Wii "Leaked" Specs Sketchy at Best?

[Harlan Hoyt]

Ars Technica has a post (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060802-7407.html) questioning the Wii specs that were floating around on Monday. The wait for official Wii spec continues...?


For what it's worth, I even went back to my own archive of official GameCube docs to verify the specs above, and I picked through the MaxConsole post looking for something that might set their information apart as different from Gekko—an enlarged buffer, a reduced latency, a new functional block, anything—but I came up empty-handed. This being the case, there are clearly two options here:

The MaxConsole specs are someone's idea of a joke.
The Wii really is just an overclocked GameCube with a DVD player, in which case the joke's on Nintendo.

Guess it'll take a bit longer to find out what's in those three DVD cases.

[IndependentGMR]

If it is only an overclocked GC, then I hope they sell it for dirt cheap. $150 (with controller & Wii Sports) would be a killer price.

[aileron]

I don't give a damn, just give me more Mario and Zelda.

[[VSK]BadCRC]

You know what's so bogus, in my mind at least, about those posted specs that have shown up, is that I swear to god that that was the bullshit spec sheet that came out long before last year's E3 where some random person said these were the specs.

My better half is telling me that this is all bullshit, and to wait for the actual specs from a reliable source.

And if these spec's are for real, oh well, I just want to play, give me my Wii already!

[Draft]

Based on the released screenshots, why would you doubt it's anything more than an overclocked Gamecube?

I don't know why Wii fans continue torturing themselves with the delusion that there's some sort of pikmin pushed processing powerhouse inside that little case. Nintendo has said multiple times that gigaflops and terabytes and all that cool stuff isn't what Wii is all about.

[Kamalot]

Wii is getting great support from 3rd parties and will be chock-full of 1st party Nintendo games. It will be more powerful than previous generation machines and comes with a unique new input method. The system will be cheap and looks great.

Who really cares what the specs are?

[AversionFX]

I hate news posts in which people can't even be bothered to use proper grammar.

The past participle (I believe is the correct term) of a plural object is not WAS, it is WERE.

The specs that WERE floating around.

You failed English? Bobby, you speak English.

[MaiXu]

I respect Nintendo's philosophy going into this gen, and I'm willing to buy a Wii on day one if the price is around $200, but I think its nearly impossible for Nintendo to really waste so much devtime and money only to push out a repackaged GameCube, not to mention just foolish to not pump up the hardware at all. It just doesn't seem like something Nintendo would do, let alone stockholders allow. Even if Nintendo were to just be "keeping up with the Jonses" in terms of graphics and hardware, they could easily push out something more powerful than the GameCube without much cost.

[Royal Fool]

I hate news posts in which people can't even be bothered to use proper grammar.

http://pr0n.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/thumb/f/f5/Howdoishotweb.jpg/180px-Howdoishotweb.jpg

[Dafizman]

I heard the Wii is going to be powered by a pair of Xbox 360's gangbanging a PS3.

[jwbxx]

Wow, the grammar Nazis are out in full force today

[Harlan Hoyt]

The past participle (I believe is the correct term) of a plural object is not WAS, it is WERE.
There you are. My mistake.

[KarmaGhost]

2. The Wii really is just an overclocked GameCube with a DVD player, in which case the joke's on Nintendo.You mean, the joke's on you, the consumer? But I don't believe it would be, if the games are good and the Wiimote holds up to its promises, the joke will be on no one, really.

[shnastybiznastic]

I heard the Wii is going to be powered by a pair of Xbox 360's gangbanging a PS3.
Does two constitute a gangbang? I thought it was more of a double team, or a three way.

[Grifter]

Does two constitute a gangbang? I thought it was more of a double team, or a three way.
with a total of six "cores", two "GPUs" a "cell" and seven "SPEs" this would definately constitute as a gang bang, unfortunately...
I heard the Wii is going to be powered by a pair of Xbox 360's gangbanging a PS3.

...this was proven to be false do to the lack of existing technology to create a casing to hold such tremindous(sp?) power. Instead they are using the unholy child born of this evil unison to power the Wii. What they are not telling us is the fact that this "CPU" is filled with such rage and hatred that it's rendering of seemingly cute and fun games will destroy the souls of all who play. Only the truist of Nintendo fanboys are excempt, those whose rose colored spectacles will keep them safe from the brunt of the attack effectively twisting their souls so they can be used as Generals in sata...errr...Nintendos army to take over the world.

