The technical specs for the Wii U

June 6th, 2012

The technical specs for the Wii U

I didn’t expect any of the tech specs to be released for the Wii U, but I was wrong. Nintendo released them moments after the end of their press conference, and you can find them after the break.

[V]ark

Launches Holliday 2012

Question is….which one? :P
- Il-kwon
  
  Probably Christmas or near the Thanksgiving holiday.
- cancelln
  
  Fourth of July
- ohhh
  
  Naw, Holloween…
- DanDroid
  
  Groundhog Day, of course.
- Riamu
  
  If you watch the Nintendo Press Conference Reggie says that Nintendo Land will be released with the launch of the WiiU, and he says it will be released “this holiday” so I think it’s in the Summer XD
- Lv.5 Jacob
  
  It’s been Groundhog Day for months, and it’s still not out yet! :[
  
  Generally speaking, “holidays” means around Christmas.
- DarmanitanMan
  
  Father’s Day
Mohsan

well it gives no numbers
- Adr990
  
  Nintendo is really losing it..
  Where are the system specs!? :(
  
  I mean you can’t tell the power of a computer ‘s CPU by saying “It’s a IBM standard CPU, a Intel/AMD!”.
  
  Seriously.. Then don’t release a specs list.
  If they want it to be kept secret don’t come up with this shit. 0_o
shadd21

Has Unreal Engine 4 been confirmed yet?
- David
  
  Nope. :(
- BlackjackQc
  
  it will probebly not support it, with the kind of graphics we’ve seen this morning. Pikmin 3 had sub 360 graphics. Well it’s wait and see but i’m not holding my breath this time.
- Enzo
  
  Comparing a game to the general graphics of another console is dumb to do. ZombiU’s graphics were pretty nice if you ask me.
- Alex Atkin UK
  
  I was under the impression that even the new Playstation and Xbox won’t properly support Unreal Engine 4 either so this is no big deal.
  
  Unreal Engine 4 is designed for the current top of the line PC graphics cards which will be at LEAST a generation above what any console will use.
  
  Just look at the size/power consumption/cooling on those cards. The top of the line is always too power hungry and runs too hot to put in a compact console.
  
  Nobody wants a home console that consumes 300W, sounds like a tornado, takes up 50-100% more space than the original PS3 and costs twice as much as the PS3 did at launch.
  
  That is what it would take to build a console on top-end hardware.
- Adr990
  
  It is a big deal, because when the PS4 and Xbox 720 do support Unreal Engine 4.. it will make “hardcore” gamers go like shit.
  (Some hardcore gamers think it’s all about the graphics.)
- BlackjackQc
  
  Adr990 said
  
  (Some hardcore gamers think it’s all about the graphics.)
  
  I just can agree with you, Wii U as yo support Unreal 4 engine because 720 and PS4 will.
  
  And i will had that it’s not just the gamers that think this way it’s a lot of the developpers too.
- BlackjackQc
  
  Sorry wrote too fast should have read:
  
  Adr990 said
  
  (Some hardcore gamers think it’s all about the graphics.)
  
  I just can agree with you, Wii U as to support Unreal 4 engine because 720 and PS4 will.
  
  And i will add that it’s not just the gamers that think this way it’s a lot of the big developpers too.
cosmicboo98

so it does support 2 gamepads!
- http://rjhorst.blogspot.com/ Arkatox
  
  Yes, as was mentioned at E3.
Acephoenix

*throws confetti*
- http://twitter.com/DonSerrot Don Serrot
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPAuS3bfOzU
Albert

It didn’t state which specific CPU and GPU it was using. Maybe in the future when people rip it apart.
- miiworld2
  
  CPU
  IBM PowerⓇ-based multi-core processor.
  
  GPU
  AMD Radeon™-based High Definition GPU
  
  Source: E3.Nintendo.com
- Deuce
  
  @miiworld2 Those are not specifics.
[V]ark

Wowowow….
Media : Wii and WiiU optical disc.

