WiiGeePeeYou (Hollywood) what IS it ?

[one]

BTW a new rumor

IMO that rumor exactly sounds like wishful thinking. We heard things like that before for the reason why games looked not as good as expected for other consoles (e.g. "only 1 of Xbox 360 CPU cores is used") but supposedly Wii have no such new programming difficulties unless sensors mysteriously eat processing power of the console.

 

[Corwin_B]

BTW a new rumor

http://gonintendo.com/?p=5035#comments

I wouldnt be suprissed if this is true, on the other side few things from Nintendo could suprisse me, personally I even found likely..

I hope it is true thought.

That makes as much sense as the tinfoil theory about Sony announcing their (high) price point at E3 as part of a deliberate strategy and later lower the price (TGS), ie none at all. In an industry where PR is so important, you don't get negative press and bad hype unless you absolutely have no other choice. You don't subject yourself to bad press in hope of getting better press later.

Nintendo's secrecy, in the past, has mostly been about not getting their innovations copied. Here, "XBox 1+" power or not, we can be assured that graphics-wise the Wii will be put to shame by both the 360 and the PS3, by the admission of many Wii-developers and Nintendo-reps alike. So there is no secret involved here. If Nintendo could offer, in addition to the Wiimote, next-gen visuals (even if only at SD, which would mean better textures, more effects, advanced shaders) for less than 250$, you can bet they would mention it, even if they kept hyping the Wiimote.

I think it's better to really accept what has been seen so far as a baseline for Wii games, with more polished titles to come later (Mario Galaxy looks pretty decent, and there were many extremely good-looking GC games) than to setup oneself for disappointment.

 

[Fox5]

IMO that rumor exactly sounds like wishful thinking. We heard things like that before for the reason why games looked not as good as expected for other consoles (e.g. "only 1 of Xbox 360 CPU cores is used") but supposedly Wii have no such new programming difficulties unless sensors mysteriously eat processing power of the console.

Something similar could be said about the Wii at this point, perhaps it has dedicated hardware for AA or physics and that hardware just isn't being utilized yet.

 

[pc999]

I really understand both of your opinions as Wii and rumors does have a bad past.

But to be sai the truth, this is what we ever heard XB+ from both IGN to Ubi interviewns (not the fake one), or ATI that said E3 gfx is the tip of the iceberg... That is the reason why I find relatevely easy to belive in this one (even if it is not the right reason).

IMO that rumor exactly sounds like wishful thinking. We heard things like that before for the reason why games looked not as good as expected for other consoles (e.g. "only 1 of Xbox 360 CPU cores is used") but supposedly Wii have no such new programming difficulties unless sensors mysteriously eat processing power of the console.

That is a good reason to argue against (althought irrelevant if if the reason is a marketing stunt), but (eg) couldnt be the case of not having yet the tools to use new features of the HW, because IIRC a few pages ago Myamoto/havok said they will be upgrading tools/librarys (till few time ago 360 devs couldnt use memoexport because they didnt have tools/librarys), specially if it is based on fixed unction HW?

 

[darkblu]

I think it's better to really accept what has been seen so far as a baseline for Wii games, with more polished titles to come later (Mario Galaxy looks pretty decent, and there were many extremely good-looking GC games) than to setup oneself for disappointment.

amen.

people, especially on these boards, should stop expecting miracles and accept wii for what it is - a well though-out entertainment platform. it's not a rendition station, it's not a desktop, it's not a cray under disquise. it's a power-efficient little box, or so it seems, with innovative control hw and good ninty marketing and high entertainment standards behind it. will there be extremely-good looking titles on in? - you can bet your bottom on it. will those be 'photo-realistic' and 'deeply physically simulated' - unlikely. will there be fun games on wii? - hell, i'm willing to bet one of my dreamcasts on that ; )

MP3, mario galaxy and wii sports* are already on my preorder list - i.e. as soon as there's one. i find them visually-appealing enough, and from what little i've seem of them, i expect to have quite some time of fun and excitemeny with them. red steel, BWWii and downhill jam promise some fun wiimoting with nice presentation too.

and for one last time - the good look of games is achieved through developers' and artists' efforts and talent. without those you may have all the computational power in the world and still end up with a subpar, dull experience. a photorealistic, true-to-nature physically-simulated shit is still that - shit.


* that airplane wiimote piloting in wii sports almost moved me - so simplistic yet visually rewarding experience, the feeling of free-flying in the vast skies, accompanied by the seaguls, the fairly-tale lands meeting the horizon - something in the presentation of that game grabbed me the way a good cartoon does. i can imagine doing some deep relaxation with such a game.