The Wiimote with rumble feature is really just a super high tech vibrator that sends out a series of high pitched clicks and squeaks through its built in speaker to attract and intensify the sexual appetite of all non-gaming women. Nintenerds will think this is the the beginning of a perfect society untill it's to late to relize what is really happening.

The End is Here!

[Kamalot]

You mean, the joke's on you, the consumer? But I don't believe it would be, if the games are good and the Wiimote holds up to its promises, the joke will be on no one, really.
The joke would be on Sony for thinking that storage media and expensive cell processers are what video games need.

[Kyro]

I'm joining the "it doesn't matter what the specs are" camp. I've never bought a console based on it's hardware, and I know were all tired of hearing it, but it really is all about the games.

Besides, the money I save up on my Wii is definitely going towards my PC :D

[benig]

I believe I debunked those specs when I noticed the glaring lack of 1T-SRAM

[Ernst_Jager]

Nintendo Fans are much like Macintosh fans.

[thecrazyd]

Except Nintendo's got games.

[AversionFX]

Nintendo Fans are much like Macintosh fans.

I believe what you meant to say is "Nintendo fans are just like fans of everything else, in that they stick to their preferred brand/product."

And then you should have amended your post, apologizing for being such a tool.

Wow, the grammar Nazis are out in full force today

There's a difference between being a grammar Nazi, and being an idiot who just can't even type. If basic sentence structure is beyond your grasp, you have no business using a keyboard. Go back to school and get a freakin' education.

[shnastybiznastic]

Also, Mac fans can dress themselves.

[Kyro]

Also, Mac fans can dress themselves.

"Wait... this is... a shirt? That goes on my legs right?"

:p

[EternalGamer]

I'm leaning towards the specs being real, but I don't really care either way. I'm guessing the price to be $200 and include Wii Sports packed in. $200 for a souped up Gamecube with 512MB internal memory (no memory card needed), Wii Mote and a game? Sounds like a good deal to me.

[Kamalot]

Who really cares what the specs are?


Great 3rd Party Support (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/03/ubisoft-reveals-seven-wii-launch-titles-including-far-cry/)
Excellent 1st Party Games (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/03/nintendos-first-party-edge/)
More Powerful than any in previous generation
Unique Input Method
Affordable (<$250)
Stylish
Works well with wildly successful Nintendo DS


Cons:
Unknown specs?

[Harlan Hoyt]

There's a difference between being a grammar Nazi, and being an idiot who just can't even type. If basic sentence structure is beyond your grasp, you have no business using a keyboard. Go back to school and get a freakin' education.
And there's a difference between pointing out a mistake and being a total dick about it.

[Cyrano]

Wow, the grammar Nazis are out in full force today

You should end your sentences with periods.

Sincerely,
Punctuation Nazi

[Deadend]

I am really hoping the Wii has a good amount of RAM, not so much video RAM, but straight up RAM for making imagination the limits of what the system can do. I think 256 MB would be perfect for the Wii, 1/2 that of the 360, but with much less overhead on graphics.

[CrysDark]

I heard the Wii is going to be powered by a pair of Xbox 360's gangbanging a PS3.


I loled! I have been waiting a long while for the perfect sig, this is great.

[sanatos]

Oh noes! The graphics might be slightly less than photorealistic! What are we going to do, guys?

[kid cabelgo]

Nintendo Fans are much like Macintosh fans.

he's right you know.

i'm a nintendo fan btw.

[Chameleo]

saw this article too.... you know i never thought about specs when i bought an SNES. i just wanted SF II / turbo!

[tombofsoldier]

Nah, the Wii is actually going to hook up to IBMs super computer Blu Gene for processing and use quad workstation nvidia cards for graphics, but it won't have a hard drive.

Oh yeah: http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3329

[bboy]

But I don't believe it would be, if the games are good and the Wiimote holds up to its promises, the joke will be on no one, really.

No one, execept SORNY and Microsoft that is. ;)

/gimme my wii!

