No Optical digital output support for Wii

[Steven W]

More slightly surprising news about the Wii. Mind you, does it really make that much difference?

Check out the Headline for more info.

[noTHINGface]

Booooooo - this is a no-no surely! I was kinda looking forward to getting some digital surround sound support (Dolby Digital) from Nintendo this time round. Pro Logic II is fine as far as it goes - but thats its problem, it doesn't go far enough.

<still looking forward to my Wii though>

[Steven W]

I've never compared the two - what are the differences between them?

[directhex]

I've never compared the two - what are the differences between them?

dolby digital has 6 discrete channels.

pro logic 2 is stereo, with some basic sense of "you should porbably rumble that rear speaker a bit"

[UltraMagnus]

makes sense, they are after all targetting it at kiddies, what sort of 12 year old has a optical surround sound system?

[Stubzz]

But it's not being targetted at kids.

[directhex]

But it's not being targetted at kids.

it's being targeted at "everyone", from kids to grandparents

those with an HDTV and dolby/dts setup are few.

[noTHINGface]

Seems a little half arsed by the mighty 'N' this - if they have pro logic II then it would present an almost negligable cost to up this to dolby digital. Most dev houses are more than happy to work with it, it isnt a new spangly tech anymore but the DD experience is ultimately superior. Are DD setups all that rare now-a-days?

[directhex]

Seems a little half arsed by the mighty 'N' this - if they have pro logic II then it would present an almost negligable cost to up this to dolby digital. Most dev houses are more than happy to work with it, it isnt a new spangly tech anymore but the DD experience is ultimately superior. Are DD setups all that rare now-a-days?

negligable? there's the extra connectors (money), the silicon to manage encoding (money), and the licensing fees (money) - plus major changes to the development kits (money).

every tiny detail on a games console magnifies when you're building millions of them, and it's important to minimise costs wherever possible, if you don't want to make a loss.

[noTHINGface]

An optical output aint that expensive per unit part and they're licensing PLII already, silicon I have no experience so wont comment but I wouldn't expect that to be savagely more expensive. Dev kits would be fitted with the above (if they had gone down the DD route).

Agreed costs are magnified and the h/w has to be a cost efficient as possible to hit the agreed price point - consoles tend to be sold at loss.

Either way - even the xbox which made its debut five years ago (its really been that long?!) has DD.

[directhex]

An optical output aint that expensive per unit part and they're licensing PLII already, silicon I have no experience so wont comment but I wouldn't expect that to be savagely more expensive. Dev kits would be fitted with the above (if they had gone down the DD route).

remember SoundStorm? much as a small number of people used it, from nvidia's perspective, it was expensive to include & used by too few people - and therefore dropped.

Agreed costs are magnified and the h/w has to be a cost efficient as possible to hit the agreed price point - consoles tend to be sold at loss.

tend to be. nintendo have never played that game - which is why they made the largest profits in the last console generation

Either way - even the xbox which made its debut five years ago (its really been that long?!) has DD.

at significant cost - and the xbox was sold at a massive loss

[Nick]

All true but the Wii isn't targetted at the home cinema technophile...

It's targetted, as hex says, at everyone. How many people have a dolby digital decoder? Not as many as you'd think.

Those that have it will have gone out and pondered long and hard over decoder boxes and will know all about oygen free copper cables and all that malarkey. The Wii, while being a console they can certainly use, isn't aimed specifically at them.

The Wii is aimed at the lowest common denominator, ie. the casual gamer who doesn't have an HDTV or a dedicated sound decoder and 7 speakers. This person will probably get these things in the future but they're NOT an early adopter, buying the latest tech because it's there...

[bertie]

Even if not many use it, quite a few (most of us) do so it would be nice if we weren't left out!
Ack well, i'm not that bothered just would be nicer and would add to the immersion and experience of the game

[kempez]

In all honetsly DTS is a nice thing but it won't make THAT much difference to the experience - though it is a nice thing for sure. I agree with hex - this will help Nintendo once again sell consoles at a profit which should also mean lower costs being handed onto the people who want a big splash of Wii

[Nick]

Even if not many use it, quite a few (most of us) do so it would be nice if we weren't left out!

True, but you're talking about a different demographic group from the one Wii is aimed at. You have the kit and know how to set it up and aren't daunted by technology, so 'most of us' is correct... the thing is, the 'most of us' you're talking about ISN'T a significant proportion of the potential gaming market.

But you're not being left out, you can go buy a Wii if you want, it's just going to be a tad more simplistic than us dedicated gamers might want.

However, having said that, as far as I'm concerened, if it is a simple solution that gives me fun games to play, I don't really care if it doesn't have dolby digital ubberyfrippery or doesn't have ultra-realistic photo quality graphics with real-time shadowing, specular effects and seventy four layers of pixel shading... That's what my PC is for...

[Lee H]

That's what my PC is for...

Indeed - I'll be using the PC for surround sound intensive "highend graphics and effects" gaming, and using the Wii for looking like a right tool diving round the front room pretending to be a ninja after a few jars of sauce

Oh yeah, I shown that "uber video" to a Sony fanboy last night and he was speechless - the only thing's that came out of his mouth were "uhhhh....","how much","when", and "I want it...." as well as a bit of drool