May 29th, 2012

Wii U vs. Xbox 720 vs. PS4

77 Comments

A user on NeoGAF has shared a series of posts that provide a relative understanding of the Wii U hardware in relation to the Xbox 720 and PS4. Supposedly, he is a developer who has proven himself to the moderators on the forum, but as with anything, be skeptical. It’s also very early days for the other consoles, so a lot of things can change between now and then.

This apparent developer compares the Wii U to a “low specs PC” and, while the “PS4 is not final yet and can change a lot”, the next Xbox is “more or less clear right now” and “the gap is big in almost every part”.

He specifically mentions, in response to someone disagreeing there will be a major difference with graphics that, “no, it will be noticeable (technically speaking)”. Of course, “noticeable” is a relative term in itself. But will be interesting to see if these systems make the Wii U look like another Wii in terms of raw power.

  • Wolf

    Who didn’t see this coming?

  • JamesD

    I hope this isn’t true. It’d be disappointing to hear that ninty is going after the “core” gamers, then releasing a slightly underpowered console compared to its competitors.

    I’ll still take this as a grain of salt, though. We’ll just have to wait ’till e3 for anything solid.
    C’mon, Nintendo, you’ve made powerful consoles every other generation, blow those haters out of their socks! :P

    • dibbler

      But if Nintendo were to make a very powerful console it will cost a lot. Then Ninty would loose sales.

    • jobro

      next Xbox and PS still tba , not at e3 2012 , so It ´ll take a long time till thea come out.Than its no probblem if the Wii u has lower specs because the Graphics of the new Xbox/PS wont be much better :D

  • uPadWatcher

    Nintendo will go the distance to balance both power and sales. You’re still looking at a possible range between $299.99 and $399.99.

    • Bilbo Baggins

      Thats pretty cheep for curent and next gen computer platform and tablet
      Thats pretty expensive for a >16 kid without a job
      Now the question, are you under 16?

  • SEGAGIGA

    This “anonymous” source believes the gap in graphical quality will be like Dreamcast (Wii U) vs. XBOX1 (720),

    Just look at the difference with the Dreamcast and XBOX versions of Shenmue II, it’s not that different, the XBOX has only fancy lighting and bloom effects but overall it’s pretty much the same.

    We’ll not be missing much, it still depends on how developers will utilize these new systems.

    • Meelow

      He’s also saying the PS4 can be the PS2 or the GameCube in power and I really doubt Sony will make the PS4 much more powerful then the Wii U.

      He also said Microsoft gave into what Epic said about power but Sony is sticking with there original plans.

    • Okami

      Well, there is a huge difference between a enhanced port and a game built from the ground though. You can’t really use a up-port as a comparison. Compare Shenmue I/II for the Dreamcast with the prettiest/graphically most advanced games made for the Xbox and you get a more fair comparison.

      Of course, his statement is not very clear either.

    • BlueHawk007

      @meelow Is pretty much correct.

      GCN was more powerful in every way than the PS2 except for disc space. We’ll still have to wait and see, but the 720P only issue because of the controller is a horrible issue that will defiantly affect sales.

  • Bewoulf2000

    Screw how much other gaming consoles can produce, tell me the games. Does the ps4 or 720 have Mario, Kirby, Zelda, Pikmin, Metroid, Fire emblem, Pokemon, or Star fox. I didn’t think so.

    • dibbler

      All the reason to get the wii u

    • gobbledegubber

      I really believe they want to destroy nintendo and pick over the scraps they want what nintendos got so bad

    • BlueHawk007

      Sony:
      LBP Series, Sly 4 Theives in Time, inFAMOUS series, Uncharted Series, Resistance Series,3D Dot Game Heroes,Modnation Racers, LBP Racing,Sorcery. These are just some of the great exclusives I’ve either played or own.

      This is coming from a big Nintendo fan. Sony and Nintendo both have amazing exclusives. The only one that has very few is xbox with Halo,Fez, and Trials Evolution.

      All my preference but many people could agree with this.

    • gobbledegubber

      What I was saying is if nintendo went down and say playstaition got mario that would be the bomb on tokyo I agree there are good games everywhere just what floats your boat

  • Lene

    It doesn’t sound really believable to me.

    Anyway, the WiiU will be less powerful. The other consoles will be able to display 3% more polygons and texels -something the average human cannot notice-… and might cost 100-200 ¤ more. Great…

    • D2K

      LOl. Pretty much.

    • Okami

      3% is so far from what the difference will be. Not that it really matters to the quality of the games though.

