Can we really judge a console's power on exclusive games or multiplaform games?

There's lots of stuff that people will say in confidence or when anonymity makes it safe, that they wouldn't put their name to in public. There's also a while lot of untruth that people will put their name to because it's politic or profitable.

Journalists' bread and butter for getting to the truth behind the curtain is in cultivating confidential sources.

Being honest about the shortcomings of a new platform, from an industry juggernaut with a passionate fanbase, that you're also developing a product for is one of the biggest Noes in the industry.
 
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Maybe what they commented on isn't covered by nda, saying the Nintendo isnt as powerful wouldn't be covered, maybe they haven't signed an nda and they are saying something they heard from another developer or maybe they don't care

So why wouldn't they put their name to the comments then as that's exactly what they said.
 
"EA engineer says ‘the Wii U is crap’

One Electronic Arts developer has taken to Twitter to sound off on the struggling Wii U. As spotted by IGN, EA senior software engineer and architect Bob Summerwill did not hold back when expressing his feelings for the platform.

“The Wii U is crap,” Summerwill said, before deleting that tweet and all others. “Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet. Nintendo are walking dead at this point.”

Keep in mind that Nintendo fans would not accept the wiiu was weaker then last gen, they wouldn't even accept the die shot anylasis. So coming out and saying the wiiu is weaker would only get you tons of Hate mail and in trouble. Metro last light developer only said what he said because Nintendo fans were angry at them canceling the game. No developer was able to come out and say wiiu real gpu specs with out getting in trouble
 
So why wouldn't they put their name to the comments then as that's exactly what they said.
Now you've changed the question your original question was "why would some developers put their name to comments" which I answered
In which case since the question is now the opposite of your original question the answer is the opposite of the original answer
 
"EA engineer says ‘the Wii U is crap’

One Electronic Arts developer has taken to Twitter to sound off on the struggling Wii U. As spotted by IGN, EA senior software engineer and architect Bob Summerwill did not hold back when expressing his feelings for the platform.

“The Wii U is crap,” Summerwill said, before deleting that tweet and all others. “Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet. Nintendo are walking dead at this point.”

Keep in mind that Nintendo fans would not accept the wiiu was weaker then last gen, they wouldn't even accept the die shot anylasis. So coming out and saying the wiiu is weaker would only get you tons of Hate mail and in trouble. Metro last light developer only said what he said because Nintendo fans were angry at them canceling the game. No developer was able to come out and say wiiu real gpu specs with out getting in trouble

Funny that......
 
Now you've changed the question your original question was "why would some developers put their name to comments" which I answered
In which case since the question is now the opposite of your original question the answer is the opposite of the original answer

My question hasn't changed and your original answer didn't tackle my original so let me make it simple for people.

You have two developers both talking about the power in general terms, not about the actual specs of the machine.

So why would one developer be happy to put his name on his comments but the other wants to remain anonymous.

Your original reply about an NDA is irrelevant as they both would have (in theory) both signed the same NDA, and neither of them are detailing specs.
 
So why would one developer be happy to put his name on his comments but the other wants to remain anonymous.
An (over)abundance of caution. Has an opinion but, even though it shouldn't affect his career, he's not going to stake his career on that belief in freedom-of-speech.
 
My question hasn't changed
Yes it has. Your original question
So why do others have no issues putting their name to their comments?

The revised question
So why wouldn't they put their name to the comments then as that's exactly what they said.
1st question is about people who put their name to comments
2nd question is about people who do not put their name to comments
see the subtle difference?

your original answer didn't tackle my original
Yes it did see the bolded parts
Maybe what they commented on isn't covered by nda, saying the Nintendo isnt as powerful wouldn't be covered, maybe they haven't signed an nda and they are saying something they heard from another developer or maybe they don't care
 
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My question hasn't changed and your original answer didn't tackle my original so let me make it simple for people.

You have two developers both talking about the power in general terms, not about the actual specs of the machine.

So why would one developer be happy to put his name on his comments but the other wants to remain anonymous.

Your original reply about an NDA is irrelevant as they both would have (in theory) both signed the same NDA, and neither of them are detailing specs.
The developer putting his name is actually trying to sell a game, and describing their problems developing for the system and trying to explain why the ports aren't on par with out giving too much away. The other ones just looked at the specs and gave their opinions , they have nothing to gain by giving their names except problems and they were verified developers by gameindustry.biz which is a reliable source.
 
