Nintendo claims Wii U and next-gen won't have 'drastic' disparity

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says the Wii U and nex-gen consoles won't have as large a gulf as the Wii and PS3/360.

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Although Wii caught attention with an innovative control mechanic, it could not compete graphically with the PS3 or Xbox 360. Many of the generation's top titles never found a Wii release, and Wii U's limited specs risk of creating a similar gulf between it and Sony and Microsoft's next-generation consoles. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata doesn't feel that will be a problem, since the next generation will offer a smaller graphical leap than the prior one.

"We cannot promise that the Wii U will never be excluded from multiplatform software for eternity, but we can at least assure you that the Wii U will not have such a big difference as the Wii had in comparison to how, on other platforms, developers could expect very different graphic capabilities of generating HD-applicable high-resolution graphics," Iwata said.

"Other companies might launch a next-generation console with more power, but we don't necessarily think that the difference between the Wii U and such console will be as drastic as what you felt it was between the Wii and the other consoles because there will be fewer and fewer differentiators in graphics," Iwata said in a shareholders Q&A.

He says that the company will "make the most of the performance of the Wii U to keep up with technological innovations and not to make the system out-of-date soon." But, he notes that the Wii U centers around a console and the special tablet controller, which prevents them from making the two devices too expensive. "If we were including both a video game console and a handheld device, if we were not careful about how luxurious both of them were, we could end up having to offer the price of the two hardware systems combined, which would not be an acceptable price for the consumers," he said. "We had to design it by balancing the performance and the costs."

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  • reply
    July 3, 2012 12:30 PM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Nintendo claims Wii U and next-gen won't have 'drastic' disparity.

    Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says the Wii U and nex-gen consoles won't have as large a gulf as the Wii and PS3/360.

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      July 3, 2012 12:32 PM

      [deleted]

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        July 3, 2012 12:36 PM

        Hows things in wrongville?

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          July 3, 2012 12:55 PM

          [deleted]

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            July 3, 2012 1:58 PM

            Yeah, and the 360 doesn't do much for me as a platform. 360 = fucked?

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              July 3, 2012 2:02 PM

              [deleted]

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                July 3, 2012 2:16 PM

                My silly was intentional, with the purpose of mocking you.

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                  July 3, 2012 2:18 PM

                  [deleted]

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                    July 3, 2012 2:22 PM

                    You didn't get my point? I could reiterate it, if you like :P

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                    July 3, 2012 2:25 PM

                    He wasn't trolling, the point seems to have -=swooosh=- gone over your head

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                      July 3, 2012 2:33 PM

                      [deleted]

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                        July 3, 2012 6:03 PM

                        Yup. I mean, honestly, how hard would it be for MS/Sony to add a touch screen controller like the Wii U RIGHT NOW if they felt it was what their playerbase wanted? I personally find it to be quite pointless. I don't want to be constantly looking down. Head straight, eyes forward, and try to ignore the presence of a controller as much as possible to fully enjoy the game.

                        Gaming input devices is about providing an interface which allows the player to easily and seamlessly control aspects of the game. There should be as few barriers as possible. You shouldn't be painfully aware that you're using an input device to play the game. Making an input device that requires you to take your eye off the primary display DOES THAT. THAT is something I and many others really place very little value on. I'd rather have better graphics than that, and no doubt so does John.

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                        July 3, 2012 6:46 PM

                        [deleted]

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                July 3, 2012 8:25 PM

                because new mario. and zelda.

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        July 3, 2012 12:40 PM

        It remains to be seen how powerful the PS4/XboxNext will be... Honestly i doubt we'll see a massive leap in power for the next gen. Sure the new systems will do 1080p @ 60fps. But I don't think it will be much beyond current mid-end gaming PCs.

        • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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          July 3, 2012 12:46 PM

          No console will ever be locked at 60fps - developers will always be willing to sacrifice performance down to 30fps at best, often lower. Either for better graphics or simply saving time on optimization. I only see that becoming standard if the system horsepower is so far beyond what a team of people can reasonably accomplish that hitting 60fps becomes effortless.

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            July 3, 2012 12:54 PM

            yah true, just saying it would likely be possible some titles due favor 60fps over 30fps.

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            July 3, 2012 12:54 PM

            yah true, just saying it would likely be possible some titles due favor 60fps over 30fps.

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            July 4, 2012 6:37 AM

            [deleted]

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              July 4, 2012 9:04 PM

              Which would be kind of awesome actually... at least for the consumer. 60fps is really nice...