    • Guy

      Did you mean 300% more polygons?

    • james braselton

      yeah 300% more polygons and 300% faster read write speed

  • ddddd

    WiiU is not a low end pc for this dev, the difference between a low end pc and a high end pc is a representation of the difference between a wiiu and a durango, like the dreamcast to xbox (but he says its even bigger difference)

    • Me

      Actually, the difference between a low-end PC and a high-end one is massive. I’m sure that people are still selling absolute shit-box PCs, so the difference between a low-end PC and a high-end one could (and I say could) be like the difference between a Dreamcast and a PS3, potentially.

  • D2K

    Since all the developers whom have names, faces, and we know exactly what company they work for and what position they have for companies like Crytek, EA, THQ, Vigil, Ubisoft, Epic, Gearbox, Feral Interactive, Tecmo, and of course Nintendo themselves have said many times over up until this very day the exact opposite of what he is saying, they must be all liars.

    CLEARLY, this “apparent developer” knows more about the Wii U than they do.

    Look at this. WARNING!! Please do not read if you are eating popcorn or other high-choke factor food.

    http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38274551&postcount=7296

    This guy actually said that the PS4 and 720 would be comparable to a high-end PC and the Wii U a low-end PC. A high-end PC today would have at LEAST 16 GB of RAM (most likely 32GB,) probably a nVidia GTX 680 or ATI Radeon 7950 which are absurdly expensive right now and at least a i7 multi-core chip. There is no way Sony and Microsoft could even COMBINE to afford to make a console with horsepower comparable to that without the system being over 1,000 dollars and they STILL would lose money on hardware sales.

    I don’t disagree with him totally on saying the Wii U will be equivalent to a low-end gaming PC in power. I think it’ll be slightly more powerful than that but if it isn’t I wouldn’t be surprised, but NONE of the next-gen consoles will be equivalent to ANY current high-end gaming PC set-up, PERIOD. It just isn’t financially possible. I don’t know where these idiots think these companies are supposed to get all this imaginary money from.

    It’s easy for a company like Epic to “demand” Sony and Microsoft to make consoles that fit their gaming engine (it’s also selfish and irresponsible.) They don’t have to eat 4,5, or even 600 dollar losses on each console sold assuming that they did give in to their demands. Sony and Microsoft ain’t thinking about Epic like that. They have an organization to run and Epic needs them more than they need Epic. You can have the most powerful, efficient, technologically-advanced race car ever designed. Without a track to race it on, it is just an expensive paper weight.

    http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38274838&postcount=7318

    The only specs even RUMORED about the 720 is the supposed 16-core processor which would be as impossible as it gets just on heating issues alone, not to mention price, and the graphics card which has already been confirmed to be weaker than the rumored card for the Wii U. Even weaker than a card a step weaker than the rumored GPU used in the Wii U. Both those can’t be right. Either one or both rumors are complete BS. based on the FACTS that Microsoft has said they will focus more on perfecting the Kinect technology and making the next console more of a complete entertainment device rather than just a hardcore gaming machine, a 16-core processor would be totally unnecessary.

    As far as Sony goes, they have already said that the PS4 will not be that big of a jump from the PS3 and that they also like Microsoft will be focusing more on the casual crowd. I don’t know exactly what they plan to do (quite frankly I don’t think they even know right now.) I think they are just playing a ‘wait and see’ game right now in regards to the Wii U launch, which I think is smart. There focus at the moment is to get things turned around on the PSVita and releasing more strong PS3 titles. The PS3 still has some life left in it and it doesn’t need to be abandoned just yet.

    After both the PS3 and 360 lost money for 4 consecutive years before turning a profit and losing billions more in fiascos like ‘RROD’ and ‘Hackgate’ they are playing it close to the vest this time. The gaming market is extremely fragile right now with the economy being the way that it is. Nintendo proved that what matters most is that you have a product that the customer wants to buy. I don’t care if it is a rock in a shoebox, if people come out in droves to buy it, mission accomplished.

    Are cutting edge graphics nice to have? Of course. Is it necessary to win a console war? Nope. That has been proven for six generations so far and it isn’t about to change. I think I’m gonna start a blog. I’m sucking up too much bandwidth here. :)

  • Tails the Foxhound

    We don’t even know if he has a recent Dev Kit or not. We also don’t know if he’s just talking out the side of his neck or not (not about being a dev, he’s apparently verified, in general). That being said he said noticeable TECHNICALLY, not visually or performance wise. A PC is technically superior to the PS360, but you never notice it in properly ported and optimized games.

