While not exactly Nintendo news, IGN today has revealed that the next Xbox (how bout we DON’T call it the 720, shall we?) will be based on the AMD 6000 series of GPU architecture which was introduced last year. While we don’t know exactly what will ship inside the next Xbox, IGN cites that the GPU will be similar to the Radeon HD 6670, which sports DirectX 11, 3D, 1080p output, and multidisplay output. Their sources tell them that the console will be around six times as powerful as the Xbox 360, and will yield 20 percent greater performance than the Wii U. Allegedly the console will launch in late October or early November of 2013.
What does this all mean? Well, actually nothing right now. All of this is just rumors for now, not to mention that final specs for Wii U have yet to be revealed by Nintendo. Taken at face value it looks to mean that while Wii U looks to be running on Radeon R770 which doen’t look to be quite as powerful as the new Xbox, both consoles will be more than capable and will most likely allow developers to develop for both simultaneously.
I don’t pretend to understand all the technical aspects behind what makes Mario’s suspenders look so nice, but at the end of the day, I think Wii U will be able to stand toe to toe with whatever Microsoft and Sony decide to throw at it. Bring on E3.
What do you think about this latest rumor? How do you think Wii U will fare in comparison?
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Aura_Thunder
It’s never been about the ‘system specs’ for me. It’s always been about the experience. So far, no one has come close to rivaling Nintendo in that regard. Frankly, I don’t see that changing for me any time soon.
Ben
I echo that statement, Aura_Thunder.
Verius
Hardware specs mean little if devs can’t find fun new ways for games to be played. Even looking at just the past generation, the least powerful devices did really well with a creative and innovative control scheme that enhanced gameplay. Building the hardware from the ground up to provide a great experience should be what MS, Sony and Ninty should be doing all the time.
Tanner
Isn’t the difference between 360 and ps3>20% thats just from my head but I think its right. Also it says its 6times as powerful as the 360 which would make the wii u 5x as powerful. I think this generation, atleast with Microsoft and Nintendo, it will be more about that “it” factor with the tablet control for Wii U and probably much more Kinect support for 360.
Koopa Trooper
To agree with Aura_Thunder…it’s exciting to know that we’re finally nearing the point that the specs will be (to most gamers) just a bunch of numbers. The next gen systems will all be plenty powerful and able to run pretty much any kind of game that a developer can think of. Next gen graphics will be judged on their art direction, cinematography/presentation, character animation/physics and a.i. more-so than just their high polygon count and crisp textures (which they will all most likely have). Like Iwata said, “Graphics/technology are just a tool for bringing the game to life” -something like that…
monkat
Honestly…I don’t care.
If it is in HD, it is good enough for me. I just want to play something that isn’t blurry as can be on my relatively newly gifted HD television. I don’t mind playing 3D games on Wii, but it just…looks…so awful…component cables helped a ton, but it is still so blurry compared to games on my 360.
If you like Nintendo games, get a Wii U. That’s all there really is to it–the power of its competitors doesn’t really matter.
That said, I unfortunately probably won’t partake in the Wii U. I’m kind of bored with Nintendo games, to be honest. I stopped playing Skyward Sword because the controls are god awful, I hated Mario 3D Land because it was far too short, and I skipped out on Mario Kart 7 because I had already spent about $100 on Nintendo games that had burned me that holiday season. In fact, the only Nintendo game that I’m truly looking forward to is Kid Icarus, which I’ll wait a month to buy used, because I know reviews will slam it for the controls/kick-stand. Meanwhile, I’ve been playing a ton of Phantasy Star Portable 2, Cladun x2, and Persona 3 Portable.
…Maybe I’m just a freaky otaku.
Warren
I just set up a freaking huge SD tv for my WII/PS2/SNES systems. I love that the Wii looks good on that. Yet I am wanting a true HD system from the Big N. But I am also excited about the xbox…what ever it is.
I’m glad this gen is running longer though. I hope it means that support for the 360/wii/ps3 won’t drop immediately after the new consoles launch. (I’m looking at you, Microsoft.)
RisnDevil
I want to highlight and echo Tanner’s deduction: by IGN’s statement it is fair to say that the Wii U is 5x more powerful than the 360. THAT is GREAT! Honestly, a 20% difference in power (especially at “ludicrous” levels) is pretty negligible, ESPECIALLY since, and people will complain about this an blame Nintendo which I don’t really care about, games will be made to support the least common/powerful denominator. At first, this will be Sony (isn’t that an interesting change!) but will transition to Nintendo. Mind you, the least powerful system will still be in the same ball park/league and therefor will get direct ports of games as opposed to downgrades.
It’s going to be a good generation!!!
Hitokiri_Ace
@monkat You otaku you. Though I don’t think that alone makes Nintendo distasteful. I suppose I’d be considered an otaku, but.. I still love me some Nintendo.
I’m not going to say specs are the ONLY thing, but obviously, it’s a factor. I’ll give Nintendo a high five if they manage to not only have some of the greatest 1st party games (which is almost a given), but also get to have all the good multi-platform games for years to come. With all the multiplat games these days, I may not even get another console this coming gen other than the WiiU. 🙂 Sounds good.
AD
The _rumored_ GPU is 6x more powerful, but what about the rest of the specs? There are a lot of unknowns to be filled in. No one can make a direct comparison until everything is put on the table.
Josh
At this point the specs don’t matter. The hardware has become so powerful that the bottleneck is actually the developers themselves, not the hardware.
David
I just think about how gorgeous Nintendo’s games have been in 480p for the last 10 years that I assume they’ll really blow minds when they go HD with Wii U. They really pushed the GameCube and Wii, graphically, so I imagine their art style plus higher resolution will make for some gorgeous games.
bananaoomarang
Honestly, from what I’m hearing, all the devs seem to want is much, much more RAM (and VRAM), the actual power of the Wii U looks to be sufficient for the next gen, and it also apparently has ample RAM (or at least, lots of devs have said so). Due to the consumer technology of the moment, it would be impossible for the 720 to have significantly more ‘power’ and still be priced bellow $1000! As for the PS4? It depends when it comes out, but the Wii U will be powerful enough to last out the generation better than the Wii did.
Brian
Nintendo is always high on “fantasy art” style. Their utilization of HD will be different than the “other two” anyway. That makes this talk of a more powerful Xbox irrelevant to me.
Kaherka
It would be nice if 3rd party games could be equal to those on the new Xbox & Playstation consoles. It’ll be torture to be subjected to endless comparisons if Wii U comes up short.
Eugene Allen
I don’t much care for “graphics and polygon count”, the only reason I want my system to be more powerful is so designers can push smarter, more complex AI, and better scripting. Games like L.A. Noire and Saints Row the Third were really limited to me because the characters in the world were all so limited in what they could do.
Imagine if all the NPCs in the game world had a purpose and personality all their own. This generation of consoles is just uncapble of providing that experience, but with more horsepower, who knows. We won’t know until the next generation of consoles what game developers utilize the consoles power for. I, for one, can’t wait.
deepthought
@ Eugene
really? the only reason? you don’t care for graphics or polygon count? no excitement for detail never seen before?
https://www.infendo.com/impressions-hd-experience-zelda-hd/
Nintendo fans dumped on the value of graphics for so long now that I’m enjoying watching them reluctantly admit that graphics are, well, cool.
You cannot hide forever Eugene. Give yourself to the dark side…. yes, your thoughts betray you….
HyperSonic
Only piece of tech I’m concerned with, truthfully, is the rumored ability to record both cable and gameplay in 720p.
And people just call it the 720 ’cause it’s easily identifiable. Not accurate, of course, but people recognize it.
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