ago
I don't understand why Nintendo didn't future proof the console for the onslaught of upcoming next gen third party games.
richierich  +   588d ago
Say hello to the greedy videogame industry they care more about profit than anything else
lilbroRx  +   588d ago
I do believe that Nintendo stated there main goal was to keep cost down and make it affordable to the consumer. They are also taking a loss on each console sold.

How does that translate into them being greedy and more about profit?
ConstipatedGorilla  +   588d ago
lilbro, if they wanted to keep cost down, they should have scrapped the expensive gamepad and beefed up the specs. The gamepad could have been an optional peripheral to buy after the fact. They were dumb again. I will admit that I do own a Wii U for the first party games coming out, but they dumbed it up again.
momthemeatloaf  +   588d ago
Clock speeds of each piece of hardware means jack when u don't know how it all works together. This hacker is just looking at face value, he's not a game designer. If the wiiu can match current gen games at the beginning of its life cycle, its at least a pretty powerful system. I don't expect wiiu to contend toe to toe with the next Xbox and ps3, but I believe it will continue to get third party support as long as wiiu owners buy the games. You buy they'll make it. Has nothing to do with power
quantae06  +   588d ago
People actually believes that a 1.2 tri core processor was created :D Ya'll funny! LMFAO Even the Tekken developer said the CPU was only slightly slower. Use your heads people!!
#14 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(5) | Disagree(12) | Report | Reply
scissor_runner  +   588d ago
No let them keep believing that GDC and E3 should be epic ya know???!!!!
skyrimer  +   588d ago
Wow, this post in going to be fun, I'm so glad I didn't buy the Wii U, it's rather impressive how supportive Nintendo fans are of their consoles, always with way overpriced technology, but then Nintendo adds a Mario me too game , maybe a gimmick so that it looks like you're not getting ripped off so much, and then call it a day.
In case that the rip off is too obvious, they put the N64 mario voice "it's me mario!" like a mantra to the doubtful so that all ninty fans start to drool and everything is fine.

so $400 lol
Stroke666  +   588d ago
as i type this response from my wii u gamepad, people are just too eager to see nintendo fail for some reason. no matter how good the games look no matter how well they play, people prefer to jump on the 'nintendo sucks' ban wagon.


even hector doesnt believe to be as bad as people here r making it out to be.
MsmackyM  +   588d ago
The only defining factor of the Wii U will be the games that are released on it. That being said, Nintendo has already stressed third party support is important for this generation of their console, to think that they would release a system incapable of running multiplats with some parity to it's competition's next generation consoles is just silly.
linkenski  +   588d ago
Well i'm only gonna buy it for 1st part content then. This sucks Nintendo. You could do better.
ConstipatedGorilla  +   588d ago
That's my thinking. I will still enjoy their first party games, but everything else will be purchased on either PS4 or 720. I just can't believe that people sat in those Nintendo boardroom meetings and nobody in there thought enough to say that this could be a problem.
CLOUD1983  +   588d ago
Wii U the first next generation console with 2 generation back hardware, only by Nintendo!
quantae06  +   588d ago
OMG people believe everything they read.
specpwoer   588d ago | Spam
Belking  +   588d ago
It really doesn't matter that much.
skyrimer  +   588d ago
The thing is that current generation has lasted for so long that next gen consoles should give a tremendous graphical upgrade in comparison, considering they are 7 year old already, so it's going to make Wii U games look prehistoric in comparison.
chasegarcia  +   588d ago
hacker is telling the truth
When I heard the Wii U only used on average less than 40 watts I knew right then and there about this because even the latest CPU which are much smaller used more watts.

I said it before the WiiU is like a x360/ps3 with more memory and tablet game-pad. The game-pad itself is also not that impressive if you consider the specs, but the whole package(system with tablet game-pad) works great. I personally like it and Nintendo could of had a home run with everybody if the specs were better.
#23 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(11) | Disagree(5) | Report | Reply
mamotte  +   588d ago
WiiU is slower than current consoles, so it wont have good games.

PC is faster then current consoles... so it does have better games?

Hardcore gamer logic.
jjank11  +   588d ago
No, ignorant gamer logic
sandman224  +   588d ago
This really bothers me. I bought the wii u because I thought it would run multiplatform games better. After reading this I'm a sad new wii u owner. Now that I think of it blops2 stutters a lot in multiplayer when there's a bunch of smoke and explosions going on. Iwata you're a joke!
younghavok  +   588d ago
Ive encountered no stutter with Blops 2 on multiplayer with the game streaming to two different screen at once. Not to mention it looks better than the 360 version. So far it does indeed run multiplats better, hell just being able to turn off the tv and take the game with you into other rooms is a huge plus. But to each his own
Stroke666  +   588d ago
dude don't even respond to him, he doesnt really own a wii u just a troll trying to gain anti nintendo momentum. lmao
metroid32  +   588d ago
He is going off a number found on the cpu and its a joke it's already been confirmed to not be anything to do with clock speeds look it up on google he is going off speculation and thats that the wiiu gpgpu will run at around 700mhz slightly lower than stock version and the cpu is 3 or 4 cores from a IBM express clocked at 3.0ghz but both can be seriously overclocked.

Plus clock speeds mean nothing when its super modern tech ie the gpgpu is a hybrid E6760/6770 you take the best of these 2 chips and you have a wiiu gpgpu basically DX11/OpenGl4.1/Compute shader11/SM5.0,ect ect ect.clock speeds in consoles just mean over heating as there are 2.4ghz cpu's out there that out perform a 3.6ghz cpu so mhz speed means nothing for RAW POWER antway.

mochachino  +   588d ago
I guess Wii U won't have most of the multiplats in the long-run.
tbirdman   588d ago | Spam
microgenius  +   588d ago
well people seems love spending their money for an outdated and (a little) cheaper hardware
Wii have proven that
why shouldnt nintendo sell an ancient garbage to them for 350$?
this formula has succeeded once
#29 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(8) | Disagree(7) | Report | Reply
daclynk  +   588d ago
You buy a console for its games.if you dont like it dont go around hating on it just because its not the specs you wanted it to be. i have E3 2013 to see the great games nintendo has is store for us gamers that what i care about cause they have thier unique art engines.if you look at mario galaxy,Zelda skyward sword,Red steel 2 and Muramasa the demon blade they were one of the best looking games this gen and guess what they were achieved on SD not HD.so yeah i for one is looking to see you have for us. I thought games were suppose to us out of reality not put us back it. If you care about power so much get yourself a gaming PC. This is coming from someone who owns multiply consoles and has been gaming since the Atari Vs Nintendo days. so yeah


Hardcore gamer logic. stupid delutional damb haters and fanboys.
#29.1 (Edited 588d ago ) | Agree(8) | Disagree(4) | Report | Reply
ajax17  +   588d ago
Wow, that sucks for Nintendo. I mean the Wii U is barely better than current gen third party games. It's really going to suck for Nintendo when the next PlayStation and Xbox come out, because you know developers will be more inclined to work with two consoles that are closer together in specs. Nintendo will probably be left behind again with regards to third party games.
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