    Not that I care anyways, I can’t wait until E3 so I can hear about and see some actual games for the damn thing.

    • D2K

      ^ This.

  • dubYA

    Another NeoGAF “insider” (bgassassin) claims the difference in power between the Wii U and Durango is more similar to the difference between PS2 and XBOX1 respectively. Even if the Wii U is the next gen equivalent of the Dreamcast where power is concerned, it should still be able to receive ports in the same way PS360 receives ports of high-end PC titles.

  • Pete41608

    I dont care about it being ‘slightly underpowered’ after PS4 & 720 release. the 2 things Nintendo has to focus on is HD & their Online Structure. Also, you’d kind of expect PS4 & 720 to be slightly graphically superior due to Sony & Microsoft bein bout graphics. plus im sure they’ll rip SEVERAL ideas from Wii U. I PRAY for the Wii U to be enough to make it my MAIN Next gen console. im ready to go back to Nintendo as my ONLY home console. ITS TIME!!

    • D2K

      Well, if you can afford to I would say take a shot at having the Wii U and PS4. Sony still has a lot of first party material that I’m interested in playing in the next-gen. There would be a reason to have both a PS4 and Wii U because they will have a good measure of games you won’t find elsewhere that you will want to play.

      Microsoft………*sigh* not really feeling that. Halo, Forza, and Gears is not enough to keep me interested. If there is an odd-man-out in the next gen I think it’ll be Microsoft.

    • Pete41608

      definitely agree on the Xbox. tried it, no games to my liking. As for PS4, my main console (actually my ONLY at this time, had a 360 for a month and a half, and 3 Wii’s in the last 4 years) is a PS3, it does have great games, but Sony are wearing their customers thin, lies, keeping us in the dark, i know all companies do but Sony takes it up several notches. Also, im HIGHLY ANTICIPATING Nintendo FINALLY stepping into modern gaming as we know it today. HD, Online, not to mention their innovations. NINTENDO FTW!!

    • Pete41608

      P.S. ill most likely get a PS4 but hopefully Wii U is enough to keep me cool til Sony builds its library. Note:I dont hate Sony, im just like most gamers; just upset with them over the last two years.

    • Suedeash

      I’ve been upset with Sony for a long time. I think their library lacks the innovation and diversity that PS2 had. I freaking loved my PS2. I’m so sad they stopped production today.

    • D2K

      Yeah, understandable. A lot of people feel about Nintendo the way you feel about Sony now. Either real mistakes Nintendo has made in the past (cartridge on N64 and no online or DVD on GameCube) or perceived mistakes on the Wii (crappy online system, previous-gen graphics, anemic 3rd-party support) has left a bad taste in the mouth of a lot of gamers, burned a lot of bridges and they have a “I’ll believe it when I see it” attitude in regards to the Wii U.

      Those people I sympathize with and I completely understand. I get that. They have valid points and I can respect that. Nintendo does have a lot to prove with the Wii U. Nintendo has a lot of damage-control with the core audience (I hate using that term but I cannot think of a better word to describe them) to do and they have admitted as much.

      If the general consensus of Nintendo haters had this point of view I would be fine with it. However the vast majority of the haters are standing in a completely irrational position that NOTHING Nintendo has done or will do matters.

      I think that if you had to only choose one system, this time around a core gamer could choose the Wii U and won’t be missing out on anything.

    • Pete41608

      Genius D2K…you’ve just came up with Nintendo’s next marketing slogan….”NINTENDO MATTERS” personally I’ve forgiven for everything messed up they’ve ever done, but its VERY VERY HARD to forgive them for the Wii. Innovation, YES, Bullshit, VERY Much. Nintendo Forever FTW

  • Beat

    Has he actually seen Sony and Microsoft’s new consoles? Or is he just making speculation like the rest of us.

    Also, I don’t think the difference between the WiiU and the other platforms will as much as Wii and Xbox/Ps3. I mean, how much further can graphics and general power go?

    • ddddd

      He knows the target specs, and surely sony and ms must already have made dev kits by now. He is comparing the specs, not the real world performance though.

  • Alianjaro

    Wow that’s sooo believable since the only things we know about the next gen XBox and PS is their code names… Goddamn even people working for Nintendo don’t know much about the WiiU!

