Wii Hardware Discussion

[KingOfHyrule]

640x480(tv) or 720x576(dvd)

 

Yeah I think it'll be 576p in PAL regions and 480p in NTSC regions.

[conzer16]

Here's some techy speak about the accelerometer in the Nunchuk. I have no idea what it means but here you go!

[DCK]

I have no idea what it means but here you go!

It's marketing talk for 'We make accelerometers and ours owns for the nunchuck controller'.

 

I think the nunchuck accelerometer is a brilliant idea, especially with the additional rumble. It would've been the third secret if there was one.

[Kryss864]

Quick question: Wasn't there a rumor a while back that Wii would be able to use standard USB Hard Drives, like a PC? Is that still true?

[conzer16]

yes i believe so.

[blender]

what is the wii mando?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDpx993IDdM

[Shino]

what is the wii mando?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDpx993IDdM

 

Wii controller, basically is just some idiot trying to make that pass as a wii controller.

[Helmsly]

Very short video clip of Miyamoto pressing Eject on a Wii:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYNZ90kB2wk

[conzer16]

Very short video clip of Miyamoto pressing Eject on a Wii:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYNZ90kB2wk

 

I know this will sound stupid.....but...........thas looks sweeeeeeeet!!!!

[MunKy]

That looks pretty good. I'll have to get used to having big discs again for games though. Shame, I liked the diddy ones.

[conzer16]

Wii's Graphics as good if not better than Xbox360??

 

This would make the next gens shudder!!

 

Clickedy Click!

[system_error]

Wii's Graphics as good if not better than Xbox360??

 

This would make the next gens shudder!!

 

Clickedy Click!

 

 

[...]Well, MLP is here to pass on some information we have received. While we cannot verify these claims we feel it is our duty to at least pass them on so you can make your own decisions.[...]

 

That sentence is used way too often at MLP - I am sure that IGN did not see final devkits so far because Nintendo is shipping them right now to the majority of developers. BUT I really doubt Nintendo would keep the estimated specifications a secret to developers because this would only hurt Nintendo. I do not expect a miracle from the Wii but I am also not expecting a GamecubeTurbo. Normally developers know quite in advance what the final product will be with a 10% margin of adjusted clockrates or memory.

[ShadowV7]

Video of Miyamoto ejecting the disc is cool.Would the disc not get scratched though? And about the graphics ,i'm not worried i've read several times that the final devs aren't fully released to everyone and several times I have read the Wii will be on par with Xbox 360 on SD-TV.I'm not worried and even if those claims are fasle,I don't really care.With games like TP and Resi 4 on the Cube with great graphics they can be better on the Wii.No worries.

[Jay]

The Wii games shown at E3 were all running on Cube hardware - Apparently final Wii devkits were only received by developers several weeks before the show and to transfer the code over and enhance it graphically wouldn't have been possible in such a short space of time. People might comment on the fact that the games looked slightly better than Cube stuff on average but you have to remember that no developer actually pushed the Cube to its full extent and the graphics shown were capable on the Cube. (Including Smash Bro) - The final hardware should be able to have graphics on par with many current 360 titles, the main difference is likely to be in the amount on screen at once (No Dead Rising for us) and the lack of High Definition. I think its unlikely though that any launch titles will look considerably nicer than they do already though.

[DCK]

Very short video clip of Miyamoto pressing Eject on a Wii:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYNZ90kB2wk

Best. Disc. Eject. Ever. That is so awesome.

 

Anyway, about Wii graphics being on par with 360 - I doubt it. Mario Galaxy and Brawl show Wii graphics have a lot of potential, and they might not be final hardware yet. The 360 has showed us extremely good graphics too however, outclassing the first generation games by a mile with Halo 3 (if in game) and Gears of War. There's no way a sub-$250 console the size of three DVD cases could match that. If SMG is an indication of the general level of graphics however, I'm the last person to complain.

[Jay]

Best. Disc. Eject. Ever. That is so awesome.

 

Anyway, about Wii graphics being on par with 360 - I doubt it. Mario Galaxy and Brawl show Wii graphics have a lot of potential, and they might not be final hardware yet. The 360 has showed us extremely good graphics too however, outclassing the first generation games by a mile with Halo 3 (if in game) and Gears of War. There's no way a sub-$250 console the size of three DVD cases could match that. If SMG is an indication of the general level of graphics however, I'm the last person to complain.

 

You have to remember that a lot of extra power is required because the graphics have to be rendered in High Definition and there's also a lot of processing power that is seperate to the graphics. Its perfectly feasible that Wii could render games with the appearance of Standard Definition 360 games, simply with a lot less happening on screen (less enemies and such).

[DCK]

Nah, I really don't think so. The Wii won't get close to the raw power of the 360 because they need to keep it cheap (360 costs $500-700 to produce) and they need to cool it passively. Through tricks like loads of shaders (next gen is all about shaders), hardware physics acceleration and partly the lack of HD, the visual difference isn't quite as big as the power difference - but I can't see the Wii matching the 360 at all. It has nice graphics, but it's just not up to level of the completely graphics-focussed and ridicilously expensive (to produce anyway) competitors.

