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Nintendo Wii U faster than PS3 and Xbox 360, but no Blu-ray on board

June 15, 2011
Nintendo Wii U faster than PS3 and Xbox 360, but no Blu-ray on board
Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
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The new IBM microprocessor to be featured in Nintendo Wii U.
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The new IBM microprocessor to be featured in Nintendo Wii U.
Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
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Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
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Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
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Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
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Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
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Nintendo has announced that its Wii U gaming console will not feature a Blu-ray drive, and will instead stick to a proprietary disc format. Patent fees related to the technology are too high, the company explained. The Wii U will, however, compete with existing consoles in terms of hardware - it is equipped with a customized CPU from IBM and a GPU from AMD, and is rumored to be 50 percent faster than PS3 and Xbox 360.

Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata said in a recent investor Q&A event that enough people have already bought various devices capable of playing Blu-ray and DVD, and there's no need for such a functionality in the Wii U.

In terms of GPU, the Wii U is far from today's high-end PC standards, but it supports 1080p resolution and is said to offer more than other consoles already on the market. The new custom-designed 45-nanometer CPU comes courtesy of IBM, and reportedly makes for "extreme game play."

The white box will be equipped with a customized AMD Radeon GPU, apparently with a graphics chip similar to the one found in Radeon HD 4890, Japanese website GameWatch reports. It's a bit outdated, having been released in 2009, but still much better than those found in PS3 and Xbox 360. These details are yet to be confirmed.

Arvind Bhatia, an analyst with brokerage firm Sterne Agee, stated that some developers claim the Wii U is 50 percent faster than PS3 and Xbox 360.

Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.
Nintendo Wii U: supports 1080p resolution, but no Blu-ray on board.

The Nintendo Wii U (formerly referred to as the Wii HD) was unveiled last week during the E3 exhibition in Los Angeles. Its most distinctive aspect as of yet is the completely new touchscreen controller, which allows users to continue gaming even when the TV is turned off. The product is expected to be launched in 2012.

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Home EntertainmentBlu-rayWiiVideo GamesNintendoWii U
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11 comments
socalboomer
It\'s rather unfortunate that Nintendo is boasting about it\'s brand new product only being 50% faster than machines that have been on the market for what, three years?
In that three years, computers have improved FAR more than 50%; we have more than 50% more RAM, far more than 50% more HDD, we run at more than 50% more FPS on our games (when they\'re not locked), etc.
Scion
Nintendo have cleverly removed itself from the speed/power arms race. As a result the consoles are cheaper which means greater market penetration.
The Wii only has to be powerful enough to play games good enough to be fun. A 50% margin over the xbox 360 and PS3, which have been out for nearly 6 years, would mean it could certainly play games good enough in terms of graphics and size. Microsoft and Sony have engaged each other in a power war in which neither can really win. I personally own an Xbox and not a Wii, but that is because I prefer the kinds of games the Xbox has. Now that I have a little daughter, I may well buy a Wii (or the equivalent in five years time) because it is cheap and the games are more group / family oriented.
I can\'t wait to see what Sony and Microsoft come out with. I\'m hoping it will be a technological marvel the likes of which even god has never seen. :)
Chi Sup
What do you call a great powerful platform with no games? It\'ll take years before you see anything decent for this tablet. And Blu-ray, just like the rest of the optical medias, is a dead end tech. In case you haven\'t been around for last decade it\'s NAND that\'s the future.
IvorJetski
Yes, good idea! They should use NAND and bring back the cartridge!
ctigers
The console may be cheap but each one of the controllers is going to cost way more than most will want to pay.
Racqia Dvorak
Hurrah, a new console that can\'t even come close to what a mid-range gaming computer can do. Real progress right there. Bet they\'ll still ask full price for an inferior product.
Looks like we\'re in for several more years of \"cutting edge\" ports with mid-2000\'s graphics...if that, even.
These consoles are so old and under-powered that it\'s slowing down the entire gaming industry as companies have to decide between making a graphically-advanced game, losing an entire market, or program an obsolete POS to cater to console gamers.
Ha, I bet the only console that could come close to even playing the first Crysis, a 3 year old game, is the PS3. And it would fail.
Aythami Espantoso Luis
Congrats for being faster than a 7-8 years old machine!
Gregg Eshelman
Nintendo has done this before. The NES was the two year old Famicom repackaged and shipped to the rest of the world. They did it again, repackaged the Super Famicom as the SNES - and we bought millions of them.
So now Nintendo is once again going to put out a game console built at least partly around two year old technology and the world will be on it like a cat in a catnip patch.
Kristopher Jones
Well at least they are making progress. The pc is just poorly optimize which is why you have the ridiculous high specs. Personally I find it pitiful a Sony Labtop can only run the games on low settings with lag and it's much more powerful then PS3. A $900 Labtop mind you.
Consoles are perferable because 1 you never have to concern yourself with pc slowdown without being technical or paying for it 2 you never have to wait to download a game as it's plug & play 3 you never have to worry about a virus or pay for one 4 Devs create better games and at faster rates when they can just focus on a lock spec 5 better graphics dont equal better game at a certain point. 60 fps, 1080p plus extra graphic effect it just becomes a preference then 6 devs have to make money. History proves that high end games don't make the most money compare Crysis sales with Halo series Doesn't matter if you think it sucks
In the end games aren't about you or I but the business and the industry as a whole
We either play it buy it or tell em kiss our ass but either way when we die games will still be made and Nintendo will continue doing Nintendo. You ain't gotta like it, it's just the way things is.
Are we entitle to anything? Are there not more important things then the pride of gaming? Why waste your life on that which is vain? Track your life by 10 years. Do those games really matter now? Now fast forward 20 years Do you still wan't to waste more time on gaming obsession?
Enjoy the game, enjoy life, & try not to bust a blood vessel over gaming obsession.
In the end don't we all just wanna play good games that's fun and don't break us
Afterall,not everyone is richey rich Think of the industry as a whole
We are a community. There are more poor then rich, hence, why technology is so behind.
Games will live on
Will Sharp
It\'s kind of ridiculous to compare a console to a PC and say that a console will suck just because it\'s not as good as a $2000 gaming rig today. Consoles need to stick with last-gen hardware simply because of their lower price point.
Even if these PCs are far, far more powerful than consoles, how many games truly take advantage of all of that power?
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