Wii specs leaked

Scruff

Read the details here

overview from theInq

CPU (Broadway)

• Superscalar microprocessor with six execution units (floating-point unit, branching unit, system register unit, load/store unit, two integer units)
• Operating speed of 729 MHz
• Bus to main memory: 243 MHz, 64 bits (maximum bandwidth: 1.9 gigabytes/sec)
• 32-kilobyte 8-way set-associative L1 data cache (can set up 16-kilobyte data scratch pad)
• Onboard 256-kilobyte 2-way set-associative L2 integrated cache
• Supports three L2 cache fetch modes: 32, 64, and 128-Byte
• DMA unit (15-entry DMA request queue) used by 16-kilobyte data scratch pad
• Write-gather buffer for writing graphics command lists to the graphics chip

GPU (Hollywood )

• Operating speed of 243 MHz
• 3 megabytes of embedded graphics memory
• 24 megabytes of internal main memory
• Internal main memory operates at 486 MHz
• Maximum bandwidth between GPU and main memory: 3.9 gigabytes per second
• The GPU of the Wii is identical to the GC's but it is on average 1.5X faster

Other details

• 64megabytes of GDDR3 external main memory
• Internal non-removable 512MB flash memory used as storage for game save data and downloadable content
• The following interfaces are included with the Wii: SD card slot, Wireless controller, two USB 2.0 ports, wireless LAN, 4x GC controller ports, 2x GC memory card slots and an AV multi output jack (analogue only)
• Two main disc types supported the single sided 12cm single sided 4.7gb and the double sided 8.51 GB. Nintendo GC discs also supported. The maximum read speed is the equivalent of a 6 speed DVD

i know nintendo said it wouldnt be as advanced as the 360 or ps3 but the gpu only 1.5 times faster than the GC gpu....Was expecting a bit more grunt than that

tba

Yeah especailly with the speed of GPU evolution....

quarryman

no wonder its going to be so cheap. my old Xbox is better than this.

DingChavez

Yeah.....those are fake as hell.

Laguna

I wouldn't believe those specs at all, I mean a graphics card with only 64mb memory, that's only half the power of the Gamecubes GPU and having seen footage of Wii games I feel they're just as good as anything I've seen so far on the 360.

GrumPy

Laguna wrote:

I feel they're just as good as anything I've seen so far on the 360.

Nah, If you were able to compare say, some EA game... the next gen medal of honour, 360 vs wii, the 360 would win hands down tbh. HD etc... ps3/360 games will look a look more crisp, although that doesnt take anything away from the wii, it will stilll be a great console. Graphics are not important, its gameplay at the end of the day.

Lord Oz

If the specs are going to be so close to the gamecube, why not simply make an add on for the gamecube that can plug in to the port at the bottom?

BlitzKrieg

cause you wouldnt generate the same hype as you would with a clean slate new console.



I wouldnt consider the graphic power as such a big deal. The 360 has been here for what 6 months now? And it hasnt caused much of a dent in regards of wowing me with its graphics.

skywalker

I have to be honest the closer it gets to the wii launch the more sure I am that I wont be rushing out to get one on day one. I dunno why but Im just apprehensive that it will be seen as a gimmick once the initial hype has worn off.

RE*AC*TOR

I could believe these specs. There are a few things to consider here. Xbox360 and PS3 games will all be run in HD. Much higher res than Wii games - so they will require more grunt.

Like the DS - Nintendo will deliver a relatively affordable console and still make a profit on every one sold - unlike sony and microsoft.

Are there really people out there who are anticipating the Wii for its uber graphics? Is that what all the hype is really about? Get real.

im...LOST

I dont really care about the Specs at all.

I mean the ds has rubbish graphics in comparison to the psp but I think the ds is far surperier imo.

Nintendo have and probably always will be about gameplay and fun after all.

I'll still get the wii on or soon after launch day in the knowledge that it will be "fun".(and of course free online )

1huge1

ya but graphics seem to be way more important on a home console than on a handheld imo

Retr0gamer

1huge1 wrote:

ya but graphics seem to be way more important on a home console than on a handheld imo

For shallow gamers maybe. It's true more people will probably buy the Ps3 and 360 but I'll be happy as long as Nintendo are bringing out innovative and fun games just like they did on the DS. Graphics for me are secondary. Suikoden 2 with it's 2D graphics was a far better game than any of the big budget squaresoft RPGs on the PS1 and just look at how awful GTA looks but it's still one of the best games on the PS2.

Spuddie

Who's to say that the gamecube graphics are bad ? I thought they were pretty good . They're not as good as xbox but id reckon they're the same as ps2. The wii's graphics obviously wont be as good as ps3 or the 360 looking at the price but remember what nintendo said , " We are creating a new generation console not a next generation console !! "

SirLemonhead

Spuddie wrote:

Who's to say that the gamecube graphics are bad ? I thought they were pretty good . They're not as good as xbox but id reckon they're the same as ps2. The wii's graphics obviously wont be as good as ps3 or the 360 looking at the price but remember what nintendo said , " We are creating a new generation console not a next generation console !! "

Vastly superior to the PS2...I presume you havent played Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube?

po0k

Spurious speculation at best.

