Wii -- the smart game
I played a few minutes of Wii last night. It is an all new concept of gaming-- you can exercise both your brain and body while playing console games. One of the game is boxing, you punch your opponents. But, instead of pushing buttons, you and your opponent both stand in front of the TV and do real punches -- holding a wireless controller in both fists--on each other faces (of course the virtual ones). The harder you punch, the harder your opponent got hit. Try it, it's a real exercise. I tell you.
The Wii CPU is single core and low clocked, it costs $16 to make. The Wii GPU is a $29 AMD chip. But Wii made up the deficiency in raw performance through smarter user interface (video showing Wiiremote working for Windows) and better story telling in the games.
The next thing we should expect to see is an interface based on speech recognition.
You may wonder what kind of OS game consoles are running. Xbox runs Windows NT. I am not sure about GameCube. I do know there is a Linux for GameCube, but I haven't tried it out yet. Work is under way to port Linux to Wii. Soon you will be able to run your web infrastructure on a bunch of Wii consoles -- you manage them by waving your hands (Linux video). Cool!
Now, I have a million dollar marketing idea for the OpenSolaris folks, and I give it away for free:
Port Solaris 10 to Wii and show off the root login prompt.... I bet half of the slashdotters will cheer in their usual geek fashion -- writing poems in PERL or shell scripts.
posted by Sharikou, Ph. D. @ 12/25/2006 03:57:00 PM
26 Comments:
How many viral marketers pay for ya?
You even show your ignorance in issues outside of your "expertise".
Xbox runs a modified Win2K kernel, not NT. Different animal. Learn your OS's, get your A+ certification, and maybe you can talk intelligently.
Xbox runs a modified Win2K kernel, not NT.
Quiz for you: What do you see on the screen when you boot into Win 2K?
"Xbox runs a modified Win2K kernel, not NT. Different animal."
No, one is a vervet monkey and the other is a colobus monkey. Shrug. They are both monkeys.
basically 2k and NT are to all intents "the same" if comparing (say) Mac OS10 with XP or linux with windows 98. Only someone whose world stretches just to the edge of the microsoft product line and not further would write what you wrote.
Anonymous said...
You even show your ignorance in issues outside of your "expertise".
Xbox runs a modified Win2K kernel, not NT. Different animal. Learn your OS's, get your A+ certification, and maybe you can talk intelligently.
Sorry guy, but what the hell do you think Win2K is? Linux? Microsoft has always recycled their old code.
It was only a last-minute decision to rename NT5 to "Windows 2000."
Hell, even Windows XP's codebase says NT 5.1... Get a clue.
I feel the Wii overpriced. The machine is poor, scarce power glued with an outdated project, lacks of almost any multimedia feature (the big miss a DVD player). Yes the Wiimote is "innovative" but in the long time it cause fatigue and physical stress, must be used with caution. I think 150$ is a more right price, looking at the features and price of competitors as PS2 and the old Xbox. Ehm, it's true you put AMD salt also in your salads, but under the Wii lid the graphic chip is ATI branded and the cpu is a poor IBM PPC at 730 MHz. Perhaps in the next Wii batch we will see a graphic chip AMD branded, but surely not a cpu AMD branded. Or not?
I feel the Wii overpriced.
When you have kids asking for it for Christmas and none is in stock, a $450 Wii is a bargain. It's all abnout supply and demand.
"I feel the Wii overpriced
Are you out of your mind ?? What about those shitty ipods for $300++ , do you even have a clue what their BOM is , you will faint.
I cant belive there are some dumba** out there who help a**h*les like Jobs smile all the way to the bank.
What about those shitty ipods for $300++
iPod is fashion business.
Netrama, offending people don't help you to explain your point of view.
This post is concerning Wii, not Apple or Ferrari. iPod is higly overpriced, it's clear for all. Also as it's clear to me Wii is very OLD technology sold at high price.
Netrama, offending people don't help you to explain your point of view.
