[Industry Thread] I shall call him...Mini Wii.

Athenor

Clock speed really isn't everything. Nintendo builds to as exacting of specifications as they can get away with - for instance, the frame buffer on the Gamecube was the exact size needed to output 1 frame of 480p, no larger. It's why they couldn't output screengrabs like an Xbox, because there was no room to store the post-processed images. The Wii and the U are probably built the same way.

I hate to say it, because this is going to sound elitist, but a lot of people want super fast things so they can be sloppy about programming. On the PC it's okay, because every PC is different and you need to scale. But on a system where you know your system's exact specs, you should be able to develop to match them. And if you use a middleware engine like UE3, it should be tailored to those specs as well. That was a big chunk of the PS3's early problems, after all - there were no APIs or middleware engines that were tailored to the Cell architecture, so the existing PC architectures had to be shoehorned in without optimization.

Skull2185

http://mealholder.tumblr.com/post/36798770636/binding-of-isaac-console-remake-details

Binding of Isaac coming to consoles with some new content it looks like. Currently aiming for PS3/Vita and Steam with "talks" being held with Microsoft. I love Meat Boy, and I really want to play BoI, so this is good news. I just hope it gets released on Xbox. I know Team Meat had a shitty experience with MS for Meat Boy...

Sounds more like Binding of Isaac Remastered rather than a remake.

BigJoeM

That's not elitist that's an attitude that's been around for a while and has only gotten worse because of how many of the big developers in the west got their start on the PC.

As to the WiiU specs (and who leaked them) it's looking like Nintendo's decision to use similar architecture in order to ease backwards compatibility was a mistake.

I expect all the "homebrew" enthusiasts to start pirating WiiU games the second they are able.

GnomeTank

Comparing clock speeds and stuff like that is almost always a failure in 2012, unless the micro architectures in play are equivalent (they aren't).

Also, Nintendo has been standardized on a PowerPC architecture since the GameCube, and they continued it right through the Wii and in to the WiiU. From their perspective, this makes perfect sense. Even the GPU in the WiiU is just a better version of the Wii's is just a better version of the GameCubes.

UncleSporky

Lanrutcon wrote: »

Henroid wrote: »

Okay Helloween shared this from GAF:

Wii U CPU: 1.2GHz tri-core Memory: 2 GB Memory bandwidth: 12.8 GB/s GPU core: 550MHz
Xbox 360 CPU: 3.2GHz tri-core Memory: 512 MB Memory bandwidth: 22.4 GB/s GPU core: 500MHz
PS3 CPU: 3.2GHz single core + 6 SPUs Memory: 256 MB + 256 MB Memory bandwidth: 25.6 GB/s GPU Core: 550MHz

Helloween is astute though and adds,

But bare in mind that you cannot just compare the 3 machines number to number, it doesnt work

There's other things to take into account.

Ok, so we can't judge the WiiU on the performance of the games and we can't judge it based on comparison to other consoles?

I would say you can only judge it on the performance of the games, but the ones currently available still suffer from being ports and launch software and "gotta get it out day one" syndrome.

But otherwise yeah. Obviously you can't use the specs straight up. How in the world could the launch games be comparable to PS3 and 360 with half speed RAM and less than half speed CPU? It's either a massive technical achievement to get a game optimized for 3.2 GHz running at the same quality on 1.2 GHz, or we really can't compare on that basis.

Allforce

The WiiU could be 10x the power of the 360 but you're still not going to see cutting edge 3rd party games as long as shit like Madden and BLOPS2 only have 500 concurrent users on playing them each evening.

GnomeTank

Allforce wrote: »

The WiiU could be 10x the power of the 360 but you're still not going to see cutting edge 3rd party games as long as shit like Madden and BLOPS2 only have 500 concurrent users on playing them each evening.

I'm not sure what the number of people playing two shitty ports (one especially shitty in CODBLOPS2) a week after a consoles release has to do with anything...but sure, we'll go with it I guess.

Skull2185

GnomeTank wrote: »

Allforce wrote: »

The WiiU could be 10x the power of the 360 but you're still not going to see cutting edge 3rd party games as long as shit like Madden and BLOPS2 only have 500 concurrent users on playing them each evening.