 

[pc999]

amen.

people, especially on these boards, should stop expecting miracles and accept wii for what it is - a well though-out entertainment platform. it's not a rendition station, it's not a desktop, it's not a cray under disquise. it's a power-efficient little box, or so it seems, with innovative control hw and good ninty marketing and high entertainment standards behind it. will there be extremely-good looking titles on in? - you can bet your bottom on it. will those be 'photo-realistic' and 'deeply physically simulated' - unlikely. will there be fun games on wii? - hell, i'm willing to bet one of my dreamcasts on that ; )

I dont think that expecting XB+ gfx is anyhere near of expecting a miracle, specially given that GC is near XB along with other reasons. Is there any reason that is impossible thatm for some reason why wii cant reveal itself, later, as more powerfull than XB?

Anyway I think that many (at least me) are looking more at specs because of a relative high price and because of the lack of originality.

I mean personally I think that HL2 physics or Portal (this one is maybe possible on Wii if dwongraded, but you get what I mean) is more inovative than anything we saw in wii, many games I even have my doubts if with enought preseverance wouldnt be also possible to do very well on a controller. There is some games that look to be more close to the spirit like RS but that one is said to(and looks like) have bad controls, wiisports here most of time you will be waiting for the ball (while looking at ugly, art wise, carachters) for then you can strike it with very low control (probably not very fun for than at start, specially without online), or TraumaCenter that is a expanded port of DS... Even the art of most games it is like the one of the originals.

On the other side we have SSB:B which is SSB:M with online, somewhat better gfx and what could be download content, or we have BWii which is BW1 with more trees per pixel, online and a blue area with exclussive units .This arent new games, IMO, they are expasion packs, and I am OK with that as long as they are "sold" as that.

Art is made of good inovation and for now wii does not have it (extensively at least) in any front.

and for one last time - the good look of games is achieved through developers' and artists' efforts and talent.

That is true and also that is why there had been beautifull games in every gen (that still beautifull), but a beutifull game it isnt necessarely a good/fun or inovative one.

a photorealistic, true-to-nature physically-simulated shit is still that - shit.

Are you sure? I mean look at Prey (both old/new versions) where portals are just a cool/good gfx/design/aesthethics feature but in Portal it is what seems to be the most interesting/innovative game in years. Why cant true-to-nature physically-simulated shit be a great puzzle game, or a key feature in you strategy to kill enemys, or a form of infinity variation (ence, potentialy, also add great replay value) or many other uses. Of curse (like in a beauty game or any other feature) you need also the talent for it being more than a buzz word and to be a key gameplay element/feature.

Personally I dont consider myself a gfx wh*re as I still play old(er than DC ) games and having a lot of fun (ence my comments about Virtua Tennis), but for me to get a new console I need to have some sort of innovation to justify itand specs can give me at least some "conventional" inovation and also more art freedom.

* that airplane wiimote piloting in wii sports almost moved me - so simplistic yet visually rewarding experience, the feeling of free-flying in the vast skies, accompanied by the seaguls, the fairly-tale lands meeting the horizon - something in the presentation of that game grabbed me the way a good cartoon does. i can imagine doing some deep relaxation with such a game.

You may need make another pre order as that is a game called WiiMotors (or something like, but it does have a wave race like thing too).

BTW anyone knows that if Wii does have a 12xDVD (probably the cheaper today) and 88Mgs how much time will last the loadings?

 

[StefanS]

And 3 new ss of Tony Hawks, looking much better IMO (specially the carachters).

http://media.wii.ign.com/media/824/824474/img_3865469.html
http://media.wii.ign.com/media/824/824474/img_3865470.html
http://media.wii.ign.com/media/824/824474/img_3865471.html

Personally, I think Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is one of the most overlooked Wii games so far. It looks like a major blast. Fast paced, loads of action and apparently good controls. I like IGN Video in particular, especially the Machu Pichu track.
However, there's no progressive scan and wide-screen mode in the game which is almost not acceptable.

Unfortunately, when asked, an Activision producer told us that the title runs neither in progressive scan nor 16x9 widescreen mode, which means that Toys For Bob is officially on our list of studios that are not fully utilizing Wii's hardware potential. Perhaps this oversight will be addressed before the title's release.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/728/728041p1.html

 

[Corwin_B]

That is a good reason to argue against (althought irrelevant if if the reason is a marketing stunt), but (eg) couldnt be the case of not having yet the tools to use new features of the HW, because IIRC a few pages ago Myamoto/havok said they will be upgrading tools/librarys (till few time ago 360 devs couldnt use memoexport because they didnt have tools/librarys), specially if it is based on fixed unction HW?

That could be, but "not having up to date tools and development HW" is a very different beast from "deliberately showing downgraded graphics in order to wow players later". It's a given that, with more time and better tools, devs will be getting more out of Wii graphics-wise (although I fully expect the gap with 360/PS3 graphics to get larger over time). But I really think that what we have seen so far was devs doing their best considering the time they got and the advancement of HW/tools.