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          July 3, 2012 12:56 PM

          [deleted]

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            July 3, 2012 1:27 PM

            Yep. I'm still pretty damn amazed at how good these new consoles games look as they come out. If the Wii-U can take that and improve on it even a bit I feel like that will suffice for the majority of their userbase.

            Unless the next gen consoles from MS and Sony have some interesting technology that is missing from the Wii-U, I think it will be more than enough.

            With that said, I still wish they would have went all out and made it more future proof. :/

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              July 3, 2012 1:43 PM

              It really comes down to what MS & Sony decide to do. If they're specs are way beyond the Wii U, it puts them in a shitty situation, as the developers will focus on the next xbox and playstation as lead development platform.

              The only way nintendo can really court the same kind of 3rd party support is if A} they sell never before heard of numbers before the other consoles launch (this wont happen.) or B} One or both of the other two companies aim for a similar spec sheet to the Wii U (unlikely.)

              Most likley outcome is we'll have another Wii style "island" system that has strong first party support, and 3rd party support that doesn't go beyond porting current gen games.

              And i say this as a nintendo fan who will probably pick up a Wii U at some point.

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              July 3, 2012 2:59 PM

              "Unless the next gen consoles from MS and Sony have some interesting technology that is missing from the Wii-U, I think it will be more than enough."

              Arguably they will have that in the form of DX11 level GPUs that may well be faster as well + faster/more advanced CPUs and maybe some more RAM + more storage capacity.

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            July 3, 2012 1:39 PM

            The problem this time is nintendo haven't really shown much that satisfies their faithful day one purchasers. Every nintendo console since the n64 has come with the knowledge that you're probably going to miss out on a bunch of the top tier 3rd party games, but you know some really ground breaking 1st party titles are going to offset that.

            This time round nintendo hasn't really shown anything that fills that ground breaking gap. Pikmin 3 looks great, but it isnt really a leap beyond the previous games. The mario game they showed looked like a fun but fairly tame sequel to the wii title.

            Not all consoles need incredible launch titles, but just getting a glimpse of something mind blowing that is coming further down the line makes the decision to buy a lot easier. At E3 nintendo went on and on about how they were returning to the core gamer, then they spent most of their conf talking about old 3rd party games and a new mini game compilation. All this has done is further reinforce the idea that nintendo is totally totally out of touch.

            I'm not suggesting that we wont see great 1st party titles eventually on the Wii U, i'm sure we will, but the fact they havent even hinted at this stuff is going to hurt them at the outset.

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          July 3, 2012 3:07 PM

          Unreal Engine 4.

          Wii U doesn't support it, new consoles will.

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          July 3, 2012 5:28 PM

          I will be pleasantly amazed if the next gen consoles flatly require 1080p @ 60 or even get it into say 80% of the games.

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          July 4, 2012 2:42 AM

          so wii u can play next generation of games?

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        July 3, 2012 12:55 PM

        Nintendo makes good games. People that like them will buy the hardware.

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          July 3, 2012 12:56 PM

          [deleted]

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          July 3, 2012 2:06 PM

          Hows things in wrongville?

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            July 3, 2012 5:35 PM

            How is this wrong? There's a new Pikmin coming. I fucking love Pikmin. I'll be buying a WiiU just to play Pikmin 3

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          July 3, 2012 11:33 PM

          Haha, pretty much. All they have to do is announce a new Zelda and Metroid game and I'm there day 1 with money in hand.

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        July 3, 2012 1:29 PM

        [deleted]

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        July 3, 2012 2:37 PM

        ^You could argue the Wii was a full generation behind as well and we know how well that did.

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          July 3, 2012 2:39 PM

          If you can't see how that was unique then you are blind. I'm not saying I have any idea how the WiiU will do, but that comparison is not a valid one.

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          July 3, 2012 2:41 PM

          you could argue the same about the Dreamcast, and we know how well that did.

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          July 3, 2012 2:54 PM

          [deleted]

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          July 3, 2012 3:02 PM

          The Wii was at least two generations behind on the GPU side.

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        July 3, 2012 6:59 PM

        you guys literally said this for every nintendo console. when are you gonna stop acting like you know something about this industry

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        July 4, 2012 12:20 AM

        We are all forgetting they are launching what looks to be a usable online service.

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      July 3, 2012 12:35 PM

      As disappointed as I am in the Wii-U's hardware (at least what we know), I would generally have to agree with him. The main drawback of the Wii was the lack of HD output, so as long as this thing can output at 720/1080p it should be fine.

