The Wii U might have been announced at Nintendo’s E3 press conference this morning and the Wii U touchscreen controller might have been the focus of everybody’s attention, but do you want to know a little more about what’s powering the Wii U console itself? Sure you do. Follow the link over to get the low-down on the Wii U’s tech specs.
According to IBM, Nintendo’s Wii U is powered by a custom 45nm multi-core processor with embedded DRAM. In addition to its IBM heart, the graphics are powered by a custom AMD Radeon HD GPU. What does that mean to the regular gamer? Not much, except that the console will be able to churn out 1080p HD video with detail that should be on par with what is available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
As far as storage, ports and disc format goes, the Wii uses a 12 cm optical disc via a slot loading tray again. It’ll have four USB 2.0 ports, a little front hatch for expansion through SD cards, an unspecified amount of internal storage, external hard drive support when plugged into a USB port as well as HDMI, component and S-video cables.
From a design perspective, the Wii U’s ditched the silver vertical stand and even the controller and memory card ports for the Gamecube. All of the console’s buttons are now positioned horizontally and we’re not sure if the glowing blue optical disc drive light is gone as well.
Oh, let’s not forget that the Wii U is backwards compatible with all Wii games (it won’t upscale the current games to HD, though), so don’t start using those as coasters yet.
Nintendo didn’t release any information on whether or not the Wii U can play DVDs or Blu-ray discs, but we can probably make a good guess that streaming content such as Netflix and YouTube as well as a web browser will make its way onto the Wii U, as it did on the Wii.
The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are entertainment hubs for the living room. If Nintendo wants to truly compete, it needs to not only bring that same experience but with its classic Nintendo touch, but also provide a robust and solid online experience that can truly compete with PSN and Xbox Live.
Filed in . Read more about E3, E3 2011, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii U and Wii U.