Game Developer Raises Concern About Wii U CPU Speed

[Guest]

Uh oh. This is not the kind of PR Nintendo needs to before the launch of the Wii U.

Game Developer Raises Concern About Wii U CPU Speed : Read more

 

[raven2510]

Is anyone really surprised about this?

 

[dormantreign]

Still buying this system day one...can't freaking wait. Zelda HD, A new Metroid....heck yeah.

 

[fb39ca4]

Make them overclockable!

 

[sykozis]

Sure the issue is the CPU and not an inability on the dev's part to properly code the game to use the GPU????

 

[dragonsqrrl]

I think a lot of news reports have blown this interview way out of proportion, especially ign. He doesn't say the processor is slower (in terms of raw performance) in any of the quotes I've read. He merely hints that the processor clocks may be lower than current gen consoles, and it should be abundantly clear to anyone who reads Tom's that this is in no way indicative of actual performance. Compare single threaded performance of a 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge to a 3.4 GHz Prescott, and see what happens. I'm willing to bet you could under-clock the Ivy Bridge to sub 2 GHz and still achieve superior performance.

 

[therabiddeer]

Nintendo needs to go the way of Sega, keep giving us Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc... but dont make us buy your crappy console with gimmicks. Just admit you've fallen behind and simply make games. The Ouya is going to do all that you wanted and more, cheaply with more diverse games.

 

[Guest]

I waited in line during launch to buy a Wii. That Wii to this day collected dust in my closet. I will never buy a Nintendo system again. Mario and Zelda are over-rated.

 

[tului]

He specifically says clock speed too, not IPC, not "processing power". I know back in the day they used the clocks to sync scan lines and the like. They still do afaik, you can tell what pixel will be where on what clock cycle.

 

[ashesofempires04]

I won't buy a Wii U, even though the Zelda series is my favorite game franchise. I'll wait for my roommate to buy one, and I'll just play the new Zelda games on his.

I doubt anyone is really surprised that Nintendo isn't willing to deliver up a truly next-gen console. They got drunk off of their staggering Wii sales, and assumed that it was because gamers everywhere thought it was the most amazing console ever. In reality the console's sales were driven by people who thought they could get fit with Wii Fit, or to have something for people to mess with at a party. Most people who bought it never bought anything beyond the console, and maybe Rock Band or some other party games. A lot of the people who bought it never bought any games at all, they simply played Wii Sports Resort when people came over.

Gamers, the ones who actually sustain the industry with repeat purchases, never considered the console as anything other than something they had to buy in order to play Mario and Zelda franchise games on. Of all of the friends I have who bought a Wii, only 3 of them ever bought more than 3 games for it.

 

[IndignantSkeptic]

[citation][nom]TheRabidDeer[/nom]Nintendo needs to go the way of Sega, keep giving us Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc... but dont make us buy your crappy console with gimmicks. Just admit you've fallen behind and simply make games. The Ouya is going to do all that you wanted and more, cheaply with more diverse games.[/citation]

I agree with you totally except when you mentioned the Ouya. The Ouya needs to not exist for the same reason that Nintendo's devices should stop existing. We need those games to come out for our other systems instead including PC.

 

[tului]

[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]3 words that dont go together, CPU speed and Wii. LOL.[/citation]
Maybe they named it to mean Wii U(nderachiever)

 

[ohwell78]

All they have to do is release 5 games and we will all buy the new console and be happy we did. Mario, zelda, Metroid, Mario kart, and if were lucky a console pokemon.

 

[therabiddeer]

[citation][nom]IndignantSkeptic[/nom]I agree with you totally except when you mentioned the Ouya. The Ouya needs to not exist for the same reason that Nintendo's devices should stop existing. We need those games to come out for our other systems instead including PC.[/citation]
Initially I had the same feelings as you, but there needs to be a platform that helps promote those games, and the Ouya is on the right track. Steam Greenlight is another option as well. Sony and Microsoft are a bit too controlling on their environments to really allow it to happen on those.