    • ddddd

      Devs working directly on kits know a lot about the hardware and have word from nintendo on what should they expect in terms of specs. They just wont say a word, or in some cases, they dont understand tech and say bullcrap like several anonymous devs.
      We, regular people, dont know a lot about next gen consoles, developers know pretty much everything they need hardware-wise.

  • james braselton

    hi there no specs come out there are rummers of 2 consoles the first one will be power full consoles if xbox 720 and ps 4 cones out way more power full nintendo will bring out a wii u 2 a 64 core with 720 gb solid state flash storage and powered buy a black hole for powering the console

  • Drew

    sadly i believe wii u will not have UE4 and will be another wii less powerful than the rest….

    • uriel

      maybe a beefed up unreal engine 3 / plus unreal 4 requires alot of power i saw in an article (which is a lame source i know but still it adds to the conversation) that in order too run unreal 4 they need too buy this certain chip (im terrible) that costs like 150 – 200 dollars and thats not even whatever there adding sooo i dont know was just thinking about it ……but im praying they can at least run ue4 at a lower quality version soo ports can be accepptable and we dont have this problem again// plus those systems wont be around for year(s) 360/ps3 both are awesome right know so there not rushing plus the president of sony (america) said ps3 would have a ten year life cycle.(unlikely but still) plus im sure they dont want wii u to fail or look bad …competition is good for business

    • uriel

      oh and yeah i aggree it may not run unreal 4 it just seems too soon for it too run it(can they really tweek a system to run it without making it a financial burden) i mean can developers even use it yet or are they barely just showing the engine too the public . if it can they probaly wont use it for a while since ports are like there focus (raking in money from a source that wasnt available before) oh and nintendo is way too secretive about wii u thank god theres only a week…….but news has dried up this is all filler…….

    • Me

      I heard that Nintendo have tweaked the Wii U in order to make it capable of running UE4, so that it would be easy to port games to the Wii U (cross-platform games, obviously). I think Nintendo are smart enough to allow their new console to run UE4.

  • George Tirebiter

    Watch this be the topic with the highest number of comments. Yep, nothing gets attention online quite like a title implying a console war debate.

  • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc

    I lost it when he said “No it will be noticeable”
    But if this guy and all those people are all about graphics and crap to infinity, why can’t they simply be a PC gamer? I mean there’s Halo on PC as well, and these graphics “Will be notable” to even the ps3.

    • ddddd

      He is a developer, he has to work on wiiu even if he felted the hardware was crap

    • Asfg

      Only lighting will be the difference. Zelda demo prettymuch says hi. Unless you need realism to cover up your lack of creativity.

      What is funny is cloud gaming can be used to catch up very quickly.

    • Co-Wink-Key-Dink inc.

      Well you can basically upgrade to the latest graphics chip and CPU, video cards, hard drive, upgrade the dvd drive to blu ray.

      Unlike a console, which (Mostly) has the same specs for the rest of it’s lifespan

  • J.P

    oh well at leats its not … Wii – Ps3 gap.

  • Stark Voggel

    Well if that’s the case, then it appears Nintendo definitely made the right decision. I will take the gameplay options available with the WiiU’s controller over the slight upgrade in graphics any day.

  • Big E

    Know what I find funny? The pic shows the PS3 and 360 consoles, but the WiiU console is missing and replaced with its controller. And we’re talking about hardware specs (Sort of)…What’s up with that? (Just wondering)

  • bill

    It doesn’t even matter.

  • Snowmadboy

    I honestly don’t care if the Wii U graphics suck, I only care for good quality games.

    • BlueHawk007

      I doubt they will suck. We’ve gotten tech demos of Zelda last E3 and it looked amazing! And that wasn’t CG graphics that was real gameplay graphics. They certainly won’t suck.

  • anonymous

    oh god, how many times do we have to go through this?
    Sony doesn’t have the money to make a very powerful console

    • Tak

      It cannot sell it at loss. Sony can make powerful console, but it has to think what kind of product would work best for them, when they have to be more carefull with the price tag.

      I think, that if all the FUD and staunch hegemony doesn’t hurt Nintendo too much, it is in a Very good place with the Wii U.

  • Komicturtle

    Meh, I’ll stick with ReviewTechUSA’s comprehensive over this guy’s.

  • gobbledegubber

    You know I always think of nintendo xbox and sony like cars nintendo is like your first car boy we had good times in that car still going strong named her bessie xbox is that import sleek but never gets out of the shop sony is the ferrari everybody dreams of but who can afford it in the end who do I want the one that I’ve driven for 25 years know

    • Tak

      This is the first time, when Sony is the Ferrari. Usually it has been the Nintendo.

