Topic: The OFFICIAL Big N rumor thread *bring your own salt*

[Mannypon]

Ohhhh lol, I don't even know why that'll even be in question then.  The wiiu is coming out in 2012, it damn well better be able to support tech from 2009.

  Damn, e3 is going to be epic.  Seeing nintendo games built around current tech is going to be something special.

[Enner]

Unreal Engine 3 was the most popular engine of this generation, but I think it also had the least imaginative games and the art design usually had a very similar feel across the games that used it. I hope another engine is more popular next gen.

Alice: Madness Returns, Asura's Wrath, Mirror's Edge, and TERA look similar to each other?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unreal_Engine_games#Unreal_Engine_3

Granted most of the UE3 games look like Gears of War, but that is not the fault of the engine.

[BranDonk Kong]

Mortal Kombat (9) ran on Unreal Engine 3...doesn't seem anything at all like Gears if War 3.

[ShyGuy]

There are exceptions, sure, but even Asura's wrath looks very Gears of War to me. Most of the games using the engine have that too shiny, too bumpy, too chunky UE3 look.

[TJ Spyke]

I find it funny that, according to Wikipedia, Zumba Fitness uses Unreal Engine 3.

[BlackNMild2k1]

What other major next-gen engines are out there that will be contemporary to UE4? Frostbite 2?

Talked to my source again. Nothing else actually. This person didn't get to do extensive research on engines or anything. They were at GDC for other business and nonesense regarding the company.

You should ask him if he has a devkit.

if yes:
does it contain more or less than 3GB RAM
if more:
is it closer to 4GB or 3GB

Is there another feature to the uMote that we haven't heard about yet?
if yes:
is it from additional hardware added since E3 (such as a rear facing camera, analog triggers or something along those lines)


What AMD GPU would he most closely associate the Wii U GPU and why?

[Louieturkey]

For the person who mentioned Direct X 12, that is a product that is at least 2 years out as Windows 8 will be coming with Direct X 11.1.  So you'd have to wait for Windows 9 before 12 would even exist.  UE4 is DX11 based I believe.

[Caliban]

Well I assumed based on that UE3 was for DX9/10/11, and that UE4 would be for the next DX's. I didn't state it as fact.

[Ceric]

Microsoft have shipped the next version of DX on the same OS before.

[Caterkiller]

What other major next-gen engines are out there that will be contemporary to UE4? Frostbite 2?

Talked to my source again. Nothing else actually. This person didn't get to do extensive research on engines or anything. They were at GDC for other business and nonesense regarding the company.

You should ask him if he has a devkit.

if yes:
does it contain more or less than 3GB RAM
if more:
is it closer to 4GB or 3GB

Is there another feature to the uMote that we haven't heard about yet?
if yes:
is it from additional hardware added since E3 (such as a rear facing camera, analog triggers or something along those lines)
What AMD GPU would he most closely associate the Wii U GPU and why?

Nothing! The only thing added was app support for the Upad. Only he didn't seem so sure about it. He said he would keep me updated with info though.

[Karanlos]

I'm going to assume that UE4 is intended for DirectX 12 and up which would be quite a leap from 11.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRp_mVi969I

Wait what? Quite a leap? DirectX 12? ;P?

Okay let's take it from the beginning. Direct3D 8 to 9 was quite a leap because developers could now program the Vertex and Pixel shaders. This is one of the reasons Wii didn't get nay ports more or less because the engine had to be rewritten to fit the Wii API which has the same features as Direct3D 8 more or less. Direct3D 8 is really static. Adding lamps in a scene requires you to add them via the API. With 9  u merely had to add them as a variable in the pixel shader.

Direct3D 9 to 10 was quite a leap because the GPU architecture went from being devided into vertex- and pixel shader units into a unified arcihtecture where every units could do everything. Things means you didn't have to have in mind the vertex shaders could be starving while pixel shaders could keep up.
Direct3D 10 to 11 was a minor upgrade, mostly only adding tessellation, other than that it was only API changes.

Wii U has a modern GPU with modern architecture. The 4870 is more or less a 5770 or 6750 or 7750 with the lack of a proper tessellation unit.

[Louieturkey]

Wii U has a modern GPU with modern architecture. The 4870 is more or less a 5770 or 6750 or 7750 with the lack of a proper tessellation unit.

And the GPU in the WiiU can easily be modified to do proper tessellation, though it may not be extremely necessary.  Tessellation is only just now being utilized more substantially in PC games.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Nintendo to reveal atleast 3 new IP's @ E3!?
http://www.forgetthebox.net/uncategorized/nintendo-working-on-at-least-three-new-franchises-for-the-wii-u.php

We are hearing from our sources that there will be between ten to eleven Nintendo published retail games shown for the Wii U at E3, with the rest of the Wii U games being third party titles. It seems that Nintendo already knows what titles they will be revealing and displaying at E3 even though E3 is still a little less than three months away. Around 70 Wii U games are currently in development from a variety of publishers, and Nintendo will be publishing/releasing four Wii U games of their own before the end of 2012. We’ve been told that Nintendo is considering keeping the price of the Wii U lower than they want to, and they will release a tsunami wave of 3DS and Wii U software this holiday season to soften the blow from hardware losses.

