EA: Wii U Can Do Anything Xbox 360 and PS3 Can

Looks like the fog is finally clearing on the Wii U, folks.

Third parties seem to be in love with the Wii U. So far, developers like Irrational, Activision, Ubisoft, Bethesda, DICE, Crytek, Epic and Junction Point have all sung praises for the hardware. Notable in its support for Nintendo's next console has been megapublisher EA, pledging 'major support' for the Wii U. Now, after having had the development kits for the system for some time, they are ready to shed some light on the console's innards.

Speaking toEurogamer, EA Sports vice president Andrew Wilson said, "The short answer is yes, we have a better idea of Wii U's power; the longer answer is not quite.

"As every new piece of hardware and every new development library comes through we get a greater understanding of the power. With our early research we had been very happy with the output of the box and we expect that that will only go up moving forward.

"There are added challenges for us as developers when you think about rendering on two screens and what that might mean, but we're looking forward to that challenge.

"It's still moving," he added, "but I think we'll be able to do anything that we can do on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on the Wii U."

Of course, that last line may not appear quite so encouraging to many, who would reasonably expect a notable power jump with the Wii U, considering that the system is five years newer than those two. When quizzed about this, Wilson had this to say:

"I think that's our hope… but again we're still in the early stages."

Whereas he was relatively forthcoming about the Wii U's power, he was more evasive about the Wii U's rumored online capabilities, which does not send out an encouraging message to those wondering why Nintendo has been mum on the subject. Apparently, EA Sports, like every other developer working on the Wii U, is under 'extremely strict NDAs.' However, he was willing to divulge some details, though nothing he said was conclusive either way.

"Online is something that we're working very closely with Nintendo on," said Wilson. "We are highlighting to them what we believe are the most important elements to that infrastructure to deliver a connected experience that we think is the future of gaming.

"They have demonstrated an openness and willingness to work with us and work with developers that I think will only land us in a positive place.

"We're working through the development with them now," he added. "We have a series of people who are under very strict NDAs as you can imagine, operating with them, building that system out."

So, there you have it. Like everything else about the system, the Wii U's capabilities and its online infrastructure remain shrouded in mystery. But by bit, however, the fog seems to be clearing. Will the Wii U be enough? We'll see soon enough.GamingBolt

This is all very interesting, particularly in light of Epic's comments yesterday that said that the Wii U can 'do stuff that the current consoles cannot.' EA is telling us something that is entirely different.

What do you guys think?

Source

EDIT: For comparision, here's what Epic said about the Wii U. Basically, they said it can 'do things that the current gen consoles cannot.'

Believe whomever you will, folks.

A next gen console can do everything the last gen consoles can? :shock:

SHUT.

DOWN.

EVERYTHING.

A 2012 console can do everything a console made in 2005 can do? I would sure hope so.

A next gen console can do everything the last gen consoles can? :shock:

SHUT.

DOWN.

EVERYTHING.

DarkLink77

A 2012 console can do everything a console made in 2005 can do? I would sure hope so.

Wasdie

A next gen console can do everything the last gen consoles can? :shock:

SHUT.

DOWN.

EVERYTHING.

DarkLink77

A next gen console can do everything the last gen consoles can? :shock:

SHUT.

DOWN.

EVERYTHING.

DarkLink77

Well it oughta be able to do that stuff, since it's a gen ahead.

"I think that's our hope" that it will be more powerful, eh? Not very encouraging. :\

At least Nintendo seems to be showing some humbleness on the online infrastructure side.

Looks like the fog is finally clearing on the Wii U, folks.

[QUOTE="GamingBolt"]

Third parties seem to be in love with the Wii U. So far, developers like Irrational, Activision, Ubisoft, Bethesda, DICE, Crytek, Epic and Junction Point have all sung praises for the hardware. Notable in its support for Nintendo's next console has been megapublisher EA, pledging 'major support' for the Wii U. Now, after having had the development kits for the system for some time, they are ready to shed some light on the console's innards.

Speaking toEurogamer, EA Sports vice president Andrew Wilson said, "The short answer is yes, we have a better idea of Wii U's power; the longer answer is not quite.

"As every new piece of hardware and every new development library comes through we get a greater understanding of the power. With our early research we had been very happy with the output of the box and we expect that that will only go up moving forward.

"There are added challenges for us as developers when you think about rendering on two screens and what that might mean, but we're looking forward to that challenge.

"It's still moving," he added, "but I think we'll be able to do anything that we can do on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on the Wii U."

Of course, that last line may not appear quite so encouraging to many, who would reasonably expect a notable power jump with the Wii U, considering that the system is five years newer than those two. When quizzed about this, Wilson had this to say:

"I think that's our hope… but again we're still in the early stages."

Whereas he was relatively forthcoming about the Wii U's power, he was more evasive about the Wii U's rumored online capabilities, which does not send out an encouraging message to those wondering why Nintendo has been mum on the subject. Apparently, EA Sports, like every other developer working on the Wii U, is under 'extremely strict NDAs.' However, he was willing to divulge some details, though nothing he said was conclusive either way.

"Online is something that we're working very closely with Nintendo on," said Wilson. "We are highlighting to them what we believe are the most important elements to that infrastructure to deliver a connected experience that we think is the future of gaming.

"They have demonstrated an openness and willingness to work with us and work with developers that I think will only land us in a positive place.

"We're working through the development with them now," he added. "We have a series of people who are under very strict NDAs as you can imagine, operating with them, building that system out."