This is what I just read a minute back "Major Dubai building project takes iPod as its inspiration"
Since last 3 years never a day has passed , when I dont get to read something stup*d about the ipod.
The ipod keyword has appeard all the time daily in the Media Headlines...Just wondering who has such clout to pull the strings.
Coming back to your Wii..I am pretty sure, if you read such fu**ed up lines on the Wii daily , you wouldnt whine about the $$ you pay for it..and I dont think it is over priced. At this time it is a fashion statement, when the Wii takes a 'fashion' hit , they might drop the prices then ..you might be able to buy one.
The Wii costs around $158 to make
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5391
I would say its not so much as overpriced, but as they may be making abit more than we want off of it, but its also a new idea, and its paying off. Its giving a unique gameplay experience, its not recycled gameplay like the PS3 or Xbox360 (not saying they are bad, but the controls have not really changed).
FWIW, I have all 3 consoles and I even have the PS3 hooked up to a Full 1080p HD 100+ inch projector with 7.1 speaker system...
Everytime I have friends over.. everyone wants to play the PS3 first..
But the one that gets the most airtime at the end of the night?
Wii.. with the crappola graphics Wii Sports.
Don't diss it till you've tried it.
It's really pretty amazing.
And as for graphics, give it a good component connection. FWIW, I think it is slightly better than XBox 1 graphics. Don't judge the capabilities based on Wii Sports. COD3 looks pretty decent, but the interface isn't as well optimized for the Wii as I'd expect.
100+ inches????? Yeah and I hang 12+
What does this have to do with 64 bit computing????
How about you say something about Amd's 65nm or maybe the 4X4...maybe you can give us some insight into Amd's Q4.
How about you say something about Amd's 65nm
AMD's 65nm is on track. The current gains are similar to what AMD got from the move from 130nm to 90nm. Mainly at the moment you get slightly less power draw. The size is smaller but not a full shrink yet. There should be some additional gains with K8L because of more process optimized transistors. The only odd thing at the moment is that the cache latency increased. Supposedly this is to allow bigger cache but it still seems strange.
or maybe the 4X4...maybe you can give us some insight into Amd's Q4.
What's to tell? This is two 90nm Opteron 2xxx's with the memory controller tweaked slightly for non-registered memory and bumped up one clock from 2.8 to 3.0 Ghz by allowing the power draw to increase to 125 watts. Pretty much standard. QFX won't really get interesting until it has two 65nm K8L quad chips. When this happens FX will be in a class by itself unless Intel too has a twin socket design on the back burner and plans to release Kentsfield as DP capable.
"in the long time it cause fatigue and physical stress"
Some people call that "physical exercise". Knowing the weight and fitness of an average american I'd say they need every bit of movement they can have.
"But the one that gets the most airtime at the end of the night? "
Which of the three you yourself play the most?
"100+ inches????? Yeah and I hang 12+"
Did you miss the word "projector"? Basically their "display" sizes begin at 100".
Anónimo dijo...
You even show your ignorance in issues outside of your "expertise".
Xbox runs a modified Win2K kernel, not NT. Different animal. Learn your OS's, get your A+ certification, and maybe you can talk intelligently.
6:57 PM, December 25, 2006
and what do you think win2k is based?
NT RETARD!!!
win2k = next version of NT but with windows 98SE style of desktop and options...
Anónimo dijo...
FWIW, I have all 3 consoles and I even have the PS3 hooked up to a Full 1080p HD 100+ inch projector with 7.1 speaker system...
Everytime I have friends over.. everyone wants to play the PS3 first..
But the one that gets the most airtime at the end of the night?
Wii.. with the crappola graphics Wii Sports.
Don't diss it till you've tried it.
It's really pretty amazing.
And as for graphics, give it a good component connection. FWIW, I think it is slightly better than XBox 1 graphics. Don't judge the capabilities based on Wii Sports. COD3 looks pretty decent, but the interface isn't as well optimized for the Wii as I'd expect.
