Video Games Thread

[harv]

These rumours are from verified sources, and I'm personally expecting the RAM to be increased from 1.5GB to 2GB at the last minute too.

And late, like I've previously mentioned, I'm just reiterating the positive feedback from hands-on reports. I haven't read a single thing negative about the quality of the display and, again, I'm not saying myself that the display is brighter and clearer than an iPad 3 screen, just that it has been reported so by someone with a hands-on report.

We'll have to either buy one or try one out in a demo in a shop to see for ourselves. But like I've said, the fact that journalists have noticed very little change in IQ when switching from a HDTV to the controller speaks volumes.

[jman]

What was that thing Jman posted about a fanboy reading a few articles and declaring himself a technical expert? That's Harv.

Yup exactly... doesnt matter what we or others say.. he knows best of course ... this is the guy who tried to convince us the Wii was capable of producing xbox 360 like "eye candy"    it was that game he was raving over for ages about... The Grinder, the one that looked nothing like a 360 game... even compared to a 360 launch game Condemned.. The Grinder looks pretty pathetic...

The Grinder got canned in the end... presumably because of bad feedback and the fact that wii sales have gone down the toilet in the last 2 years...  but that didnt stop him going on about it for ages and ages... 

[Late]

I'm just reiterating the positive feedback from hands-on reports. I haven't read a single thing negative about the quality of the display and, again, I'm not saying myself that the display is brighter and clearer than an iPad 3 screen, just that it has been reported so by someone with a hands-on report.

Do you have a link to where the idiot with hands on experience says the u controller screen is sharper and clearer than an ipad?  I'm intrigued to see what sort of imbecile is making these claims, and look forward to laughing along with the inevitable multitude of subsequent posts mocking him.

Repeating his ridiculous ramblings on here serves no purpose other than to make you look as biased and ill-informed as the original poster btw. Don't take peoples' opinions as gospel, especially if what they're saying is a physical impossibility. You can't afford to lose credibility when you're extolling the virtues of a new Nintendo console, because you're automatically starting on incredibly shaky ground...

[harv]

The new controller is an impressive thing to hold in your hands. It feels solid and comfortable, and nothing about it marks it as a weak link. The screen itself is bright and beautiful, much clearer than the screen on an iPad, and even small details of the games are able to be seen clearly.

Engadget also said the same thing at E3 last year but I can't find the link now. And I'm talking about the iPad and iPad 2, before Apple started using Retina displays from the iPad 3 onwards. Can't believe that Apple have gotten away with releasing different versions of the iPhone and iPad every 5 minutes for so long. The iPad and iPad 2 may also have an inferior pixel density which could explain Engadget's opinion, although I will stand to be corrected on that.

Zooming close to the controller's screen, we found it rather difficult to discern individual pixels. Nintendo didn't reveal what resolution the screen runs at, but it's sufficiently high as far as we're concerned. Even at a distance of mere inches, it was very difficult to pick out the pixels.

The above quote is from Gamespot after a hands-on at last years E3, the last sentence speaks volumes for the quality of the screen display.

After the Wii this gen a great deal of people are under the misapprehension that Nintendo always release low spec consoles when the opposite is true. The NES, the SNES, the N64 and the Gamecube were all powerful consoles, and there are going to be plenty of people surprised by what we're going to see at this years E3...and even more people are going to be disappointed by the next gen consoles from both Sony and Microsoft. The Nerd Rage over the PS4 rumoured specs has been hilarious lol.

Edit: Apparently there's been a change to the screen of some description since E3 last year so this could be a moot point. Hopefully they haven't downgraded the quality because everyone that's used the controller has been fapping over the IQ.

[styles]

Level 7 in skyrim. yet to do much of anything tbh. have learned trolls shouldn't be attacked yet!

Also i need to stop picking up everything i can. advice on that front is welcome!

[Late]

The new controller is an impressive thing to hold in your hands. It feels solid and comfortable, and nothing about it marks it as a weak link. The screen itself is bright and beautiful, much clearer than the screen on an iPad, and even small details of the games are able to be seen clearly.

