I dream to see Sega return to the console world. The Dreamcast was such an awesome system that fell victim of Sega's history of stupidity and of course the success of the PS2.
The Dreamcast really wasn’t that great, especially considering how the PS1 before it and PS2 after it were nothing short of historic.
BGR has supposedly leaked pictures of the new console’s controllers, complete with built-in screen. Looks a lot to me like the mockups from IGN’s “design the new Nintendo console” contest, but hey. I still say Nintendo is basically making the Dreamcast 2 here.
ehh, I does not seem like a large leap forward. I doubt it will surpass the PC, if it did it would not be affordable. I think this is a bit premature for a system launch. Sure they can beat the 360 and ps3 in resolution but that tech is old, very old. Then in two years when the 720 and ps4 come out this console will be left in the dust as they will be onto bigger and better technology. Bad call as imo as they could have waited and made a better console. One thing I want the next gen consoles to be is customizable, as in being able to upgrade ram and graphic 3 or 4 years down the line. So after a couple of years the technology will be able to grow instead of being stagnant.
Not really. Since consoles are dedicated to one task, they’re usually optimized in every way possible. Thus, you wind up with something that outperforms PCs of the same period, and holds its own for at least 2-3 years. Many times GPU makers will actually use future PC parts in consoles. (That’s rumored not to be the case with this, though.) This will never happen. There’s no way to force everyone to upgrade, and thus developers won’t make games with the upgrades in mind.
No way a console holds its own for three years against pc(performance wise). Even though console makers get their hands on next gen parts, they take several years to make. Consoles hardware does not improve at all over those three years and pc improvements happen steadily. Thats why today most consoles have a 24 maximum for multi-player where as computers have 64 and better graphics.
Yes way. It just happened this generation, and the previous one as well. Console games are highly optimized for one set of hardware, whereas PC games have to be developed for a low common denominator. The end result is that consoles wind up holding their own and usually beating more advanced PCs for a few years. This isn’t a matter of specs or numbers, it’s a matter of development practicality and optimization.
Okay, continuing to ignore the above, let's delve into the Wii U. Ars Technica has a report that the Wii U is 50% faster than a PS3. But that's not a very big deal. Sums up my feelings exactly. Being 50% faster than something released in 2006 is the functional equivalent of the power of the Wii back when it was first released: it's low end stuff. Naming this thing the Wii U is appropriate: it's just a continuation of the philosophy behind the Wii, just with better marketing to disguise its shortcomings. It's even been confirmed that the Wii's development APIs are compatible with the Wii U, albeit in modified, extended form. And the gaming press is eating it up. Again.
If the rumors were correct and the Wii U is using a modified Radeon HD 4000 series GPU, then I'd venture to say the PS4 and Xbox 3 will be at least two generations of GPUs ahead, potentially as many as 4. The PS3 used a heavily customized Nvidia GPU that, at the time still hadn't hit the PC market. In contrast, Nintendo is likely using a GPU that's been surpassed by two generations of new product, with the third generation on its way.
Engadget has shots of the Wii U console itself. Whoever told gaming sites that it looks like an SNES needs to be slapped with a trout.
I really don't care for the looks of the console at all. I've already seen some people wondering where the heck the optical audio out is. I'm going to guess that doesn't make it in the final build.
The console uses R770 for processing. It's 50% more powerful than the PS3 according to Third Party Developers. PS3's core is high end tech so that's nothing to be ashamed of especially considering Sony won't be shelling out that much money for development again. The new Sony system won't be as comparatively powerful as the PS3 was this generation. Besides, if they stick to the 10 year plan, Nintendo will have a new system coming out close to the new Sony and Microsoft systems. Trust me, this thing is powerful. Right now you can't do better than 1080p really and it's a year away so this could still see some tech changes.
It's based on an R770, yes. For those who don't know, the ATI/AMD R770 is the GPU core that became the Radeon HD 4000 line. It was sold from 2008-09. AMD is currently on the Radeon HD 6000 series with the 7000 series due probably later this year. Had this a few posts above. The PS3's Cell CPU is high end stuff. Its GPU is a modified NV47, which was the core in the Nvidia 7800 line from 2005-06. The Wii U's CPU is a modified PowerPC core like the Xbox 360's. So basically, Nintendo has paired an improved Xbox 360 CPU with an improved AMD GPU. But it's still bottom-tier tech in 2011. [qutoe]The new Sony system won't be as comparatively powerful as the PS3 was this generation.[/quote] Speculation without a basis in fact. We have no idea what Microsoft and Sony are planning. Sony has said they'd like to use more off the shelf parts, but that doesn't mean they need to reach in the bargain bin to do so. Sony's 10 year cycles do not preclude a new console being released in the interim. The PS2 came out 6 years into the PS1's life. The PS3 came out 5 years into the PS2's life. Sony kept selling the PS1 well after 10 years, and the PS2 is still a cash cow for Sony that won't be going away any time soon. Right now it looks like Nintendo is going to release in 2012, and Microsoft and Sony won't do anything until 2013 at the earliest. Sony in particular has a financial investment in making sure this generation goes on as long as possible: they're finally making money on the PS3. Relative to the 360 and PS3, yes. Relative to what the Wii U could have been if they used more modern parts? Heck no. The Ars Technica quote above stands, IMO.
Current Wii U dev units are underclocked. The footage Nintendo showed at E3 was of 360 and PS3 versions of games that are coming to the Wii U. Question: why would I buy the Wii U version of a game that would have been out for a year or so prior to the Wii U's launch?
