On Tuesday, we reported rumored technical specifications for Nintendo’s Wii U console. Now that the system’s been officially (finally) unveiled, we have confirmation on pretty much every portion of the specs reported earlier this week—with only a few exceptions that are still a bit vague. Here’s what Nintendo’s got in their tech specs document:
Size
- Approximately 1.8 inches high, 10.6 inches deep and 6.75 inches long
Weight
- Approximately 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg)
GamePad
- 6.2-inch, 16:9 aspect ratio LCD touch screen, two analog sticks. Inputs include a +Control Pad, L/R sticks, L/R stick buttons, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons, ZL/ZR buttons, Power button, HOME button, -/SELECT button, +/START button, and TV CONTROL button. Motion control (powered by an accelerometer and gyroscope), a front-facing camera, a microphone, stereo speakers, rumble features, a sensor bar, an included stylus and support for Near Field Communication (NFC) functionality. Rechargeable lithium-ion battery, weighs approximately 1.1 pounds (500 g).
CPU
- IBM Power-based multi-core processor
GPU
- AMD Radeon-based High Definition GPU
Storage
- Internal flash memory (8 GB with the Basic Set; 32 GB with the Deluxe Set) for data storage; also supports external USB storage
Media
- Wii U and Wii optical discs (NO DVD PLAYER?!)
Video Output
- Supports 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i. Compatible cables include HDMI, Wii D-Terminal, Wii Component Video, Wii RGB, Wii S-Video Stereo AV and Wii AV
Audio Output
- Uses six-channel PCM linear output via HDMI connector, or analog output via the AV Multi Out connector
Networking
- Connects to the Internet via a wireless (IEEE 802.11b/g/n) connection; 4 USB 2.0 ports, supports Wii LAN Adapters for wired Internet connection.
The official specs don’t go into much detail about the CPU, GPU, or memory situation…but considering how spot-on everything else was, I have a feeling that the rumored specs are still right on the money. That includes three enhanced Broadway cores for the CPU, a bunch of GPU gobbledegook—“GPU7” AMD Radeon-based High Definition GPU. Unique API = GX2, which supports Shader Model 4.0 (DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.3 equivalent functionality)—and some more gobbledegook regarding the memory: Mem1 = 32MB Mem2 = 1GB (that applications can use).
The specs also say that the console will support nearly all Wii software and accessories, meaning your old remotes are still good. Though I am wondering what games won’t be supported by the new system…maybe it’s just a way to cover their butts in the case of an unforeseen incompatibility issue?
Finally, as I mention in parentheses above, the specs don’t mention a single thing about playing DVDs…it was a given that it wouldn’t play Blu-rays, but no DVD capabilities? This is pretty surprising given how big a deal their Nintendo TVii announcement was this morning. I guess that signifies how they’re doubling down on digital and downloadable media.
Hm…
