Wii Hardware Discussion

[ultrajamie]

with seeing the video's of sd card management i have a quick question before i pick up my wii in 4.25 hours.

 

if you have lets say zelda saved to the sd and the internal flash, will the console ask you when you start a game will it ask you which memory device you want to start from. or will it just start from internal or just start from sd

 

thanks

 

Most likely you'll choose the default in the hardware settings. At the least thats how it's been with every other console I've had that's ahd a choice of storage

[system_error]

Yeah, maybe, but it's still quite disappointing how slow it is. I mean, it's IBM (clock speed king lately) making 90nm chips and they still don't cross the 1 GHz barrier. Of course, that means it requires a GPU and FSB of 300+ MHz but that's still feasible with passive cooling and a $200 production cost.

 

Overall I have to say I'm quite disappointed with Nintendo's effort to make something of the system's specs. I'm getting the feeling that when they said 'it's not about the graphics' they settled with much of what they had.

 

I am not really happy with the design because it could have been so much better. It looks more like some patchwork job. So far I don't see any serious upgrades compared to the GC hardware except clockspeed and the absolute minimum of RAM.

 

The new gameplay the Wii offers might be worth 250€ but the hardware is surely overpriced. I really wonder what we would have got with the Miyamoto 100$ console ...

[ultrajamie]

Nah, a shorter execussion pipeline, aswell as bigger front side bus would suffice for that (and of course bigger cache). We lack the exact details, but 5 years later, a 729 MHz chip should double the performance of a 486 MHz one easily. And we've known that it's quite fast for it's speed even compared to gc, meaning any gc code you drop there could run at twice the speed without extra optimization.

 

5 years have passed, further enhancements on gekko were possible. (we don't even know if the core is the same) as it's not being done in the same factory; Broadway is done in the same powerplant they do G5's (PowerPC 970's), it should at least have the reported fritz chip embedded on it.

 

 

 

You know.. this cpu / gpu debate has gotten so tired.

 

 

Resident Evil 4 remains one of the most visually impactful games ever, and it's done on a system with at least half the power of the Wii.

 

I don't think anyone should be citing anything we've seen so far as a display of what the wii can really do... whether thats clockspeed, or the games themselves.

 

Most of the launch games have been developed primarily for gamecube... wait until we've got Prime 3 and Galaxy fired up at home and I reckon no one will be moaning.

[DCK]

You know.. this cpu / gpu debate has gotten so tired.

 

 

Resident Evil 4 remains one of the most visually impactful games ever, and it's done on a system with at least half the power of the Wii.

 

I don't think anyone should be citing anything we've seen so far as a display of what the wii can really do... whether thats clockspeed, or the games themselves.

 

Most of the launch games have been developed primarily for gamecube... wait until we've got Prime 3 and Galaxy fired up at home and I reckon no one will be moaning.

No, you're getting us wrong here. We're not disappointed with graphics, but with the effort Nintendo has made to make a step in system power. If Nintendo had made (what seems like) reasonable effort with improving on the hardware the system could have turned out 50% more powerful than it is now easily. Then (providing the GPU was improved as much as the CPU) Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3 would've looked exactly like 360 games.

 

Also, you're exaggerating RE4 or haven't played enough games on other platforms. RE4's graphics are fantastic, but nowhere near up snuff against the graphics of an average PC/360/PS3 game that's released nowadays.

[Dante]

Freeloader works on the Wii.

 

"By now everyone knows that the Wii is not region free, but fret not. I imported all of the Naruto games on gamecube and had to order a boot disk (Freeloader) to get them to with my gamecube. Got my Wii tonight (I am loving this system so far) and decided to test out my import games. The didnt work using them alone, but I used freeloader and now my import games work on my Wii as if they were on my Gamecube.

 

Word of caution: I inserted the freeloader disk, and selected it from the disc channel, the system read it and restarted. Went back to the disc channel again, selected the freeloader and the system took me to the normal freeloader screen and asked me to swap the disk like normal. I am assuming that the freeloader disc needs to be in the system from the start, or it may restart after the first read. Either way it works."

[Guest Stefkov]

eep. Might have to get those rubber grip things.