[MoJoBehaumat]

Yea but I hope Nintendo has an ace up their other sleeve.
So far their lineup looks great but where the hell is my killer app?!? :confused:

[IRONGUSTAV]

Except Nintendo's got games.

yes look at the GC..mm..wait..

its nice to see kamalot in full damage control suit

[Achilles]

Yea but I hope Nintendo has an ace up their other sleeve.
So far their lineup looks great but where the hell is my killer app?!? :confused:Smash Bros and Mario Galaxy are probably going to be killer apps. One of them uses the Wii controller, the other will either use the classic controller or the Game Cube controller. I'd say Zelda, but I'm not sure how well it'll do on the Wii compared to the Game Cube.Oh noes! The graphics might be slightly less than photorealistic! What are we going to do, guys?Red Steel (http://media.wii.ign.com/media/821/821973/img_3795377.html)
Sonic (http://media.wii.ign.com/media/800/800277/img_3789316.html)
Mario Galaxy (http://media.wii.ign.com/media/748/748588/img_3761888.html)
Wii Sports (http://media.wii.ign.com/media/826/826987/img_3603297.html)
Zelda (http://media.wii.ign.com/media/748/748589/img_3643654.html)What's up with this last shot? It was right next to one of the same sort of scene that looked way better, like SC2 better (http://media.wii.ign.com/media/748/748589/img_3660970.html). The first one's clearly real-time and running on the Wii if you look at the HUD, so maybe they really spruced up the Wii version since E3?

[Chameleo]

nintendo's being really tight lipped about everything. launch is about 3 months away and we dont have price details, exact date, or specs....

thats really waiting till the last second....

[thecrazyd]

yes look at the GC..mm..wait..

its nice to see kamalot in full damage control suit
Fuck off. GCs got tons of great games, just not as many mediocre / crappy games as the other consoles.

[Kefkataran]

Based on the released screenshots, why would you doubt it's anything more than an overclocked Gamecube?

The same reason you would doubt that a 360 is just an overclocked Xbox based on early screens and releases? Because the first batch of games released on a system usually doesn't use close to all its power?

Oh noes! The graphics might be slightly less than photorealistic! What are we going to do, guys?

Dare I suggest... revolution?

[MoJoBehaumat]

nintendo's being really tight lipped about everything. launch is about 3 months away and we dont have price details, exact date, or specs....

thats really waiting till the last second....

Yea, but then again has Nintendo ever pushed specs on us?
Even when Nintendo does release specs they will be realistic, meaning in game specs, unlike what Sony and Microsoft throw out.

[Nimos]

If the specs are correct it's like Nintendo is insisting on using a 4 yr old technology :

Nintendo : We want to buy the same graphics chip you sold us 4 years ago.
Ati : We stopped making these ages ago, might we interest you in a newer faster and more efficient one, we will even sell it to you at the same price as the old one.
Nintendo : No ! We want the old one and we will pay you the previous price of 30$ for each .
Ati : Look, restarting the old fab process will cost us a fortune which will force us to sell it at 37 $. Why don't you buy the new ones which we are already producing ? we will even sell them to you at 29$
Nintendo : You make a hard bargain ... 37$ it is !!!!

[EternalGamer]

If the specs are correct it's like Nintendo is insisting on using a 4 yr old technology :

Nintendo : We want to buy the same graphics chip you sold us 4 years ago.
Ati : We stopped making these ages ago, might we interest you in a newer faster and more efficient one, we will even sell it to you at the same price as the old one.
Nintendo : No ! We want the old one and we will pay you the previous price of 30$ for each .
Ati : Look, restarting the old fab process will cost us a fortune which will force us to sell it at 37 $. Why don't you buy the new ones which we are already producing ? we will even sell them to you at 29$
Nintendo : You make a hard bargain ... 37$ it is !!!!


Might this have something to do with the backwards compatibility issue or developer familiarity? Do we even know for certain that the Gamecube is out of production?

[Talanvor]

Well if it's a new chip, from the same chipmaker, there should be no backwards compatability issue. The reason the 360 has to have emulation is because they switched from nVidia to ATi. Too bad they didn't want to work with nVidia to get some sort of deal worked out.

