What is the Wii U's position after the conference last night?

[Grall]

Thanks for the reply, that was very informative.

With what you said in mind, yes, that would put wuu at an entirely new form of disadvantage, not merely regarding the lack of multitouch. This rumor sounds quite bogus really when you think of it, as nintendo would essentially give up control over content unless they heavily curate what android apps exactly you are able to install, and both alternatives would seem to have its own pitfalls. Letting android into wuu would risk opening up new security holes (which isn't nintendo's strong suit, historically) that could allow rooting, or homebrew/cracked games and so on. Curating would seem the only reasonable choice they'd have, both to maintain their own paranoid level of control (wouldn't want teh kiddies to get hold of any titty-jiggling apps or anything of the sort - or shit, consenting informed adults for that matter), and also to ensure they themselves can profit from it.

How hard would it be for them to build their own app store and get developers to put up their apps on it - of course, vetted to make sure the app works with mono-touch, etc...

 

[Cyan]

Interesting development but I don't think this will be a game changer for Nintendo...

These days lots of tablets with gaming controls are coming out; the already released JXD 7300 is pretty decent. And even though they run the software natively they (at least the better ones) offer comparable or better battery life due to Nintendo's grossly inferior battery.

Add that with the need to be tethered to a running Wii U with spotty connection reliability, lack of multitouch, and what will probably be limited game availability instead of the entire Android library, and the whole thing looks pretty unattractive. Hard to think that people will want to buy a Wii U over much cheaper alternatives that do this better, unless they're not aware of them (at this point Nintendo would at least have much better brand visibility). Some relevant parties will also opt for the much cheaper OUYA as well.

I can't even see it being enough of a push to get people who were on the edge with the console.

I agree with the comments in the article, Nintendo would do far better with the opposite approach of putting their own games on phones and tablets. They don't have to give up their hardware or cede to their competitors; regardless of what they say I think the public still generally views phones, tablets, consoles, and handhelds as separate domains.

Aside from that, the WiiU has been completely hacked.

However, one of the hackers wrote a very interesting article saying that even if they love the idea of running homebrew on a console, the WiiU isn't just interesting enough for them:

http://fail0verflow.com/blog/2013/espresso.html

 

[Rangers]

Aside from that, the WiiU has been completely hacked.

However, one of the hackers wrote a very interesting article saying that even if they love the idea of running homebrew on a console, the WiiU isn't just interesting enough for them:

http://fail0verflow.com/blog/2013/espresso.html

Interesting if somewhat OT stuff

I think we may have reached the point where homebrew on closed game consoles is no longer appealing. The effort required to develop and maintain an environment for a big, complex modern game console is huge. The cat and mouse game with the manufacturer requires ongoing effort. There is a very real threat of litigation. Game pirates would become not just big users of the result of those efforts, but by far the overwhelming majority (not because there are more pirates, but because there are fewer homebrewers). The fact that the Wii U isn’t selling nearly as well as the Wii did doesn’t help drive enthusiasm either.

I could be wrong, of course. Maybe it’s just that I have a full-time job now and less of a chance to spend all-nighters staring at assembly code. Maybe there are tons of prospective Wii U homebrew developers quietly waiting in the sidelines for a release. Maybe we’ve just gotten lazy.

We could just release everything as-is, of course. However, we tried that with the PS3, and the results were not only disappointing, but we actually ended up in an undeserved legal mess. Homebrew for the PS3 is basically nonexistent, and all anyone cares about is piracy. This is not a situation which we want to see happen again.

 

[Squilliam]

When the Nintendo Wii came out it was a brilliant device. For $300 you could walk walk out the store with two controllers and two games (Wii Sports and Wii Play) or for $350 you could even have a game like Mario Kart as well. The Wii U is relatively dubious by comparison. The entry cost is $300 with no game, or $350 with a single controller and a single far less appealing game vs $350 getting you 2 far more appealing games and an extra controller.

 

[Mobius1aic]

It seems Nintendo will distribute a compiler (or an interpreter in the firmware?) to run android games/apps into the Wii U:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/20...artphone-apps-for-console-boost/#.UYkJ3sr7Ata

I think this would make the most sense in the Vita, not the Wii U. The Wii U tablet controller doesn't even support multi-touch.

A 1.24 GHz clocked Vita has more CPU GFLOPS than the Wii U. It's pathetic. Anyone know if the NEON on the Vita is 64 or 128 bits wide?

 

[Mobius1aic]

Aside from that, the WiiU has been completely hacked.

However, one of the hackers wrote a very interesting article saying that even if they love the idea of running homebrew on a console, the WiiU isn't just interesting enough for them:

http://fail0verflow.com/blog/2013/espresso.html

It's interesting to see even hackers really not care, because the hardware is just so unsubstantially underwhelming.

 

[Exophase]

A 1.24 GHz clocked Vita has more CPU GFLOPS than the Wii U. It's pathetic. Anyone know if the NEON on the Vita is 64 or 128 bits wide?