That guy is clearly either an idiot, or has a badly damaged ipad.
Ditto for anyone else who thinks it likely that a low res screen has clear graphics than a high res screen.

Zooming close to the controller's screen, we found it rather difficult to discern individual pixels. Nintendo didn't reveal what resolution the screen runs at, but it's sufficiently high as far as we're concerned. Even at a distance of mere inches, it was very difficult to pick out the pixels.

It's difficult to make out individual pixels on any handheld device, because they're so small. Small pixels just means high ppi, though, and unless there's millions of them the picture will inherently have relatively low resolution.

Not sure how I can make it clearer. Less pixels means lower resolution. More pixels means higher resolution, and sharper images.
Claims to the contrary are the sole domain of imbeciles. It's akin to saying "I'm shorter than you so it's much easier for me to reach stuff on the top shelf", or "My car's heavier and less powerful than yours, so will always win in a race". It's completely contrary to logic, and quite frankly bollocks.

Level 7 in skyrim. yet to do much of anything tbh. have learned trolls shouldn't be attacked yet!

Also i need to stop picking up everything i can. advice on that front is welcome!

I had the same problem.

• Dotted around the world are a handful of big stonehenge-type areas. You can activate one (if you subsequently activate another it'll cancel the first one) and it'll give you a boost. One of them (at the far northwest if memory serves) increases your carry capacity.
• Every time you level up you can increase 2 things. First is health/magic/stamina. I believe stamina lets you carry more.
• The other level-up boost lets you increase an attribute, from the constellation map thingy. I think one of the boosts from the Thief path lets you carry extra.
• Most heavy items with low value aren't worth picking up. As a rule of thumb I usually ignored anything worth less than 5 septims per lb (or whatever the weight unit is). There's a few exceptions, of course, but when you find your inventory's permanently clogged up with second hand boots with virtually no value you naturally start getting more picky.
• It's possible to have a companion follow you around, and fight alongside you - usually by paying them or by helping them with some quest. You can access their backpack, so this effectively increases your capacity.
• If you buy a house you can store stuff there without fear of it disappearing next time you visit. (There are chests etc. elsewhere you can put stuff in, of course, but if you go away and come back there's a good chance your goods will have disappeared.) You can buy one house in each main town, but they're expensive and you need to do a few quests before they become available to you.
• There are also potions that'll increase your carry capacity, but the effects are temporary. Handy to have one or two in your inventory "just in case", but they're not a realistic way of keeping a high capacity long term.

[harv]

He was talking about the iPad 2 which does have a lower PPI. PPI is more important than resolution for portable displays. Apple didn't start to use Retina screens until the iPad 3 and 4. And as I've already said there isn't a single hands-on report that's complained about the quality of the screen. Nintendo historically are known for high quality and high tech hardware for their home consoles, and it's looking like the U is going to carry on that tradition. The only home console not to follow this is the Wii.

Please feel free to find a hands-on report that's complaining about the display quality if you can lol.

Edit: Here's a list of the PPI values of various devices. The iPad 2 has a resolution of 1024 x 768 on a bigger screen with a lower pixel density. The U controller has a superior pixel density compared to a 21.5 inch monitor at 1080p.

Everyone that's laid eyes on the thing has said there's very little loss of IQ when switching from a 1080p HDTV to the screen. Everyone. Are you saying they're all blind or stupid fanboys...? There seems to be a hell of a lot of them lololol.

[jman]

Just adding to lates suggestions on Skyrim...

..find Riften.. (SW of the map)... you'll find the start of the thief questline there.. which might not be an attraction but if you do the inital quests for them... you'll be given light armour with carrying capacity enhancements.. which is pretty good if you wear light armour... but even if you can wear heavy armour.. keep the light armour and equip it when your weight is full up.. always good to have an option of not chucking things away by just equipping a different set of armour....
..also you'll find a lot of traders in Riften to sell all your stuff too.. so having the fast travel ability to go there is good to get rid of stuff...
..definitely find the stone which gives you extra carrying capacity (it is definitely located near the very NW of the map).. 

[Late]

Oh Jesus, you're just not getting it, are you...


