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

[Mop it up]

Analogue shoulder buttons would work nicely with Mario Kart. The controller can already do a decent job acting as a wheel, so add in an analogue button for the gas pedal and it'd be great. I hope they didn't really axe it.

[Kytim89]

Could this be what the Wii U box art looks like?
 

 http://www.infendo.com/wii-u-should-we-even-pay-attention-to-the-rumors-and-leaks/

[Adrock]

No.

[MegaByte]

Wii U supports DirectX 11 and is already running Unreal Engine 4

This part especially doesn't make sense. DirectX 11 is a Microsoft API.

[Evan_B]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure a third party would cry foul at no analog triggers.

The clicky sticks, not so much. I honestly don't care about clicky sticks at all.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I was gonna post that rumor on Sunday or Monday or whenever it had surfaced, but too many things didn't quite sound right about it, so I left it sitting in my other tab (like so many other things I contemplate posting and sometimes never do). Now I can close it.

it screamed fake if you saw the original post

Hi everyone, I'm a developer Ubisoft Milan.
I followed the situation very recently the Nintendo Wii U, I would like to spread some information with you that Nintendo has told us about.
Most likely, however, will not last long, but we feel the same.

Does that in anyway sound legit?


and there was also more to it that made it sound even worse

>A lot of Dev-kits were sent to Ubisoft
>One of them was 4GHz
>The 6GHz one was from 3 months ago

There is also another fake rumor floating around about FLCL game for Wii U.
Don't buy into that one either. It another one that I decided not to post.

[Enner]

Wii U supports DirectX 11 and is already running Unreal Engine 4

This part especially doesn't make sense. DirectX 11 is a Microsoft API.

Indeed. Shouldn't it be OpenGL? I've heard that is what is used on Nintendo platforms.

[Adrock]

Those rumors sounds really fake. 6GHz? 4GHz? 1.21 Gigawatts? And while I'd be open to the idea of playing as Haruko Haruhara, I'm not sure how they could make a legitimate FLCL game, by that I mean, without cheating a lot regarding the source material. I guess that never stopped anyone from making a game out of a popular franchise. At the same time, FLCL is what, like 10-11 years old. Is it really popular enough to bring back after all this time?

[Ceric]

Wii U supports DirectX 11 and is already running Unreal Engine 4

This part especially doesn't make sense. DirectX 11 is a Microsoft API.

Indeed. Shouldn't it be OpenGL? I've heard that is what is used on Nintendo platforms.

It is a Microsoft API, but Microsoft also has released Hardware standards to accompany it.  They have done this for the last few DirectX versions because they were tired of the API not being fully supported.  Being DirectX 11 could simply mean that the Wii U as a piece of Hardware is DirectX 11 compliant in its feature set.  Now with that being noted if Nintendo reimplemented the exact DirectX 11 API like how Wine implements the Windows library then that be a great boon for Developers.  3 Platforms from 1 API.

[Chozo Ghost]

I honestly don't care about clicky sticks at all.

You need them in COD in order to Sprint and/or Stab someone.

[Ian Sane]

They put the clicky sticks in just to make it easier for third parties.  The other systems have it, so include it.  Like it or not, that's an industry convention that developers expect you to offer.

[BranDonk Kong]

I don't see any reason to not have it. Left thumbstick click is my Z-trigger for playing N64 games on my XBox...

[Kytim89]

Could the Xbox 360 be banned in America?
 

 
I know what you are thinking, this isn’t an article about Nintendo.  You are right, it isn’t…at least not directly.
In 2010, Motorola sued Microsoft for infringement of 16 patents.  I won’t bore you with the details, however Motorola had requested that Microsoft cease using their patented technology and provide compensation for past infringement.  Needless to say, Microsoft did not just write a blank check to Motorola, but instead decided to battle it out in court.  Of course there is a lot more to the court battle.  Microsoft has sued Motorola as well,  so it seemed that the case would be tied up in the court system for years, or until one side gave in.
The court battle has been ongoing and it is look like Microsoft might not come out of this one victorious.  In fact, it is looking really bad for Microsoft right now.  International Trade Commission Judge David Shaw has suggested that the Xbox 360 should stop all imports and all existing consoles already in the US should be banned from further sales.  This is a huge roadblock for a console that is posting stellar sales.  This does not even take into consideration the fact that we are entering a crucial time of the year for the video game industry with E3 just around the corner.
Of course Microsoft disputed the potential banning of the system, however Judge Shaw had the following response to Microsoft’s dispute:

“enforcing intellectual property rights outweighs any potential economic impact on video game console buyers.”
As part of the judgement, Judge Shaw has stated that he wants imports of the 4GB and 250GB models stopped as soon as possible.  If the judgement is enforced, President Obama and his officials will have 60 days to decide whether to allow the ban, or override the ban.  Now, normally I would say that the judge has the final say in an issue such as this, however it is an election year, and a ban on Xbox could mean layoffs.  This could get pretty ugly.
On a lighter side, a ban on the Xbox 360 could be huge fro the Wii U.  With Microsoft out of the picture only Sony and Nintendo would remain.  And with only one of the two pushing a new system, could we see Xbox fans jumping to Nintendo?  I only ask because the rivalry between Sony and Xbox fans is pretty rough.  What are your thoughts on the judgement?
 