No love for Gamecube? :(
- PINGAS
  
  that the wiiu won’t support gamecube discs is known for like already 1 year…
- Taylor
  
  I’ve heard some GameCube games will eventually be available on the eShop. So… that’s something. Two-generation backwards compatibility is a bit much to ask for at this point, I think.
- KING Z Is Ready For The Wii U
  
  Gamecube Titles Will Be Available Via The Virtual Console
tron

Those aren’t true specs no numbers. I’m so disappointed with nintendo right now
larsberg

LOL

SPECS With out Numbers
- Phil
  
  When does Nintendo release actual specifications? Not in a long time. Even the Wii Wikipedia page has unofficial numbers. They’re probably completely correct… but they were never released by Nintendo.
the psvita is better

not gonna lie to you guys,
i thought nintendo was gonna win e3, but this e3 was really dissapointing
they started well with pikmin 3 and mario and then they messed everything up with wii fit and all that crap
seriously the few games they showed for the 3ds seem more awesome than the majority of titles coming to the wii u( although castlevania doesnt look that great and so does that mickey game)
i was so impressed when they revealed the 3ds for the first time because they showed so many games for it, but the wii u best games are mario, pikmin, ports and 3rd party titles you can get in any other console
am i the only one feeling that way?
Dita

That had to be the worst E3 presentation I have ever seen. What were they thinking? A rehashed Mario game with old timey graphics? Why would anyone (who is not a hardcore Ninty fan) buy this thing? For 3rd party games that are already on other systems? For a clunky faux-ipad (that you most likely already own)? I’ve been a dedicated Nintendo fan my whole life, but I’m glad I don’t have any stock in them. I’ll be saving my money and waiting for them to go third party after this.
- http://nintendoworlds.com TurboPikachu
  
  The day they go 3rd party is the day I stop being a gamer.
  
  Sure, I love Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, Kirby, Metroid, F-Zero, and all Nintendo’s other franchises; But I’m not gonna use MS’s or Sony’s garbage to play those games.
- Advance
  
  I seriously don’t know what the crap you’re talking about. You obviously never saw Microsoft or EA’s presentation, and art style =/= to graphics, which you think is. There’s always the more classic-looking controller and maybe some people can’t afford a $500 console, and the Wii was good enough.
- nintendofan
  
  I have to admit, I didn’t like the E3 press conference today, but that doesn’t mean it’s the worst. The Microsoft conference was the worst one.
  
  If you don’t have any stocks in Nintendo anymore, then why are you here wasting time complaining when you can invest in your time on hardcore Playstation and Xbox games blogs and move on.
- Nintendo Knight
  
  i respect your opinion but you obiviuosly need glasses new super mario bros had wonderful graphics and if you paid intention instead of telling yourself it was bad over and over you could see some new elements which doesnt make it rehash. while pikmin 3 didnt have holy shit graphics they werent sub xbox 360 cause there awsome you should compare the graphics look on par with some thing like prototype and your supposed to think is this game supposed to look real i mean its not based on the real world (it doesnt even have humans) and your not a nintendo fan ive seen gloom and doom and bad predictions before but your just outrageous and they wont be going third party anytime soon sooooo yea
- Nintendo Knight
  
  sonys was the worst i mean god of war acension and the last of us was all they had going for them (that wonder book sucked)
http://nintendoworlds.com TurboPikachu

Is my eyesight bad, or did Nintendo upgrade from POWER7 to POWER 8 architecture for their main CPU? O.O
- Meelow
  
  Where?
- http://nintendoworlds.com TurboPikachu
  
  The picture David put up there of the tech specs is too small and blurry for me to read.
  
  But where it says CPU, I think it says IBM POWER8-based multi-core processor.
  
  It could say POWER6, but I wouldn’t think of them to nerf the system like that. It was originally going to be POWER7, but I think they might have upgraded to POWER8.
- Mellow
  
  No it says IBM Power®-Based multi-core Processor. :)
- dufutfutu
  
  Are you blind? Lol, it’s just “®” or (R) symbol.
- http://nintendoworlds.com TurboPikachu
  
  Never mind, I zoomed in. It just says IBM POWER®-based multi-core processor
- http://nintendoworlds.com TurboPikachu
  
  Ack, me and my slow responses. :x
- dont douch me out ever again
  
  STOP MAKING SHIT UP CHILDISH FOOLS THERE NO MENTION OF 1234567 OR FREAKING 8
- http://nintendoworlds.com TurboPikachu
  
  @dont douch me out ever again
  
  All I did was misread a blurry image. No harm done.
  
  Now go ahead and bitch a little more why don’t you?
hazard a guess =)

disappointed with nintendo big time …
the graphics aren’t way ahead of ps3 and 360 from what was shown !
the mario game looks the same as all the others except for the background which is a bit more detailed ….
no proper specs ….
no major 1st party titles that blew mii away…
DISAPPOINTMENT :(
megajacobf

so is that the final look for wii u?
dont douch me out ever again

CLEARLY THERE NOT THE SPECS THERE THE OUTLINE SPEC THAT WE ALL ALREADY NEW ABOUT MONTHS AGO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

theres nothing there just released its all months and months old IBM we know that AMD/ATI GPU yeah we know that

PRETEND TO GIVE US SPECS TO GET CLICKS TO WATCH A ADVERT THAT PAYS YOU MONEY SCREW U WII U BLOG
- Deathmore
  
  It tells me there’s no optical out and that there’s no ethernet port.
  
