Randy Pitchford, one of five founders of video game developer Gearbox Software, has told Nintendo Gamer magazine that the development studio hopes that Nintendo will make the Wii U as powerful as possible. Pitchford understands that Nintendo needs to make the console as cost-effective as possible, but he would like Nintendo to manufacture something that is much more powerful than either the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3.
“Our hope at Gearbox is that the final specification for the hardware is much more powerful than the current competitive consoles so that studios like ours can bring a better standard of high definition image not only to television, but to the controller’s screen at the same time.”
“We’ve been intrigued by what we’ve seen so far and are encouraging Nintendo to go as aggressively as they can afford with the performance specifications. We imagine that performance specifications are within affordable reach that would provide undeniable performance advantages over competitive platforms. Nintendo have a lot more experience than we do in managing the balance between performance and cost with their hardware, of course, so I do not want to be presumptuous.”
Why am I not credited? I gave you the link in the last post. I also gave you the the link FOR the last post and i’m not credited there either. But, more on topic, with all the praise Gearbox is giving Nintendo, I really wouldn’t be surprised if there was a surprise announcement at E3 that Aliens would now be a Wii U exclusive (similar to how the PS3/360 versions of Epic Mickey were canceled).
YOU FORGOT TO SAY FIRST O:… .BLASPHEMY
haha
@Mike S
Cry me a river, or damn ocean…
no way!! i didnt know the ps360 versions of epic mickey got cancelled!! :D
Are you being sarcastic or did you really not know that the game was originally intended to be multi-platform and not a Wii exclusive?
I did not know that
what were the reasons?
did they do Nintendo a Favour?
did sony and microsoft abandon the title thinking it was a bad game?
or Did Nintendo just offer up alot of money for exsclusivity?
As far as I know, the people who made it (Junction Point) thought the Wii deserved more than just a port and decided to make it exclusive.
Why do you want to be credited so bad? Who cares?
You become famous according to Mike S
BTW; People who give news tips usually get credited.
It’s nothing about fame, it’s giving credit where credit is due.
If you want credit, you are supposed to email Sickr with the article/info you found. He treated this as something he found and didn’t see that you suggested it. That’s what I’ve done.
Sorry Mike, I hadn’t seen your posts. You know I would have credited you if I had.
Thanks
Jeez talk about throwing your toys out of the pram….chill, its an article, no ones gona die if you don’t get a mention. Know one cares
+1
I don’t think Sickr is looking for a partner, so either help without whining about who found which article where, or go feed nintendo blogs that site random visitors for providing posts.
As soon as Sickr gives you credit, he’s got to give everyone credit for making observations that he probably would have found anyway, then people will be wanting a cut of his business (maybe not you, but those who will follow in your footsteps.)
Basically, I don’t blame Sickr for running a clean news site, without having to credit every person along the daisy chain leading to a real article.
You didn’t write it, you don’t run your own blog to post it. If you think you deserve credit for an article you didn’t write, go start “MikesNintendoNews.com”
If you haven’t noticed he already gives credit to people who give him a post, I suggest you look back at previous posts.
Mike S, go playing your crappy Metroid Prime and leave this site to people who likes real videogames.
Crybaby.
NOT FIRST
Damn right.
POWER to the players.
Nintendo have said they are listening to the developpers and they are adding features to the WiiU as they ask. I think this is pretty much possible.
Nintendo must do this if they want a true succeful console
Hmmm Interesting. This reminds me of when EPIC was pushing Microsoft to increase the memory of the Xbox360 so it could bring a better quality Gears Of War game to the console. Plus very interesting that for the first time in a long time… a third party developer seems to have a very serious interest in the WiiU. Nintendo please do not blow it. You wanted 3rd party (key 3rd party developers) to take notice and support you… well now they have. So listen to them as you have done with Team Ninja and WOW use this coming E3.
nintendo MUST do this if they want to be with a few words “famous”
Wii U is shaping upto be a nice system
I was impressed last year at the showing but im really hyped for this years show :D
Developers love Nintendo they always have
I know alot of studios were dissapointed when they get left out of the big multiplats
some people say Developers only prefered programing on the 360 because they didnt have the option of programing on the Wii lol
Nintendo made alot of friends back in the day and it seems like alot of them remember that friendship
Im glad Nintendo is coming back to the core gamers
they are the best in the business by far and they need that core market
If Nintendo dissapiers then a massive part of Video gaming dies :(
amen brother
Loox like Ninty still have some way to go as far as visual magic goes. However direct x 10.1 is no small bump. Xbox was direct x 8.1, x360 is direct x 9.0. See the graphical leap?