[EternalGamer]

Achilles, I'm not sure what is up with the huge difference between those two pictures, but the second (better looking one) seems to fit the style of all of the other, new pictures better. But I think it also matches the E3 build better. That first pic really does look like something from the N64 era. The new pics though look freaking amazing:

http://www.hyrule.net/gallery/13._Twilight_Princess/Screenshots/june_1.jpg

http://www.hyrule.net/gallery/13._Twilight_Princess/Screenshots/june_9.jpg

http://www.hyrule.net/gallery/13._Twilight_Princess/Screenshots/june_10.jpg

[EternalGamer]

How can someone look at those images and come away with the impression that the Wii is not powerful enough to realize developers artistic vision is beyond me. This images are gorgeous by any standards.

[Nimos]

Might this have something to do with the backwards compatibility issue or developer familiarity? Do we even know for certain that the Gamecube is out of production?

Even if the Flipper is not out of production, technology moves on... If Nintendo paid for each Flipper 30$ 4 years ago, for the same amount today they can definitely buy something better. It's like a consumer insisting on buying a Riva TNT2 because he paid 140$ 4 years ago !!!!

[EternalGamer]

Rman brought up that point before and it might be a good reason for suspecting the specs to be falsified. But the bottom line is this--when I look at those screen shots it is hard to care what the specs are. It's obviously good enough to create beautiful visuals. That's good enough.

[Kefkataran]

As usual, EternalGamer's completely right. The system isn't close to as powerful as the 360 or PS3. We've known that for a LONG time. So it's not going to be able to do some of the amazing stuff I expect 360 and PS3 to be pulling off by the end of their life span. So be it. But obviously it still has the power to pump out some really beautiful visuals. In the end it's going to be up to developers to make this work stylistically, just like it is on the more next-gen consoles.

[Chameleo]

there are PS2 titles that look as good as that right now. (Valkyrie profile anyone?)

which means if devs can squeeze that out of the PS2 *now* - then the potential of the Wii is greater than people think...

Really, the PS2 is not dead - Sony's had their hands forced.

[DeadScreenSky]

Based on the released screenshots, why would you doubt it's anything more than an overclocked Gamecube?

I don't know why Wii fans continue torturing themselves with the delusion that there's some sort of pikmin pushed processing powerhouse inside that little case. Nintendo has said multiple times that gigaflops and terabytes and all that cool stuff isn't what Wii is all about.
Yeah, it seems particularly common on EvilAvatar. Other gaming forums I visit seem to hold a common consensus that yes, Wii is Gamecube Turbo when it comes to hardware specs, but there seem to be a lot of holdout fans here for some bizarre reason.

Don't buy a Wii if you care about great graphics performance (or alternately, if you think Gamecube offered acceptable visuals). That's not what it is about, and hopefully Nintendo will price accordingly. $200 is a lot of money when the Gamecube, N64, SNES, and NES all launched for the same but offered a true generational performance upgrade...

Yea, but then again has Nintendo ever pushed specs on us?
Even when Nintendo does release specs they will be realistic, meaning in game specs, unlike what Sony and Microsoft throw out.
New to the console wars, huh? I remember how Nintendo claimed the Cruisin' USA and Killer Instince arcade machines reflected the N64's performance level (they even stated as such in their attract modes), arguably a bigger deception than even Sony's E3 2005 prerendered Motorstorm and Killzone trailers. They weren't as bad with their other systems, but you better believe they proclaimed how great their specs were for the SNES, etc.

Nintendo is taking a new approach with the Wii and not bragging about its specs, realistically out of necessity. But this isn't traditional for them, even if they were slightly more honest about the Gamecube.

(And I'm not sure what you mean with MS lying about specs. Even Sony was pretty honest about the PS2 outside of a few crazy Kutaragi quotes - their early PS2 demonstrations were clearly surpassed by later actual PS2 titles. But that's a different topic, I suppose.)

[EternalGamer]

The proof is not in the numbers, it is in the results. I don't understand how anyone can look at those Zelda pics and conclude that they don't look good. As we've discussed before, what makes games look good is that there are obviously very talented artists who are working on them. Arguing that the Wii isn't capable of beautiful looking games is like arguing that Monet couldn't paint a beautiful picture because he only had access to 234 different colors as opposed to the 1024 that are available in a paintshop today.

[MoJoBehaumat]

No I was there online debating the spec sheets with alleged experts on the subject. At E3 Sony where all about showing how many polygons/floating points and all that techincal jargon that comes with it. While Nintendo on the other Hand was simply trying to promote real ingame prefomance. That was what I was eluding to.

