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

[sebasrd27]

Another quote from him:

And for your conclusions about the hardware, really, don't expect too much from it, but don't be disappointed in advance. From all i've heard, the guts aren't on par with current gen at all, and there's so much room for improvements, optimizations, and potential stretching of the Wii U capabilities that you'll say wow many times in front of your screen (for first-party titles in the first place obviously). I bet a video of myself running disguised as a Nintendo character in a Paris street by night that it will be the case :p

[Ian Sane]

Wait, so he's saying the guts aren't even current gen but we'll still be wowed?  Is he optimistic or pessimistic?  Anyone else confused?  Is this good or bad?

[Fatty The Hutt]

yeah, what Ian said
As one of my old  profs used to say "Is this a happy story or a sad story?"

[Shorty McNostril]

And it starts again.

[Luigi Dude]

Wait, so he's saying the guts aren't even current gen but we'll still be wowed?  Is he optimistic or pessimistic?  Anyone else confused?  Is this good or bad?

I think he means the hardware is more advance then the current systems, hence why it's not on par because it's on a higher level then them.  This is why we'll be wowed since the the graphics will be better looking then the current systems.

Of course I'd still only expecting Nintendo's own games to look better and truly wow people since I doubt third parties will be putting much effort in their Wii U ports, even if the Wii U is significantly more powerful.

[Spak-Spang]

Luigi Dude:  Actually, that may be what he meant to say, but that isn't what he actually said.

I think what is more than likely what he meant to say is something along the lines of this:  The Nintendo Wii U is more powerful than the current generation, but it isn't as large as a jump as you would expect for next generation hardware, but when you see the system games customized for the system you will be WOWED. 

This means to me, that while we will get a nice new system and it will be more advanced than current generation, the system will likely be underwhelming when looking at the Xbox 720 and PS4. 

[Chozo Ghost]

Is a 2-3x leap over the PS360 good enough for the Wii U? Apparently the Wii was a 2-3x leap over the Gamecube, which would seem respectable, but everyone slammed it as not being good enough.

[Caliban]

Another quote from him:

And for your conclusions about the hardware, really, don't expect too much from it, but don't be disappointed in advance. From all i've heard, the guts aren't on par with current gen at all, and there's so much room for improvements, optimizations, and potential stretching of the Wii U capabilities that you'll say wow many times in front of your screen (for first-party titles in the first place obviously). I bet a video of myself running disguised as a Nintendo character in a Paris street by night that it will be the case :p

This IdeaMan (he's French, so it's normal for there to be some mishaps in the translation he makes) edited his post to:

"And for your conclusions about the hardware, really, don't expect too much from it, but don't be disappointed in advance. From all i've heard, the guts aren't on par with current gen at all (edit: "aren't on part with current gen at all" = "they aren't just on par, they are superior"), and there's so much room for improvements, optimizations, and potential stretching of the Wii U capabilities that you'll say wow many times in front of your screen (for first-party titles in the first place obviously). I bet a video of myself running disguised as a Nintendo character in a Paris street by night that it will be the case :p"

[BlackNMild2k1]

Will you guys do me a favor and not hang on his every word. There is a reason why I haven't posted all his comments here... alot of it is regurgitated info we've already heard before just re-presented to us with new wrapping paper.
Alot of what he says is purposely vague as to not draw a line in the sand and most of the rest of it is info already talked about by other sources but he so conveniently wrapped up into one neat litte post with a pretty bow on top.

Now I'm not saying he doesn't know stuff or people, it's just that alot of what he shares isn't exactly new and/or unknown(to those of us that have been paying attention to the right places since the beginning).

But you can tell he definitely did journalism at some point, because he sure knows how to milk the hell out of the info he decides to share. And I'm not saying that he is attention whoring or anything of the sort.... but when he makes announcements that he is going to make an announcement and that he would do it now but it's too late in the day to type that out, but spent 200 words just to tell us that... it makes it hard not to think that that is exactly what he is doing.


But besides him telling us that the newest version of the devkits "V5" are going out to the devs and that they may be "near final", and that the Wii U is more powerful than PS360 (all stuff that has been talked about before) did he say anything that wasn't already known and/or speculated about?

[Caliban]

I've been waiting for the BnM/Caterkiller newscast. I don't usually read neogaf... I was just bored.

[Chozo Ghost]

BnM has a point, but unfortunately regurgitated info is pretty much all we have to go on until E3. Its either that or nothing at all.

[Sarail]

Weren't some sort of NDAs supposed to be up today? Should we start hearing more bits of information starting tomorrow?

Holy crap, I'm all too excited.

[TJ Spyke]

I think that was just a rumor, though I would love to get any new info.

