The Next Generation--Part 1

This generation has maybe a year or 2 left before it comes to an end. This generation was a huge jump from the last, with the big emphasis being on HD gaming and unified online services. So the big question rises here...What will be the major attraction for next gen?

This writing will be heavily based on the only announced (so far) next gen platform -- The Wii U. The thing is though, we don't know much about it at all. Even at E3 people were confused about whether the Wii U was just an extension of the Wii (hence why they really only showed off the tablet controller) or a fully realized gaming console. This is why everything that I will say in this post is based purely on speculation.

Basically the question I asked myself after Nintendo revealed its console at E3 was: Is Nintendo going to deliver a console that will satisfy the core audience or will it follow suit like the original Wii? Before I can answer this we have to consider a lot of things. We have to consider what the new console's third party and 1st party support, the hardware, and online service will be like. Well you might be saying to yourself "hardware doesn't matter; it's all about the gameplay." This is partially true, but the hardware has to be updated enough for the 3rd party developers to have an incentive to develop their games along side the future Sony/MS consoles. So is it?

Let's look at the speculated specs:

-The CPU is confirmed to be an IBM Power Architecture based CPU. It's rumored to have 4 cores, each core being around the same power as one of the cores in the tri-core Xbox 360 CPU. In the current generation, the CPU isn't the bottleneck. A lot of times the processing power of the CPUs on 360/PS3 games go un-used. In fact most of the processing power of the PS3's Cell is used for off-loaded graphics tasks such as anti-aliasing and post-process. If it is indeed a quad core version of the 360 CPU then this is still more than enough for a next generation PC.

-The GPU is confirmed to be an AMD RV770 based graphics card. In the PC gaming world this card is roughly 2 and a half years old. When the 360/PS3 launched they had the most updated graphics card at the time. So I'm still skeptic on why they should chose a relatively old GPU. The fact that it's 2+ years old means that it is cheap to manufacture and easy to make an extremely small version of it (45 nm) from the get go, making the console more affordable and more reliable. The Wii U's GPU is probably going to be an overclocked version of the RV770 with a 16 MB eDRAM. For those that don't know what an eDRAM is, it's memory that is dedicated to framebuffers (the native resolution of a game). The 360 had 10 MB, which was just enough for 720p. With 16 MB it'll be enough for 720p with high levels of anti-alising or sub-1080p (1280 X 1080p). Overall it's 4 times more powerful than the 360 GPU. So while it's 2+ years old it still packs a punch. When the Wii U releases it probably won't have the most powerful GPU in the PC space but I can still see it being pretty high up there.

-As far as memory goes... the rumored minuscule 512 MB is out of the question. Even Sony's upcoming PSVita is going to have more RAM then that. Atleast 1 GB of GDDR3 RAM should be in there, and in fact I can pretty much tell you guys that this will be the case. It's going to be shared with the CPU but most of it will be dedicated to graphics.

-The disc format is confirmed to be a custom Blu-ray like disc format where each layer holds up to 25 GB of data.

-Internal flash memory for game saves and downloads (rumored 8 GB), external HDD support

-One tablet controller per console, up to 4 Wiimote plus controllers.

Okay so what does this all mean?

The speculated GPU shows that 1080p (1920 X 1080p) won't be the standard for games. It'll be either 720p (1280 X 720p) or sub 1080p (1280 X 1080p).

The GPU/CPU being relatively modern means that it should be easy to develop multiplatform engines that work for the Wii U along side the PS4/720. Undoubtedly the other next gen consoles are going to be more powerful, but the gap wouldn't be nearly as huge as it was this gen. What this means is that the Wii U will get most if not all of the 3rd party titles that release along side the PS4/720. While the content will be the same the graphics will differ. The Wii U will probably be nearly on par in terms of visuals but will run at 720p instead of 1080p like the PS4/720. Or if all of the console versions run 720p, the Wii U version might have lower overall detail (Like in PC gaming, medium settings vs high settings). So while they might have to scale it down for it to work on the wii U, the differences won't be nearly as dramatic and in most cases won't matter much. The Wii U will still get the exact same game content, and that's what counts overall. So yes graphics are important, but they only have to be updated enough for the developers to create what they want to create without having to feel limited on a hardware level.

It's also been confirmed that the Wii U won't support Blu-ray/DVD movie playback. Probably to save money on licensing. I guess you could hack the console to play Blu-rays (kind of like how you can hack the Wii to play DVDs), but overall it's clear that Nintendo doesn't care much about support multi-media functionality on their console.


Online service

It's confirmed to share many of the characteristics of XBL: Friend tracking, Achievements, XGC, video chat, etc. And there is also an internet browser which should be smoother due to an increased amount of RAM (PS3's browser only ran on the 256 MB system RAM).