 

[Shin-san]

I wonder how low the clock speed is, plus how much should we put into clock speeds? The 360 CPU and the PS3 Cell are both in-order CPUs, and it's likely the Wii-U will have an out-of-order CPU. This would make the Wii-U have more bang for each MHz. Remember how a single core of a Core2 CPU runs vs a 3.2 GHz Pentium IV

 

[11796pcs]

Am I the only one here that thinks the Wii U is sort of cool and won't fail? It's a casual console, it doesn't need a fast CPU. Nintendo proved with the Wii that they could sell a slow device and make it a hit. All a faster CPU would bring would be heating problems (something that plagues the XBOX 360). I have never heard of a Wii console dying and that in itself is a good thing to have your product be known for. If the Wii U is marketed correctly I'm sure it'll be a hit. And considering how rapidly the casual market is growing I don't think Nintendo will have any problems finding buyers for the U.

 

[kinggraves]

[citation][nom]ohwell78[/nom]All they have to do is release 5 games and we will all buy the new console and be happy we did. Mario, zelda, Metroid, Mario kart, and if were lucky a console pokemon.[/citation]

You forgot Smash Bros.
But really, even a lot of those series are getting stale. They don't NEED the best graphics to succeed, but what they need to deliver in exchange is creative games and superior gameplay.

Harada doesn't really sound like he knows what he's talking about though. Besides the fact that clock speeds are not the only aspect of CPU power, he's talking about issues with Tekken. What do you think a fighting game takes more of, GPU to render the detail in characters and backgrounds or CPU? If we were talking about a calculation heavy strategy game, maybe, but the GPU should be the primary concern in a fighting title and the GPU is superior here.

Reading a more complete article on this, Harada has gone on record previously whining about the Wii U's controller and how they couldn't find a use for the screen. This is his real issue. Developers like this don't like having to think or specialize, they want to port titles like Tekken easily. Xbox and PS3 are easy ports, they come to the Wii U and have to deal with this big touchscreen and do extra work. Sad for them, having to actually work a bit for a port.

Namco has never been a strong Nintendo supporter, I believe this will be the FIRST Tekken game ON a nintendo console. Tales of Symphonia on the other hand had a fair bit of success on the Wii, and I'm sure that dev team for that seres will be finding a lot of use for the touch screen.

 

[therabiddeer]

[citation][nom]kinggraves[/nom]You forgot Smash Bros.But really, even a lot of those series are getting stale. They don't NEED the best graphics to succeed, but what they need to deliver in exchange is creative games and superior gameplay. Harada doesn't really sound like he knows what he's talking about though. Besides the fact that clock speeds are not the only aspect of CPU power, he's talking about issues with Tekken. What do you think a fighting game takes more of, GPU to render the detail in characters and backgrounds or CPU? If we were talking about a calculation heavy strategy game, maybe, but the GPU should be the primary concern in a fighting title and the GPU is superior here.Reading a more complete article on this, Harada has gone on record previously whining about the Wii U's controller and how they couldn't find a use for the screen. This is his real issue. Developers like this don't like having to think or specialize, they want to port titles like Tekken easily. Xbox and PS3 are easy ports, they come to the Wii U and have to deal with this big touchscreen and do extra work. Sad for them, having to actually work a bit for a port.Namco has never been a strong Nintendo supporter, I believe this will be the FIRST Tekken game ON a nintendo console. Tales of Symphonia on the other hand had a fair bit of success on the Wii, and I'm sure that dev team for that seres will be finding a lot of use for the touch screen.[/citation]
A GPU can only render so much at a time, no? Also, it seems realistic to me that he is having issues reaching the HD claim that nintendo boasts. If the Wii U is slightly behind the X360 in terms of graphics capability, it almost makes sense. The x360 is not very capable at delivering full HD for video games... most are only rendered at 720p (and even still some games have FPS issues).

 

[captaincharisma]

i'll still buy the console it will still be the cheapest next gen (kinda) console

 

[rohitbaran]

This is not the kind of PR Nintendo needs to before the launch of the Wii U.

But this is the kind they deserve for getting cheap low end hardware in a 'next gen' console.