Something of a stink has been kicked up by Nintendo fans in the aftermath of E3, as it emerges that Wii games shown to the public were housed inside GameCube hardware casing. This lead to speculation that modified GameCube hardware was being used at E3, rather than pre-production Wii development kits, leading to a wide variety of claims involving Nintendo being behind schedule with its new machine and the chance of final Wii games being of greater quality than those on show.
It's interesting to note that Nintendo was fairly brazen with its GameCube-housed Wii hardware, with some stills from the Nintendo conference clearly showing GC units to the side of Shigeru Miyamoto during his ochestral opening to the show. Interestingly, the matter surfaced on Nintendo's own, usually flaccid forums.
Other units were snapped by cheeky E3 attendees who managed to shove a camera behind the demo pods on Nintendo's booth, with the picture shown here highlighting a GameCube case with a mass of cobbled together wiring running the software.
Nintendo of America (NoA), aware of the emerging crisis, released a statement. Speaking to Game Daily, NoA PR rep Matt Atwood explained, "The Wii hardware we exhibited at E3 2006 was made specifically for the E3 show and is not the final mass-production version. Some of this hardware was cased in Nintendo GameCube housing. For some of the games that you've seen, the focus for them was not graphics at all, and so by design they were made to have a very broad appeal to them - something that even your non-gamers can understand. It isn't the final hardware, so at this point anything could happen, but this is very typical of what happens at E3; this is something I've seen with every other publisher and Nintendo in the past. So will the system specs change? The answer is they're still finalizing it. But as far as what you saw at E3 we think that was very indicative of the experience Wii will offer... It was Wii hardware."
All of which leaves the question, does any of this really matter? Of course, it makes great ammunition for fans and haters of Nintendo's new machine. The former can argue that the graphical output of the final Wii hardware will be greatly improved, the latter that Nintendo is well behind schedule. However, given that the Wii is by Nintendo's admission largely GameCube-based, cobbling together a playable machine using familiar innards, in lieu of final hardware, is totally understandable.
It's interesting to note that Nintendo was fairly brazen with its GameCube-housed Wii hardware, with some stills from the Nintendo conference clearly showing GC units to the side of Shigeru Miyamoto during his ochestral opening to the show. Interestingly, the matter surfaced on Nintendo's own, usually flaccid forums.
Other units were snapped by cheeky E3 attendees who managed to shove a camera behind the demo pods on Nintendo's booth, with the picture shown here highlighting a GameCube case with a mass of cobbled together wiring running the software.
Nintendo of America (NoA), aware of the emerging crisis, released a statement. Speaking to Game Daily, NoA PR rep Matt Atwood explained, "The Wii hardware we exhibited at E3 2006 was made specifically for the E3 show and is not the final mass-production version. Some of this hardware was cased in Nintendo GameCube housing. For some of the games that you've seen, the focus for them was not graphics at all, and so by design they were made to have a very broad appeal to them - something that even your non-gamers can understand. It isn't the final hardware, so at this point anything could happen, but this is very typical of what happens at E3; this is something I've seen with every other publisher and Nintendo in the past. So will the system specs change? The answer is they're still finalizing it. But as far as what you saw at E3 we think that was very indicative of the experience Wii will offer... It was Wii hardware."
All of which leaves the question, does any of this really matter? Of course, it makes great ammunition for fans and haters of Nintendo's new machine. The former can argue that the graphical output of the final Wii hardware will be greatly improved, the latter that Nintendo is well behind schedule. However, given that the Wii is by Nintendo's admission largely GameCube-based, cobbling together a playable machine using familiar innards, in lieu of final hardware, is totally understandable.
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Comments
Antipothis 21 May 2006 23:09
1/8
That's total crock.
Where's the news about the PS3 games running on PC's then? I know the best looking PS3 game at the show, assassin's creed was running on a PC based PS3 emulator. Where's the uproar there?
Nintnendo Fans...Boys... you need to settle on down.
The Wii is going to rock. Yes. it's underpowered compared to the 360 and the PS3, but we've known that. For nearly a year. So stop your wining and get to the waiting and hoping.
