Topic: So I looked at a picture of the PS4

It has a LAN port...
All these small things add up, and ironically the price on release is gonna be about the same.

500 Gig hard-drive vs 8/32Gig something. Don't wanna mess up your disc drive, the option to put it on your PS4 is directly there.
GPU/CPU combination almost twice as better.
More ram.
Everything is just much better in every possible way.

All the Wii U parts are made in China, they made a lot of cuts to apparently give us the Wii U at the relatively the same price as the PS4
yet, the PS4 is superior in every way imaginable in terms of hardware.

Also what's up with all the shops trying to get rid of their Wii U console stock at ridiculous prices, how much is Wii U really worth that they can afford to do that?

Oh and it'll probably be able to play Blu-rays movies too and mkv and mp4...

And your point is...

The PS4 gives much more for the same "suggested retail" price even after all the cutbacks nintendo made.

At this point it would almost be better if they dropped the Wii U console and just made the gamepad and games compatible with the PS4. As if that'll ever happen.

Even though I can not wait for the PS4 and I can't say my Wii U is getting a lot of use lately. I still think the Wii U is still a decent console. Here in the UK shops last week where selling the basic pack with a game for around £150.

If I never had a wii u even with all the negativity I would of bought one. PS4/Wii U are going to be the consoles to own this time next year.

The LAN port is maybe a couple of bucks on the price, you can get a gigabit PCIe LAN card for $15AU. It's a shame it's not there but TBH the vast, vast majority of end users will be using WiFi anyway. Which they did include, and which costs a lot more to include. The flash vs HDD thing is probably mostly about the form factor more than anything else. A HDD adds a fair amount of bulk but flash doesn't and, if we were to make a guess, they probably didn't save much putting 32GB of flash in there instead of a 500GB HDD. Storage is cheap but HDDs are significantly cheaper than SSDs.

And I highly doubt they are made in different countries. Being made in China doesn't make the Wii U an inferior product by default, pretty much everything is made in China. I am almost 100% certain that the various components in the PS4 will be made in the same sorts of countries and factories as the respective components in the Wii U are.

Perhaps more importantly, who cares anyway? Who goes into buying a console caring about what sort of I/O it has on the back and whether or not you'll have to use an external HDD. It's all about the software. All of the "better value" in the world is worth nothing without some decent games. Nintendo has their games, Sony and Microsoft have theirs.... that's what you should base your decision on.

Actually, the Wii U is also a powerful gaming machine, but the developers are too lazy to utilize its true potential. Wii U can be as half powerful as PS4, you'll just have to wait for years to see the results.

you wrote: " CPU/GPU combination almost twice as better". By your statement, you mean that the gap between Wii U and PS4 is not as big as Wii and PS3.

Hard drive size: Wii U is a gaming-purpose machine, meaning that you can't put videos, pictures, and music on it, and if you want extra space, you can always attach external HDD, as they are cheap nowadays. PS4 is an opposite story.

Price: PS4 price is cheap for what you will get for, but don't forget if you want to play ps4 online, you have to be a PlayStation Plus member, while Wii U doesn't have this.

RAM: I doubt the developers will use the whole PS4's 8GB RAM in the first 2 years, but I could be wrong.

LAN: In my opinion, I don't think it should be in PS4, I mean, we're in 2013, everything (well, most) is wireless now. Wii U can do this, but you have to buy a separate accessory.

Last, but not least, games. would you like a shooting, gory, bloody games that encourage violence, or games that are meant to be fun? you choose, I'm not forcing you.

There is a lot more than M rated games on non-nintendo consoles. I don't play M rated games, but PS4 will be a better console for me anyhow. That is a incorrect sterotype. Games that aren't Nintendo games are meant to be fun too BTW. Even going along with what you said about fun, Knack is a big first-party title for the PS4 that foucuses on being that "fun" you speak of. You don't need to like bloody and gorey games to enjoy a Playstation console.

Developers weren't lazy, Nintendo was for keeping Power PC.
Time equals money, compromising and over complicating things does not help either, just means more resources are needed to develop and that also means added cost to the consumer.
It's powerful? Not powerful enough for next gen games nor attractive enough for XboX360, PS3 titles released ages ago.

Lan Port not important, I'm sure anti-social people are enjoying this online era with their online facebook friends which they never talk to anyways IRL. Nothing beats playing games together in the same room, even it means playing in the same room together against the world if latency permits.
That's if people can get online in the first place, my name is UpdateNightmare for a reason, I could not get online with the Wii U. Wireless and the sheer amount of different routers you get these days can be a nightmare to set up (Not to mention I managed to do it in Win7, but couldn't succeed doing it in Win8.
People keep saying everyone has internet, but have they ever asked how many people are capable of connecting that internet to their console?
It's just much easier setting up a connection via LAN then it is via wireless. Less interference, much lower latency.

As for your last point, Zombi U...

Why am I reminded of the comparison between the 3DS and Vita?

Because it's the exact same situation, except translated to consoles this time.

BTW, I know that was a rhetorical question.

The PS4 has more powerful hardware. That is true. But it also doesn't come with a gamepad which costs about $150.
Either way, the Wii U has enough power to run its games in 1080p and have them look pretty good (WHILE streaming to the gamepad!) for less than $300! Mario Kart 8 looked very detailed from the gameplay footage I saw and I'm going to see it in person today! Nintendo has always been about first party games rather than crazy hardware, and Sony has always been a bit ahead of Nintendo in terms of hardware (although it's hard to compare the PS1 and N64) and the cost of a higher price.

@Azooooz

Actually, the Wii U is also a powerful gaming machine, but the developers are too lazy to utilize its true potential. Wii U can be as half powerful as PS4, you'll just have to wait for years to see the results.
you wrote: " CPU/GPU combination almost twice as better". By your statement, you mean that the gap between Wii U and PS4 is not as big as Wii and PS3.