  That’s something new.
  
  It is an official spec sheet.
- dufutfutu
  
  Yep, no ethernet is really weird.
- Alex Atkin UK
  
  Why? Its more or less identical to the Wii except with a few more USB ports and HDMI.
  
  As such, I didn’t expect ethernet.
- Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc
  
  Well the Wii did use an adapter for eathernet, and WII Use Wi Fi
  (I love puns ;D why does everyone hate them?
BlackjackQc

what does look better Pikmin 3 or The last of us preview. I think Nintendo put a foot up their mouth with their E3 presentation. They should have wow us . Instead the shown the same thing has every year, THEIR OLD IP.

I think that the rumors from March were not to far fetch. It’s probably not a lot more powerful the 360 and PS3.

Nintendo needed Unreal 4 to be at leat a little bit future proof against the 720 and PS4. I’m not sure if the U will be a good Buy (not pun intended but it’s still funny).

And they should not have return to the graphics use for the mii games. They are Fugly to the max. I didn’t like them with the Wii and i eill never like them on Wii U.
- Angel792
  
  It has been confirmed a billion of times that the WiiU is more powerful that the 360 and PS3. How can you compare Pikimin with The Last of Us? That is really stupid, Pikimin 3 looks great how it is, it doesn’t need super realistic graphics to make the Pikimin look realistic, they said a year ago that they were going to still use Mii graphics for their Mii games. They show a lot of great games, but they didnt show everything, we just have to wait like everyone else. If you dont like i then dont buy it, just rant like everyone else because they didnt show ultra violent and crappy FPS games that everyone wants instead of real games like Nintendo have been making since the 80′s.
- James Ryan
  
  dude I totally agree with you, why does everybody like franchises like Cod and Counter-Strike when they could be enjoying classic Nintendo fun :(
- Nintendo Knight
  
  its unique thats the thing the cartoony look allows more options note how sonys avatars dont star in any games other than ps home
  BIG PICTURE
- Alex Atkin UK
  
  Disappointing to see the screenshots from Lego City Undercover in 720p, I really had my fingers crossed for some 1080p love.
  
  That said while polygon and texture wise it doesn’t look like anything the PS3/360 couldn’t match, the lighting looks much superior. It makes it look much more like real lego blocks.
  
  You also have to consider this is showing the Wii U outputting slightly better graphics than the 360, on launch games. Its taken the 360 how many years to get this good? I think it shows some breathing room on Wii U.
  
  Overall I think its as powerful as everyone thought, better than current gen but nowhere close to what the next Playstation and Xbox will be capable of. BUT, the gap won’t seem as large as chances are they will be pumping 1080p whereas they can aim for 720p to get similar results on the Wii U.
  
  I really REALLY wanted the Wii U to pump out 1080p kick ass graphics as much as the next person. But if this is the price of it being affordable, I’ll take it. I think the versatility of the Wii U controls will make it well worth it.
- Nintendo Knight
  
  didnt they already say it was 1080p they just hadent used it yet to save time
- BlackjackQc
  
  I was talking more about appeal and most importantly the WOW factor. Sorry but Pikmin 3 doesnt look better than 360, it look a little bit better than the gamecube (sorry but’s it’s true). For the Mii i was looking at something more in the avatar (360) kind of treatment.
  
  And Wii U is not a current gen console, it’s suppost to be next-gen.
  
  At the conference i would have like Nintendo to showcase more hardcore (even if i don’t like the name) game. Compare AC3 graphics on wiiU compare to the others, same thing for batman and so on.
- Nintendo Knight
  
  to have graphics that good in the beggening your missing that big picture it is on par with 360 and ps3 IN THE BEGGINING you need glasses if you see some kind of bad difference
- Nintendo Knight
  
  ive seen enough wow with the controler physics your just being unpleasable and looking for reasons to complain
Dita

Why are you complaining as soon as there is a contrary opinion? Is this site only for fanboys? I’m writing because I AM a serious Nintendo fan, and I feel terribly let down.
- http://nintendoworlds.com TurboPikachu
  
  I feel neutral. Regardless, I am going to buy a Wii U on launch day, but E3 neither made me more anticipated, or less anticipated. Just the same as I was pre-E3.
- Nintendo Knight
  
  why the annoucnments arent over you want to be let down
wowmjm

has anyone thought that this had to be the WORST Nintendo conference and has anyone changed their mind about getting the wii u cause im still thinking about it
- relo999
  
  Didn’t change. And Sony, Microsoft had both far worse conferences in the past…
- Nintendo Knight
  
  people are looking for reasons to complain while it wasnt the hest e3 the wii u is still epic but there isnt one
- http://nintendoworlds.com TurboPikachu
  
  This definitely was NOT Nintendo’s worst E3.
  
