The big reveal at the E3 games show this year was the Wii U, Nintendo's next-generation gaming system that's set to appear in 2012.
Like the Wii, the Wii U appears to be using modest technology that's affordable today, rather than the state-of-the-art parts that Microsoft and Sony chose for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 over five years ago.
According to Japanese publication Game Watch, powering the graphics in the Wii U is an AMD Radeon HD 4000 series class GPU. Yes, this does mean that the Wii U, which is still a year away from market, is already spec'ed with a GPU that's decidedly last-generation.
Still, despite it being quite old in the PC world, it's still more advanced than Microsoft and Sony current offerings. The ATI GPU in the Xbox 360 and Nvidia GPU in the PS3 are of the DirectX 9 generation and feature Shader Model 3.0.
The Wii's GPU is based off of the RV770 core, which is of DirectX 10.1 generation with Shader Model 4.0.
Nintendo's use of Xbox 360 and PS3 game footage as its own at the E3 keynote may have raised a few eyebrows, but with this GPU, the Wii U should have no problem at least matching the graphical output of the current generation.
I can buy a 6870 RIGHT NOW for $165 after rebate. I'm sure if Nintendo was approaching Nvidia or AMD, they could strike a handsome deal on something similar.
Why are they going to charge in the range of $400, for a console that has CHEAP ASS hardware in it? Nintendo is seriously the Apple of consoles.
Hopefully the Xbox 720 will come out a year later then the Wii U sporting a HD8000 based GPU in it, and you know be caught up with the current PC hardware.
The Wii U should have been called the Wii 2, it will be just as far behind and based around a stupid controller as the first one!
If they use a HD48xx core that should do for the foreseeable - you really don't need HD6000 series in a console, absolute waste of resources.
Pretty much all games that are being released these days are straight Console ports.
When fully optimized to run the game code like it will be in the Wii U the Rv770 core will be a huge step ahead of the graphical abilities of the other consoles. I don't see people complaining about the Xbox graphics at the moment do you ?
1. Higher end GPUs of today require quite alot more power then what was needed few years ago.
2. With power comes heat.
Both of these are severe issues for console makers. A console is generally very restrictive when it comes to cooling and doesnt have much space for a proper PSU (a good PSU also costs lot of money console makers generally want to fit the cheapest of stuff).
No console maker will want to deal with issues like RROD or YLOD. Not only will a high end GPU cost alot it will also require a huge casing, good PSU and high airflow.
I can buy a 6870 RIGHT NOW for $165 after rebate. I'm sure if Nintendo was approaching Nvidia or AMD, they could strike a handsome deal on something similar.[/quote]
That's not how it works.
When Nintendo started developing the Wii U, that GPU probably didn't even exist. It's a pretty power hungry card and why would you think Nintendo's spending even $100/unit for a GPU? According to Wired, the upclocked Gamecube chip in the Wii cost ~$30 at launch.
[quote=assmar]But when people have talked about the controller they have pointed out the terribly outdated tech in those as well.[/quote]
Are you talking about Nintendo's decision to go with a single-touch resistive display over a multi-touch capacitive one?
Nintendo decided against multi-touch after they found out capacitive screens "don't work well with old hands" and after concerns with precision according to an interview with a German publication.
If you're talking about the screen's speculated resolution (853*480), it has a higher pixel density than the iPad and most laptops.
And it's the perfect resolution for playing any game Nintendo releases on it's Virtual Console service, from NES to (possibly) Gamecube.
I can buy a 6870 RIGHT NOW for $165 after rebate. I'm sure if Nintendo was approaching Nvidia or AMD, they could strike a handsome deal on something similar.
Why are they going to charge in the range of $400, for a console that has CHEAP ASS hardware in it? Nintendo is seriously the Apple of consoles.
Hopefully the Xbox 720 will come out a year later then the Wii U sporting a HD8000 based GPU in it, and you know be caught up with the current PC hardware.
The Wii U should have been called the Wii 2, it will be just as far behind and based around a stupid controller as the first one!