iPhone More Powerful Than Wii?!
Posted by Ashish on 07.31.2009
Telltale programmer says it is...
Some of you might have noticed that the WiiWare version of Tales of Monkey Island has some framerate issues. Why is that? Telltale programmer Yare blames Nintendo, and goes as far as to say that the iPhone is more powerful than the Wii.
"The voices and textures are the way they are because we're limited to 40 megs for WiiWare titles. The PC versions of our games are usually 150+ megs, and most modern games range anywhere from 1-10 gigabytes or more. Talk to Nintendo about this one. Frame rate issues will probably get sorted out eventually, but keep in mind that the Wii is just not a powerful console. An iPhone is much more powerful than a Wii, even."
He adds that the Wii has 88MB of RAM, but that a lot of that is always in use by the OS and thus can't be used by developers.
"I stand by [my comments]. The Wii and DS are extremely underpowered and their popularity doesn't remove the hardware limitations."
Posted By: Mr. Ramon (Registered) on July 31, 2009 at 01:43 AM
Fair enough if the iPhone is more powerful, but power has never been a selling point for the Wii (or even an issue for most consumers) and to complain of its' shortcomings in this area is to completely miss the point.
Kinda like complaining about a Ford Fiesta not being as fast or as flashy as the Focus Coupe Cabriolet. No sane person expects both cars to perform the same, but you make the choice. It's down to budget, expectation and preference.
It seems like developers are taking that Coupe engine, shoehorning it into the Fiesta and then blaming the Fiesta when its gearbox, clutch and suspension can't handle the power.
If you're going to make the decision to develop or port games from other platforms to the Wii then you have to accept it & compromise.
It's like taking a hi res picture from your 15 megapixel camera and resizing for the internet at 72DPI - it's all about optimisation.
The Wii sells because of innovation (or gimmicks, depending on your point of view), and fun. It's great that some developers (Nintendo included) still remember the old school mantra; 'gameplay is king'.
I have nothing against the XBox or PS3, but no amount of full HD, photo-realistic, real world physics engines or fancy lighting/bloom effects can disguise a shoddy title and fool the gamer. After all, 'you can't polish a turd'.
Limited hardware has always forced software developers to improve and innovate rather than just taking a rubbish game, tacking on some fancy HD bells & whistles (just because they CAN) then selling it based on appearance rather than merit or depth (a bit like Paris Hilton or Victoria Beckham).
A good example of this is the recent 'Ghostbusters' game...
It looks great on every platform, but the Wii version was creatively changed to be more like the cartoon so it would run well on that platform. THAT is the essence of good porting from a high end graphics platform to a limited or less powerful one.
It's also a shame in a way that there's very little platform exclusivity anymore. Back when there was the NES and the Mastersystem or the Megadrive and the SNES, you faced a straightforward choice over what games you wanted to play if you only got one system.
Now it seems like every game has to be released on every platform and, as not all platforms are created equal, the results will vary if developers can't be bothered to optimise their titles to play to the strengths of each system.
Posted By: Lazy Programmers? (Guest) on July 31, 2009 at 06:18 AM
Again, goes to show that power isn't everything. The Wii and DS are powerful enough, and the games are very entertaining. I had a lot of fun with Wii Sports Resort, which is obviously not a game that would challenge the capacity of any system. But it's a very fun game, and, in the end, that's what really matters.
Posted By: Jeff Modzelewski (Registered) on July 31, 2009 at 07:08 AM
Amazing how you can be #1 and not have the biggest dick in the pants.
I find that hilarious.
Posted By: David (Guest) on July 31, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Amazing how you can be #1 and not have the biggest dick in the pants.
I find that hilarious.
Posted By: David (Guest) on July 31, 2009 at 10:28 AM
So what you are saying is that I still have a shot at being #1. SWEET!!!!!
Posted By: Sneaky Ninja Jr. (Guest) on July 31, 2009 at 01:25 PM
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