[Din]

eep. Might have to get those rubber grip things.

How hard was he throwing the Wiimote for the strap to snap??

[Nintendork]

If the lanyard was faulty I would call for Nintendo to repair my TV.

There are plenty of warnings but I think that he was either not using the lanyard or it was thrown too hard.

[Tellyn]

Thought I'd put it in here instead of a different thread.

 

My DS's wireless range reaches my HD TV with three blocks of signal, so I'm glad my Wii can stay on the big TV without the need to move it just to play online or download things.

 

http://uk.media.wii.ign.com/articles/745/745202/vid_1742357.html

 

IGN's Wiimote broke too, but I think they are going a bit crazy with it.

 

That hippy that broke his TV was faking it, it was a stunt based on his punchable face, he's done it to get a new TV or to get a bit of publicity.

[Jasper]

I hate IGN's loading times... Their streaming doesn't work like it works with youtube or google Video. Why not? Wii not?

[Jamba]

Because they have one of the worst programmed sites ever made?

[Yoshiking]

IGN as a whole is shittily put together. It's one of the worst navigatable, slowest loading, most annoyingly layed out sites of it's stature.

I don't really visit IGN much anymore.

[Charlie]

IGN as a whole is shittily put together. It's one of the worst navigatable, slowest loading, most annoyingly layed out sites of it's stature.

I don't really visit IGN much anymore.

 

I like IGN... apart from the loading times. I think the reviews are always very fair and I think its very easy to navigate, unlike GameSpot which I can never find anything on.

[Din]

I always go on IGN now to check news and watch some videos. I never used to check it but just recently I've been going on everytime I come on the net. I like it but I do think the loading times suck.

[ultrajamie]

 

Also, you're exaggerating RE4 or haven't played enough games on other platforms. RE4's graphics are fantastic, but nowhere near up snuff against the graphics of an average PC/360/PS3 game that's released nowadays.

 

 

I really disagree. An 'average' 360 game looks sterile in HD, and barely better than an xbox game in SD.

[Hellfire]

I really disagree. An 'average' 360 game looks sterile in HD, and barely better than an xbox game in SD.

 

Some look really good in HD, but in a SD TV it's the same as an xbox basically.

[ultrajamie]

Some look really good in HD, but in a SD TV it's the same as an xbox basically.

 

 

exactly... some games do look amazing... but the vast majority just look lazy. it's not the 360's fault, of course, but it does mean many, many games leave you feeling underwhelmed

[Dante]

Castlevania creator “Iga” on the Wii: “I am still thinking of all the possibilities, but right now I am thinking about all the systems the next game could be on. For me, the Wii controller doesn’t yet connect with the core gameplay of Castlevania. I definitely don’t want to make a game with gimmicky controls where you swing the controller like a whip, so I’ll have to think about it longer.”

[flameboy]

Some look really good in HD, but in a SD TV it's the same as an xbox basically.

 

 

this is at the moment my main reason for putting off getting a 360 I simply cannot afford a HDTV and a 360, so gonna plump for a Wii now, plus it has tons of incredible games and possibilties.

[James McGeachie]

It's amazing some of you are only believing the 729Mhz thing now, it's been over half a year I think since IGN posted the specs, maybe even longer, yet people refused to believe them despite the fact they stated time and time again they were from developers who had spec sheets. Then the actual development hardware is in the hands of TONS of developers for months and people still wont believe it because Nintendo hasn't "officially confirmed" the specs, which is something they said specifically they'd never do.

 

People have to realise, the Wii processor was deliberately limited so it would be as close to the Gamecube as possible for backwards compatibility, it's obvious that they done that since emulation would be impossible unless it was a drastic upgrade in power and adding in Gamecube hardware would've increased the console size. I'm pretty sure they just asked IBM and ATI to improve the GC hardware as much as possible without changing it.

 

Resident Evil 4 remains one of the most visually impactful games ever, and it's done on a system with at least half the power of the Wii.