  E3 2009 was Nintendo’s worst. (Wii Music and Wii Vitality Sensor being the spotlight of the presentation? Complete disaster…)
- Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc
  
  When is that dumb vitality sensor going to come out?
  or they just cancelled it.
- BlackjackQc
  
  It was agood one hardware speaking but the software part let me down a lot. They didn’t show AC3 proprerly, no new IP from 2nd and 3rd Party. Geez not even Simcity.
dudes0998

is ghost recon online still coming to the system or was it cancelled
- relo999
  
  still comming
relo999

Am I the only one who could see a custom made chips in this system (So they couldn’t show numbers)?
dont douch me out ever again

no Ethernet is not weird at all GROW UP this is the wifi era that nintendo clearly joined before the so called core machines you want Ethernet go get the box the wii version will do

nothing core about a earther net its a un necessary cost WITCH YOU ALL ALREADY KNOW SO STOP FAKE COMPLAINING….

its not power 7 its not power 6 its not a x360 cpu or a cell

ITS CLEARLY VERSION 2 OF BROADWAY CPU MULTI CORE SYSTEM ON CHIP AS wiiboy101 has already told you guys OVER AND OVER

system on chip 3/4 broadway 2 cores gpu and edram
- http://nintendoworlds.com TurboPikachu
  
  @dont douch me out ever again
  
  It’s not version 2 of the Broadway CPU. Broadway never had a 2nd generation.
  The CPU is using IBM’s POWER architecture (Most likely POWER7), and it is a CPU found inside IBM’s own supercomputer, “Watson”.
  
  You don’t know shit. Have a nice day.
- ubishit again this gen …
  
  LOL AT DUMB FUK ABOVE NO VERSION 2 OF BROADWAY DUMMY TWIT
  
  GO TO WII U GO.COM WIIBOY1O1 HAS FULLY EXPLAINED THIS powerpc 32bit cl/broadway cpus are now 45nm system on chip with a 128bit ring bus powerpc 400s powerpc 468fp clearly NEXT GEN VERSIONS OF BROADWAY AKA POWER PC CL IBM CLEARLY WENT SYSTEM ON CHIP 45NM WITH THE BROADWAY CPU FAMILY OWNED FOOL
  
  8 cpus can fit on 1 system on chip and 3/4 can fit in the same physical space as 1 broadway cpu
  
  OWNED
  
  P.S THE LEAKED SPECS AT GONINTENDO CLEARLY SHOW A TRI CORE BROADWAY WITH BIG LEVEL 2 CATCH
mustbepbs

lol. I can imagine giving this spec sheet to one of my customers who wants a new computer.

So here you go sir, this one has an Intel processor and motherboard, Kingston RAM, Western Digital Hard Drive, and Microsoft operating system!
- dont douch me out ever again
  
  CHILDISH F**K WIT THESE ARE PRODUCT SPECS THAT EVERY MANUFACTORY PUTS OUT FOR EVERY DEVIVE THEY MAKE
  
  PSP HAD THEM VITA HAD THEM IPAD HAD THEM DS HAD THEM WII HAD THEM
  
  YOU CHILDISH WANKER NINTENDO NEVER RELEASE THE INDEPTH SPECS YOU IDIOT
  
  THE BITS WE WANT WILL LEAK SOONER OR LATER
  
  I CAN IMAGING GIVING THESE SPECS TO A COMPUTER CUSTOMER WELL CONSIDERING THIS IS HOW PC WORLD SHOW SPECS YOU JUST GOT FUKKING OWNED
- Lv.5 Jacob
  
  I don’t think this guy is angry enough. If you want anybody to listen to you, “dont douch me out ever again”, you need to calm your panties.
Ice

Hey! I’m also 6.8 in. long, I wonder how big the disc slot is.
Joaquim

I hope that “this holiday” is the summer.
idk

All of you fanboys need to suck it up and stop being in denial against everything bad that is said towards nintendo,makes this site very frustrating.
- relo999
  
  But there are also allot of fanboys of Sony and Microsoft that cant wait to burn shit to the ground.
Neil

Where’s the specifics on the CPU and GPU? That’s what lots of us want to know!
Super Nintendo Boy

oh yea Nintendo time

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