PPI has to be high for hand-held devices, because you're significantly closer to the screen, and has to be much higher on small screens otherwise you're only going to get a handful of pixels on screen and you'll end up with something akin to a gameboy.

At normal viewing distances, ppi is completely irrelevant.

Resolution is the main thing you need to be concerned with, for picture sharpness/quality. (Other factors include the panel, the processors, etc. They do NOT include pixel density.)


Breakdown time...

He was talking about the iPad 2 which does have a lower PPI.

So you were using out of date info when you said it's better than the iPad. (Incidentally, the U has only fractionally higher ppi than the ipad 2. The ipad 3 blows both out of the water. But that's completely moot...)

PPI is more important than resolution for portable displays.

No it isn't!
High pixel density is essential on small devices - the smaller the screen the more important it is to get the pixels smaller. That's just common sense.
At normal viewing distances, ppi is completely irrelevant. COMPLETELY.

Apple didn't start to use Retina screens until the iPad 3 and 4.

There's an ipad 4 now?
That snook in under the radar, didn't it. Surprising, as Apple usually make a big deal of their new releases.
Either way, that sentence is irrelevant.

And as I've already said there isn't a single hands-on report that's complained about the quality of the screen.

I imagine there'll be some, but I'm not arguing about whether the screen is good quality. I'm arguing that the screen isn't better than that on an ipad.

Nintendo historically are known for high quality and high tech hardware for their home consoles, and it's looking like the U is going to carry on that tradition. The only home console not to follow this is the Wii.

Preston North End are historically known for the high quality of their football team. Doesn't mean they're any good now, though, does it.
Casting aside that argument, though, lets get back on track. The screen on the U is not better than that on an ipad...

Please feel free to find a hands-on report that's complaining about the display quality if you can lol.

Why do you want reports complaining about the display quality?
Lets stick to the subject. The screen on the U is not better than that on an ipad...

Edit: Here's a list of the PPI values of various devices.

That's fascinating. Thanks. No really.
Nah, I'm joking. It's not.

The iPad 2 has a resolution of 1024 x 768 on a bigger screen with a lower pixel density.

Exactly. It has a bigger screen, and a higher resolution. It doesn't matter what the pixel density is. You're now proving that the ipad has a better screen. Thought you were trying to prove the opposite?

The U controller has a superior pixel density compared to a 21.5 inch monitor at 1080p.

Well of course it bloody does. It'd look a bloody mess if it had bigger pixels than a television. You're really not getting this, are you!

Everyone that's laid eyes on the thing has said there's very little loss of IQ when switching from a 1080p HDTV to the screen.

I'm detecting a significant drop in IQ, but I guess you're talking about image quality rather than intelligence quotient...

Everyone.

Thanks for clarifying that. Didn't know you'd surveyed everyone that's laid eyes on the new controller, but I'll take your comment at face value. You've genuinely asked everyone, and they've all said there's a little bit of a loss in picture quality when they switch from a screen with two million pixels to a screen with only four hundred thousand pixels.

Are you saying they're all blind or stupid fanboys...?

If they think an image (or video) doesn't lose a lot of clarity when it switches from a screen with 2,000,000 pixels to one with 400,000 pixels then yes, they're blind or stupid fanboys.
It's physically impossible to retain clarity when switching to a screen with 80% less pixels.

There seems to be a hell of a lot of them lololol.

Indeed.
I think part of the problem is that that particular minority make so much more noise than normal folk. Bless their enthusiasm, but it's tiring, especially as they're so blind to the reality.

[harv]

Lmfao, the screen on the U controller is of high quality. Live with it lol.

It all comes down to opinions at the end of the day. Someone in the gaming press, I'm sure it was Engadget but I can't find the bloomin article, had the opinion that the screen is brighter and clearer than an iPad 2 screen (which at the time wasn't out of date, it was the latest one) in his opinion. We'll have to see it with our own eyes before we can judge it for ourselves.

Like I've said before, I'm just reiterating the glowing hands-on reports. I haven't seen a single hands-on report that has complained about the quality of the screen; one person even thought it was in 720p rather than 480p for gawd's sake.

Oh, and the iPad 4 is due out in October, difficult to keep track when Apple release these things every 5 minutes...I really can't believe they get away with it tbh.