WiiU could do the same with the updated direct x 10 its using. But who knows? Ninty could beat down graphics to save money
wii u will not be using any version of Direct X
true but I think they will be using thier own software that is on par with DX10
The proprietary API’s they use have tesselation (sp?) support. I thought the bird demo proved this. I could be wrong though.
Direct3D is an API not a driver etc or anything like that. You could make your own API and make a driver that supports it but you can’t make an API with new features that the GPU doesn’t support. It’s not like Direct3D is superior like that.
Instead of saying ‘does it support Direct3D?’ say ‘Does it support Direct3D features?’
API -> Driver -> GPU/Hardware
The GPU which Wii U’s GPU is probably based on (ATi HD 48xx) has a tessellation unit but it requires a pass more than the newer cards but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t implement the new tessellation unit, though they could remove it all together to give more space to SPU’s(unlikely thought).
@Hater no the Xbox 360 used Direct3D 9 with 10 features like the unified shader architecture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_shader_model
This is one of the reasons Wii was difficult to develop with because it had a fixed pipeline(GC/PS2/Xbox generation) and you had to write engines that had that in mind because it is really limiting.
Also it’s an old article from last summer. Those dev kits weren’t much better than 360 but the dev kits have recieved a huge performance boost and it’s shaping up to be a rather nice bump.
This time around Nintendo has really loosened up and are actively listening to developers and the devs wanted more power which Nintendo gave them.
have you ever heard of opengl?
Is it time for e3 yet!? I just want to know more about this thing. Plus I’d like some solid release dates on upcoming games for my 3ds and vita.
can y please change the topic and speak about the wiiu? nintendo can increase its power
Wtf are you talking I was saying is it e3 yet so I can find out more about the wiiU
sorry*
Looking at the controller, I can’t see why people think it’s big, it’s about the same length as a PS3 controller.
The controller looks nice
OLD as hell interview from July of last year.
Do you have proof of that?
Hopefully true
that would mean the advice was likely taken in by Nintendo and considered
i doubt Nintendo would really make many Hardware Changes this late into Development and not with a possible 200 titles being worked on right now for the system
Why don’t you click the link yourself there, champ? It says the interview is from Issue 66 of Nintendo Gamer. Which came out last August. Meaning the Interview was done shortly after E3. Thus, old as hell.
It makes me think that since this is old news I wonder if the rumor about the Wii U being 2x more powerful then the 360 is old too…Makes you wonder and it’s funny that GDC is soon and random rumors are being “leaked” about the Wii U, I just think when it’s close to GDC or E3 (especially E3) rumors start appearing, Kinda like that rumor about the Xbox 720 graphics will be like Avatar.
Something I think many people are underestimating and not really grasping is how radically different Nintendo’s approach to creating their newest home console is compared to their past consoles. Nintendo is taking the advanced gamer seriously, the gamer that’s serious about gaming and games for hours on end and whose main form of entertainment is gaming. They’re asking for feedback from third party developers, from both Japan and here in the west, as well as asking them what things they’d personally like to see make it into the system. Very little is known about Wii U’s online infrastructure, but I do not doubt that Nintendo will handle it correctly this time around. Then there are the various partnerships that Nintendo has yet to announce, either with third party developers or other media companies such as ESPN and Comcast. There are the rumors of Wii U being able to support Frostbite 2.0 as well as Unreal Engine 4, rumored to be revealed at GDC in a week’s time.
When taken into consideration, one can’t help but feel that Nintendo is going about creating the Wii U in the best way possible. Of course it all sounds good on paper, and while we’ll have to wait until E3 for substantial Wii U information, these rumblings definitely prove Nintendo is coming after your wallets with a passion of a thousand suns and have plenty of surprises in store for their fans, as well as the skeptics and “HD-twins” gamers.
and they dont have to worry
I’ve had 350 pounds saved up since last years E3 hahaha
no way in hell this system wont be sitting in my house the day it comes out
the U will be mine no matter what price it launches at and no matter what games it has at launch
I want one thats all thats important right now :)
I don’t give a damn how powerful the wiiu is, I just hope it’s not so powerful that it’s ridiculously expensive. as long as third party supports the thing with non-shovelware is all I care about.