      There will definitely be some sacrifices to be made between cross platform ports of future games, but I don't think they will be any show stoppers like the large amount of folks that can't get over the jaggies of current gen Wii games.

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      July 3, 2012 12:36 PM

      I don't know how he can say that with a straight face at all. The WiiU has specs JUST AT the level of a PS3..unless the PS3 turns out to be a PS3U, then I don't think that is true.

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        July 3, 2012 12:56 PM

        Without knowing the GPU or the amount of the RAM for sure, it is extremely difficult to come to this conclusion. Rumors indicate it has at least 50% more total RAM than the PS3 (or xbox) with video at least two generations ahead of the PS3.

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          July 3, 2012 1:02 PM

          Yup all Nintendo has released is just this:
          CPU: IBM Power-based multi-core processor.
          GPU: AMD Radeon-based High Definition GPU.

          Everything else you might of heard is just rumor.

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            July 3, 2012 1:17 PM

            im just going off what was shown at E3. Nothing looked impressive, like leaps and bounds beyond what current gen can do. I think most of that processing power is going towards running two screens at once. The 3DS' specs looked impressive on paper until you realize that almost all that power is going towards running basically three images simultaniously. The 3d games on the 3ds look very dated compared to something like the Vita.

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              July 3, 2012 1:25 PM

              Will have to wait and see. Took MS & Sony quite a few years to really show what the 360/PS3 could really do.

              All the Nintendo developers have been working with pretty outdated tech with the Wii and might take them a few years to get up to speed with the newer hardware. Cross platform titles probably won't look much better as they are probably all designed to run on the 360/PS3.

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              July 3, 2012 7:20 PM

              Did you see what the Xbox 360 launch titles looked like? Do you remember how terrible those looked by today's standards?

              Of course they look just like Xbox 360 / PS3 games, because they are. They're quick ports of those games with some GamePad functionality tacked on. The fact that quick, unoptimized ports for a brand new system look just as good as X360/PS3, suggests that Wii U is more powerful, not less, than these existing systems which have been developed for for six, seven years.

              Sometimes with the Wii U I feel like people are being deliberately obtuse. You really think what they showed at E3 is all they have in the pipe? That's insane. They have said that they are deliberately holding their cards close to the chest because they don't want their competitors to know what they are doing.

              It appears to be backfiring horribly, true, but if you don't think they've got some AAA first party titles cooking for this thing then you have no idea how Nintendo works.


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                July 4, 2012 8:56 PM

                I don't know man... I remember seeing Lost Planet on the 360 and thinking HOLY SHIT I didn't think a console game could look so good.

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            July 3, 2012 3:05 PM

            Just because they are rumors doesn't mean it isn't true. There are different kinds of rumors, some are more reliable than others. The very fact that there even exist devs who have said it is less powerfull than the PS3 and Xbox 360 is worrying.

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          July 3, 2012 3:11 PM

          [deleted]

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          July 4, 2012 8:54 PM

          I think just the fact that Epic, who creates a major game engine which was probably the most used engine in the current generation of hardware, and also who probably has closer knowledge of all the projected hardware goals for the next generation, has said that Unreal Engine 4 will NOT be running on the Wii U.... (which also makes the assumption it will be on PS4 and nextBox)... that's a pretty good sign right there that Nintendo just might be screwed.

          Unless another engine comes it to take the seat from Epic and Unreal... Wii U could be very screwed if they miss out on all the games that will be running on that engine.

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        July 3, 2012 1:31 PM

        [deleted]

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      July 3, 2012 12:52 PM

      Maybe true because it can at least do HD, but it won't have anything close to Star Wars 1313 or that Final Fantasy tech demo.

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        July 4, 2012 9:03 PM

        Yeah, the graphical quality of Star Wars 1313, Unreal Engine 4 and that Square/Enix tech demo seems to be the target for the next generation... and I just have a hard time believing that Wii U is anything close to that. Just based on what they've shown so far... that Batman AC demo didn't look any better than 360/PS3. Even leaving space for stuff to look better when developers get better with the system... the gap still seems too big.

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      July 3, 2012 3:44 PM

      [deleted]

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      July 3, 2012 3:49 PM

      Well, does it standardise on 1080p? Because unless they're going all-streaming (unlikely), the other two sure as shit will.

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        July 3, 2012 3:55 PM

        All release games from Nintendo will be 720p.