All of you lemmings, please stop lowering the signal-to-noise ratio.

Raw hardware specs mean sweet fnck all, particularly before launch.

Also "Anonymous Wii Developer" sounds like bollocks.
The specs on the article have been updated. After a quick scan or two, I couldn't see anything related to "1.5x GPU performance of GC".
That same figure was bandied about a good few months ago.

I'd be surprised if the Wii isn't a competent performer. I'd rather see slick or creative use of graphics to do something other than notch up another token inch toward photorealism - which is a b0ring and lazy goal.

Above all else, the games should be fun.

Sony are about to sit yet another repeat exam on how you can't try and force content-control veiled as a consumer product down the throats of gamers and then expect them to cough up when you arrive late to the party, píssed and with your cock hanging out of your fly.

{edit} s/Anonymouse/Anonymous {/edit}

honru

For graphics... as long as they're functional, I don't mind. I would like to see a little bit of an update over the Gamecube but I'm sure Nintendo have that planned.

Retr0gamer

SyxPak wrote:

Sony are about to sit yet another repeat exam on how you can't try and force content-control veiled as a consumer product down the throats of gamers and then expect them to cough up when you arrive late to the party, píssed and with your cock hanging out of your fly.QUOTE]

Quoted for lolage

steviec

I don't see why that would be inaccurate, it's not like they have some sort of magic powers to allow them to fit similar hardware to their competitors into a case one fifth of the size, charging one third of the price for it, and actually making a profit where the others are subsidizing their machines. Considering they have the same suppliers in IBM and ATI, it's clearly not going to be hugely powerful and the games shown at E3 are a testiment to that.

Power isn't everything(although it doesn't just mean graphics, it means far more important things than graphics, such as size of environments, interactivity of environments, quality of AI, amount of activity on screen etc. etc.) and Nintendo have been saying that along so no real surprise here.

GrumPy

im...LOST wrote:

(and of course free online )

Is this really a big issue for people? Like people planning on buying the wii and ps3, do they really say "oh wow, it's free, unlike the 360"

I doubt that tbh, LIVE is €60 for a 12 month sub, and I dont think ANY person paying this fee is unhappy about the service, xbox live is an amazing step-up for online gaming platforms-and I doubt the wii, and ps3 "free" services will be able to compete.

Back on topic, as many of you have already said, it's nintendo, they have the best record for great, fun games, and graphics have never been important, but specs, like steviec said, are still pretty important, as we wanna have fun in large, interesting, filled with great AI, etc... environmrnts in our games.

CiDeRmAn

Its kinda funny isn't it, that mere months before the 360 launch GC graphics still had the power to wow in games like Resident Evil 4 and Metroid Prime echoes, yet now some seem to regard them as merely "functional".
While I agree games look lovely on a HD screen or on a PC monitor the things even in the graphics race between MS and Sony are starting to focus on how the visuals can enhance gameplay and create a more immersive experience than simply the desire to coat every available surface in multilayered glossy effects.
A lesson some developers learned already, so with the likes of Metroid, Halo and SOTC its hardly surprising that gamers have been so uninspired by the output on the 360 and the previews of PS3 titles.
As for graphics never being important, well, of course they are important, they are the primary way the game communicates with us, while the controller is how we communicate with the game, but to give all ones attention to the graphical content is to lose sight of everything else, creating a beautiful but sterile gaming experience that leaves one quite empty and disillusioned. Perfect Dark Zero is probably the best example of the next gens biggest flaw, COD2 on the other hand is one of the best examples of the next gens biggest sucesses, lets hope the Wii will have such a shining display of what it can do early in its lifespan.

Retr0gamer

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Perfect Dark Zero is probably the best example of the next gens biggest flaw, COD2 on the other hand is one of the best examples of the next gens biggest sucesses, lets hope the Wii will have such a shining display of what it can do early in its lifespan.

I was actually extremely underwhelmed by COD2. The first game was a far better game and imo looked far nicer in terms of scale, spectacle and atmosphere despite the technical brilliance of COD2. Still better than PZ0. That just plain sucked.

I actually only recently went back to play Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4 and was amazed at how gorgeous looking they still are. It's the attention to detail that sets these games apart. The houses and locales in Resi 4 looked lived in and in Metroid prime you can see that every loose brick in a wall is modelled instead of being merely a texture map. It's small things like this that can really give a games atmosphere and visuals the edge. Oblivion is really the only game of the 'new generation' that has really stood out and it's due to the endless possibilities the game creates due to the attention to detail. Even if the game is full of flaws and bugs, just like GTA before it, it never really spoils the game since you are usually crreating your own fun from what the game gives you.

It's why I'm so excited about dead rising. Not only does it make full use of the 360s power by presenting you with hundreds of zombies on screen but also gives you countless ways of killing them not to mention a bit of morale dilemma ala Michigan: Report from Hell (which I also need to get my hands on, god bless you gaming street 505).

Rant over.

Balfa

Going slightly off topic, what I'd like to see is the result of a collaboration between Retro Studios and Valve...

drooliness.