I'm not sure what the number of people playing two shitty ports (one especially shitty in CODBLOPS2) a week after a consoles release has to do with anything...but sure, we'll go with it I guess.

The BLOPS 2 WiiU port is quite good, I've heard. Pretty much identical to the 360/PS3 versions, minus some framerate dips in particularly heavy actiony bits. Plus you can play split screen with one person on the TV and one on the tablet. I'd be willing to trade some framerate for that tablet functionality.

Edit: Ben did a pretty good write up for PAR.

http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/black-ops-2-on-the-wii-u-the-good-gamepad-the-bad-framerate-the-weird-where

Not perfect, but I wouldn't say "especially shitty"

GnomeTank

I've heard quite the opposite, that the CODBLOPS2 port is the worst port on the system and is a hot mess. Still doesn't invalidate the point: Looking at online play numbers for two games that have been out for months on other consoles, and on a console that's a week old, and that are controversial in their quality (we'll go with that instead of just 'bad') is kind of a silly metric overall.

slash000

That's ridiculous. Comparing online players for two established consoles on which the series was popularized with each that have installed bases of roughly 70million each after having been out for seven years against a system that launched two weeks ago?

I agree with the notion that third parties will begin to half-ass the Wii-U efforts of their ports of games popular on the previous gen systems by nature of it a) not being designed for the Wii-U initially, and b) not being the primary market (install base), but I think third parties aren't so foolish as to expect CODBLOPS Wii-U numbers to reach the numbers of those on the previous gen by any stretch.

Right now third parties are making effortless ports to test the waters, and Ubi (at least) is testing the waters for a new franchise (ZombiU). They're not expecting to sell 10 million copies of their games on the system that just came out, they're probably looking more closely at how much it costs them to port to Wii-U and what the attach rates are going to be (for multiconsole releases), and how much a ground-up development effort it takes for the system from a resource, time, and money perspective.

SyphonBlue

Playstation Vita not selling (in large part) because it's too expensive? What is Sony to do? Price cut?

hahahahahahahahahaha silly human

A new PlayStation Vita bundle will be available next week, packed with a memory card, PlayStation Plus subscription and game for a total of $299.99, Sony announced today on the PlayStation Blog.

The PS Plus Instant Game Collection PS Vita Bundle includes the 3G Wi-Fi Vita model, a one-year PS Plus membership, 4 GB memory card and a voucher for Zipper Interactive's third-person shooter Unit 13.

yes this will bring all the buyers to the yard

skeldare

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Playstation Vita not selling (in large part) because it's too expensive? What is Sony to do? Price cut?

hahahahahahahahahaha silly human

A new PlayStation Vita bundle will be available next week, packed with a memory card, PlayStation Plus subscription and game for a total of $299.99, Sony announced today on the PlayStation Blog.

The PS Plus Instant Game Collection PS Vita Bundle includes the 3G Wi-Fi Vita model, a one-year PS Plus membership, 4 GB memory card and a voucher for Zipper Interactive's third-person shooter Unit 13.

yes this will bring all the buyers to the yard

Unit 13? Sorry not even for free.

mere_immortal

Awesome the 3g one too, so I can just continue to use my phone for internet instead of ever using that connection.

Foomy

Hmm bundle the 3g version no one wants, with a memory card that's too small to be useful.

the 1 year ps+ is good, no idea if unit 13 is a good game or not.

but $300 is not going to move that thing off shelves, the only bundle i've heard of so far exciting people was the wifi vita+ac:l for $180.

Henroid

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Playstation Vita not selling (in large part) because it's too expensive? What is Sony to do? Price cut?

hahahahahahahahahaha silly human

A new PlayStation Vita bundle will be available next week, packed with a memory card, PlayStation Plus subscription and game for a total of $299.99, Sony announced today on the PlayStation Blog.

The PS Plus Instant Game Collection PS Vita Bundle includes the 3G Wi-Fi Vita model, a one-year PS Plus membership, 4 GB memory card and a voucher for Zipper Interactive's third-person shooter Unit 13.

yes this will bring all the buyers to the yard

I guess they really are betting on a proud tradition of mediocrity.

SyphonBlue

Foomy wrote: »

no idea if unit 13 is a good game or not.

