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Wii U Architecture

copetti.org

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Re: Wii U Architecture

#71

Post by RajT88 »

herbst wrote: post #55
ace2358 wrote: post #3

The Wii U was unfortunately not a very successful console, but I feel that it had plenty of power to make fantastic looking games and great experiences. It came out in a weird time for technology and Nintendo always uses slightly older hardware. As a homebrew device it is amazing. There are still exploits being found with a new, safe, simple method out now thanks to some crazy dedicated modders. There’s a whole homeb…

I bought a Wii U (my only console) just a few months ago. It's still amazing, you can download all available games for free directly from Nintendo. The controller is meh, however most games also let you play with a pro controller. The screen on the Wii U brick is barely used. And if you have a party or so just let them bring their Wii controllers, all the multiplayer games support them. If you are not a classic gamer…

> you can download all available games for free directly from Nintendo

Eh? Like Wii Shop games which are WiiU only are all free?

If that's the case, I might dig mine out of the closet.

Re: Wii U Architecture

#72

Post by dm319 »

msh wrote: post #9
mikepurvis wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which games really used the secondary screen in an interesting way? The main ones I can think of are: Splatoon— second player without split screen. New SMB U— gamepad player can spawn blocks to help you reach secrets. Wind Waker— map and inventory. But an awful lot of titles just mirrored the TV or had a button to enable off-TV play.

ZombiU also used it well and the mass effect port let you use it to issue commands to your squad mates.

Yes, really innovative use of the gamepad for ZombiU gave the game a properly scary aspect when checking in bags and boxes, and nervously looking up at the screen as you're doing it.

Re: Wii U Architecture

#73

Post by iLoveOncall »

DCKing wrote: post #30
ace2358 wrote: post #3

The Wii U was unfortunately not a very successful console, but I feel that it had plenty of power to make fantastic looking games and great experiences. It came out in a weird time for technology and Nintendo always uses slightly older hardware. As a homebrew device it is amazing. There are still exploits being found with a new, safe, simple method out now thanks to some crazy dedicated modders. There’s a whole homeb…

> Nintendo always uses slightly older hardware. This is a bit of a meme, but it isn't generally true. The Nintendo 64 and GameCube were pretty cutting edge in their day. At the time the Nintendo Switch released, the Tegra X1 was still about as cutting edge as mobile GPUs came (in early 2016). What Nintendo is about - to a fault, some would argue - is cost cutting. Sometimes that means they use older stuff, but using…

You are right to say that they are actually using modern technology and sometimes even cutting-edge technology, but that does not mean that it is not inadequate technology.

The meme is about "Nintendo consoles have outdated technical capabilities and the games look like shit", and that is accurate.

Re: Wii U Architecture

#74

Post by dm319 »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #59

The concept of this machine was such a mess. You can truly tell something was rotten in the org chart when a bizarre console/tablet compromise is what they actually shipped with a straight face.

If you put the Switch and the DS alongside it, you can see where they were coming from / going to.

Re: Wii U Architecture

#75

Post by dm319 »

Narann wrote: post #20
ace2358 wrote: post #3

The Wii U was unfortunately not a very successful console, but I feel that it had plenty of power to make fantastic looking games and great experiences. It came out in a weird time for technology and Nintendo always uses slightly older hardware. As a homebrew device it is amazing. There are still exploits being found with a new, safe, simple method out now thanks to some crazy dedicated modders. There’s a whole homeb…

> Always felt like it deserved more popularity, but it couldn’t compete with the ps3/4 and Xbox 360/one. The Wii U marketing was a total disaster. Using the same name as a well established, casual platform, with a tiny suffix + pushing the "same gamepad compatibility" makes this hardware looks like an expensive "revised" version. I can't understand how Nintendo didn't catch on this.

The number of people who say 'I thought the Wii U was a handheld?', made me realise how badly they messed up. Home console buyers didn't realise it was a console. Handheld buyers realised quickly it wasn't a handheld.