Where's the news about the PS3 games running on PC's then? I know the best looking PS3 game at the show, assassin's creed was running on a PC based PS3 emulator. Where's the uproar there?
Nintnendo Fans...Boys... you need to settle on down.
The Wii is going to rock. Yes. it's underpowered compared to the 360 and the PS3, but we've known that. For nearly a year. So stop your wining and get to the waiting and hoping.
TigerUppercut 21 May 2006 23:22
2/8
Well yeah, of course.
Though folk expect computer-based dev kits. What they don't expect is a last-generation machine cobbled together to present a next-gen game. Of course, all the innards are different, though given how close the Wii is the 'Cube, this was bound to cause a stir.
Though folk expect computer-based dev kits. What they don't expect is a last-generation machine cobbled together to present a next-gen game. Of course, all the innards are different, though given how close the Wii is the 'Cube, this was bound to cause a stir.
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soanso 22 May 2006 05:12
3/8
The game they are launching Wii with IS a last generation game. Whatever way you want to look at it Zelda Twilight Princess has been on show at 3 E3s in a row.
I know that the Wii dev kits that were sent out were souped up gamecubes with a wired version of the Wii-mote.
I thought the graphics in most of the videos were pretty ordinary looking, nothing at all special but none of it really matters.
What matters is that Zelda looks excellent as does Metroid and the other games look like a lot of fun too.
I know that the Wii dev kits that were sent out were souped up gamecubes with a wired version of the Wii-mote.
I thought the graphics in most of the videos were pretty ordinary looking, nothing at all special but none of it really matters.
What matters is that Zelda looks excellent as does Metroid and the other games look like a lot of fun too.
tyrion 22 May 2006 07:47
4/8
Antipothis wrote:
That's total crock.
Where's the news about the PS3 games running on PC's then? I know the best looking PS3 game at the show, assassin's creed was running on a PC based PS3 emulator. Where's the uproar there?
Where's the news about the PS3 games running on PC's then? I know the best looking PS3 game at the show, assassin's creed was running on a PC based PS3 emulator. Where's the uproar there?
You do know the difference between a PC and a dev kit, dont' you? OK, Sony had no final hardware running games at E3 this year, but they did have dev kits. Last year all Microsoft had was Apple Mac G5s running their XBox 360 demos and the 360 launched on time.
Companies always demo dev kits at E3 since the final hardware goes through revisions right up until final production starts. With the 360 that time was rumoured to be sometime in June or July. I can't see the PS3 being much different.
Of course, given the launch of the 360 as an example, we have to wonder if Sony will hit their 4 million shipped by the end of the year target. The 360 has only just topped 3.3 million.
Antipothis 22 May 2006 08:43
5/8
I do know the difference. And if anyone remembers, most of the dev kits Nintendo released for the Rev, were just gamecube dev kits, with a wiimote attachment.
They've only supposedly recently been giving out more recent dev kits, and no one knows what they look like. It wouldn't be hard to assume they might still use gamecube chassis.
They've only supposedly recently been giving out more recent dev kits, and no one knows what they look like. It wouldn't be hard to assume they might still use gamecube chassis.
The Hero of Time 22 May 2006 10:35
6/8
I find it highly amusing that anyone actually cares. Wii isn't about raw power, so why does anyone give a crap? Even if Wii came out with identical power to the Cube, it wouldn't bother me, graphics these days are more than sufficient.
The Hero of Time 22 May 2006 10:35
7/8
I find it highly amusing that anyone actually cares. Wii isn't about raw power, so why does anyone give a crap? Even if Wii came out with identical power to the Cube, it wouldn't bother me, graphics these days are more than sufficient.
TigerUppercut 22 May 2006 23:37
8/8
The Hero of Time wrote:
I find it highly amusing that anyone actually cares. Wii isn't about raw power, so why does anyone give a crap? Even if Wii came out with identical power to the Cube, it wouldn't bother me, graphics these days are more than sufficient.
Except that it matter to the man in the pub who wants new GTA for his new HD telly. :(