The developer putting his name is actually trying to sell a game, and describing their problems developing for the system and trying to explain why the ports aren't on par with out giving too much away. The other ones just looked at the specs and gave their opinions , they have nothing to gain by giving their names except problems and they were verified developers by gameindustry.biz which is a reliable source.

See you've dodged the point again by going on a tangent to a completely different point.

We have more evidence and developers stating it is just as powerful (or more) than we have developers saying it isn't.

And that's the reality of it.
 
Yes it has. Your original question

You answer in the bold parts makes no sense in relation to the questions as both parties would have signed the same NDA.

So trying to claim an NDA would be a reason when both parties would have signed one is a none starter and that's what you don't seem to understand.
 
You can praise a console in general terms and have it not be a breach of NDA, but it you're going to talk specifics e.g. a lower number of shader cores and a lamentably low gflops, that's absolutely going to a breach of NDA and one that Nintendo would go after you for.

This is all a bit academic at this point though, as we know that the anonymous people talking about the WiiU's low performance were 100% correct and telling the truth. This once again shows that sometimes anonymous sources are accurate while public statements (with a name put to them) can be fluffy PR niceties and a little misleading. At the end of day, what's true is true.
 
See you've dodged the point again by going on a tangent to a completely different point.

We have more evidence and developers stating it is just as powerful (or more) than we have developers saying it isn't.

And that's the reality of it.
I tend to look at what developers are saying and judge off game perfomances I would say based off specs, it's weaker I just can't see how one could come to different conclusion when you combine cpu and gpu together, and what function said
 
You can praise a console in general terms and have it not be a breach of NDA, but it you're going to talk specifics e.g. a lower number of shader cores and a lamentably low gflops, that's absolutely going to a breach of NDA and one that Nintendo would go after you for.

Neither developers have said anything in that detail.

So this whole NDA getting in the way is rubbish as it would affect the one just as much as the other.
 
I tend to look at what developers are saying and judge off game perfomances I would say based off specs, it's weaker I just can't see how one could come to different conclusion when you combine cpu and gpu together, and what function said

When we have developers stating it's faster and also games that perform better.

If it was as weak as you and others think it is there wouldn't be any developers claiming it's faster nor any games that perform better.

But there is, so that debunks the claims that it's outright weaker than PS360.
 
When we have developers stating it's faster and also games that perform better.

If it was as weak as you and others think it is there wouldn't be any developers claiming it's faster nor any games that perform better.

But there is, so that debunks the claims that it's outright weaker than PS360.
How does it debunk anything? You litterly have metro last light developer saying it would run so bad cause of the cpu. Almost Every port that cpu intensive runs 5-10 fps behind 360. The developers were factually right. Mean while the developer that were doing pr on how great the gpu was could never prove it.
 
How does it debunk anything? You litterly have metro last light developer saying it would run so bad cause of the cpu. Almost Every port that cpu intensive runs 5-10 fps behind 360. The developers were factually right. Mean while the developer that were doing pr on how great the gpu was could never prove it.
This is accurate.
 
How does it debunk anything? You litterly have metro last light developer saying it would run so bad cause of the cpu. Almost Every port that cpu intensive runs 5-10 fps behind 360. The developers were factually right. Mean while the developer that were doing pr on how great the gpu was could never prove it.

If Wii U was behind 360 as you claim there wouldn't be a single instance where the Wii U version is better, you can't argue that very simple logic.

And yet, there are games that perform better on Wii U than 360.

To quote the Sniper Elite 2 developers

NL: Do you find the Wii U to be more powerful than the 360 and PS3?

JK: In a word yes – it’s very capable, and we’re taking advantage of this to bring greater graphical fidelity to the Wii U version of Sniper Elite V2.

So you can't point blank claim Wii U is inferior to 360 and PS3 when there are actual examples where a Wii U version of a game has upgrades and/or better performance than the PS3 and 360 version.
 
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All these 'which is better' discussions follow the same patterns which is why the Old Guard of B3D gave up on them as a bad idea many years ago. Seriously, some of us have been debating platforms for 20+ years! We even had comparisons outlawed in another version of the Rules of Engagement.