According to our insider source, Nintendo has at least three new franchises in development by various studios for the Wii U. Nintendo has always been under criticism for recycling their existing franchises over and over again, and it seems that Nintendo may have taken some of that criticism to heart. Nintendo had recently published new intellectual properties such as Pandora’s Tower, Xenoblade Chronicles, and The Last Story for the Wii, and then they published Dillon’s Rolling Western, Pushmo, and Freaky Forms for the 3DS. It seems more evident that Nintendo is pushing harder for new franchises and more creativity.

that seems like a lot of detail for what Nintendo has planned. I wonder how credible this rumor is as I'm not very familiar with the site it's coming from.

[Caterkiller]

Wow that sounds exciting but sounds a little too good to be true. Or you know maybe not. A new Wii like series could be one or 2 of them. I'm hoping for at least 1 character based, story driven IP.

[Chozo Ghost]

I hope one of the new IPs is an FPS. It probably isn't, but that's what I would hope for. Microsoft and Sony have their own exclusive FPS games, but this is the one genre Nintendo is completely devoid of and it should be addressed.

[Enner]

Nintendo having an exclusive and successful shooter series or two would be good. Don't know who would be making it unless Retro would be okay staring down the barrel of a different gun for the good part of another decade. Maybe Nintendo can fuse/collaborate Retro, High Voltage, and n-Space and make some magic!

The rumor that interests me most is Nintendo taking a loss on the Wii U. Given the history of how Nintendo profits off of selling hardware, this is an unexpected and aggressive move if it is true. It might mean a cheap home console, or it could be that the system has a lot of pep.

[Adrock]

The rumor that interests me most is Nintendo taking a loss on the Wii U. Given the history of how Nintendo profits off of selling hardware, this is an unexpected and aggressive move if it is true. It might mean a cheap home console, or it could be that the system has a lot of pep.

Yeah, I'd be really surprised if Nintendo took a loss on hardware out of the gate. Is that really a smart strategy? I'm not convinced that they're taking a loss on 3DS but I recall reading years ago that they took a small loss during the GameCube years after one of the price drops (possibly when they cut it to $99, not sure though).

I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo was willing to break even on hardware. That's a fair compromise. Still, in terms of spending money, I really wish Nintendo would start using better components in their hardware, specifically things like glass screens, bigger/better lithium ion batteries, a better/faster Wi-Fi chip etc. I'm just listing things on 3DS but they apply to Wii U also. I hope Nintendo manages to get the tablet controller to last at least 15-20 hours on a single charge.

[Ceric]

Reading what BnM posted My take away is:

3 Months out they better know what there going to be showing at E3 for the most part.  Good, large scale, custom presentations take time to make.

...that Nintendo is considering keeping the price of the Wii U lower than they want to...

We all know that Nintendo has a pretty good profit margin on most there products.  For Nintendo getting say 1% above cost on the Hardware is not as much as they like.

I'm not going to comment on the numbers and that last paragraph could just as easily be an educated guess.  The reasoning is given in there.

[nickmitch]

I think Nintendo should rebrand Custom Robo with a robust online feature. Some team style death match gameplay would really fit with the series. But new IPs are cool too.

[Oblivion]

I would love another Custom Robo game.

[Chozo Ghost]

Traditionally Nintendo never sold their hardware for a loss, but what may make the Wii U different is that this time around Nintendo has a shitload of money which they've made over the last 6 years from the extremely successful DS and Wii. All of this extra money Nintendo has at its disposal may change their thinking about selling hardware at a loss. They would definitely make it back in software sales, so I don't see it as much of a risk.

[Kairon]

It's not just that. I think the market is definitely more price conscious now, and weak foreign exchange rates will also cut into their profitability on each sale.

[Ceric]

They had a lot of money going into the N64 from the Super Nintendo.  Nintendo is never hurting for money, but they make choices to insure that will continue.

[Kairon]

Yeah, there's a reason Nintendo has all that money saved up: they've resisted many past temptations to spend it. This fiscal conservatism enables their consistent artistic radicalism, and always keeps them buffered against a fate like Sega's.

[Ian Sane]

Wow that sounds exciting but sounds a little too good to be true. Or you know maybe not. A new Wii like series could be one or 2 of them. I'm hoping for at least 1 character based, story driven IP.

I'm hoping for something story driven as well.  Steel Diver is new IP but do I give a ****?  It needs to be something exciting where we are introduced to a new world and form an emotional connection with it.  Wii Sports was a licence to print money but is there any emotional interest in it like fans have for Mario, Pokemon, Zelda?  It's just customized avatars playing sports.  Not every game can have a mythology to it but that is what I really want out of a new IP from Nintendo.

The low price thing is encouraging because it is not associated with Nintendo intentionally borking the specs to achieve it.  I want good value, not something cheap.  It also suggests that Nintendo learned from the 3DS.