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It's only four days until the release of Nintendo's Next-Gen console is released, and what do we know about it?
In this article, I will attempt to post everything that you need to know.
Processors
CPU: IBM Power Architecture-based multi-core processor.
GPU: AMD Radeon High Definition with an eDRAM cache built onto the die.
RAM
2 GB Total (with half dedicated to system software)
Storage
8GB (Basic) or 32GB Deluxe/Premium Internal flash memory, expandable via SD memory cards and USB hard disk drives.
Slot-loading optical disc drive compatible with 12 cm “proprietary high-density optical discs” (25 GB per layer) and 12 cm Wii optical discs.
Ports And Peripheral Capabilities
SD memory card slot (supports SDHC cards).
USB 2.0 ports (2 at front of console, 2 at rear).
Sensor Bar power port.
“AV Multi Out” port.
HDMI 1.4 out port.
Internet Browser
Browser Engine: NetFront® Browser NX v2.1.
User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Nintendo WiiU) AppleWebKit/534.52 (KHTML, like Gecko) NX/{Version No} NintendoBrowser/{Version No}.
Supported Protocols: HTTP1.0/HTTP1.1/SSL3.0/TLS1.0/TLS1.1/TLS1.2.
Web Standard: HTML4.01/HTML5/XHTML1.1/CSS1/CSS2.1/CSS3.
Plug-ins: Does not support plug-ins, such as Adobe Flash.
TouchEvent: The browser supports only one of these at a time: touchstart, touchend, touchmove, touchcancel.
Screen resolution: If it isn’t specified, width is 980px layout.
Saving/upload of image/video: Not supported.
Video Format: MP4, M3U8+TS(HTTPLiveStreaming).
Video Codec: H.264 – MPEG-4 AVC Video.
Audio Codec: AAC – ISO/IEC 14496-3 MPEG-4 AAC.
Video
1080p
1080i
720p
576i(PAL Only)
480p
480i
Standard 4:3 and 16:9 anamorphic widescreen
“AV Multi Out” port supporting composite video, YPBPR component video, S-Video (NTSC consoles only), RGB SCART (European consoles only) and D-Terminal (Japan only)
HDMI 1.4 out port supporting stereoscopic 3D images.
Audio
“AV Multi Out” port. Six-channel PCM linear output through HDMI
Technical Specifications GamePad
Built-in 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope and a geomagnetic sensor.
Stereo Speakers and Microphone.
Volume Control.
Front-facing camera.
IR Sensor strip.
Infrared Transceiver (part of “TV Control” feature).
Headphone jack.
6.2 inch (15.7 cm) 16:9 resistive touchscreen.
Two click-able analog sticks and one D-pad.
Stylus.
Select, Start, TV Control, Home and Power buttons.
A/B/X/Y face buttons, L/R bumper buttons and ZL/ZR trigger buttons.
Rumble.
Controller sync button.
Wireless communication with console based on IEEE 802.11n operating at 5 GHz.
NFC.
External Extension Connector (for additional accessories).
Note: The Wii U is also compatible with the Wii Remote Plus, Wii Nunchuk, Classic Controller, and the Wii Balance Board.
Some Interesting Facts
Wii U OS Level Screenshot
You will be able to take screenshots during games, its not clear if it is available on all games or only a select few.
No More Blocks
On all games, right up to the 3DS, Nintendo have used blocks as a form of indicating storage space, this all changes with the Wii U, they will use normal space measurements, now you will see “this game save needs x.xxMB” instead of “this game save needs x.xx Blocks”
Games
Wii U games come on a proprietary high-density optical disc, which has been created by the help of Panasonic and have a maximum capacity of 25GB, the disc’s have smooth rounded edges, here is an image:
Region
It has been reported that Wii U games are region locked, its not a big deal for most people, but it will affect those that like playing games from Japan, that never seems to see the light of day in western countries.
Backwards Compatibility
The Wii U lets you play your Wii games.
The Wii U’s “Wii U Channel” has an application called “Wii Channel”, which when selected takes you a replica of the Wii Channel, from there you will be able to play your Wii games, that was the good part, now for the bad.
When in the Wii Channel, you will not be able to use the Wii U Pads Screen, all games will be rendered in SD, all Wii games and VC games will only be accessible via the Wii Channel and not on the main Wii U channel.
You will be able to move data from your Wii to your Wii U, but not from Wii U to Wii.
Nintendo eShop
If you know what the PS3′s PS Store is, im sure you can guess what Nintendo’s eShop is.
On the eShop, you will be able to download the same full games that you get on disc, lets hope not all games are 25GB >.<
You will also be able to download demo’s and HD video from the eShop.
Storage/Game Saving
As you will have noticed with the eShop statement, you will be able to download full games, now with the Wii U Basic only having about 7GB storage and the Wii U Premium having about 29GB, that doesn’t give much room for full game download as well as movies and game saves.
Thankfully the Wii U lets us plug in up to 2TB of external storage, which will be formatted by the Wii U and wont be readable on a PC, this massive HDD space allows us to store full games as well as movies and game saves, it is recommended that you use a power supply with the HDD and a dual USB cable is not advised.
You can also use SD Cards, but only for Wii and VC Data, you will not be able to store Wii U Data to it.
