Topic: Future issues with porting next-gen games to Wii U

Not sure if this should go here, but I've been thinking about it for the past couple of days. With the new PS4 and NextBox being based on the x86 instruction set, will there be issues porting those games to the Wii U (and it's PowerPC based instruction set)? It seems like right now, porting current-gen Xbox and PS3 games to the Wii U aren't as difficult due to them sharing the same CPU type. However, with everything next-gen being x86 based (including PC obviously), it worries me that the Wii U may suffer. Anyone with porting knowledge care to chime in?

Not a developer myself, and I seriously doubt there are many on these forums, but I wouldn't worry about Next generation games being ported to the Wii U. I don't imagine that there will be all that many Next Generation games to port. I'd just like to see more of the current generation stuff ported over and enhanced somehow, like collections and stuff. Especially HD collections of games from even older non-Nintendo consoles.

I guess better stated my worry is that games will be designed for the three x86 based systems, with the Wii U as an afterthought. Couple the fact that the Wii U is an entirely different system to program for, and that's where my issues come into play.

Welcome to the world of Nintendo. Like the Wii before it, I'm sure Wii U will get some great exclusives but I doubt we'll see a lot of multiplatform titles. It's something that should've been expected simply because Nintendo is once again focusing on innovation and has a system that differs significantly from competitors. The gamepad coupled with the system's CPU inevitably being a bit behind the PS4 and Nextbox means porting is not an easy process and, even when actually getting multiplatform titles, it will likely often be an afterthought. If developers can find overlap in similarities between multiple systems then that is where they would want to focus their resources. It will be much easier for these developers to design the game for PS4 and Nextbox (and possibly PC) with little extra work for it being on all those systems, but to make it tailored to the Wii U will take more resources than porting amongst the other systems. Sure, some games will be built especially for Wii U (and plenty of others will be exclusives), but most companies focusing on multiplatform won't spend much money on Wii U ports unless the other next gen systems seriously bomb.

I think the main problem in porting games to the Wii U right now is mainly because of the Gamepad integration on the game. The assymetrical gameplay is what really differentiate the Wii U with that of the other current gen game consoles. I remembered few months ago when Ubisoft first brought up the topic of porting the game "Watch Dog" on the Wii U, they're saying at that time that they're looking for ways to better use the Gamepad on the game. Around that time also another game developer mentioned of another game they're not bringing on the Wii U cuz if they're going to do so they need to go back on the drawing board & almost will totally create a separate port on the Wii U to make use of the Gamepad integration.

I don't think it's going to be a problem porting games on the Wii U than that of porting games on the next gen game consoles having a different type of architecture (PC based) in the future as both of the coming next gen game consoles also will feature assysmetrical gameplay much like that on the Wii U.

A true gamer right here folks!

Next gen game consoles from both Sony & Microsoft are mainly hyped up. Your TV is limited to 1080p max resolution. Even if there's a next gen game made to go higher than 1080p you're limited on what your TV can scale. The enhanced graphics on next gen game consoles doesn't give that big of a difference. The GPUs on this next gen game consoles are no Nvidia Titans.

The Gamepad is the main issue with porting games over to the Wii U, not whether or not a game can be ported in the first place. The Wii U has a good amount of power under the hood. Not as much as the PS4 and Next Box obviously, but more than the PS3 and 360. Game engines are becoming ever-so scalable these days, that I'm sure a game on the PS4/NextBox could be scaled down to be playable on the Wii U and still look great (just not wow).

Developers seem to believe that they must use the Gamepad for something significant, and because they can't think of something, they dismiss the Wii U altogether. I don't know about you all, but if they can't think of anything useful to use it for, why not simply Off-TV play? Or, why use the Gamepad screen at all? I honestly don't expect 3rd-party developers to utilize the Gamepad for anything because they are developing with ideas that are common across all platforms (PS4/NextBox/WiiU/PC/etc).

Last I checked, developers weren't forced to use every single aspect of Nintendo's systems. Even the 3DS, which touts 3D, is not forced upon by developers, as they can use it if they want to. At least one game doesn't use 3D. Even the DS didn't require developers to use both screens, or even the touchscreen for input. Why these developers think they must is beyond me.

Yeah, if I was Nintendo I'd actively tell developers to consider the gamepad use optional. I think it's sad that they would actually have to state this but whatever.

Devs should just use the screen for Off-TV Play if they cannot think of anything else, All that requires is to stream Video and Sound to the controller as well as the TV

Lots of the new engines are developed to be easy scaleable, however, i wouldnt expect that many, IF ANY, of the games developed specifically for the next Playstation and Xbox to be ported to Wii U. The console will gets its own games from both first and third-party and will most likely share a lot of multiplatform-games with the likes of 3DS, PsVita and PS360.

You might have something there if last gen's games were at 1080P, but they weren't. Very few games were 1080P, most of them were 720P and I believe that there were some that weren't even that. Another factor is the FPS; if I'm recalling correctly they are talking about rendering at 60 FPS now. So not only do you have an increase in resolution, but an increase in FPS. The games on the nextbox and PS4 are going to look and play sweet, whether you like Microsoft or Sony or not.