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          July 3, 2012 11:47 PM

          That's kinda sad given how easy even 1080p is to push for a mid-range GPU now. I really hope Sony and MS launch 1080p consoles and laugh at these claims of "not being as large a gulf"

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            July 4, 2012 1:12 AM

            There are a few reasons why 720p instead of 1080p isn't a big deal: Most people sit too far away to tell a difference, many people aren't paying enough attention to the graphics to care, and many people still don't even know there is a difference between HDMI and "that yellow plug".

            And as we've seen, as graphics progress further, they become more scalable. Look at the difference between battlefield 3 on PC and the consoles

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      July 3, 2012 4:59 PM

      I think the gulf between WiiU and Durango/Orbis will be less about raw horsepower and more about how many developers will have the budget and manpower to create games at that high tier. This generation we saw the ceiling for Japanese publishers. next gen we'll see the budget cap for most western developers.

      How do retail games survive if you need to hit 2+ million units sold just to break even? The answer of course is to reduce the number of products on the shelves, release annual sequels, and offer season pass dlc. Anything that extracts more money per unit sold will be implemented.

      You'll get a few games here and there that take advantage of the added horse power of durango/orbis but they won't be prevalent until year 3 because they'll need a higher install base to be financially viable. Over the next 2+ years, I think you'll be seeing a surprising number of games that release on Durango/Orbis/Wii U/PC that are basically high end versions of xbox360/ps3 games. Frostbite 2, Anvil Next, and Cryengine 3 are next-gen ready engines yet they run on 360/PS3. Why do you think that is? Because they need to sell the game to as many people as possible to make sure it turns a profit for them.

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        July 3, 2012 5:05 PM

        Case in point, my AGP system can play Max Payne 3!!!

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          July 4, 2012 1:14 AM

          I'm enjoying the hell out of Trine 2 and Street Fighter 4 on the highest texture settings on my pentium 4 machine!

          Some games just don't need six cores.

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      July 3, 2012 5:28 PM

      End this charade already and give us your great games on consoles that will represent them correctly. Here is my money...

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        July 3, 2012 11:35 PM

        They are giving us their games on a console that represents them correctly. Nintendo is a software company that happens to make hardware. The hardware is always designed around the needs of their launch titles and really nothing else. Their vision for the hardware is dictated by their vision for their software. So the hardware gives us what their desired representation is.

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          July 5, 2012 7:09 PM

          Huh, and this whole time knowing that they are the only company that makes money on there hardware led me to believe it was about money. What do I know?

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      July 3, 2012 6:59 PM

      interesting, the Wii U is a good stop gap between the Wii and Nintendo's next console which would probably release 4/5 years after the PS4 and Xbox 720 and tha console should finally be on par with that current gen. then the only question woud be will Nintendo launch the next next console after the Wii U at the same time as the PS5 and Xbox 1440 or will Microsoft and Sony break the 10 year cycle thing.

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        July 3, 2012 7:03 PM

        Did you have to read the entire thread to come up with something that original and clever?

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          July 4, 2012 1:17 AM

          Actually, I hadn't thought about it that way.

          Could be very risky for Nintendo, but they could be the "new" thing in 2017 that sucks the life out of Sony and Microsoft. Definitely unprecedented. Console cycles weren't long enough before to think about "stopgap" strategies.

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            July 4, 2012 2:55 AM

            Thought about it at this E3 but even if Nintendo are planning to do this I don't see them being able to compete all that well in the distant future. Mobile gaming will grow (perhaps tablets will be our future consoles) and only Microsoft and Sony have started making moves to embrace that, they also have more to offer gamers in their consoles. I hate to say it but Nintendo need to become a software company to do well in 2020+, though I would like to play Pokemon on my iPad! :p

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      July 3, 2012 7:55 PM

      Nintenwho? lol RIP

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      July 4, 2012 2:34 AM

      CONFIRMED
      So, in following, here is what Nintendo's Online service offers.]:
      Free Online Services
      DLC
      Online Shop containing Virtual Console, Indy, Freeware and Full Retail Titles
      Weekly Discounts
      Cross Platform Communication with 3DS, PC, Smartphones and Tablets (at later date)
      Video Chat with friends
      Account System
      Message Boards
      Achievements (will be posted on Miiverse, not mandatory)
      Multiple Levels of Security*
      Web Browser w/flash support, private browsing, on (controller)screen keyboard
      Multimedia services including Netflix and Hulu
      in-game access to Miiverse and Browser


      The things NOT included are as follows.
      Twitter of Facebook Apps**
      Current Friend Code System
      Multi Touch
      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      Have you marked my words, from half a year ago?

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