Wii Graphics Myths Debunked!

MetroidZ · 02-18-2007, 01:48 PM

Wii GRAPHICS MYTHS DEBUNKED!

So, as we know there has been a lot of talk about Wii's graphics, the competition, the previous generation e.t.c and there have been a lot of myths too, I got a little fed up so I decided to debunk them.

1. "Wii can't do Normal Mapping."

- Oh yes it can! Really, Who actually said it couldn't? That's something I've always wondered. The Xbox did normal-mapping to great effect in games like Doom 3 & Splinter Cell: CT, and the Wii's programmable TEV (Texture Environment Engine) can do any effect XGPU could so why shouldn't it be able to? More proof?

Digital-Legends proved that even the N-Gage! which didn't even have a 3d accelerator chip let alone shaders or h/w bump mapping did normal-mapping too.

and so can the Nokia N93's *Dreamcast* based PowerVR MBX graphics chip.

Furthermore, Konami will use Normal-mapping technology in Dewy's adventure for Wii and Factor 5 have already expressed their displeasure of developers not using normal-maps on the system.

2. "Even though the Wii's ATI Hollywood GPU has a higher clock speed than the Xbox's XGPU, it still isn't capable of as many pixel fillrate calculations. Wii isn't capable of pixel shading. Nor is it capable of graphical effects such as stencil shadows, self-shadowing and light scattering".

This is wrong. The 'shaderama' that was Rogue Squadron II did these effects on Gamecube back in 2001, light scattering was an excellent addition in Rebel Strike in 2003.

The ATI Hollywood can actually produce "insane fillrates" to use Factor 5's words. The XGPU had a pixel fill-rate of 932 m/pixels. Hollywood is capable of a pixel fill-rate of almost 2 G/pixels. Having such a high fill-rate capability means that the Wii can perform advanced shaders, advanced texture filtering and advanced multi-layer texture effects without much hassle, especially as it only has to produce graphics @ 480p.

3. "Wii is hardly anymore powerful than the Gamecube. In fact its not much more capable than the PS2."

Don't make assumptions by what early Wii games display.

Wii has both more graphical power and processing power than the previous generation of consoles. In terms of processing calculations, did you know? IBM Broadway >> GC Gekko + XB Celeron put together!?

4. "The Wii cant produce anything near photo-realistic visuals."

Who said photo-realism meant that graphics have to look EXACTLY like real-life? Besides Gran Turismo 4 on PS2 (a much much lesser system) did a fine job of re-creating near-photo-realistic cars.

5. "The Wii is incapable of good physics."

Really? [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSWlZFdRS8o&mode=related&search=[/MEDIA]
Wait til they switch the Vacuum Laser on, physics allover the place.

All those interactions at once? Wii was having a picnic, hardly touched Hollywood for graphics functions too. Broadway used a fraction of the CPU to compute those physics. The system is capable of even more. Btw, AGEIA Physics are already in use for current & future Wii titles.

6. "The controller interactions require huge amounts of processing power, that's holding back Wii graphics."

Incorrect. It doesn't have a performance hit. If it did this (below) wouldn't run in 60 frames per second with so many advanced effects.

I think that will do for now

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All Credit Goes to, AC-Revolution from the Gametrailers.com forum
http://forums.gametrailers.com/showt...t=68776&page=1

This should shut up a few blind fanboys

(though we all know it is not as powerful as 360 or ps3)

Discuss

TwilightWarrior · 02-18-2007, 02:05 PM

Nicely presented, and you're right it will shut a few fanboys up

MetroidZ · 02-18-2007, 04:56 PM

yeh, just remember I didn't originally post this.

Celestial · 02-18-2007, 05:06 PM

Lol, very nice! Maybe we don't have to put up with people insulting the graphics anymore....

stu · 02-18-2007, 05:16 PM

thanks for the thread, that was quite an interesting read

Flagel · 02-18-2007, 05:23 PM

I do get tired of hearing the phrase "its just a ps2 with a funny controller"

En4Neo · 02-18-2007, 05:26 PM

Cool thread, seems you really did your research.

SLrocket · 02-18-2007, 08:17 PM

i believe all of this, but we can insult the wii's grafix as long as no games are out to prove it and devs get off their fat asses and put some work into their games. freakin fatasses.

jessetheinferno · 02-18-2007, 08:53 PM

very well presented. thank you

Byuakuya · 02-18-2007, 09:21 PM

that was highly detailed. thanks for the info.

2ZeBeach · 02-18-2007, 10:26 PM

Since you seem to know a lot about the Wii graphics....Do you think that the Wii is capable of producing a 720p picture if they did a firmware update?

Sovieto · 02-18-2007, 11:05 PM

dosent prove much the normal non-retards wouldnt know, who seriously thought these myths were true?

PuNkMaN · 02-18-2007, 11:49 PM

hi-def capabilitities
http://wii.qj.net/?pg=49&aid=83175

CantGetAWii · 02-19-2007, 12:52 AM

Nice read indeed, well put together my friend. That should put a rest to some things the "sony ppl" try to say about the Wii for sure.

Bryan_ · 02-19-2007, 12:53 AM

I think developers are just afraid of losing framerate if they up the graphics any.

I don't know if this means anything, but in multiplayer DBZ: BT2, the game's framerate slows down immensely, depending on the map the players are in, and if there is a glow around the characters. This coming from a PS2 port.

MetroidZ · 02-19-2007, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan_

I think developers are just afraid of losing framerate if they up the graphics any.

I don't know if this means anything, but in multiplayer DBZ: BT2, the game's framerate slows down immensely, depending on the map the players are in, and if there is a glow around the characters. This coming from a PS2 port.

probably badly coded because it doesn't take much to run a cell shaded game.

GreenEnvy · 02-19-2007, 01:23 PM

I also believe the Wii's got more power then most people think, but your "proof" isn't proof at all in most cases. You make assumptions that because an older system could do it, Wii must too.

Like because the PS2 could do something, the Wii must be able to as well. While I agree this is most likely true, especially since GC was more powerful then PS2, it's not fact.

Chips can have strengths and weaknesses in different area's. Like in computers, a Pentium4 3.0ghz looks more powerful on paper then an Athlon64 2.0ghz, but in real life this is not the case in most circumstances. The Athlon64 will blow away the P4 in many tests, and the P4 will win others.

Anyway, my point is you are not debunking anything, you are just expressing an opinion.

MasterJedi2U · 02-19-2007, 02:24 PM

I hardly know a thing when it comes to hardware and stuff but he sounds pretty confident in his research so I trust him. I think the Wii is a great machine and does what I need it to do. Hopefully developers will make great games that have the best graphics the Wii is capable of producing.

Tri · 02-19-2007, 04:27 PM

Well... I don't know much about the Wii hardware, I'll admit that.

I'm just wondering here... one of the best games out right now for the Wii is Legend of Zelda which looks pretty good in my opinion.. this game was a PORT from GC... I can only see the graphics getting better.

Some game producers have just gotten the Wii dev. tools maybe even just a year ago... maybe less... Only time will tell how awesome the graphics will get for the Wii...

One thing is for sure... Wii graphics will only get better from here on out.

PS. I don't play the Wii for the graphics... I have a PC with 2x 7800XT's in SLI... and a 22" widescreen monitor.... what do I need a console with awesome graphics for?