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Nintendo confirms a few Wii U specs: memory, game disc size, more

September 13th, 2012 Posted in News, Posted by Brian, Wii U

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata confirmed a few new Wii U specs during a Japanese presentation today. Much of the information relates to memory and the game discs.

Iwata shared the following information:

- Supports full 1080p
- “GPGPU” used
- Main memory: 1GB
- System memory: 1GB
- Total memory is 2GB
- Games only use 1GB of main memory
- System memory is for the OS
- Can use the browser while playing
- Game discs are 25GB
- Discs run at 22.5 MB/s
- Uses up to 75 watts of electricity
- Typical power usage is 45 watts
- Reconfirmed: import Wii VC and WiiWare games




  1. 17 Responses to “Nintendo confirms a few Wii U specs: memory, game disc size, more”

  2. User avatar

    By thomas on Sep 13, 2012

    Confused by the 2 GB thing…

  3. User avatar

    By MacroManJr on Sep 13, 2012

    @ thomas:

    Basically, it means that the Wii U will run buttery-smooth with all its special features.

    The Wii U will reserve 1 GB of RAM memory to handle all of the main running and rendering of the game, and 1 GB of RAM memory to handle all the Wii U’s operating system stuff underneath.

    This is important considering that the Wii U will allow you to do things such as browse online while playing games and using video chat while playing games, all without interrupting the game. The operating system includes making sure all the hardware interacts together as well as run all of the Wii U game features that run independently of the games (like Miiverse, which can be included even in third-party games).

    Having memory dedicated to just the operating system spares the memory used for rendering the game and running the game’s logic. It keeps the Wii U able to do all of its neat features, such as being able to transfer the game on the GamePad and always being able to access the Wii U’s Home menu at any time, without affecting the performance of the games themselves.

    As a note, I would imagine that this dedicated memory is capable of being tapped when needed and if allowed by Nintendo, in a similar manner of how the Nintendo 3DS had more of its system memory to be usable to developers, if the game developers so desire.

    Though, 1GB RAM for game-dedicated memory is plenty enough for a rich console gaming experience, especially when you add the “GPGPU” features into the mix (which allows a developer to use the GPU’s memory to be used for tasks normally devoted to the CPU). Fast processing power can help reduce some strain on a system memory–faster processing can sometimes lead to some data having less time in storage, waiting to be processed.

    In short, this is very good news. Hope that helps!

  4. User avatar

    By ehead on Sep 13, 2012

    OS memory is a bit confusing. Can’t they just use half of the 1 GB? Does it mean that I can actually run several programs at once on the Wii U? OMG, screenshot program, video recorder, miiverse integration. Its all becoming clear now.

    Edit: Download games while playing! I hope they do this.

  5. User avatar

    By MacroManJr on Sep 13, 2012

    @ ehead:

    Better to leave the OS memory away from the game’s memory. That way, you can do things like video chat and browsing the web all in-game without actually interrupting game performance, plus, that leaves a full dedicated gigabyte for developers to play with for the games. No need for the OS to tap into the main memory.

  6. User avatar

    By ehead on Sep 13, 2012

    ^Thanks for that. It will certainly mean you could run other apps while playing. I can’t wait to record some videos. Do it Nintendo!

  7. User avatar

    By thomas on Sep 13, 2012

    As someone who won’t use any of those functions (I’ve got a laptop for that), it’s a shame they didn’t just add 2 Gb for gaming in general.

  8. User avatar

    By ehead on Sep 13, 2012

    In-game recording man! No more capture devices! :D

  9. User avatar

    By thomas on Sep 13, 2012

    You think Nintendo’s going to make video capturing available for all? That’s not the Nintendo I know…

  10. User avatar

    By ehead on Sep 13, 2012

    Nintendo TVii? You were saying thomas? :troll:

  11. User avatar

    By thomas on Sep 13, 2012

    Did they show recording game footage? I didn’t bother looking

  12. User avatar

    By ehead on Sep 13, 2012

    lol, not really. Its like a tv service for Wii U brought to you by Nintendo! :D

  13. User avatar

    By thomas on Sep 13, 2012

    so… why were you saying "what were you saying thomas"? XD I’m confused… it’s been confirmed forever that it’ll have entertainment features. Not that it’s relevant in Europe, though, we never get any good video services.

  14. User avatar

    By TiggyPudding on Sep 13, 2012

    thomas wrote:so… why were you saying "what were you saying thomas"? XD I’m confused… it’s been confirmed forever that it’ll have entertainment features. Not that it’s relevant in Europe, though, we never get any good video services.

    I have no idea what you’re saying. :troll:

    Oh, and that’s why I have US Netflix ;)

  15. User avatar

    By thomas on Sep 13, 2012

    you can get US Netflix on your UK Wii?

  16. User avatar

    By TiggyPudding on Sep 13, 2012

    thomas wrote:you can get US Netflix on your UK Wii?

    Sure, it’s easy! You just have to change the console’s DNS settings.

  17. User avatar

    By thomas on Sep 13, 2012

    Hmm, well I don’t mind torrenting shows for now (I buy boxsets of my favourite shows to balance it out) but that’s something worth looking into when Wii U comes out. Stupid copyrights depending on regions are preventing us from seeing great shows, even when we’re willing to pay for them.

  18. User avatar

    By Osobari on Sep 13, 2012

    Damn, you must be able to do a lot of shit simultaneously if they OS needs 1 GB for itself.

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