You can only compare hardware performance across the same games when you can be sure the same investment and expertise is brought to both consoles. It is possible for one platform to have more overall potential for a game than another, but that game on that console to perform worse than on the rival console because the hardware wasn't so well used for economic and/or technical reasons.

As such, comparing platform to platform is a very complex task that requires processing a truckload of data. All sorts of games need to be compared across the entire library, exclusives and multi-platforms, the circumstances of each title needs to be weighed in, and lastly the results balanced between 'strengths and weaknesses' of the platforms as it's rare for a platform to be better in every single way.

The only time you can definitively say a platform is better than another is when it clearly is in every way, such as SNES versus NES.

Lastly, to answer the OP's question with a question, and the most important question, why do you want to know? Is it out of curiosity? Then there may not be an answer you like. Is it to validate an emotional connection to a piece of a hardware? Let that go; it's unhealthy. Is it for the joy of discussion? Then move off 'how powerful is a console' as a question and instead think 'how and why does a platform perform as it does on a game' with comparisons only to consider alternative approaches to the same problem as an engineering exercise.

PS3 versus 360 could maybe be summarised as "both were remarkable engineering feats using pioneering silicon. They took two diverse approaches to the challenges of producing computer games. XB360 has a more balanced hardware design but with some design considerations that ended up limited as software paradigms progressed. PS3 was difficult to use and had a relatively weak GPU. Both experienced games that managed to tap their potential and produce incredible results, while both also had duffers. UE4 generally ran better on 360. Both had key strengths where they could eclipse the other, but those strengths may not have been particularly useful in actual games."

Or something. There's a meaningful Masters Thesis here, but not a "platform A was more powerful because" answer and it's honestly a complete waste of everyone's time to try to debate that. I won't stop you, but those of us who have done this for 20 years and see the same old arguments and perspectives circle around and around and around can tell you from experience that you won't get anywhere trying to debate the question this way.
 
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All these 'which is better' discussions follow the same patterns which is why the Old Guard of B3D gave up on them as a bad idea many years ago. Seriously, some of us have been debating platforms for 20+ years! We even had comparisons outlawed in another version of the Rules of Engagement.

You can only compare hardware performance across the same games when you can be sure the same investment and expertise is brought to both consoles. It is possible for one platform to have more overall potential for a game than another, but that game on that other console to perform worse than the rival because the hardware wasn't so well used for economic and/or technical reasons.

As such, comparing platform to platform is a very complex task that requires processing a truckload of data. All sorts of games need to be compared across the entire library, exclusives and multi-platforms, the circumstances of each title needs to be weighed in, and lastly the results balanced between 'strengths and weaknesses' of the platforms as it's rare for a platform to be better in every single way.

The only time you can definitively say a platform is better than another is when it clearly is in every way, such as SNES versus NES.

Lastly, to answer the OP's question with a question, and the most important question, why do you want to know? Is it out of curiosity? Then there may not be an answer you like. Is it to validate an emotional connection to a piece of a hardware? Let that go; it's unhealthy. Is it for the joy of discussion? Then move off 'how powerful is a console' as a question and instead think 'how and why does a platform perform as it does on a game' with comparisons only to consider alternative approaches to the same problem as an engineering exercise.

PS3 versus 360 could maybe be summarised as "both were remarkable engineering features using pioneering silicon. They took two diverse approaches to the challenges of producing computer games. XB360 has a more balanced hardware design but with some design considerations that ended up limited as software paradigms progressed. PS3 was difficult to use and had a relatively weak GPU. Both experienced games that managed to tap their potential and produce incredible results, while both also had buffers. UE4 generally ran better on 360. Both had key strengths where they could eclipse the other, but those strengths may not have been particularly useful in actual games."

Or something. There's a meaningful Masters Thesis here, but not a "platform A was more powerful because" answer and it's honestly a complete waste of everyone's time to try to debate that. I won't stop you, but those of us who have done this for 20 years and see the same old arguments and perspectives circle around and around and around can tell you from experience that you won't get anywhere trying to debate the question this way.
I agree with you here. Everyone will have their opinion it's not worth going in circles. Honestly i was having a debate with someone else on another forum who thinks his opinion is fact, and he seems to know his stuff some what so i wanted to see what others thought on the subject. I even used your post and he brushed it off as not being wrong.

Personally for me it's best to go by the system that give you the best perfomance in most games as the superior hardware but i guess that's just my opinion.
 
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