What I'm worried about is whether the Wii U will have a stronger marketplace for DLC, expansions, and even downloadable movies considering that the Wii U only comes with 8 GB of flash memory (standard). You can always upgrade to an external harddrive but not everyone will so the incentive to put all that jazz on the marketplace is very low. Having an HDD from the get go is almost a necessity for hardcore online gaming. I really hope Nintendo decides to include one before the Wii U releases.

What's the major attraction?

The strongest selling point the Wii U has is it's tablet controller. The things you can do on this controller is just incredible. Playing Wii U games without having to have your TV on is a very innovative design. For those that haven't seen the trailer for it:



The best part is, I can see this controller being beneficial for both hardcore and casual gamers alike.

Conclusion

The hardware is modern enough to secure 3rd party support. This is just an incredible thing for Nintendo. They already have a very strong 1st party portfolio. They'll be able to provide a wide variety of games for both casual and hardcore gamers. And that's what next gen is going to be about...The games and new innovations to enhance gaming experiences. This gen had a heavy focus on graphics and multi-media, but the Wii U clearly has a different focus.

Like I said, the graphics will be updated enough to please most gamers (except maybe extreme PC gamer enthusiast..but then again who buys a console for graphics?) but most of the emphasis will be on the tablet controller and how it will bring new experiences to the console..

Part 2 and 3 will be about Sony/MS (could have figured that one out on your own), and basically the biggest comparison between the 3 consoles will be about which console can provide the best gaming experience. I'm almost sure if that Sony/MS stick to the traditional way games are played but with updated graphics that the Nintendo will dominate next gen.

Sony/MS should be worried because unlike the Wii the Wii U will be competing for the same audience. And overall I'm glad that Nintendo is coming back to the hardcore as that provides more options for the average gamer to pick in terms of gaming experiences.

Part 2 will come next year after MS announces their next console at E3 2012. Thanks for reading =].

I think it might go like this in sales:
1. Nintendo
2. Sony
3. Microsoft

I think the Wii U is just a new Wii Controller. Not nothing Next gen

Franko wrote:

I think the Wii U is just a new Wii Controller. Not nothing Next gen

Next gen won't have a strong emphasis on graphics, so I don't know about that.

Meh i don't really see the wiiU appealing to the casual audience like the motion controls did. And the core audience would run away just by looking at the name "wii"

Nice article type thingy.

Was interesting. I have a slightly different perspective though. We witnessed this generation that the casual audience is a massive demographic and casual gaming is hugely successful.
And so I have no doubt that from day 1, all three consoles will have some feature or novelty or anything that will attract casual gamers. I don't know what this could be yet but I am more or less certain. Why would these companies ignore one of their large audiences?

The only thing I want on the Wii U is the next smash bros. game and the new HD Zelda game.

Comes without an HDD. :fuckthat:

BioDemon wrote:

Comes without an HDD. :fuckthat:

Yea that's really gonna hurt it in the long run. I hope nintendo change their mind.

I just have one question Alan, are those HD Zelda graphics what games are going to look like or is that the type of graphics the big N is aiming for?

yonny616 wrote:

I just have one question Alan, are those HD Zelda graphics what games are going to look like or is that the type of graphics the big N is aiming for?

That Zelda demo was actually confirmed to be real time by Digital Foundry. So yes the full game will probably look like that. Whether or not all games look like that depends on what resolution it is running at. The Zelda demo was running at 720p. At 1080p it won't be nearly as detailed.

cool article

I'm actually somewhat scare of the changes the gaming industry is going through,
i guess i don't wanna let go of the traditional controllers, change is good sometimes tho,
whether you like it or not.

just like Ford said "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse"

igame wrote:

cool article

I'm actually somewhat scare of the changes the gaming industry is going through,
i guess i don't wanna let go of the traditional controllers, change is good sometimes tho,
whether you like it or not.

just like Ford said "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse"

As a fellow gamer I can safely say that we are at very scary times. The high attachment rate that we gamers have to shooters is strikingly high to the point that we currently have nearly a dozen AAA budget shooters that have been/are going to be released this later half of the year.

The only way to break this attachment rate is if we are forced to change up the way we play games.

I don't think that controller is comfortable, Looks like you have to spread your fingers a lot. Also how is the controller innovative? Didn't Sony do this with the PSP and PS3? Now they're doing it with the PSVita and PS3/PS4.

yonny616 wrote:

I don't think that controller is comfortable, Looks like you have to spread your fingers a lot. Also how is the controller innovative? Didn't Sony do this with the PSP and PS3? Now they're doing it with the PSVita and PS3/PS4.

Not in the same exact way. Every game on the Wii U can be played just on the controller.

Nintendo, if you make HD Zelda with 1080p graphics, I WILL BUY IT DAY ONE!