Darksiders Dev: Wii U is on Par With Current Gen

[The Wooster]

Darksiders Dev: Wii U is on Par With Current Gen

Nintendo's upcoming console is about as powerful as the Xbox 360 and PS3, according to Darksiders developer Vigil games.

There's been a lot of speculation that, like the Wii before it, the Wii U will match the current gen in terms of graphical power rather than try to compete with next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo hasn't released the full specs for the system, but comments from Vigil Game's Marvin Donald seem to confirm said speculation.

"So far the [Wii U] hardware's been on par with what we have with the current generations," he told Game Reactor [http://www.gamereactor.se/nyheter/43021/GRTV%3A+Darksiders+II-intervju/]. "Based on what I understand, the resolution and textures and polycounts and all that stuff, we're not going to being doing anything to up-res the game, but we'll take advantage of the controller for sure."

While It's true that gamers won't see the system's full potential until developers have had a few years to molest its innards with their filthy programmer hands, the Wii U being graphically weaker than its contemporaries would make sense. Despite inferior hardware, the Wii is outselling both the 360 and the PS3, and it's Nintendo's most successful home console to date.

This news may disappoint the core gamers that the Wii U is ostensibly aimed at, but on the bright side, this paves the way for all kinds of pithy "duct tape" comments. Enjoy.


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[UnderGlass]

What's a pithy "duct tape" comment? Am I missing out on some droll meme here?

 

[Lost In The Void]

Oh goody so you're telling me the Wii-U is only one generation behind. That is a relief.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Why does Nintendo always aim one generation behind? I don't get it.

Well for one, they were the only ones with a console on the market that made a profit right out of the gate. Was it only since last year when Microsoft and Sony started making money on their consoles?

If you ask me, Nintendo is much smarter for not taking that tech leap like the other two have.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

What's a pithy "duct tape" comment? Am I missing out on some droll meme here?

Only one that's been around for so long that it already died down years ago. People went around for a while talking about how the Wii was basically just two Gamecubes duct taped together, because it's only about twice as powerful as one instead of the usual huge leap between console generations. They kind of stopped for the most part a while ago after it started to sell just fine anyway.

 

[Vault101]

oh thats great...untill the next gen rolls around...

[If you ask me, Nintendo is much smarter for not taking that tech leap like the other two have.

but why?

so its cheaper..but then if youre a hardcore gamer you mgith as well go make a PC if you dont wan to buy a next gen console

why buy a new one if its on par with what youve already got?

 

[Waaghpowa]

oh thats great...untill the next gen rolls around...

[If you ask me, Nintendo is much smarter for not taking that tech leap like the other two have.

but why?

so its cheaper..but then if youre a hardcore gamer you mgith as well go make a PC if you dont wan to buy a next gen console

why buy a new one if its on par with what youve already got?

The definition of "hardcore" varies. Consoles were considered children toys at one point and "Hardcore" gaming was PC. I don't ever remember anyone referring to the last gen of consoles "hardcore". Arguably one of the reasons people use the hardcore term this generation is because, at the time of release, the new consoles were fairly close to what PC gaming had to offer on the technical side. If Microsoft and Sony hadn't made that tech jump, would you have noticed, or would you have cared? We wouldn't be here talking about it and all the consoles would be roughly par on the technical side.

Nintendo was smart because they made it available to a larger audience by having a lower cost of admission which obviously benefited them seeing as they've sold more units than Microsoft and Sony. People will buy the Wii U, not because they expect a monster machine, but because of the games. Nintendo understands that the quality of the games trumps technical prowess and this is coming from someone who primarily plays PC games on the highest graphics settings possible.

Some perspective on the costs:

In Canada, the Xbox was released for ~600 Dollars Canadian and the PS3 was ~600 dollars as well. At that time, I built a gaming PC capable of playing Half Life 2 on maxed settings for about 1000 dollars. My reasoning was "Why would I spend nearly 1k on a console, not including software/accessories, when the PC I built would do more?". Then the Wii came along. Given my experience with Nintendo and, in my opinion, their excellent first party support, I bought one for about half the price of an Xbox on day 1. The lower price of the Wii alone was an excellent selling point for Nintendo and it's obviously done a lot for them.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Actually, good point. Graphics aren't even an important factor for me anymore. If Microsoft spent their energy focused on making better quality of gameplay than quality of graphics they would be totally rocking.