So, there you have it. Like everything else about the system, the Wii U's capabilities and its online infrastructure remain shrouded in mystery. But by bit, however, the fog seems to be clearing. Will the Wii U be enough? We'll see soon enough.charizard1605

This is all very interesting, particularly in light of Epic's comments yesterday that said that the Wii U can 'do stuff that the current consoles cannot.' EA is telling us something that is entirely different.

What do you guys think?

Source

Why is nintendo being so cheap? If the Wii U keeps being compared to the HD twins I feel as though when next-gen really starts it will be left in the dust.

Honestly, that comment doesn't sound too encouraging at all. I mean, Epic's comments made me feel optimistic that the Wii U would be more powerful than previously thought, but EA comes and paints an entirely different picture *sigh*charizard1605

"I think that's our hope" that it will be more powerful, eh? Not very encouraging. :\

At least Nintendo seems to be showing some humbleness on the online infrastructure side.

SakusEnvoy

Why is nintendo being so cheap? If the Wii U keeps being compared to the HD twins I feel as though when next-gen really starts it will be left in the dust.

GD1551

Because they always sell systems for profit. Microsoft and Sony are willing to take hits. But this ensures Nintendo never "loses".

I really wish they would release the specs already. At best, if we're lucky, the WiiU's power in comparison to PS4 and nextBox will be similar to that of the PS2 in comparison with Gamecube and Xbox.

I really wish they would release the specs already. At best, if we're lucky, the WiiU's power in comparison to PS4 and nextBox will be similar to that of the PS2 in comparison with Gamecube and Xbox.

organic_machine

I think I trust Epic more than EA, Epic make one of the most popular game engines and have a ton of staff that obviously know their way around hardware.bobbetybob

Agreed. EA doesn't always push hardware (Battlefield 3 doesn't count).

[QUOTE="GD1551"]

Why is nintendo being so cheap? If the Wii U keeps being compared to the HD twins I feel as though when next-gen really starts it will be left in the dust.

Nozizaki

Because they always sell systems for profit. Microsoft and Sony are willing to take hits. But this ensures Nintendo never "loses".

[QUOTE="organic_machine"]

I really wish they would release the specs already. At best, if we're lucky, the WiiU's power in comparison to PS4 and nextBox will be similar to that of the PS2 in comparison with Gamecube and Xbox.

DarkLink77

Again, this is merely guesswork of mine.

[QUOTE="organic_machine"]

I really wish they would release the specs already. At best, if we're lucky, the WiiU's power in comparison to PS4 and nextBox will be similar to that of the PS2 in comparison with Gamecube and Xbox.

DarkLink77

There's no way they want Nintendo to have a piece of the pie. They'll position their 360+Kinect for the casual audience and hit the hardcore audience hard with the 720.

[QUOTE="Nozizaki"]

[QUOTE="GD1551"]

Why is nintendo being so cheap? If the Wii U keeps being compared to the HD twins I feel as though when next-gen really starts it will be left in the dust.

GD1551

Because they always sell systems for profit. Microsoft and Sony are willing to take hits. But this ensures Nintendo never "loses".

The rumored hardware is pretty much high end stuff from 2008/2009. That beats the 2003/2004 stuff in the 360 and PS3.

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"][QUOTE="organic_machine"]

I really wish they would release the specs already. At best, if we're lucky, the WiiU's power in comparison to PS4 and nextBox will be similar to that of the PS2 in comparison with Gamecube and Xbox.

organic_machine

Again, this is merely guesswork of mine.

The rumored hardware is pretty much high end stuff from 2008/2009. That beats the 2003/2004 stuff in the 360 and PS3.

Nozizaki

The 360 and PS3 actuallly use 2005 stuff, the 360 was basically a high end PC at the time of its launch.

[QUOTE="GD1551"][QUOTE="Nozizaki"]

Because they always sell systems for profit. Microsoft and Sony are willing to take hits. But this ensures Nintendo never "loses".

Nozizaki

The rumored hardware is pretty much high end stuff from 2008/2009. That beats the 2003/2004 stuff in the 360 and PS3.

RSX uses the Geforce 7800 architecture which did not debut until June 2005. Xenos also is based in 2005-2006 Radeon R520 architecture.

RV770 is 2008 tech.

Can it play blurays8)

True, but dev costs will skyrocket to the point of absurdity, and mainstream games will continue to stagnate as a result. DarkLink77

That's very true, I still think they should wait a few more years until releasing new tech because of that.

Can it play blurays8)

dercoo

Why is nintendo being so cheap? If the Wii U keeps being compared to the HD twins I feel as though when next-gen really starts it will be left in the dust.

GD1551

[QUOTE="dercoo"]

Can it play blurays8)

Heil68

Ok....it would be pretty damn sad if it couldn't do everything they can. Hell, it should be able to do quite a bit more....

[QUOTE="DarkLink77"] True, but dev costs will skyrocket to the point of absurdity, and mainstream games will continue to stagnate as a result. organic_machine

That's very true, I still think they should wait a few more years until releasing new tech because of that.

Over the next 3 years, I think a lot of work is going to be done in trying to get better performance-per-watt from today's graphics cards, shrinking them down to reduce cost, heat and power consumption. So that by 2014, there will be some relatively low-power solutions that can pack a lot of bang for the buck.

[QUOTE="charizard1605"][QUOTE="DarkLink77"] Do you seriously think the Wii U won't be more powerful than consoles from 2005?osan0

As much as it pained me to read that (With your no CaPitALs), that's really the right way to approach this.

[QUOTE="dercoo"]

Can it play blurays8)

Heil68

[QUOTE="Heil68"][QUOTE="dercoo"]

Can it play blurays8)

nintendoboy16

Wow, how very...unimpressive. Can't say I'm the least bit shocked.