[Late]

Lmfao, the screen on the U controller is of high quality. Live with it lol.

It hadn't got a clearer picture than an ipad screen.

It all comes down to opinions at the end of the day.

It really doesn't. We're not talking about something that's subjective - we're talking about plain cold facts. It has less pixels so the quality's lower. Can't see how you're struggling with this concept.

Someone in the gaming press, I'm sure it was Engadget but I can't find the bloomin article, had the opinion that the screen is brighter and clearer than an iPad 2 screen

Brighter? Entirely possible. Depends partly on what you set the brightness to.
Clearer? Not a chance. Physical impossibility.

...an iPad 2 screen (which at the time wasn't out of date, it was the latest one)

You claimed that there are reports the wii u screen is cleared than the ipad. You didn't say there are reports the wii u screen is clearer than the old ipad. (Either way you'd be wrong, though, as both ipad screens have better resolution than the u.) Your post fully indicated you were talking about current tech, not previous generation.

We'll have to see it with our own eyes before we can judge it for ourselves.

We won't. A high res screen has more detail than a low res screen. We don't need to see it to know that. It's the whole point of high res. It's why everyone's buying high def tellies. Did you buy it just to conform, or did you acknowledge it's got a better picture than a standard def tv BECAUSE IT'S GOT MORE PIXELS?

Like I've said before, I'm just reiterating the glowing hands-on reports.

Yes, I think that's the problem. You've read something that's wrong (or misunderstood something) and have taken it as gospel.
The reports might well be good - I'm not denying that. But anyone that thinks a low res screen looks better than a high res screen is a dribbling imbecile.

I haven't seen a single hands-on report that has complained about the quality of the screen

I'm sure it's good. It's massively inferior to the ipad and most decent phones, though.
You'll not find many people moaning about it on iheartnintendo.com though.

one person even thought it was in 720p rather than 480p for gawd's sake.

Wow - you're now listening to complementary posts from someone who can't tell the difference between 720p and 480p? I'm sure he's a veritable treasure trove of insightful observations...

Oh, and the iPad 4 is due out in October, difficult to keep track when Apple release these things every 5 minutes...I really can't believe they get away with it tbh.

Pretty sure that's just a rumour.
iPad 1 - March 2010
iPad 2 - March 2011
iPad 3 - March 2012
If I were a betting man I'd say we're unlikely to see iPad 4 this year...

[harv]

The person from Engadget that claimed he thought that the screen was brighter and clearer than an iPad was reporting after E3 last year. The iPad 2 was the latest iPad on the market, albeit identical to the first one in every respect apart from the thickness of the screen panel. When I reiterated what some guy in the gaming press said, I didn't stipulate which model he was referring to.

And again, I''m not saying that this is my opinion, just an opinion of someone that has actually used the thing. There could be a number of reasons why this guy thought the display was 'better' than an iPad/iPad 2 display, perhaps he didn't word things right - the screen could indeed have a higher brightness level, the colours could be more vibrant and it could have a higher contrast ratio. Who knows..?

The fact remains that everyone that's written a hands-on report after using it since E3 last year has been fapping over the quality of the display.

[harv]

Looks like I may be right about the U being the PS2 equivalent of next gen. The difference in power between the PS2 and Xbox is around the same as the difference in power between the U and the latest version of the 720's latest dev kit. Can't see Sony bunging out a console more powerful than the 720 so we'll probably be looking at the PS4 being the Gamecube equivalent. And there's confirmation that Microsoft are going to be using their own tablet controller too. What with that and Kinect likely to be bundled it's not going to be cheap.

No idea if the tablet controller is going to be bundled with it though.

Will be interesting to see what Sony's response to the U controller is going to be though, we could end up with all 3 platform holders having very similar user interfaces which would make porting code between them a great deal easier when it comes to features.

Edit: Bloody hell, things continue to go downhill for Sony in Japan with the Vita, it's sold less than 9000 units last week. Can't see much of a future for third party support if Sony can't turn things around. I'm having second thoughts about buying one now, they need a system seller ASAP.

[Late]

[bealec]