IGN gave it a 7.5 which, based on their rating scale, places it somewhere between "poop on a stick" and "being forced to watch the entire Twilight series in one sitting with a group of 13 year old girls"

Dehumanized

It's a bundle that includes 7 free games right now (Unit 13, Uncharted, Gravity Rush, Wipeout 2048, FFT PSP, Jet Set Radio, When Blobs Attack), but only enough storage to download one of the Vita games, and one of the smaller games.

Sony :rotate:

Shadowfire

GnomeTank wrote: »

I've heard quite the opposite, that the CODBLOPS2 port is the worst port on the system and is a hot mess. Still doesn't invalidate the point: Looking at online play numbers for two games that have been out for months on other consoles, and on a console that's a week old, and that are controversial in their quality (we'll go with that instead of just 'bad') is kind of a silly metric overall.

The only controversy is people calling BLOPS2 a hot mess. There's a considerable amount of rhetoric floating around about the game, but it really runs fine. There are frame rate issues in the heaviest of firefights, but it's rare and the game is perfectly playable.

Henroid

Dehumanized wrote: »

It's a bundle that includes 7 free games right now (Unit 13, Uncharted, Gravity Rush, Wipeout 2048, FFT PSP, Jet Set Radio, When Blobs Attack), but only enough storage to download one of the Vita games, and one of the smaller games.

Sony :rotate:

Thanks for putting that into perspective. Of how awful this is by the way.

Archsorcerer

THQ is selling games in a Humble Bundle: https://humblebundle.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vX4jd3yrsM

Seven legendary titles to rock your gaming library. The Humble THQ Bundle is here with a colossal onslaught of esteemed titles. Pay $1 or more for Steam keys for Company of Heroes (and its two full-blown expansions Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor), Darksiders, Metro 2033, and Red Faction: Armageddon. And if you pay over the average price you’ll also receive the extraordinary Saints Row: The Third!

Fire it up on Steam and Windows. Buying the Humble THQ Bundle gets you the games for Windows through Steam. For your listening delight, you also get a collection of DRM-free soundtracks!

Pay what you want. Buying all these blockbuster titles and soundtracks on their own would cost upwards of $190, but we’re letting you name your price! Just one dollar is required to get Steam* keys (beat the average price to get a Steam key for Saints Row: The Third), and the soundtracks are yours for any amount!

* Note: This bundle is Windows-only and provides Steam keys only. You must pay $1 or more to receive the games.

Support amazing charities. Choose how your purchase is divided: to the Child’s Play Charity, the American Red Cross, and/or to THQ. And if you like this promotion, a tip to the Humble Bundle would be greatly appreciated!

SyphonBlue

Archsorcerer wrote: »

THQ is selling games in a Humble Bundle: https://humblebundle.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vX4jd3yrsM

Seven legendary titles to rock your gaming library. The Humble THQ Bundle is here with a colossal onslaught of esteemed titles. Pay $1 or more for Steam keys for Company of Heroes (and its two full-blown expansions Opposing Fronts and Tales of Valor), Darksiders, Metro 2033, and Red Faction: Armageddon. And if you pay over the average price you’ll also receive the extraordinary Saints Row: The Third!

Fire it up on Steam and Windows. Buying the Humble THQ Bundle gets you the games for Windows through Steam. For your listening delight, you also get a collection of DRM-free soundtracks!

Pay what you want. Buying all these blockbuster titles and soundtracks on their own would cost upwards of $190, but we’re letting you name your price! Just one dollar is required to get Steam* keys (beat the average price to get a Steam key for Saints Row: The Third), and the soundtracks are yours for any amount!

* Note: This bundle is Windows-only and provides Steam keys only. You must pay $1 or more to receive the games.

Support amazing charities. Choose how your purchase is divided: to the Child’s Play Charity, the American Red Cross, and/or to THQ. And if you like this promotion, a tip to the Humble Bundle would be greatly appreciated!

holy shit those games

Renzo

That's a really cheap price for a lot of good games!

cloudeagle

Henroid wrote: »

Dehumanized wrote: »

It's a bundle that includes 7 free games right now (Unit 13, Uncharted, Gravity Rush, Wipeout 2048, FFT PSP, Jet Set Radio, When Blobs Attack), but only enough storage to download one of the Vita games, and one of the smaller games.