Well its going after the hardcore Multiplatform market
so its bound to have a shit ton of Shovelware titles
But its First party titles is where its really going to shine
Nintendo always deliver on thier first party games
thats what im mostly interested in
Shovelware will be exactly the same as the Wii if this sells the same. Look at the PS2. Tons and tons of AAA games; however, it was full of shovelware as well. As long as there are enough good games, people will forget the bad ones
Randy Pitchford is right, the Wii U needs to be just as powerful (or maybe a little bit weaker) then the X720/PS4 to make sure they get the best 3rd party support, Nintendo knows the Wii U won’t fly like the Wii did if they made it weak like the Wii, Nintendo hopfully knows that the Upad is not as revolutionary as the Wiimote.
And personally I’m sick of hearing Sony and Microsoft fanboys bashing Nintendo because of the power, if the Wii U is just as good as the X720/PS4 there won’t be any bashing.
Then they’ll ignore the power and just bash the games and call them “baby games”, trolls always find a way ¬.¬
they can call them baby games all they like
Fact is the 360 is the kiddies console not the Wii
just play CoD on XBL and you’ll know what i mean
damn kids everywhere playing a game they arnt even half the age limit for
Last rumor I heard, the 720 was only like 20% more powerful than the Wii U, which is really not that much.
IGN got that wrong and the rumored GPU in the Wii U is 2x more powerful then the one in the 720.
You forget some things here. The GPU’s that they put in consoles are not the ones you buy anywhere. It’s custom designed. What they do is they take a GPU and change it. This can be everything from shrinking the die using lower nm and or adding more calculation units.
I hope the Wii U is $300-$350, that’s a comfortable price for a brand new console imo.
Maybe for you but My wallet will suffer for it greatly
Just as a matter of interest, have any developers had any negative comments about Wii U or Nintendo’s new attitude? I know there were a few comments a while back but none recently and the fact that naysayers are usually more outspoken, this is a good sign.
all i heard is devs being excited about it
and pachter being pachter
Well if they’re happy, I’m happy. Just as long as it’s not another case of enthusiasm now but fizzle out down the line.
I have literally seen no direct quote from a dev that has been negative.
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but can it run crysis?
1. I’d love to see Borderlands (1,2 or future entries) come out for Wii U. I have the first, just have lost interest for now. Inventory systems could be improved with the tablet controller, and abilities would be better. Perhaps even more abilities could be added?
2. With all due respect to Gearbox, Borderlands doesn’t seem to technologically demanding. Now, I understand what I just said- there’s a Bazillion randomized spawning guns and many missions as well. But the atmosphere and characters could possibly be created even on the Wii, physics and lighting effects don’t seem too much either. So with loot, enemies and other things, Wii U ought to be able to handle no problem.
3. Continuing from that, does this simply mean Gearbox will enter as a Wii U developer? I would think they could come up with good uses of the controls!
Nintendo FTW
It’s only good news for Nintendo. This was an interview from last year so Nintendo had more than enough time to make the requested adjustments. The Wii U is hyping me up so much. i haven’t been this excited for a console in 6 years.
Leave luck to heaven.
Well, good luck. The Wii U will only be as strong as the Xbox 360. The next Xbox and the next Playstation will already be another step ahead of the Wii U.
wrong
-_- are you serious? i just dont get why there are still people who are in denial that the WiiU is stronger than than Current gen? the WiiU’s GPU is 2x stronger than 720s. another step? no
No. Just no. The first generation of Dev Kits were as ‘weak’ as the 360 but they have beefed it up alot.
Also don’t think ‘NextBox’ will be a powerhouse. Microsoft is going after the same marked Nintendo is which are Casuals and More dedicated players(some call them Hardcore). The 360 has only just started making a profit if u add the numbers from release till now. Sony haven’t made anything on the PS3, actually they lost all the money they earned on the PS1+2 combined.
Sony is in a shitty situation where they really cant loose money again the way they did with the PS3. Microsoft have seen what the casual marked can give them and are now actively persuing them.
The Xbox is suppose to be a media hub not a console and they want it to be everywhere. It’s their weapon againts Apple TV.
Really don’t expect miracles. There are several things that makes many think that the next generation is not going to be the jump that the last took. Hardware has exponentially grown in calculation power, but so has power usage AND HEAT radiation. A modified 6670 with more beef in it is a really good guess for what they are doing because it’s not expensive and the power it uses and heat it radiates fits what a console can fit. Look at the 360. RRoD all over the place. The console got too hot.
I’m guessing it will be more powerful than any console from this generation. Now all we need is for Borderlands 2 to appear on Wii U. That would be epic!