[Hellfire]

I don't think graphics will have that big of a difference. We've seen Mario and it looks very good, specially since it's running on a dev kit. HD takes somewhat 4 times the memory and the processing power. Still, most first gen games won't look that good. Not that I care.

[Dante]

Penny Arcade Wii E3 review.

 

 

I think it is a function of what we do at Penny Arcade, but there are people who want very much to tell us things they shouldn't. With a level of credibility I originally associated with a schizoid vagrant, we were told that "all showfloor games were actually running on GameCubes." I've chosen not to really integrate that kind of information into my impressions. One developer told us that the demo units had the sensitivity on the remotes jacked up to some ridiculous degree. No doubt when the device is in your own home, you calibrate it the same as you would your DS or any other non-standard input. I relate this item with a bit more confidence. Add that to the fact that every video of people playing the system shows them utilizing gross motor movements and generally behaving like spazmoids, and you have a scenario where their own promotional materials have taught every person to play it wrong.

 

Let me tell you how to do it right, just so we're all on the same page: you need to relax. You are not trying to rein in a bronco, at least, not until someone makes a game actually based on bronco reining. This was the trick I needed to get down before I understood how to play. Elbows loose. Wrist loose. Relax. I wasn't aware how tense I usually am when playing games. This is a marked departure.

 

I should tell you that, as a general rule, the games did not look amazing. The Cube was rarely made to sing as it did in Resident Evil 4 or Crystal Chronicles, but it was capable of bold feats that were rarely coaxed out of it. You might recall the Red Steel shots that hit along with those old scans, tight, crisp images that bolstered the faithful, and I'm here to tell you that it ain't that way - not yet, at least. You knew that, though, if you've been following this thing at all. You know that we're talking about an incremental move graphically, and I think that most people have made their peace with it provided they're able to get something that genuinely feels new from the gameplay. I won't string you along any further: the Wii, when coupled with a visionary developer, is more than capable of delivering this.

 

Different people get "sold" on the device by different games, because playing the machine is so idiosyncratic. Having had the opportunity to talk to maybe a hundred and fifty people about it, Warioware - Nintendo's perennial gameplay laboratory - made converts of many people with its novel, joyous use of the wiimote. Wii Sports was interesting, and I think it'll be an amazing piece of evangelical software to introduce people to the Wii, but I have a feeling that most Penny Arcade readers are looking for something with a little more beef.

 

I literally felt torn away from Super Mario Galaxy. I have told you before that I hate playing games at E3, that I believe a worse environment for the enjoyment of interactive entertainment could not be engineered on purpose. Something pure managed to survive that hostile environment and find purchase, and when this son of a bitch hits a kiosk walk directly up to the machine and play it. Visually bold and reminiscent of The Little Prince, you will find yourself sailing from world to world, with and controls that actively reinforce that your hands themselves are floating in space as well. Mario is controlled with the analog attachment, and the pointing device in your other hand essentially "helps" him in various ways by manipulating the environment. A platform game where tiny worlds are the platforms while boundless space fills in the cracks essentially feels amazing.

 

Metroid Prime 3 won't startle you with its amazing graphics, because it doesn't have those, but what it does have is solid, traditional gameplay that is activated in inventive ways. Using the accelerometer in the "nunchuck," you shove the controller forward to cast out the grapple beam. Then, by pulling back on its analog stick, you can actually tear off things in the game world - iron doors, enemy shields, what have you. I'd be surprised if they didn't change the pulling off into a gesture for the final release. But what is a button press on any other system is now a physical motion with a mirror in a simulated world, and it feels good.

 

I loved the fishing in Twilight Princess, but without more "trigger time" on the controller I don't know if I'm completely sold on the Wii for this game. It works, don't get me wrong, but I have a sense that it's being used because it's there, and not because it adds value like it does in the other games I've mentioned. And, just as with the DS, there's going to be a lot of crap made by third parties who don't really know what they're doing - basic, boring games made unwieldy in addition by their inability to execute effectively on the new platform coupled with their launch window avarice.

 

Nintendo's PR message is pretty potent, and it resonates so well with us because we generally believe at some level that gameplay has taken a backseat. Sony and Microsoft are involved in a kind of escalating arms race, along a radically different conceptual axis. I happen to find the plump fruits of that conflict mouthwatering, but let's continue. There is something here, independent of the marketing machine, that deserves recognition and praise.

[ShadowV7]

That comic strip was funny.Good find about the article aswell.

[Bogbas]

Well i found this if anyone is interested in how the sensor bar+fhc works. Apparently there's no sensors in that bar. I have to see what the infrared field looks like with a dv cameras nightshot mode

[conzer16]

Well i found this if anyone is interested in how the sensor bar+fhc works. Apparently there's no sensors in that bar. I have to see what the infrared field looks like with a dv cameras nightshot mode

 

 

Good article - I didnt know that about the sensor bar. Infra red hmmmmmm

 

And Blue tooth. Does that mean theyll release a purple coloured Wii??

[colormonkey]

Do you think the classic controller can be used for Gamecube games aswell? There could be some issues with the button-placement ... but it might work.

 

It would be irritating to have three different controllers for the system.

[Helmsly]

Anyone seen this picture yet?

[ShadowV7]

Nope I havn't first time i've seen it open.If only the guy turned the Wii around so we could see the sockets at the back