News - Wii U launches in USA and sells out straight away

[HEXUS]

But an "excruciating" firmware update needs to be applied by new owners.

Read more.

[Terbinator]

800MHz RAM.

[YenRug]

ZombiU - Not surprising the overall score is low when Gamespot gave it 4.5/10, but when you read the review it quickly becomes obvious that the reviewer wanted it to be an FPS shooter rather than a survival horror game. Marking a game down because it isn't what you wanted it to be is a pretty dumb move, reflecting badly on the reviewer more than the game.

[sykobee]

I wish they would just integrate the PSU into the console. Sick of large external PSUs clogging up the rats nest near the TV.

I like the dedicated WiFi hardware for the Miracast gamepad display.

[sykobee]

800MHz RAM.

I.e., DDR3-1600. The real issue is the 12.8GB/s bandwidth. However there is meant to be quite a bit of eDRAM on the GPU so hopefully that isn't a big issue.

Personally I think the hardware is just a little bit cut down than it should have been. The CPU die is miniature - surely room there for more cores or a large L3 cache to offset the low-bandwidth main memory.

Still, ~30W when playing games is pretty good.

[kalniel]

Still, ~30W when playing games is pretty good.

It's incredible. Makes low-mid end desktop PCs look like dinosaurs.

[kingpotnoodle]

I wish they would just integrate the PSU into the console. Sick of large external PSUs clogging up the rats nest near the TV.

I like the dedicated WiFi hardware for the Miracast gamepad display.

Cable still must go to wall, what difference does a lump half way along make? If the cable is too long then loop some up with a cable tie...

The PSU is a common fail point and generates heat that would then need an internal fan to remove, it's generally better to have it non-integrated IMHO.

[directhex]

Personally I think the hardware is just a little bit cut down than it should have been. The CPU die is miniature - surely room there for more cores or a large L3 cache to offset the low-bandwidth main memory.

1GB of RAM for use by games is *huge* though.

It's a shared pool for both GPU and CPU, but for comparison, the maximum RAM your game can use if you're a PS3 developer is 206MB (lack of RAM is why PS3 Skyrim has no DLC)

[kingpotnoodle]

It's incredible. Makes low-mid end desktop PCs look like dinosaurs.

Yeah I was surprised, I guess that a PC to get down that low would be laptop parts, and limited to AMD or Intel's <20W parts by the time you add on Watts for the optical drive, motherboard, RAM etc... doubt there'd be room for discrete graphics in that envelope. Don't know how close the new A8-4555M built into a SFF PC would be.

[kingpotnoodle]

1GB of RAM for use by games is *huge* though.

It's a shared pool for both GPU and CPU, but for comparison, the maximum RAM your game can use if you're a PS3 developer is 206MB (lack of RAM is why PS3 Skyrim has no DLC)

Not sure if it's typical but I've spotted Skyrim on my PC using 1GB of system RAM when it froze and I taskmgr killed it, so hopefully shows what consoles could be capable off this coming generation...

[Lord Midas]

Aren't the results of all this shiny hardware simply to pump out HD imagery (as well as having to pump out more stuff for that nasty controller?

The Wii should have been HD 6 years ago. Too little too late I say.

[davidcrofter]

Aren't the results of all this shiny hardware simply to pump out HD imagery (as well as having to pump out more stuff for that nasty controller?

The Wii should have been HD 6 years ago. Too little too late I say.

Nintendo may once again be a generation behind because 4k TV's are going to be pushed by all the major manufacturers in 2013 and while they may be quite expensive at first I would doubt that Sony & Microsoft will not take notice ... in fact it may take a console lauch or two to kick start the whole 4k experience.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Anandtech teardown:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6465/n...wii-u-teardown

The GPU does look much bigger than an RV740 which is 137MM2. The eDRAM no doubt does take up some area too,although I suspect you are looking at around 9800GT level performance for the GPU.

Moreover,the Wii U has 2GB of RAM and 1GB of that is available for the games.

[Jingee]

If people think these problems are bad, just wait 'til the next-gen offerings from MS/Sony.

[Terbinator]

If people think these problems are bad, just wait 'til the next-gen offerings from MS/Sony.

Lol, from what i've read the whole OS is a complete failure of epic proportions. Freezing because you've jected the disc mid-game? Even my PS1 allowed me to continued playing without the disc!

MS had a hardware issue but their OS at launch seems a lot mroe stable whilst offering more than what Nintendo have offered up. That's before the 2GB update rolls into town.