Its not as much as it us devs being lazy, as it is they would have to do much more work. Nintendo should have went X86

Hard drive size: Wii U is a gaming-purpose machine, meaning that you can't put videos, pictures, and music on it, and if you want extra space, you can always attach external HDD, as they are cheap nowadays. PS4 is an opposite story.

Actually it's been announced that like PS3, PS4 will allow for the HDD to be removed and replaced.

Price: PS4 price is cheap for what you will get for, but don't forget if you want to play ps4 online, you have to be a PlayStation Plus member, while Wii U doesn't have this.

You also get free games every month with PlayStation Plus. Starting with DriveClub, and than don't starve

RAM: I doubt the developers will use the whole PS4's 8GB RAM in the first 2 years, but I could be wrong.

The witness is using 5GB already and I think killzone used 4GB. Its also as time as time goes on that extra ram will come in handy.

LAN: In my opinion, I don't think it should be in PS4, I mean, we're in 2013, everything (well, most) is wireless now. Wii U can do this, but you have to buy a separate accessory.

Agreed

Last, but not least, games. would you like a shooting, gory, bloody games that encourage violence, or games that are meant to be fun? you choose, I'm not forcing you.

You say that as if you can't have both? Sony also showed
Knack
Driveclub
Rain
Puppeteer

I disagree with what some people have said about the LAN port. I do think it's a good thing to have and I personally have gigabit LAN running to my TV. So it's something I would have been happy to see on the Wii U and I don't think saying "everything is wireless" is a good enough excuse. BUT I realise that I'm in the minority here AND I understand that there aren't many scenarios where the advantages of a physical cable would have made a big difference.

I haven't once felt the need to stream content locally and my internet connection is 8/0.8Mbps with 15ms ping + 300ms+ to the US. My online experience is dominated by restrictions that are larger than what WiFi restricts me to..... which from my testing is probably something around 40/40Mbps and ~1ms ping vs the 95/95Mbps <1ms of 10/100 LAN. It would have been nicer but I don't see it as a big deal.

............infact I have the Wii LAN adapter and have chosen not to use it because I need those USB ports for mass storage. Not being able to use it hasn't really bothered me TBH.

Nintendo should:

1. Enable Wii U to be fully controlled with Wii U Pro gamepad
2. Remove Wii U gamepad with display from SKU's instead of them they should put Wii U Pro Controllers
(they could reduce price by over 100$ withi this move)

Once shoppers see the technical differences, they'll be convinced PS4's tech is fairly worth more in price. Honestly, WiiU needs a price cut. Badly.

I really don't think people buy consoles by looking at the tech specs. All they care about are the games and the price. Hell, I'm a techie and I fully understand all of the tech specs and I don't buy consoles like that. Looking at the popularity of various consoles on a chart from one of the more popular retailers in my area the 12GB PS3 and 4GB 360 + Kinect are more popular than the vast majority of the other skus. The only exception is that there is a 360 without Kinect but with five games and a 250GB HDD that's the same price as the 4GB model with Kinect.

I agree it needs a price cut but I don't think that the hardware needs any alterations. Removing the GamePad from the box would be probably the dumbest move ever. I could see them doing some bundles with some of the games they're releasing in the next year or so. A Red 3D World bundle would move units.

Yea the gamepad is what made the Wii U unique. Removing it would be a bad decision considering how they have pushed for it before. If they wanted the gamepad to be optional, they would have made a more powerful console and put the gamepad out as an accessory. Somewhat like the PS4 did. If you want the second screen experience with the PS4, you have to buy a separate Playstation Vita which is $240 making the cost of the PS4 + gamepad like accessory to be $640.

Maybe Nintendo should just advertise that the Wii U comes with its gamepad in the box while the PS4 does not. Smartglass does not stand a chance against the other 2 as it is not a gaming dedicated hardware and thus won't be able to have remote play, off-tv play, etc. and is the true gimmick out of all these changes.

The Wii U does not necessarily need a price cut just launch a 32 GB deluxe model without all the extra stuff for $300 or less. Do price comparisons to say how it is cheaper than the PS4 and Xbone.

Nintendo took part in the power war till Gamecube and was not successful, while it is successful playing on its own terms.

The throughput of the Wii LAN adapter is limited by the USB host controller and if you're using multiple USB ports for storage already, you will not see any advantage over using Wi-Fi. Tried it myself to see if it would clear up YouTube and the frame drop and it turns out simply to be a app in need of a update and a larger buffer (it looks like a direct port form the PS3 which was crash happy and stuttered there too)

TBH, you may be better off using a Wireless N router.

USB LAN adapter, problem solved

I smell fanboy

[quote=UpdateNightmare]
What you going to do when those mandatory game installs fill up your HDD? Whilst on the Wii U, just plug in a faster SSD drive or any external USB HDD. problem solved...

Hardware doesn't make great games, developers do. Don't expect a huge leap for a couple years

Hate to burst your bubble, but all Sony products are made in China by the same company, Foxxcon. Additionally, it will take Sony a minimum of three years to break even on each system sold. It was just around two years ago that the PS3 hardware has become profitable, and now it looks and is built like crap!

Nintendo can sell a single Wii U console and a single game. The console sells at a small loss, the sale of a single retail game puts Nintendo in profit margin as opposed to Sony which will operate at a loss despite sales PR for two years minimum. I own a Vita and Sony is still losing money and in Japan, the PSP still has been outselling the Vita from the latest NPD report

Ouch...

I won't deny that, but at least I'm not a total fool. How soon are you going to play that thing yet? Oh, that's right. Preorders and eBay/craplist scalpers!

The more systems sold, the more games on market. Simple really.