  • IKE

    Wii had crappy graphics, Wii U will not have crappy graphics , that’s all we need….it was never about the gap it was all about the Wii not having good graphics…..

    • gobbledegubber

      Yee I kind think these people that keep yelling bigger graphics are over compensating for something maybe small ram

    • Big E

      Let’s all focus on presentation instead of smooth controls and replayability…*derp*

    • D2K

      The Wii had fantastic graphics. They were just a generation behind. People always compare the Wii graphics to the PS3 and 360 and say, the “graphics suck on the Wii.” That’s like saying, “The PS2′s graphics suck compared to the PS3.” Of course the PS3′s graphics are better. The PS2 is a generation behind, just like the Wii is.

      The Wii is basically an enhanced GameCube with motion controls. In comparison to the previous gen consoles the Wii is far superior in power and graphics. In comparison to this generation the graphics are not nearly as good (unless you upscale the Wii to 1080p in which you get graphics that look like this.)

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNbclYPSQiQ

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGGgUgDe2qk&feature=fvwrel

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyd3wCq-CWk

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkroLroovM8&feature=related

      So the Wii does not have “bad” graphics. It has last-gen graphics and if the engine Nintendo uses can make last-gen games look this good by it simply being upscaled into 1080p, well…….you know the rest.

      On a side note, I think that the 3DS graphics should have at LEAST been this good. It’s not a problem but just saying.

  • wolfy

    I don’t care how powerful it is. If it’s allready being talked about an MMO console then that’s awesome enough, fuck the most popular MMO today has gamecube graphics.

    Runescape is the hugest MMO I ever played, then maplestory is right behind it. and thous two proofs that you don’t need pretty pictures to be a success.

    • wolfy

      Then… there’s games with NO GRAPHICS, Torn City and Eternal duel. hell there’s even one called dragon soldier that doesn’t need graphics that became so popular it’s not even accepting donations anymore.

  • Super D.

    Nintendo comes up with the better console, and then Microsoft and Sony take the ideas and make it so much better. Things would be a lot different and maybe better if Nintendo didn’t release their consoles first. Let the competitors release what they have to offer, then bring out the Nintendo Power House XD

    • D2K

      That is incorrect. This is the first time since the Famicom back in 1983 that Nintendo has released a console first and that is the only home console Nintendo has released first. And of course the US version the NES was released in 1985.

      The NES won that console war by a country mile by the way.

    • james braselton

      hi there thanks for new information did not now that the internet said release date 2014 for xbox 720 2016 for ps4 rummered release dates

    • james braselton

      you are right nintendo might be last but then microsoft and sony will never release consoles soo nintendo cant hold off for internaty

  • james braselton

    hi there you are right microsoft and sony have put rummers specs cost game prices and release date between 2014 to 2020 game prices $150 and guss what the internet rummer price is $1,500 thats right ps4 and xbox 720 cost more then a 13.3 inch macbook air with 256 gb flash drive and games costing $200

  • Anonymous

    @d9108c09aad60a2d4c6c3156eb271157:disqus

    Nope, sony and microsoft have now both confirmed the PS4 AND Xbox 720 release dates to be 2013.

    The Wii U on the other hand comes out this Autumn, just in time for Christmas.

  • jake

    Ps4 and new xbox is gona smash Wii U >:D

    • ishittouch

      Not true because both haven’t come yet you still compare them that like comparing a show vs a show that still doesn’t exist or have been even planned yet hell the Wii U haven’t even come yet so you can’t compare them also the ps4 might pause the game each time with some bullshit pepsi ads…..Ads never should be on gaming and about the new xbox…..not as powerful as Wii U i think you talking about xbox 720 because the new xbox is the same as xbox 360 which isn’t powerful than wii u and since the xbox 720 online gonna be xbox live which means it won’t be free piss many players off hell you can’t even watch netflix or any apps and games online what a scam and like i said ps4 might have those bullshit pepsi ads so Wii U will smash ps4 and xbox 720 and even my dick will smash them too

  • james braselton

    hi there just want too game with tablet controlers

  • Robert

    Is it bad CPU or bad develpoer?

  • Robert

    How do you Know

  • the real information

    Wii u is the Most Powers full finskor in the Worlds (right now) but the os 4 going to killen 720 and Wii u.

  • Squid

    I know this article is old. But I have to hope Nintendo wins. I hate it when people say Wii u should have price drop. When they would pay 500 dollars for PS4 or NextBox