Wii U, PS4 and 720: Power Matters
 

With several developers expressing their disappointment at the Wii U’s average specs, some publications have come out saying that power doesn’t really matter as ‘graphics aren’t important’. Don’t be silly.

First off, liking graphics shouldn’t be such a taboo thing. “Oh we care about the gameplay, not the graphics” they cry. And yes, gameplay is the most important aspect of a title by far, but that doesn’t mean graphics aren’t important. If visuals aren’t a big deal, then watch your movie on a VHS on a black and white TV. Good graphics help with immersion, they help with realism and, well, they make things look pretty.

Then there are games like Heavy Rain, Beyond and L.A. Noire – they rely on graphics to make the characters more believable. Is that 16bit face lying? God knows.

But better graphics are by no means the only positive outcome of more power. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in games sucks, but it has already come a long way. Developers are making huge strides forward in what NPCs can do, but they are, in the words of Ubisoft, “extremely constrained” by current gen consoles. Yves Jacquier told GI.biz:

In general the industry expects that graphics will not be a strong feature any more… Obviously, graphics are better for marketing purposes because you can show things. AI you can’t show.

Our challenge with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox [360] is that we’re extremely limited in what we can do. It’s a challenge for the engineers to provide nice graphics and nice AI and nice sound with a very small amount of memory and computation time.

We think that the next generation of consoles won’t have these limits any more. Games might have more realistic graphics and more on-screen, but what’s the value of making something more realistic and better animated if you have poor AI?

That is a major problem for low-powered devices, and one that could impact a lot of Wii U games.

http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/...power-matters/

Interesting article, makes some good points.

This Friday I will have 4 consoles (2x PS3, 1x Amiga CD32 and the Wii-U) connected to my 70 inch TV so what is exactly the problem with graphics? If the PS4 arrives in 2015 I will buy that thing also. I only stay away from the Xbox because I don't really like M$ but otherwise I would have that one also.

Some fanboys still don't understand there is more as only the one console they have. Nintendo is much better in platform gaming for example, so if I want to play a platform game I will use the Wii-U. The PS3 is better in first-person shooters. So if I want to do that I use the PS3. The Amiga CD32 (20+ age) is better in having the best OS ever so if I want to play with an OS I use the CD32.

Ow, and I also have a car, a moped and a bike. depending on what I want to do I change the use of those too ;)

Edit: bad graphics on Wii-U? http://www.videogamer.com/wiiu/trine...0_and_ps3.html

What's wrong with the Wii-U's graphics? It looks better than the PS3. And the PS3 is still only using 720p for their games. I'll start worrying about the graphics when game developers can start making games to reach the full potential of the console.

The next gen consoles need at least GTX 560 ti equivalents or IM skipping the next gen all together.

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show off lol

That's what I have in my PC. Except mine are in SLI. And I have an Intel Q9550 Quad Core. Which works about the same as low end i7. Still, I don't think game developers can make games that reach the full potential of those specs.

http://www.ps3hax.net/showpost.php?p...5&postcount=45 ;)

You never fit that sort of graphics in a small factor console case, the amount of power that would require would be way too much,. Console usually have mobile versions of desktop equivalent using lower wattage/ less heat.

yep i was right lmao
thats a sweet set up mate

Maybe I'm just old but I enjoyed gaming more in the 90s.
Having photo realistic graphics only serve to strip part of the imagination from the experience. I'm not saying they're bad as I love leaving my brain at the cinema door and watching a big orgy of CGI and explosions with Transformers etc. But I still derive more enjoyment from the 80s cartoon with its "classic" animation and poorly dubbed audio.
It comes down to preference.. having 3 consoles that all cater to the same sort of people with games that look exactly the same is narrow minded and bad business!

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