 

[yipchunyu]

I don't expect miracles and I think no one should. However, at least give us PQ as good as those pokemon video presented in a share holders event. It's at least good enough for me to satisfty with it (I think it even better than mario)

 

[Ooh-videogames]

IMO, the graphics we're seeing now from thirdparties are more GC based hardware wise than Wii. Unless a dev has actually spent time with GC on a exclusive title, given them the chance to learn the in and outs. Anything they bring to Wii at launch will be lacking in the visual department. Although I think when Wii see the later levels of Red Steel, there will be a obvious difference in over all quality. Lighting, textures, FX's will stand out in the latter levels.

 

[Predaking D78]

Purely based on the alleged specs of the Wii (assuming no new hardwired effects and such). What could we expect of the Wii as an upgrade to the GCN? What bottlenecks will, the supposed new design, eliminate, from the Cube?

Also how long until we see, if ever at all, engines built from the ground up for the Wii?
We've seen console specific engines in the past that have yielded pretty good results (RE4, MGS,Riddick). If the Wii can deliver a title with the IQ of Chronicles of Riddick with a rock steady 60FPS I'll be more than pleased

 

[StefanS]

Update on Red Steel

http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2006/08/28/29361/

The good folks at Ubi contacted me today to clarify a few things, namely that the videos in question do not represent the game as it really exists today. Apparently there are mechanical and graphical advancements not shown in the GC 2006 build, which is more or less an updated version of the E3 demo; it even showcases the same level.

Ubisoft staff have at one point or another spotlighted a new darker look for the game (in screenshots) and chatted briefly about improved gunplay and swordplay fundamentals. There's even some word going around about a 1:1 control method for sword fights, which is at this point still just hearsay, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[darkblu]

here's another article (in german) talking about red steel's sword play update:

http://www.nintendo-lan.de/N-Vestigativ_Spezial_zur_Games_Convention_2006.239.0.html

(google translation)

now, i couln't quite figure it out from the above 'translation' who's N-LAN and how come they answer on behalf of Ubi.

 

[pc999]

Those are thing that reader asked and they asked to the devs, there is a repot on that, with translation.

According to the interview, the developers, "confirmed that the control scheme will be completely redesigned so that the controller moves are converted into the game precisely. Besides, the controller sensitivity will be completely adjustable in the final version. And the graphics were improved very well since E3, now the atmosphere is darker and thrilling. But that's not all, there will be even more improvements on the graphics side."

On loading times, it was revealed that, "In Red Steel there will be no loading times at all because of smart streaming techniques. How it's handled in other Wii games we can't say at the moment. But it's a fact that Mario Strikers Charged will have loading times similar to the GameCube version of the game."

A new and better control is the best news, no loadings is also very cool news and lets hope it can be as pretty as E3 trailer.

IMO those (IGN/N-lan) news somewhat confirm the early rumor ie, that better gfx are yet to come and that they could already show something better (althought not the same reasons).


BTW there is scans of CoD3 wii in well know nintendo fans sites, they are nice IMO.

 

[StefanS]

now, i couln't quite figure it out from the above 'translation' who's N-LAN and how come they answer on behalf of Ubi.

I'll do a quick summary. N-Lan is the name of a gaming site and they don't speak on behalf of Ubisoft, but they're summarizing their interview with Ubisoft.

summary:
The sword fight controls will be completly revised to allow for accurate motion control.
Sensitivity is also going to be adjustable in final product (one of the major complaints so far).
Since E3 graphics have been improved and they're going to continue to improve them
There'll be no load times in Red Steel due to clever streaming.

So that confirms the contents of Matt's blog.

 

[Ooh-videogames]

Just saw the COD3 Wii scans, it does look nice. The character models look like there normal mapped. I think as developers spend more time with the hardware, we'll see some significant improvements.

I do wonder about Nintendo titles, all of they're titles seemed to have gone dark. Not one new image since E3. I think Wii will be surprised by what Wii see.

 

[StefanS]

I do wonder about Nintendo titles, all of they're titles seemed to have gone dark. Not one new image since E3. I think Wii will be surprised by what Wii see.

Apart from GC bringing some new footage (Battalion Wars Wii, Mario Strikers Charged) you might not have to wait so long. If the rumours are true about the Nintendo event in the 2nd week of September, there's going to be few news.

http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2006/08/22/28830/

 

[Ooh-videogames]

Apart from GC bringing some new footage (Battalion Wars Wii, Mario Strikers Charged) you might not have to wait so long. If the rumours are true about the Nintendo event in the 2nd week of September, there's going to be few news.

http://blogs.ign.com/Matt-IGN/2006/08/22/28830/

Yeah, just curious about the long wait. I guess they're holding on to the idea of having gameplay impressions to go along with some images or videos.

 

[Teasy]

Just saw the COD3 Wii scans, it does look nice. The character models look like there normal mapped

Are there new COD3 Wii screens?

EDIT: I found a couple of apparent new screens, but I can't find any where I can actually see any character models..

 

[pc999]

I cant see any normal mapping in the shots from CoD3.

The guys on the front are just artwork.

I think they look somewhat like the PS2 versions but with with a much more complex scene , more poçys and better lighting.