Nintendo is not taking a new approach at all! They have been doing this since the Cube. Plus remember the President oldfart took a seat and left Iwata at the throne. That is the difference in stategey. One mans way of bussiness compnared to the older style.

[AversionFX]

And there's a difference between pointing out a mistake and being a total dick about it.

Take your bitch sensitivity and get off the 'net.

[Kefkataran]

I'm with Harlan on this one, Aversion. He's been completely kind about the whole thing, including changing his mistake without complaining about your ridiculously cruel first post. Quit being such a dick. (And this is coming from a self-proclaimed grammar nazi.)

[DeadScreenSky]

No I was there online debating the spec sheets with alleged experts on the subject. At E3 Sony where all about showing how many polygons/floating points and all that techincal jargon that comes with it. While Nintendo on the other Hand was simply trying to promote real ingame prefomance. That was what I was eluding to.
So you're just talking about a system's fanboys? Because Nintendo fans surely weren't innocent of that either.

The worst you can accuse Sony and the PS2 of (specs-wise) is that they listed raw polygon performance as one spec. But it was clearly marked as such, so it's hardly any fault of theirs when some technically ignorant people inferred too much from it. Their various demo vids were completely realistic of PS2 game performance, even conservative.

Nintendo is not taking a new approach at all! They have been doing this since the Cube. Plus remember the President oldfart took a seat and left Iwata at the throne. That is the difference in stategey. One mans way of bussiness compnared to the older style.
Wow, since the Cube? :p

The Wii approach is new. When Nintendo announced the Gamecube, the specs were announced (and trumpeted) simultaneously (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2619333.html?q=recap). This was a full year before the system's release. Nintendo still hasn't released official Wii specs to the public, in fact they've gone on record stating they probably won't even when it's launched. There have been no graphics tech demos to show off the hardware (seen with the Gamecube and even the DS). This is a completely different approach for the company. Just because the Gamecube tech hype wasn't as deceptive as Nintendo's hype for the N64 doesn't mean they weren't still playing the "our specs are better" game.

And let's be honest: you don't advertise your hardware specifications if you have nothing to brag about. This was not the case with all of Nintendo's pre-Wii systems - this new approach is out of necessity.

[Achilles]

Achilles, I'm not sure what is up with the huge difference between those two pictures, but the second (better looking one) seems to fit the style of all of the other, new pictures better. But I think it also matches the E3 build better. That first pic really does look like something from the N64 era. The new pics though look freaking amazing:Well they certainly look better than the other shots (they've even got some light bloom going on). It really makes me wonder what the GC version will look like. If the original fishing scene is just a quick port from the GC, and there's that big a difference between the two versions, they should really make a bigger deal about that. I doubt anyone would want to buy it on the GC after seeing the comparison, assuming that's what's going on.

[AversionFX]

I'm with Harlan on this one, Aversion. He's been completely kind about the whole thing, including changing his mistake without complaining about your ridiculously cruel first post. Quit being such a dick. (And this is coming from a self-proclaimed grammar nazi.)


/shrug

I was decently polite about pointing out the mistake. It's only when idiots are like "omg the grammer nazzis are out in force!" that it just gets annoying. Fucking type as if you speak the goddamn language you're typing in, or don't type at all.

My less-than-pleasant response wasn't directed at Harlan. But if he wants to take offense, oh well. I have no control over that.

[Kamalot]

Well they certainly look better than the other shots (they've even got some light bloom going on). It really makes me wonder what the GC version will look like. If the original fishing scene is just a quick port from the GC, and there's that big a difference between the two versions, they should really make a bigger deal about that. I doubt anyone would want to buy it on the GC after seeing the comparison, assuming that's what's going on.I've read that Zelda will be the same graphically between the Cube and Wii versions. Is that no longer the case?

[DeadScreenSky]

I've read that Zelda will be the same graphically between the Cube and Wii versions. Is that no longer the case?
No, that is exactly the case (though I would be surprised if the Wii version doesn't have a slightly better framerate). But the Wii version is currently the only release with widescreen, so you could say they aren't the same for that reason.

[Expugnare]

Did nobody else start laughing when the word Wii and leaked were used together?

[Kefkataran]

Did nobody else start laughing when the word Wii an leaked were used together?

*snort* I just got it. Hahaha. Now I need to have a show to use that one on.