FP is 64-bit, integer varies (multiplication is 32/64-bit, many simple ops are 128-bit, some are 64-bit).. Wii U has no integer SIMD so you're at 64-bit there too, minus a lot of operations NEON has.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

How hard would it be for them to build their own app store and get developers to put up their apps on it - of course, vetted to make sure the app works with mono-touch, etc...

Nintendo have their eStore. I'm guessing this is a motion to enable games to be ported at minimum effort to Wuu, rather than run directly. Full Android on the box makes no sense, not least because of lack of multitouch, although a subset of Droid games like twin-stick shooters would be a perfect match. Of course, this'd make Ouya Wuu's main rival! And maybe Nintendo will go on to make games for Ouya...

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Nintendo have their eStore. I'm guessing this is a motion to enable games to be ported at minimum effort to Wuu, rather than run directly. Full Android on the box makes no sense, not least because of lack of multitouch, although a subset of Droid games like twin-stick shooters would be a perfect match. Of course, this'd make Ouya Wuu's main rival! And maybe Nintendo will go on to make games for Ouya...

Yes, I think their purpose must be to facilitate the entrance of 3rd party Android developers into their eStore, which aligns with their reported intentions of welcoming Indie developers all together.


This is Nintendo acknowledging that they already lost their first main goal for the Wii U, which was to bring back the big 3rd parties.

Now all they can hope is that someone will be buying their overpriced home console with a tablet controller containing a small screen with poor resolution to play first party games and (probably overpriced) Android games that can also be played in $250 tablets.

 

[Squilliam]

This is Nintendo acknowledging that they already lost their first main goal for the Wii U, which was to bring back the big 3rd parties.

Their head must be quite firmly lodged up their backside if they believed in their hearts that the Wii U was a good effort to bring back third parties. A good effort would have looked something more like 2-3* more powerful and using an AMD APU.

 

[-tkf-]

Had a chance to actually play a little with a WII U, i find the tablet to be better than expected, and Super Mario in HD.. well i need this console.

I also need it to be priced lower, it's a bit weird to read the price on the basic set next to a PS3, and the PS3 is the cheaper machine..

 

[user542745831]

Just saying:

Sony has Gran Turismo franchise.

Microsoft has Forza Motorsport franchise.

Would be kinda nice if Nintendo would have an own equivalent franchise IMHO.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

Just saying:

Sony has Gran Turismo franchise.

Microsoft has Forza Motorsport franchise.

Would be kinda nice if Nintendo would have an own equivalent franchise IMHO.

Mario Kart.

 

[Grall]

and Super Mario in HD.. well i need this console.

It's not real HD, just 720P, which is utterly insulting. If wuu can't even drive a simple game like mario in full HD, then nintendo's stupid silly little half-tablet bastard child of a console is utterly fucked.

 

[-tkf-]

It's not real HD, just 720P, which is utterly insulting. If wuu can't even drive a simple game like mario in full HD, then nintendo's stupid silly little half-tablet bastard child of a console is utterly fucked.

He, funny right, when Sony proclaimed that FULL HD was the only way to go there was an army of people ready to scream at everyone that it wasn't so. Since then we have been blessed with countless 1st party, 3rd party games with sub "not real HD" resolutions backed up by shitloads of bullshots PR, seems that everyone is still ok with that.

I like the best games, Nintendo makes some of the best games there is to buy. The WII U is the only place to get those games. And even if it "only" runs in 720p it's still a vast improvement of the GameCube powered WII, and it simply looks lovely.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

He, funny right, when Sony proclaimed that FULL HD was the only way to go there was an army of people ready to scream at everyone that it wasn't so. Since then we have been blessed with countless 1st party, 3rd party games with sub "not real HD" resolutions backed up by shitloads of bullshots PR, seems that everyone is still ok with that.

I like the best games, Nintendo makes some of the best games there is to buy. The WII U is the only place to get those games. And even if it "only" runs in 720p it's still a vast improvement of the GameCube powered WII, and it simply looks lovely.

Then again, buying a $350 console just for playing 3/4 franchises is a bit steep, no?

 

[Grall]

PS3 is neither here nor there in this discussion, and it's also a console well over half a decade older than wuu. Not even the menu screens are full-HD on wuu. Both the menus and Mario's full of ugly terrible aliasing everywhere due to the low-rez on a full-HD LCD panel.

 

[dagamer]

A 1.24 GHz clocked Vita has more CPU GFLOPS than the Wii U. It's pathetic. Anyone know if the NEON on the Vita is 64 or 128 bits wide?

Wait, is this actually true? Doesn't the Vita's CPUs clock up to 2Ghz (odd, since I've never seen A9s clocked that high, especially on 40nm)?

 

[-tkf-]

PS3 is neither here nor there in this discussion, and it's also a console well over half a decade older than wuu.

Uh?

Not even the menu screens are full-HD on wuu. Both the menus and Mario's full of ugly terrible aliasing everywhere due to the low-rez on a full-HD LCD panel.

Yet, Mario has never looked better even.

Then again, buying a $350 console just for playing 3/4 franchises is a bit steep, no?

Absolutely, but when the price drops i might find it worth the investment. The Mario games are easily some of the best value for money games considering the playtime they get