Nintendo Okie

The next generation of consoles have ridiculous codenames, don’t they?  Orbis.  Durango.  Wii U.  Oh I’m just kidding.  Orbis is kind of cool.  But seriously, folks.  Whether you’re ready to plop down another 599 U.S. dollars or not, these systems are coming.  We should have Wii U by the end of this year and Orbis and Durango by 2013.  We are on the cusp of the next generation.  It’s been such a long time coming, I barely remember what to do with myself.  All the previous talks of processor speeds, graphical power and backwards compatibility seem so distant.  However, I did realize something the other day.  I think this will be the best launch for a generation we’ve ever had.

We already know the Wii U will be a slightly more powerful 360.  In terms of graphical power, the Wii U won’t be far above the 360.  This isn’t a bad thing as developers are quite comfortable developing for the 360.  The thing nobody seems to talk about, and maybe because we don’t know yet, is the impact the processor structure has on development.  Consider the PS3.  It is capable of far better graphics than the 360, but due to its more complex cell structure, most developers prefer to build for 360.  This means a lot of games are built on 360s and then ported to the PS3.  However, if you find a studio that knows the ins-and-outs of the PS3, like Naughty Dog, then you get something amazing – like Uncharted.  Read more…