Re: Wii U Architecture

#76

Post by pwpw »

The Wii U was a failure in marketing and odd design choices. The former has been discussed quite well by others, so I want to focus on the design choices that didn't help its long-term success.

The console initially promoted the gimmick of being a controller for cable TV, as seen by the blue TV button the bottom of the gamepad. This was at a time when cable TV was starting to die out for the younger crowd. The original Xbox One made a similar misguided focus on controlling TV, while the overall market was making a major shift to streaming in that period.

Next, the gamepad used a resistive touchscreen instead of a capacitive one. Phones with capacitive touchscreens had been the norm for years at this point, making the Wii U touchscreen feel very low quality.

The gamepad came with too small of a battery, which limited the gamepad's use as a portable console, which was already tied down to being nearby the console itself to stream games smoothly. The battery could be easily upgraded to a larger size, but it had to be purchased and installed later on.

The base console only had 8 GB of storage. The deluxe model only came with 32 GB of storage and cost an extra $150 (for $350 total). The console largely focused on using discs for games, but the next gen of Xbox and PlayStation consoles showed that internal storage was important. The Wii U had an SD card slot, but SD cards could oddly not be used to expand game storage; USB storage could be used however.

The Wii U had some very strong game releases that eventually saw successful ports to the Switch, and it also had the best Virtual Console release of games in any console ever, that the Switch still has not matched. The value of a Wii U by the end of its life was insane. It's the only console where so many incredible games (almost all of Nintendo's catalogue through the Wii - but not the GameCube) could be played on the system. I think the console just focused on all of the wrong things in the minutia. Tie that with terrible marketing, and the console was doomed to failure. The Wii U's genius was later revised upon and proved to be a success with the Switch. Despite it's failures, the Wii U was a great console that is one of my favorites of all time (along with the PlayStation Vita).

Re: Wii U Architecture

#77

Post by tenebrisalietum »

copetti.org's writeups about the classic consoles are really good. So copetti.org has interesting details on Nintendo's other flop - the Virtual Boy. What I found interesting about that is the VB uses moving mirrors and a vertical LED strip to generate the display - a teensy bit similar to DLP.

Re: Wii U Architecture

#78

Post by philistine »

RajT88 wrote: post #71
herbst wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a Wii U (my only console) just a few months ago. It's still amazing, you can download all available games for free directly from Nintendo. The controller is meh, however most games also let you play with a pro controller. The screen on the Wii U brick is barely used. And if you have a party or so just let them bring their Wii controllers, all the multiplayer games support them. If you are not a classic gamer…

> you can download all available games for free directly from Nintendo Eh? Like Wii Shop games which are WiiU only are all free? If that's the case, I might dig mine out of the closet.

No you can’t. This comment is wrong. The Wii U is actually closing its shop and you can’t add funds to an account anymore.

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/...

Re: Wii U Architecture

#79

Post by groovybits »

criddell wrote: post #57
buildfocus wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got a steam deck - it makes a very decent attempt at transforming the former experience into the latter, but keeping access to all your existing PC games.

How well does it succeed? One reason I've only played games on consoles is that if I see a game that has PS5 on the box, I know it will run on my console. Do Steam games make a similar promise for the Steam Deck?

Re: Sleep - Compared a traditional console, the Steam Deck does not auto-download updates quietly in the background while its asleep/docked. That is my one gripe with it. You need to have the screen on and active for it to start downloading games.

On top of that, the default behavior is to stop downloads while playing a game. You can change this in the settings, but at a significant performance hit.

Re: The 'just works' - In handheld mode, all Steam Verified titles have 'just worked' for me. Docked mode is a different story, because no game has automatically switched resolution automatically. You need to set the Native resolution mode on a per-game basis.

Additionally, there is always a chance that an unverified game you're looking for will not work very well on the Steam Deck - be it control-wise, graphically, or some other reason. It is not as 'plug and play' as a traditional console, but the device continues to get better over time with updates.

Re: Wii U Architecture

#80

Post by _chu1 »

The Wii U plays Wii and Gamecube games better than an actual Wii since you don't have to fondle composite cables and can just plug an HDMI in
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