 

Look at the specs realistically here. What is there that suggests the Wii has double the power? For clock speed increase there's less than 300Mhz of difference. Even if RAM is more improved there's only so much they can do with it on a limited clock speed like that. The Wii is around 1.5 times the Gamecube, however this does not transate to "1.5 times RE4", because RE4 squeezed every last ounce of power out of GC and wasn't something that was easy to do, it was a technical marvel. With Wii all they could really do with a game like RE4 is give it a slightly better framerate and perhaps real Widescreen and 480p...that'd probably use up all the extra power they have.

[Pit-Jr]

Castlevania creator “Iga†on the Wii: “I am still thinking of all the possibilities, but right now I am thinking about all the systems the next game could be on. For me, the Wii controller doesn’t yet connect with the core gameplay of Castlevania. I definitely don’t want to make a game with gimmicky controls where you swing the controller like a whip, so I’ll have to think about it longer.â€

 

That guy is all over the map. Hes done so many great 2D Castlevania's. One more wont hurt!

[denis_carlin]

 

Look at the specs realistically here. What is there that suggests the Wii has double the power? For clock speed increase there's less than 300Mhz of difference. Even if RAM is more improved there's only so much they can do with it on a limited clock speed like that. The Wii is around 1.5 times the Gamecube, however this does not transate to "1.5 times RE4", because RE4 squeezed every last ounce of power out of GC and wasn't something that was easy to do, it was a technical marvel. With Wii all they could really do with a game like RE4 is give it a slightly better framerate and perhaps real Widescreen and 480p...that'd probably use up all the extra power they have.

 

First of all, RAM has more than doubled from 40MB to 88MB, we don't know what improvements have been made to the procesor, cache sizes, bus speed, no information on the capabilities of the GPU apart from the clock speed.

How on earth can you confidently band around the GCx1.5 nonsense when so much information is unavailable? Developers and Miyamoto have stated that Wii is significantly more powerful than the GC.

[James McGeachie]

First of all, RAM has more than doubled from 40MB to 88MB, we don't know what improvements have been made to the procesor, cache sizes, bus speed, no information on the capabilities of the GPU apart from the clock speed.

How on earth can you confidently band around the GCx1.5 nonsense when so much information is unavailable? Developers and Miyamoto have stated that Wii is significantly more powerful than the GC.

 

Look obviously Miyamoto is going to say that and for the record the vast majority of honest developers have complained a bit about specs, especially people like Free Radical who were disappointed it was way below the requirements for Haze. All signs point to it being just as weak as the specs we currently have suggest, nothing on the system looks "twice as good" as a Gamecube game. Mario Galaxy is pretty but a big step from RE4? I don't think so. That's the only game that even really looks like a noticible "jump" either.

 

For anyone who hasn';t seen it here's the IGN specs by the way http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/699/699118p1.html , although they also posted similar specs information in December 2005 actually (the only major difference being Nintendo originally planned to have more RAM than ended up in the final system). So in fact, it's been a whole year since IGN first revealed what some people only accept now.

[Teppo Holmqvist]

All signs point to it being just as weak as the specs we currently have suggest, nothing on the system looks "twice as good" as a Gamecube game.

 

Ironically nothing on Xbox 360 or PS3 doesn't look "twice as good" as a gamecube game. Sure there is some better textures and shaders, but the jump hasn't been so drastic as in SNES -> PS1 -> PS2 transistion. And what comes to graphics, even Ubisoft got real Wii kits on september, so it isn't big surprise that most games look like Gamecube games. And before you start to talk about Super Mario Galaxy, demo build that public has played was made before May, and ran on cubekit.

[Hellfire]

You cannot look at specs like that and say "it's double the power" or "it's a GC 1.5", you don't know the finest and most important details, like use of shaders, bandwidth, etc... Why, I'm no expert in hardware, that's pedrocasilva's territory, but he showed me a document that proved that all these first games were using GC tech mainly. If you think MP3 and Mario look only a little better than RE4, you obviously don't know what you're talking about. What I know is, TP looks gorgeous and it's the max they can squeeze out of a GC, so Wii can do much better. Also, since I don't own a HD tv, most ps3 and 360 games wouldn't look that good in SD, so I don't care. It's been a while since graphics bothered me.