[Mannypon]

Well I have been seeing a lot of stories up on various sites about Assassin's Creed 3 so maybe those NDA were in reference to that game.  Nothing major has come out regarding Ass Creed 3 but lil tidbits about how the Upad will be used.

[nickmitch]

No reputable news site would announce when the NDAs are up, so we're relying on the rumor. If anything, we'll see some posts in the morning. If they're not rolling out by noon, fahgettabowtit.

[TJ Spyke]

Well, major sites sometimes say when NDA's about game reviews are up. I expect they wouldn't do that about a new system though.

[BlackNMild2k1]

If NDA's were to end, I really don't think it would be until next week after FY2011 has officially ended and Investor Meetings are held and Financial Reports are presented. And even then, it would likely only be a limited lift of the NDA preventing screenshots and/or any actual detail from being shared.

But I would love for a big leak to happen overnight.

[Kairon]

I think the only big thing ideaman did is to change the tone of speculation on RAM. I think people were all talking 768 MB or 1 GB before he chimed in, and now even pessimists like me seem to be dreaming of 2 GB.

I'm pretty confident that Wii U games will be gorgeous given the fact that the Zelda and Bird E3 2011 demos were hands-on and on such early hardware. The question is how future proof the console will be, and on that point I'm perfectly willing to be cautious. Frankly, I'm returning to the idea of the Wii U as a true generational stopgap, with maybe major noncompatible engines emerging as soon as 1 to 2 years after its release.

I just get the feeling graphical tech is really expensive to push right now, and that major investments are necessary to get to what hardcore graphics afficionados are aiming for, as well as much later launch dates. I expect Nintendo to invest enough to catch up, but not to break through whatever barriers are still holding us back, especially if they launch this year instead of waiting for graphical tech to work some things out.

[Mannypon]

But current rumors sudjest that WiiU is capable of running Unreal Engine 4.  If it can do that then I think it'll be future proof in regards to this upcoming generation.  Unreal Engine 4 is still a few years away from becoming the norm based off what I've been reading so I think Nintendo will be fine as long as they reach the minimum requirement for future engines. 
 
As others have said though, eventually, a limit will have to be reached as the industry cannot continue this trend towards high end graphics IMO.  Sure EA and its equals will be fine but all middle and lower end developers will either close down, be bought up, or move to digital releases and or mobile games.  That would be disastrous in my eyes.  Hopefully all the low and middle line developers can find a home on the WiiU if the other 2 become to expensive to develop for. 
 
Basically it looks like its 2 apposing views to game development clashing.  The western studios are all about high end specs whereas Japan is still taking a more modest approach.  Eventually common ground will have to be reached as both extremes cannot become the standard.  Although I do see Japan's modest approach feeding into and building on the transition to strictly handheld gaming that seems to be happening over there.

[Kytim89]

Check out these videos:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceIyXRPUaYE
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VmGsD8EddI

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think the only big thing ideaman did is to change the tone of speculation on RAM. I think people were all talking 768 MB or 1 GB before he chimed in, and now even pessimists like me seem to be dreaming of 2 GB.

Nope. lherre, the dev that Ideaman claims "half validates" him, is the one that provided this rumor: http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=16688.msg706351#msg706351

he was talking about the ram being more than 1GB and possibly 1.5GB or so way before Ideaman came into the picture.

The only thing Ideaman has said that hasn't been said before so far is that the Wii U is topping out at 720p with heavy uMote usage, there there an SDK and an Hardware Dev kits and that they are on different versions and that The Last Ranger is a sequel to Dillon's Rolling Western. Everything else is something that has already been said by someone else. Ideaman just used a lot of words to vaguely tell it to you again.

[ShyGuy]

I think I have an exclusive tidbit about an upcoming video game (probably not something to get excited over), but I don't know if it's coming to Wii U. Do we have a general gaming rumor thread?

[Kairon]

I remember reading rumors a while back that a lot of Japanese midsize developers were targeting both Vita and Wii U releases because they couldn't afford anything higher. If true, I'm excited to see what sort of quirky out-there Japanese games the Wii U will get!

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think I have an exclusive tidbit about an upcoming video game (probably not something to get excited over), but I don't know if it's coming to Wii U. Do we have a general gaming rumor thread?

Just post it here.
adding a "could it be coming to Wii U too!?" for a little bit of speculative flare couldn't hurt either.

[ShyGuy]

I remember reading rumors a while back that a lot of Japanese midsize developers were targeting both Vita and Wii U releases because they couldn't afford anything higher. If true, I'm excited to see what sort of quirky out-there Japanese games the Wii U will get!

Atlus don't fail us now!