Sony :rotate:

Thanks for putting that into perspective. Of how awful this is by the way.

Christ.

Hey, Kaz? I know you're a brand-new CEO and you staked the future of the company on gaming and all that, but at this point it will be less embarrassing to just lower the goddamn price already than to keep piling in useless crap.

Oh, and CODBLOPS2 Wii U got an 85 on Metacritic, so maybe it's not inherently a piece of shit.

Then again System Warzz VIII are in full rage.

McHoger

I got a chuckle out of THQ being listed under charities. That said, $6 for those games is a pretty damn good deal.

cloudeagle

THQ bundle:

freakazoidspittake.mov

That's one way to raise some quick cash. Plus they've gotta feel pretty humble by now.

Archsorcerer

Also, the extra sales for Metro 2033 and CoH build extra excitement for the upcoming sequels.

Foomy

Well hopefully this will help THQ limp along for another month.

watching the ticker on the HumbleBundle site is fun, it's logging about a 5 sales a second.

SyphonBlue

Has anyone bought it yet? Is it individual keys, or a bundle key?

Couscous

All except for Red Faction make sense as a way to try to sell their sequels.

Dehumanized

Yeah, this could turn out to be a pretty good bailout for THQ... or just a going out of business sale.

WotanAnubis

So... is Pay What You Want actually becoming a thing now?

Foomy

SyphonBlue wrote: »

Has anyone bought it yet? Is it individual keys, or a bundle key?

it's one steam key for all the games

SyphonBlue

First person to PM me for the bundle gets the key for the bundle

First person to PM me for Saints Row gets the key for Saints Row

Please specify which you would like

Archsorcerer

I'm surprised they didn't add WH40K: Space Marine. The MP can use the extra users. But it also means maintenance for the back end which is not cheap.

Allforce

I don't even know if those games will run on my PC but for 1 dollar I'm willing to try it out AND help struggling THQ out of bankruptcy!

WinWin

Couscous

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/11/29/black-ops-2-topples-halo-4-on-xbox-live/

Even after saving the entire galaxy (twice!), Master Chief just can't stay on top. After briefly dethroning Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox Live during its launch week, Halo 4 is now the second most played game behind Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, according to Major Nelson. It's not too surprising, given the traditional Xbox Live dominance of Activision's annual shooter.

Perhaps more interesting is seeing Hitman: Absolution (appropriately) sneak into the top 20, assassinate Halo 3 and take over its spot at number 19. Meanwhile, Minecraft looms in third place, waiting to reclaim its former glory once again.

Not really surprising considering how huge CoD is.

Couscous

So why is THQ listed as a charity? Edit: Nevermind. They never call it a charity.

Poor THQ is going to get so few donations from this. They should have gone with a commercial showing the puppy eyed programmers to increase donations.

Dehumanized

Couscous wrote: »

So why is THQ listed as a charity?

Looks like they just have some poorly edited copy. In the actual allocations, THQ is fully separate from the charities.

Allforce

Can you buy these bundles twice and then gift the codes?

cloudeagle

So Microsoft is going to start emulating the Apple model... only with one critical flaw.

Shortly after the release of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, Microsoft is reportedly planning a shift away from its big-bang OS release strategy to a more regular update schedule, similar to Apple's once-a-year updates to OS X and iOS.

ZDNet reported back in August that Microsoft was already working on a follow-up to Windows 8, codenamed "Blue," and hypothesized that it would look more like a Windows service pack than a new OS.

Today, The Verge reported that the Windows Blue codename represents a new strategy with Microsoft's OS releases: instead of a full OS overhaul every few years, they'll deliver a service pack-style update on a yearly schedule, for both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

Whether these updates will be inexpensive or totally free is apparently still up in the air, but it's clear that Microsoft's goal is to make sure consumers keep their OS up to date.

Scheduled to debut sometime in 2013, Blue will have its own SDK, and Microsoft will stop accepting Windows 8 apps into the Windows store. But Windows 8 apps will reportedly still run on Blue, so there's no need to panic about Redmond messing with your game library just yet.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/11/28/microsoft-to-push-yearly-os-updates-with-windows-blue

I'm not sure Microsoft could piss off developers more than if they packed their dev kit licenses in boxes along with a dozen starving rabid weasels.