7:21 PM, December 26, 2006
stop smoking weed dear, theres people in various cities wanting to change their PS3 with SO FEW GAMES, ALMOST NULL INNOVATION, only fancy graphics, ubber expensive system, with useless blueray(as for now)
btw, they expect to ship a WII blueray drive or HD drive by 2007..
link:
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36586
iPod is fashion business.
Sharikou, for the first time ever, I agree with you on this one thing. I think the iPod is the greatest gimmick that Apple ever pulled off because it's a fashion. You don't see other MP3 players with similar capabilities taking off - because they're not cool like the portable hard drive, err, iPod is.
About the consoles - consoles will win by the games designed for them. Wii is a novelty, and will do well for a short time, then the PS3 will win this round. The Wii doesn't have any horsepower to handle good games.
The Wii is simple and fun, but after the novelty wears off the 18-30 market will want to play Oblivion 4 or Vice City XXVII, which the Wii is incapable of doing.
Not to mention the Wii itself is merely an extension of it's controller. That's the premise of the Wii. And we've seen 'controller-based games' largely fail every single time, right from the Atari 2600 to present day. They die quick.
I expect the Wii to die quick as well. Once the golf, baseball, boxing, etc. games get stale, there's nothing left for the Wii to do. You can make 500 WW2 combat games all unique and different, but you won't see 500 different versions of baseball for Wii because it gets old quick.
I'm expecting a renaissance for PC's in the next few years. The PC has exploded in terms of power this year, and finally the old geezers who wanted to design the ultimate game 10 years ago but the computers were too slow will activate and get back into PC game design again.
Not to mention that console games look like crap on TVs, and there won't be any huge changes beyond HD TV for a long long time.
It's about time too. Consoles are barely functional overpriced crap.
Anonymous fool said...
What does this have to do with 64 bit computing????
When you speak about 64-bit computing, you are speaking about the only true 64-bit mainstream chips, that being the AMD line. To properly examine, you must look at that which surrounds it. You must look at competing technology and alternative platforms.
What does this have to do with 64 bit computing? Everything.
I expect the Wii to die quick as well. Once the golf, baseball, boxing, etc. games get stale, there's nothing left for the Wii to do.
The original UNIX was written on a system with 20KB (KB yes) RAM, it included a C compiler too..the clockspeed was ... i guess it was less than 1MHZ. PS3 may be more powerful, but human creativity is even more. Wii games are more suited for the general public.
WTF is that sock puppet penix talking about?
"When you speak about 64-bit computing, you are speaking about the only true 64-bit mainstream chips, that being the AMD line. To properly examine, you must look at that which surrounds it. You must look at competing technology and alternative platforms.
What does this have to do with 64 bit computing? Everything."
Why doesn't sharikou go back to talking about how Intel will go BK in a couple of quarters or how about Amd's 50% market share run rate crap by the end of the year..at least we can get a good laugh. About that penix character he really needs a woman, I think he does things with his AMD CPU that the chip was never designed for.
The original UNIX was written on a system with 20KB (KB yes) RAM, it included a C compiler too..the clockspeed was ... i guess it was less than 1MHZ. PS3 may be more powerful, but human creativity is even more. Wii games are more suited for the general public.
Agreed. General public is where the Wii is succeeding. However, its limitations, err, limit it to being a general purpose game machine with a specialized controller.
It doesn't have the muscle to deliver a more realistic experience that the Xbox and PS3 can offer. In fact, it's one step behind in the console capability game!
There's nothing stopping Sony or Microsoft from coming out with a controller like the Wii has - then what's left for the Wii? Its integrated Japanamation renderer? If you look at Call of Duty 3, the graphics are on par with 5+ year old PC systems. It's a shame.
I expect the Wii to die quick as well. Once the golf, baseball, boxing, etc. games get stale, there's nothing left for the Wii to do. You can make 500 WW2 combat games all unique and different, but you won't see 500 different versions of baseball for Wii because it gets old quick.
Tell that to MADDEN series, or any other sports game that keeps re-appearing with new versions every year
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