Source
In this article, I will attempt to post everything that you need to know.
Processors
CPU: IBM Power Architecture-based multi-core processor.
GPU: AMD Radeon High Definition with an eDRAM cache built onto the die.
RAM
2 GB Total (with half dedicated to system software)
Storage
8GB (Basic) or 32GB Deluxe/Premium Internal flash memory, expandable via SD memory cards and USB hard disk drives.
Slot-loading optical disc drive compatible with 12 cm “proprietary high-density optical discs” (25 GB per layer) and 12 cm Wii optical discs.
Ports And Peripheral Capabilities
SD memory card slot (supports SDHC cards).
USB 2.0 ports (2 at front of console, 2 at rear).
Sensor Bar power port.
“AV Multi Out” port.
HDMI 1.4 out port.
Internet Browser
Browser Engine: NetFront® Browser NX v2.1.
User agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Nintendo WiiU) AppleWebKit/534.52 (KHTML, like Gecko) NX/{Version No} NintendoBrowser/{Version No}.
Supported Protocols: HTTP1.0/HTTP1.1/SSL3.0/TLS1.0/TLS1.1/TLS1.2.
Web Standard: HTML4.01/HTML5/XHTML1.1/CSS1/CSS2.1/CSS3.
Plug-ins: Does not support plug-ins, such as Adobe Flash.
TouchEvent: The browser supports only one of these at a time: touchstart, touchend, touchmove, touchcancel.
Screen resolution: If it isn’t specified, width is 980px layout.
Saving/upload of image/video: Not supported.
Video Format: MP4, M3U8+TS(HTTPLiveStreaming).
Video Codec: H.264 – MPEG-4 AVC Video.
Audio Codec: AAC – ISO/IEC 14496-3 MPEG-4 AAC.
Video
1080p
1080i
720p
576i(PAL Only)
480p
480i
Standard 4:3 and 16:9 anamorphic widescreen
“AV Multi Out” port supporting composite video, YPBPR component video, S-Video (NTSC consoles only), RGB SCART (European consoles only) and D-Terminal (Japan only)
HDMI 1.4 out port supporting stereoscopic 3D images.
Audio
“AV Multi Out” port. Six-channel PCM linear output through HDMI
Technical Specifications GamePad
Built-in 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis gyroscope and a geomagnetic sensor.
Stereo Speakers and Microphone.
Volume Control.
Front-facing camera.
IR Sensor strip.
Infrared Transceiver (part of “TV Control” feature).
Headphone jack.
6.2 inch (15.7 cm) 16:9 resistive touchscreen.
Two click-able analog sticks and one D-pad.
Stylus.
Select, Start, TV Control, Home and Power buttons.
A/B/X/Y face buttons, L/R bumper buttons and ZL/ZR trigger buttons.
Rumble.
Controller sync button.
Wireless communication with console based on IEEE 802.11n operating at 5 GHz.
NFC.
External Extension Connector (for additional accessories).
Note: The Wii U is also compatible with the Wii Remote Plus, Wii Nunchuk, Classic Controller, and the Wii Balance Board.
Some Interesting Facts
Wii U OS Level Screenshot
You will be able to take screenshots during games, its not clear if it is available on all games or only a select few.
No More Blocks
On all games, right up to the 3DS, Nintendo have used blocks as a form of indicating storage space, this all changes with the Wii U, they will use normal space measurements, now you will see “this game save needs x.xxMB” instead of “this game save needs x.xx Blocks”
Games
Wii U games come on a proprietary high-density optical disc, which has been created by the help of Panasonic and have a maximum capacity of 25GB, the disc’s have smooth rounded edges, here is an image:
Region
It has been reported that Wii U games are region locked, its not a big deal for most people, but it will affect those that like playing games from Japan, that never seems to see the light of day in western countries.
Backwards Compatibility
The Wii U lets you play your Wii games.
The Wii U’s “Wii U Channel” has an application called “Wii Channel”, which when selected takes you a replica of the Wii Channel, from there you will be able to play your Wii games, that was the good part, now for the bad.
When in the Wii Channel, you will not be able to use the Wii U Pads Screen, all games will be rendered in SD, all Wii games and VC games will only be accessible via the Wii Channel and not on the main Wii U channel.
You will be able to move data from your Wii to your Wii U, but not from Wii U to Wii.
Nintendo eShop
If you know what the PS3′s PS Store is, im sure you can guess what Nintendo’s eShop is.
On the eShop, you will be able to download the same full games that you get on disc, lets hope not all games are 25GB >.<
You will also be able to download demo’s and HD video from the eShop.
Storage/Game Saving
As you will have noticed with the eShop statement, you will be able to download full games, now with the Wii U Basic only having about 7GB storage and the Wii U Premium having about 29GB, that doesn’t give much room for full game download as well as movies and game saves.
Thankfully the Wii U lets us plug in up to 2TB of external storage, which will be formatted by the Wii U and wont be readable on a PC, this massive HDD space allows us to store full games as well as movies and game saves, it is recommended that you use a power supply with the HDD and a dual USB cable is not advised.
You can also use SD Cards, but only for Wii and VC Data, you will not be able to store Wii U Data to it.
Source