Microsoft slams Nintendo’s Wii-U’s GPU power – Video Games Update
Microsoft claims that the Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) present in Nintendo’s next generation console, the Wii-U, is on the same level as that of the Xbox 360.
Nintendo is suffering at the end of this console generation for releasing an underpowered console. Even though the Wii started of the strongest out of the three current generation consoles, the lack of third party games, which were available on the Playstation
3 and the Xbox 360, really slowed down Wii sales near the end of its cycle.
The corporate VP of Microsoft Studios, Phil Spencer stated that Nintendo is, "building a platform that is effectively a 360 when you think of graphical capability. Now [Nintendo is] really making an on-ramp for the back catalog of games that are on Xbox
360."
This might not be entirely bad news for Nintendo gamers right away since Nintendo exclusive gamers have missed out on a lot of great third party titles which were available on the other two consoles. This means that the Wii-U might have a strong launch line-up
as most of the developers and publishers will be re-releasing their games on Nintendo’s platform and will keep the majority of the fans busy.
Nintendo however will be facing the same problem, one that they are currently facing with the Wii, with the lack of third party support in the long run once the Playstation 4 and the next Xbox come out with graphical powers much superior to those of the
Wii-U.
There are also reports that the Wii-U’s new tablet controller is a GPU hog and the graphics of the console will take a serious hit if two of those controllers are being used by gamers simultaneously.
This means that the ‘revolutionary’ tablet controller will quickly become useless as developers will try to squeeze the last drops out of the Wii-U’s GPU to make sure the games still look as good as those available for Playstation 4 and the next Xbox.
The comments from Microsoft are obviously retaliation for Satoru Iwata’s, the president of Nintendo, remarks about Microsoft’s own tablet alternative Xbox SmartGlass, where Iwata stated that Xbox SmartGlass is only a fraction of what the Wii-U tablet is
capable of.
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