 

[ThePerm]

where are you quoting from?

that link to the article in the quote is 2 years old

sounds like wishful thinking to me. Also, it wouldn't affect xbox 360 much. The install base is too high. With 66.6 million users worldwide its not really a big deal if consoles go off the shelves.

[nickmitch]

It would affect Microsoft a whole bunch. MS would have to pull all of that inventory off of the shelves, put it somewhere, and halt production. That's assuming an actual ban goes through. It'd cost them a lot of money and close off a revenue stream. Hell, it might force them to drop the 720 sooner than later.

[bustin98]

In these cases the judge makes a recommendation, not a judgment. And its rare that a ban is followed through.

[Uncle_Optimus]

It's messier than just this potential XBox ban...
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/05/xbox-itc-motorola/
That link details how MS is simultaneously pursuing a ban on Motorola phone and tablet imports. Yuck...this is a patent pissing contest. I think it will ultimately conclude with a cross-licensing agreement between the two companies and MAYBE a lower negotiated payout from MS.
I can't say with certainty, and it helps that Motorola is now owned by cash-flush Google, but mobile devices comprise the majority of their revenue. Meanwhile, MS just seems happy if their Entertainment division profits at all (their money printers are of course elsewhere).
 It benefits Motorola little to win a retail ban of a product they do not even compete against and thus it seems likely they would settle for cash and patent licenses. Motorola has been bleeding cash for a while now, surely Google wouldn't go hard line just to spite MS?

[ThePerm]

you could import your xbox 360 from mexico, wait...you already do...

[BlackNMild2k1]

Metroid Wii U concept art? New Deadspace in HD?
I'm not sure, and an exact source was not linked, so just enjoy the pic regardless of whether it is legit or not.

[tendoboy1984]

Metroid Wii U concept art? New Deadspace in HD?
I'm not sure, and an exact source was not linked, so just enjoy the pic regardless of whether it is legit or not.

Oh God yes.

[tendoboy1984]

you could import your xbox 360 from mexico, wait...you already do...

You'd think Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc. would be wealthy enough to build their own factories and hire their own workers. But no, they just have to outsource to China so they can get the cheapest workers possible.


Underpaid workers = cheap/low quality output


There's a reason why most auto companies build their cars in America, even the foreign companies have plants over here. The quality (for the most part) is better.

[MegaByte]

Source: http://cghub.com/images/view/95042/
Learn to use Google image search :-p

[BranDonk Kong]

you could import your xbox 360 from mexico, wait...you already do...

You'd think Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc. would be wealthy enough to build their own factories and hire their own workers. But no, they just have to outsource to China so they can get the cheapest workers possible.


Underpaid workers = cheap/low quality output


There's a reason why most auto companies build their cars in America, even the foreign companies have plants over here. The quality (for the most part) is better.

Some XBox 360s come from China, some from Mexico, some from Canada, etc. It's not just Mexico, and the people who do the work (as in assembly) have little to absolutely nothing to do with the actual quality of the product.

Car companies have factories here because it's cheaper than having 10 million cars shipped from overseas.

[Chozo Ghost]

You'd think Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc. would be wealthy enough to build their own factories and hire their own workers.

That's why they're wealthy. If they did things like how you're suggesting and open their own factories in a country where it would be far more expensive to do so then they wouldn't be wealthy anymore.

Also, its not outsourcing to have consoles made in China or Taiwan or whatever because that's where they have always been made. Those jobs aren't being outsourced away from here because they were never here in the first place. Do you get it? Jobs can only be outsourced if they were ever here in the first place.

Car companies have factories here because it's cheaper than having 10 million cars shipped from overseas.

Exactly. And in addition to that most of the work these days is done with robots anyway, so just because cars might be made in the USA doesn't mean a lot of people are being paid to do it. True, there is still a lot of work which still requires human hands, but the bulk of it is robotic now and its only increasing as robots become more and more advanced and capable.

[tendoboy1984]

Car companies have factories here because it's cheaper than having 10 million cars shipped from overseas.

Then shouldn't that also apply to video game systems as well? All Nintendo hardware is manufactured in China, and Foxxcon is known for its poor treatment of its workers. Nintendo could build their own factories in Japan, Europe, and America, where they can have unionized workers. And they wouldn't have to worry about overseas shipping costs, since each region would manufacture it's own product.