CiDeRmAn

Maybe that would be cool, but wouldn't it be better to get a game from each of them, a new Metroid series and Half Life 3 say, then get a hybrid game full of compromises?
And how weird would it be to play a Valve game on Nintendo hardware, that said imagine an update of the original Half Life on the Wii, how cool would that be, Half Life 2 visuals coupled with Wii control scheme, sweet.

Blub2k4

It's gonna interface with my DS's wirelessly and have a cool wavey about controller and some new ideas with that and the best games hands down, what do I care about the spec?

Retr0gamer

Balfa wrote:

Going slightly off topic, what I'd like to see is the result of a collaboration between Retro Studios and Valve...

I'd expect we would just get another Metroid Prime considering that quite a few valve people moved to (and quite possibly set up) retro studios after Half-life was made.

CiDeRmAn

I suppose its only right that the two big innovators in the genre are related to each other, I have always thought it a pity that due to their resistance to buying a Nintendo console most people have never played the Metroid Prime titles.
One would hope that perhaps, if the Wii does go on to do well that they might repackage the GC games for the Wii, as they did with the Zelda games, they really deserve more mainstream recognition than they have ever recieved.

RE*AC*TOR

They should just make the entire gamecube library a kind of "Platinum" priced range - something like €10 - €15. Games like Zelda: Windwaker, the Pikmin games, Metroid games,

CiDeRmAn

Now that you mention that, the gamestop shops that still stock GC games are to have a big sale, including a whole bunch of stuff from their stores, Santry and the new shop in Swords should have them in the next week or so.

sprinkles

MasterOfSolos wrote:

Vastly superior to the PS2...I presume you havent played Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube?

I'd second this. The GC's graphics are amazing for such a cute little box

zilog_jones

Yeah, they had to made a lot of compromises when porting RE4 to the PS2, especially regarding textures and stuff.

no wonder its going to be so cheap. my old Xbox is better than this.

Bollocks! For starters, you probably attempted (and failed miserably) to compare the two by the CPU clock speed, i.e. the quoted 729 MHz up there versus the 733MHz of the Xbox - however, the clock speeds between a Pentium III and a PowerPC CPU are not proportional at all! I'd say the Wii's CPU (if it is that speed) is at least twice the power of the Xbox's, if not a lot more.

draken

From what I notice from every generation of consoles, it is rarely the hardware specs of the console that cause it to be sold. Its normally the one that is advertised more that gets more popular quicker. Which for the last about 10 years has been sony. Unfortunatly.

As for specs, The PS2 had a more advanced set of hardwares (ps2 = 256bit processor and 512mb ram, GC = 64bit processor and 40mb ram), but for actual graphics, The GC had better software design and as such the games were prettier and more fluid on the GC as compared the PS2 (eg, prince of persia, soul calibur, etc). I played the games on both systems, and there was alot of flickering on screen on the PS2 but the GC was fluid all the time.

Either case, I'll probably have all of the next gen consoles but will probably play the Wii more than the rest.

RE*AC*TOR

draken wrote:

As for specs, The PS2 had a more advanced set of hardwares (ps2 = 256bit processor and 512mb ram, GC = 64bit processor and 40mb ram), but for actual graphics, The GC had better software design and as such the games were prettier and more fluid on the GC as compared the PS2 (eg, prince of persia, soul calibur, etc). I played the games on both systems, and there was alot of flickering on screen on the PS2 but the GC was fluid all the time.

ammmm no.



The PS2 had a 128bit 294Mhz CPU with 32mb RAM and a 147mhz graphics chip with 4mb ram.

The gamecube had a kind of 32bit/64bit hybrid chip, running at 485mhz, with 40mb ram in total (main ram and auxillary ram) and a 162mhz graphics chip with 2mb ram. Importantly though the graphics chip on the gamecube could perfom a lot of tasks the ps2 couldn't.

The 128bit / 256bit moniker is no longer particularily important. Obvioulsy the transition from 8 to 16 to 32 bit made big differences, but it has become less important - remember most PCs are still firmly in the 32bit world.

draken

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

ammmm no.



The PS2 had a 128bit 294Mhz CPU with 32mb RAM and a 147mhz graphics chip with 4mb ram.

The gamecube had a kind of 32bit/64bit hybrid chip, running at 485mhz, with 40mb ram in total (main ram and auxillary ram) and a 162mhz graphics chip with 2mb ram. Importantly though the graphics chip on the gamecube could perfom a lot of tasks the ps2 couldn't.

The 128bit / 256bit moniker is no longer particularily important. Obvioulsy the transition from 8 to 16 to 32 bit made big differences, but it has become less important - remember most PCs are still firmly in the 32bit world.

Fair enough, the site I checked the specs on before must have been incorrect. Cant find that site now which says plenty about its accuracy.

Rhyme

MasterOfSolos wrote:

Vastly superior to the PS2...I presume you havent played Resident Evil 4 on the Gamecube?

This is also true, even in the first 20 minutes you can see the massive difference. Brooding trees, lint floating in murky sunlight and an imposing shack is replaced with stunted shrubs, dim interiors and a shack... just a shack.

Smoggy

I can't see 720p working well at that speed.