That being said, I'm mainly a PC gamer and I doubt I wind up with either of them. The only thing that would entice me with the PS4 would be exclusives, and as the Demon Souls franchise isn't an exclusive anymore, most everything I want ends up on the PC.

The games will be better on Wii U compared to anything before it(once they start coming out that is), but the Xbox 1080 and PS4 will definitely have better visuals, possible higher resolutions, etc.
The difference is, is that 1080p, 60fps, 5.1 PCM, UI, and better graphics altogether have become the norm.
There will basically be nothing practical for surround above 7.1 unless you're being ridiculous, and 2k is about the highest resolution monitors go to RIGHT NOW, which isn't a TV to be more accessible to other devices.
Really, I think there will hardly be any difference for the first 2 years of PS4 for Wii U, but after that the differences will definitely start to show, and Nintendo will either have to release a hardware upgrade(which was kind of impossible for Nintendo to put in the box in the first place) or cater more and more to indies and smaller game companies for everyone to have a shot at making higher end titles that were big hits last gen, while improving compatibility for their console.
So basically, even if Nintendo can't keep up for very long hardware wise(I think it should do well, anyway), they will have a plan to bring smaller companies up for bigger titles than they usually make, or just release a hardware for hard core consumers that WILL NOT buy an Xbox 1080 or PS4, because they already have a Wii U.

What's problematic is that some engines, like UE4, will not have fixed development tools. Porting games to systems with a architecture that are alike is not a problem today, every graphic engine out today is extremely versatile... As long as you have tools at hand. Since Epic, for example, won't make tools to develop UE4 games on WiiU - we won't see many UE4 games on WiIU.

That's the main problem I believe.

You make it look like a comparable GTX 660 on PS4 or a comparable GTX 570 TI (though it's to early to guess the right comparable GPU on Xbox 720 cuz it's not even unvailed yet but by all accounts it's slower than that of the PS4) will work wonders. Both of this GPUs are nothing new. They're still being used by PC gamers but this GPUs are low range GPUs. They're not comparable to Radeon 7990, GTX 680 or GTX Titan's performance. The GPUs on the next gen game consoles are slow GPUs. Yes, they're better than the GPU on the Wii U but it doesn't mean that they're going to produce a very stunning graphics.

There's a limitation on how far this next gen game consoles GPUs can go. It's limited to 1080p max resolution. Your TV is also limited to 1080p max resolution. Yes, it has better 3D rendering effects (ambient occlusion, anisotropic filtering, antialiasing, CUDA cores, texture filtering, buffering & v sync) but the GPU on Wii U can scale well too even at 30 fps (ex: Need for Speed: Most Wanted U). It all depends mainly on how you ported the games on the next gen game consoles.

The next gen games made for PS4 & Xbox 720 most probably will have 1080p max resolution as opposed to the Wii U when there are games that's still on 720p but it doesn't mean that the Wii U cannot run well on 1080p max resolution. It all depends on how the game is ported. Don't expect both the PS4 & Xbox 720 to run on flat out 60 fps second as 2 of my GTX 680 Superclocked on SLI even have hard time running at solid 60 fps on Far Cry 3 when the game first came out unpatched.

Don't expect to much on the next gen game consoles from Sony & Microsoft. You might be disappointed when you don't see a big difference. Most of it are just hype meant to elevate the status of this next gen game consoles, increase curiousity of potential buyers & improved its sells when it comes out.

Hard to say at this point, but I truly feel like a Nintendo console will be left out in the cold AGAIN as far as third party support goes for the majority of its life, in this case the Wii U. It sucks!

It's your loss, not mine.

I still expect Xbox 1080 to have more potential than PS4. Most don't even really understand the specs.
PS4 sacrificed a little power for more accessibility, while Xbox 1080 will have more power to be harnessed in the long run, but be less accessible at first.
Wii U will be the easy console to dev for in terms of graphics and such in comparison(except maybe the GamePad), PS4 helps devs jump right into the deeper waters, and Xbox will most likely finalize any progress made this gen.
PS4 is only seen as being more powerful because it looks that way now, but it won't be in the long run. Xbox only looks less powerful to the blind eye.

There were 2 big reasons why the Wii did not get many direct ports of games: High Definition and the Controller. Both these issues have been solved with the Wii U, now the thought is that the PS4 and Durango are too powerful and will leave the Wii U in the past. The Wii U is much easier to port games to than the Wii was. Some problems I can see is them having to cut levels in half, longer loading times, less max players online, possible cut of split screen gaming. Making cuts to what the Wii U has to process will help but some companies had to make cuts when porting games to the PS3 due to the weird architecture. FOr the most part all companies would have to do with the Controller Screen is allow Off-TV Play, and that isn't too difficult. For Off-TV Play all you have to do is stream the same image going to the TV to the GamePad screen.

This all stems from the belief that AAA gaming will still be as relevant in even 2-3 years. Sony's also semi-realized this so porting super HD 2.0 games or whatever we'll call 720/PS4's boxed games won't be too big a deal in the first place assuming Nintendo doesn't mess up with indies and gets the support of more companies specifically like Platinum.