I think part of the problem is that, at the time the Xbox 360 was released, they wanted to have something that had roughly the technical power of PC gaming so they put a lot of time and effort in making the games look really good. The problem now is that it's come to be expected for a game to look a certain way, or better than the earlier Xbox games, so they've gotten into the habit of focusing on visuals. Part of it could be the consumers fault as well as I've personally met numerous people who shot down games that were excellent because "the graphics are shit". So it's possible that devs tart the games up to avoid such ignorance.

I see where Nintendo puts their priorities, but I wrote off the Wii a long time ago. Call it a mix of disinterest in motion controls and the generally pithy selection of quality games.

I agree that motion controls with the Wii at times is stupid, I would much rather prefer to play most of my favourite Nintendo games the "normal" way but I'll suck it up if it means I can play Legend of Zelda again. There are a few games where Nintendo has acknowledged the disinterested for motion controls and made the option for conventional controls available, but those games are far and few between. Also keep in mine that motion controls make it more appealing to casuals (for some reason, I guess it has something to do with immersion).

 

[Vault101]

snip.

ok...hardocre is kind of a loaded term

I just mean "gamer"...gamer as in somone who would actually refer to themselfs as a gamer (ok thata a loaded term too)

uhhhh.....US..here..at the escapist or IGN or the type who might freaquent a video gaming site..

basically those of us who take this shit more or less "seriously"...


so..."quality of the games"?

youre joking right? ok...so you like Mario...if thats what your into then...fine..ok then

but lets say I own a wii..and ONLY a wii...now what games do I have to choose from? now lets say I have an xbox..and only an xbox what games do I have ot choose from there? (see what Im getting at?)

of coarse it depends ENTIRLY on what kind of games you like...but that mountain of shovelware is so high..

ok the Wii had its..."apeal" I guess, and while Im not entirly sure who the Wii U is intended for,Im kind of getting mixed messages here...on one hand peoeple say we are stagnating..on the other you say another leap forward in tehcnology isnt needed/a good thing

 

[gigastar]

Im not really concerned with the graphical power of the WiiU anymore, if it can support decent multiplayer games i may just settle for this and a PS4.

Though i hope that controller isnt as awkward as it looks.

And i really hope it doesnt run on AA batteries again.

 

[Vault101]

oh thats great...untill the next gen rolls around...

[If you ask me, Nintendo is much smarter for not taking that tech leap like the other two have.

but why?

so its cheaper..but then if youre a hardcore gamer you mgith as well go make a PC if you dont wan to buy a next gen console

why buy a new one if its on par with what youve already got?

Why do many people have both a PS3 and an Xbox?

exclusives....(personally though I still find it a bit excessive)

I personally dont see mario or zelda as enough to warrnet a console purchase...but still I guess some peopel do

 

[Aeonknight]

oh thats great...untill the next gen rolls around...

[If you ask me, Nintendo is much smarter for not taking that tech leap like the other two have.

but why?

so its cheaper..but then if youre a hardcore gamer you mgith as well go make a PC if you dont wan to buy a next gen console

why buy a new one if its on par with what youve already got?

Why do many people have both a PS3 and an Xbox?

exclusives....(personally though I still find it a bit excessive)

I personally dont see mario or zelda as enough to warrnet a console purchase...but still I guess some peopel do

Maybe not just mario/zelda. But with Kirby in the mix... worth it.

 

[Vault101]

snip.

I guess if you have another consoel for everything else

I've always been coming from the Idea of owning only one major gaming platform (I mean seriously are we all that rich?) hence why Ive never liked the Wii

 

[harvz]

I get the feeling this is the same attitude that they had with the wii(I dont remember, I was what, 12?), in that they only do what is needed and focus completely on the titles and marketing, they knew exactly where to aim the marketing for the wii.

either way, I got my wii after they were showing off the wii u for less then a new game, so I wont be buying for quite a few years.

 

[Treblaine]

Ah well. This makes for an interesting move by Nintendo, which suggest this level of hardware will likely remain the standard for much longer than 2012.

While Nintendo does have a "unique" controller, I'd have to ask what stops Somy, Nintendo or even some developer for PC releasing something that does something similar.

"a few years to molest its innards with their filthy programmer hands"

 

[darkszero]

THis quote says that the WiiU is capable of doing what the PS3/60 does, and they're not trying to make their game look better on the WiiU. I don't get how it says "The WiiU is only as strong as the PS3/60"...

 

[TechTim]

sony is already doing (with the vita) what the the wii u is promoting and while i like the concept of a high rez zelda/mario/kirby/metroid prob gonna only buy one console for upcoming gen and at mom playstation's got my vote tho my mind may be changed at upcoming game convention demos