Nintendo Wii = GameCube 1.5? Close but no cigar

Posted May 9, 2007 at 10:09PM by QJ Staff Listed in: Wii Tags: GameCube, GPU, Japan, Microsoft, nVidia, Robbie Bach
Ó


Wii and GameCube - Image 1Nintendo's white-hot commercial success console, the Wii, has been called a lot of things. The most prominent description  is "underpowered." Microsoft Xbox division Robbie Bach took a swipe at the innovative game system recently, saying that even the original Xbox can pull off better visuals.

That may be a foregone conclusion as Nintendo itself was recently quoted admitting that the processor for the GameCube and the Wii are very similar except for a few minor details. Anonymous third-party developers say that the layout of the system is not very flexible and may pose gridlocks to developers.

The sources said that the processing power of the Wii when it comes to shadow and lighting generation is very close to last-gen Nvidia GeForce 2 3D accelerators. "The Wii's GPU has fixed functions for vertex, lighting, and pixel operations... The Wii is an older fixed function design where you have lots of operations but the pipelines are not programmable in the sense of downloading shader code to run," says a developer.

What distinguishes the Wii from its earlier-generation brother in terms of graphics is the fact that it has significantly more memory that allows better pixel generation and other important feats. The memory was raised from 162MB to 243MB, freeing up operations to allow better lighting and rendering effects as well.

Nintendo, however, doesn't seem to mind the criticism, and rightfully so. The strategy has never been to compete with sheer muscle. Rather, it chose to expand the market and outfox the competition with innovation and friendliness. The results are outstanding. With its relatively low price and massive appeal, it has been dominating from Japan to the USA.

If you want to know the whole technical comparison of the Wii to the GameCube, you can follow the read URL. See if you think Robbie was able to "Bach up" his assertions.

 
 
 

Comments

by - 2007-05-10 01:06:44
there are cheap.

they couldn't make stronger. look at spiderman 3 game it was toned down very very low. how are people going to massive games, like no. pokemon is still boring, same as before. characters don't talk, out loud. probably say about 8 words. wii remote is lame , just call it gamecube very little improvement. where are those stinking games. zelda, paper mario, mario party are old gamecube games. couldn't they have made it bigger system. to sucki wiiis
by - 2007-05-10 02:41:24
LOl

the point is if they realy wanted to make a 'powerful' console they could have. it doesnt take much to buy more powerful components and up the price of it. the point is that they are making it affordable and very playable. and they done that. quite simply a good console. and im no nintendo fanboy cz i own a ps3,360 and wii. the point is, they do sumin different.
by - 2007-05-10 08:00:32
Graphics Aren't Everything

I don't play my Wii to look at pretty graphics. I play it because it is very fun and immersive. It is a very different experience. It is very capable of producing great graphics, too. Just look at Twilight Princess in 480p and it becomes pretty obvious that there is some power in there. While it is not as powerful as the 360 or the PS3, it still has some muscle to it.
by - 2007-05-10 09:56:26
how fun?

spiderman wii was torn down a bit for not lokking good.
by - 2007-05-10 11:05:18
Idiot Stick

For idiot stick Hi on the first post, he has to remember that games produced on multiple systems will never look good; they look different on an Xbox than they will a PS3 or Wii. Its not because of the hardware; its because programmers are lazy azzes most of the time; i know, i work with a bunch of em. If there are shortcuts to take they will take them. EX: have a base code set that happens to work for all 3 systems means less time actually developing good stuff on each system. The problem lately is all of the systems get good games and crappy ones. If they wanted it to look good they would spend the time, just look at Gears of War or Twilight Princess.
by - 2007-05-10 11:16:45
so?

Just because you own all 3 consoles doesn't mean you're not a fanboy... I own a ps3, a wii, a gamecube, a ps2, an xbox, a ps1, an n64, a psp, a DS, every gameboy... etc... I'm still a sony fanboy...
by - 2007-05-10 14:51:03
...

"saying that even the original Xbox can pull off better visuals." When the hell is ANYONE going to realize that graphics do NOT make the games? It's the FUN. ***** graphics. Nintendo did something different for once other than release an upgraded version of their previous consoles like Sony and Microsoft. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the PS3 and Xbox 360 are good systems, but.. it feels like they're the same ***** as before with better graphics and some more RAM. Nintendo focuses on making the next-gen something different than upgraded graphics.
by Gryff33 - 2007-05-10 15:52:51
Simple fact

I don't understand why people keep bashing Wii. You don't have to like it, but if you don't, your opinion does not reflect the majority of people purchasing consoles, so don't act like it's a fact. The simple fact is that Wii has been outselling its competition since it came out, despite a supply shortage.
by - 2007-05-10 17:42:01
fool

spoken like a true ps3/360 fanboy
by - 2007-05-10 17:46:47
dissapointment

being a nintendo fanboy i found the wii to be a horrible disappointment. i dont dwell on how good graphics are but the games for it just arent that fun. my wii has been sitting on a shelf and hasnt been played in months and now that i bought a 360 i suspect that it wont be played for a long time.
by - 2007-05-10 19:37:51
m`

im with you on that last post. i have a wii that i bought the first day it came and after beatng zelda and the rest it has also been sitting on the shelf. only on those rare time i play it because of lost interest. but probably when more games like ssb brawl and mario galaxy maybe i get interested again
by - 2007-05-11 02:34:40
soz

what i meant is i have all 3 but i enjoy all 3. im no fanboy of any,their good for they own individual reasons. but recently the 360 broke,lol.
by - 2007-05-15 08:13:28
123344

Same here, I mainly bought a Wii for the Nintendo based games and the new innovative gameplay coming out of it.

Add New Comment




You must be logged in to post comments




Add QJ.NET
Add to My Yahoo!
Google Reader Subscribe with Bloglines
Add  to your Kinja digest Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Subscribe with Pluck RSS reader Add 'www.qj.net' to Newsburst from CNET News.com
Subscribe with SearchFox RSS del.icio.us www.qj.net
Add to Technorati Favorite! Add to My AOL
furl! it Stumble for Treehugger!