The Wii's Brain Exposed

Jon Stokes, at the Opposable Thumbs column, discusses a final revelation of the Wii's technical prowess. Though it's been assumed since the early days of the marketing push that the Wii is basically a super-charged GameCube, a post to Acer's Hardware boards would seem to confirm that. Not, as Mr. Stokes says, that that is a bad thing: "I'm no longer nearly as upset about the implications of this move as I was back in August. In fact, thanks in large part to my DS Lite, I've gone from being disappointed at Wii's underpowered hardware to actually anticipating the new console. I plan to pick one up when they become generally available, and I'm even hoping to hook my (nongamer) wife on it."

Comments

Supercharged!

[StonedRat]

And my PC is just a supercharged 386. So what?

Re:Supercharged!

[Patoski]

It's not a vastly underpowered (for the current generation) game system being sold for more than the parts are worth (when the competition is selling hot new tech at a loss), propped up by a gimmicky controller.

Honestly, none of what you've mentioned matters at all. The PSP is light years better than the DS from a technological point of view, but the DS is mopping the floor with the PSP. Why?

In the end, it all comes down to games.

If Nintendo has the games that are the most fun they will sell the most consoles. The same is true for MS and Sony... If the controller is gimmicky and the games are not very fun, it will become very clear in due course. How anyone can declare winners and losers in the console war at this point is beyond me. The party is really just getting started.

Re:Supercharged!

[Patoski]

What's with this comparison to the DS? The DS is a large upgrade in processing power over the GBA, equivalent to the difference between the N64 and SNES . A touch screen GBA wouldn't have had the success the DS has.

The point I was trying to make, rather clumsily apparently, is that hardware specs don't matter as much as most people think.

A product with weaker hardware specs, like the DS, will beat a stronger speced product, like the PSP, if the games are compelling for the "weaker" product.

The latest round of handhelds and console wars illustrate this perfectly:
DS vs. PSP
PS2 vs. Xbox

Wii isn't underpowered except

[ad0gg]

It doesn't support HDTV. I think this will be their fatal flaw for next gen console rave. With lifespan of 5 years, it will start showing its age in 2 or 3 years as HDTV become the norm. Really think this was bad decision on nintendo's part, what would it costs to upgrade the video chip and corresponding bandwidth to support 720p? Even the ps2 supported 1080i output as seen with the grand turismo.

Re:Wii isn't underpowered except

[MeanderingMind]

Nintendo will be criticized for this, but ultimately it will matter as little as the criticism concerning online gaming.

Just look at the numbers. Many people were screaming about how Live and other online services were going to be the bread and butter of consoles last generation. All three systems launched with promises about their online support. Only one of the three consoles delivered, and it was the one which arguably was the worst when it came to online that won out.

Today we've finally reahed a point where broadband and other high speed internet connections are ubiquitous enough (and simple enough) that getting your whole house wired (including the game console) is no hassle. Because we have reached this point, online will make a larger impact.

I see the same scenario with this generation. HDTV will be too important to be ignored... next generation. HDTV is going to take off, but it will be more than a year or two or five from now before we really begin to see the end for SDTV. When Nintendo makes their MiiTuu console in 5 years to compete with the PS4 and the Xbox Extreme 1337 Pwn Media Controller Center Professinal Home Edition, they'll bother with HD. As it stands, they're content to push only 480p and that's good for them. It'll look great, not the uber eyecandy we'll get from the PS3 or the 360, but it won't be shabby at all. 1080p will not magically make Resident Evil 4 look like a bloody hobo.

Re:Wii isn't underpowered except

[Total_Wimp]

I have no problem with Nintendo's choice, nor with yours. For what it's worth, I had no problem with GameCubes either and often witnessed my daughter's friends shuttling them from house to house to play games like Super Smash Bros (it appears Nintendo knew what they were doing when they built in the handle.).

What I have the problem with is the people who appear to be insisting that no one "needs" the better graphics hardware and, ironically, that we do "need" the interesting controller hardware of the Wii. The answers are, a)you're right, but I sure "want" it and b)"you're wrong, but it may be nice."

It's no skin off my nose if these people's preffered platform was an old Nokia with the game Snake. People are free to enjoy or dislike whatever they wish. But to claim the Nokia is actually a superior platform and has no downside is another matter altogether. Sure, it's a free country and they're free to say it, but they're just flat-out wrong.

The Wii is simply not comparable to the PS3 or 360. At best, it's a gen 2.5 rather than a gen 3 (and at worst, it's actually a gen 2). If that suits them, like it seams to suit you, then terrific. Enjoy yourselves, and I might even glom on for a few games. Just don't bother trying to convince me the hardeware is somehow better than Sony's or Microsofts. I might like the Wii just fine despite it having yesterday's hardware, but that will never be a reason for me to actually want it.

TW

Go Wii

[Anonymous Coward]

Wii will prove again that gameplay trumps flash. Just like the DS is bitch slapping the PSP.

Backwards compatibility means no changes

[grahamwest]

Changing the microarchitecture would have implications for backwards compatibility with Gamecube software. My personal opinion (as someone who has programmed for Gamecube in the past and is working on a next-gen game) is that they will have made no changes. The new part is just a die-shrunk up-clocked Gekko and there's nothing wrong with that.

To back your more general point up, although people seem to have a low opinion of what the Gamecube hardware was capable of it's unwarranted. It's true that many games didn't get much out of it, but look at Starfox Adventures (from 2002 no less) to see what you could achieve. 480p and 16:9, fur shading, bump mapping, refraction and reflection for water (and ice), realtime environment lighting for the day/night cycle and lots of particles. It's a very pretty game indeed.

Even if no new capabilities are added to the hardware, Wii games will look great and the demos I played at E3 were pretty damn fun for the most part.