This Just In – No Second Wii U GamePad Available For North America
IGN interviewed Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime about why he didn’t discuss a second Wii U GamePad during his press conference earlier this morning. He had the following to say.
We have deliberately not announced the availability of the GamePad as a separate, standalone accessory here in the United States. The reason for that is simple – there are no games in the launch window that take advantage of a second GamePad. And [because of that], I want all of that hardware production to be focused on driving sales at retail. What I mean by that is that Wii U is a console and a GamePad together. If I were to take additional GamePads and make them available as an accessory, then I would have less Wii U console hardware to sell into retail. You know, probably one of your questions is whether I’m going to meet demand. The only way we’re going to achieve that here in the Americas is to not have that GamePad accessory, so I can maximize my overall volume.
So there you have it. I’ll be completely honest, given the system limitations when using a second GamePad, I’m going to state right here, right now, that I don’t expect to see very many games make use of a second GamePad ever. Does this change your opinion of the system in any way? Personally I think everyone is going to use this…
Wiimotes are always an option, but to be frank, if they’re trying to get the hardcore back on-board, the Classic Controller Pro (retails for $49.99 by the way) is the only way to go. While it’s a little disappointing to hear this news, it’s not too surprising especially at this particular point in time. Perhaps we’ll see the GamePad released as an accessory later on, but I for one won’t be holding my breath.
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Funny you should mention the RAM Ahmed as Nintendo of Japan released details about the specs, or rather the RAM itself. Turns out there is only 1GB of usable RAM for developer, which actually makes this console much more comparable to the PS3 and Xbox 360 than we all thought. So I think the rumors about it being slightly more powerful are bang on the money. 1GB of RAM should allow for enhanced ports of all 360/PS3 games, but won’t hold a candle to the rumored 8GB of dedicated RAM the next Xbox is rumored to have. The second GB of RAM in the Wii U is actually dedicated to the system OS for some reason. That’s a LOT of RAM for a console OS, which leads me to believe there’s a lot more about this system than Nintendo is telling us right now.
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From what’s coming out of Japan, the game developer can do whatever they want with 1GB of RAM, the other GB is locked away from them. I didn’t think of the streaming, so that explains it. That would also explain why devs are locked out of using it, because if they did it could interfere with the entire setup.
To compare, the Xbox 360 has 512MB of RAM, the PS3 has 256MB of RAM and the Wii has 24 MB of system RAM (486 MHz) plus 3 MB of embedded DRAM (eDRAM). Needless to say this is a drastic improvement over the Wii, but also over the 360 and PS3. Like I said above, I think it will pale in comparison to the next-gen PS and Xbox, but that’s sort of to be expected given the direction Nintendo is going in.
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While I doubt that lightning will strike twice and have the Wii U just as successful as the Wii, the head start along with the attractive price point will definitely have it grab hold of the market for the first three years. The question is whether or not it will slow down in the last two years of its lifecycle like the Wii.
I’m also not sure whether the differences in graphics will be as jarring this time around. There’s only so much that the Next PS and Xbox can fit in the hardware before the price reaches its breaking point.
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I’m not so sure about that. Check out the following:
What do you think of these in-game shots? Take a very good look, and then tell yourself that these are from a game released in 2007!!! It blows my mind to think just how far graphics can still be pushed. You wouldn’t believe but everything in the environment is interactive too. You can shoot down trees, etc. I played this two nights ago and finished it last night. I have never been as impressed with videogame graphics as I was playing this. Again, 2007. Just imagine what will be possible today with the right equipment, and tomorrow and beyond.
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Yeah Ahmed, that’s Crysis and it really blows my mind that these guys were able to do this 5 years ago. It’s 100% true that you needed a $7,000 PC back in 2007 in order to get it to max, but what I was trying to say was basically that there is still lots of potential to create truly immersive experiences with stunning audio visuals. The Wii U will do just that, give us a BioShock in the form of a new Metroid I’m sure, but I’m equally sure that developers will push the envelope on the other next-gen systems and PC as well. In fact I really want to play Battlefield 3 on max settings on PC to see the difference. Honestly you need to experience Crysis on max settings for yourself. You will be FLOORED. It’s honestly as if someone came over to my house and dropped off a PS4. It is THAT impressive. The thing is, apparently Crysis 3 is going to go even further with graphical fluidity. I can’t wait!
Don’t get me wrong though, as I said in one of these posts, sometimes I just want a fun game and don’t give a hoot about all the other stuff. Still, take a look at that last pic again, pretty stunning no? I’m SO glad I built this new gaming PC. Don’t think I’ll let it slide again, I think I’ll be keeping this up from here on out. The money I will save is staggering too. Steam sales are nuts, I paid $12 for all three Crysis games man, $12!!! Where could I get savings like that?!?!
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Makes sense. A lot of reasons why the 2nd GamePad option will be more of a luxury option. It’s expensive to produce and buy, the RAM may not be enough to keep everything stable so the visuals must take a hit, limited demand for 2nd GamePad use. Keep in mind that a 2GB RAM is well beyond current consoles, but I guess Nintendo had to weigh in on how high they can go with the RAM and contrast that with the system and controller’s prices. They didn’t find it feasible to increase the RAM for the sole purpose of connecting two GamePads or more, which will most likely cost 100$ a pop not to mention the extra console cost of increasing the RAM to 4 or 8GB. They played it smart overall. Focusing on one GamePad now with the asymmetric multiplayer is the biggest priority. 2 GamePad ideas might come in later, and theoretically it can work if they balance and downgrade the visuals in favor of any unique ideas with 2 GamePads.
Now a smart idea that I might see coming regarding selling a 2nd GamePad is building a whole game around that concept and bundling it with the GamePad in retail. In short, pulling a Wii Sports Resort or a Wii Play strategy…if you recall that both games bundled in the Wii Remote and MotionPlus respectively with an excellent value pricepoint. Who knows, maybe the Wii U installment of Wii Sports and Wii Play will see this idea come together later in the system’s shelf life.