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Is the Switch more or less powerful than the Wii U?

WhtR88t

WhtR88t

Member
May 14, 2018
4,587
Given that we're seeing current gen ports from PS4/Xbox onto the Switch (rather successfully, see Doom, Wolfenstein and MK11 as examples)– if the Wii U had had as much market share as the Switch, do we think we'd see ports of current gen games running on the Wii U?

Or does the Switch have enough modern day hardware that it makes ports easier?

Also, do we think the Breath of the Wild sequel will look better because it's no longer held back by the Wii U's hardware and maybe Nintendo can hit the visual quality of it's original trailer?
 
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,136
It's more powerful. We've known this BOTW launched on both platforms. The Wii U's framerate is crazy bad at times.
 

Deleted member 1413

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,617
...is this a serious question in 2019?

Switch is more powerful and more modern making ports easier.
Wii U is akin to Switch handheld mode
 
Maxina

Maxina

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,308
Lol what. It's a good chunk more powerful than the Wii U, and not to mention more appealing.
 
Linde

Linde

Banned
Sep 2, 2018
3,983
It's one Wii u and a bit glued together (gamepad + console)
Also I'd like to point out how much better smash u looks compared to smash 4. It blew my mind
 
Platy

Platy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,703
Brazil
The switch is more powerfull, but that does not mean that the wiiu could not get some more 3rd party ports.... hell, the vita got a mk10 port and it was awfull so it was not like the power was a factor
 
logash

logash

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,739
Doesn't Mario Kart run at a higher resolution docked? Most Wii U ports run at a higher resolution on Switch if I'm not mistaken.
 
DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,870
Edmonton
The Switch has more oomph, but I don't think it's significantly more powerful.

The Switch's main advantage is that it's fully portable and the name doesn't suck.
 
Richietto

Richietto

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,993
North Carolina
Yes, the Switch is easier to make games for. And Yes, BotW 2 will be much better than BotW on Switch. The Switch version is a port and does not take full advantage of the hardware. They pretty much took BotW Wii U and made it run on the Switch. Same visual effects, same draw distance, same everything but a better framerate and slightly better resolution. Building the next game on Switch will make for a better game.
 
Jon Carter

Jon Carter

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,746
Looking at third-party games in portable mode, you wouldn't think so, but the Switch is more powerful than the Wii U even in portable mode.
 
Robin

Robin

Restless Insomniac
Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,502
More. Golly do y'all remember all the threads convinced BotW was going to underperform on the Switch?
 
Jaded Alyx

Jaded Alyx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
35,378
Switch is more powerful and uses somewhat modern components with support for current engines such as UE4.
 
Skittzo

Skittzo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
41,037
The Switch hardware is a lot better in a whole lot of different ways, from architecture to RAM to APUs to raw grunt.
 
DyslexicAlucard

DyslexicAlucard

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,030
Platy said:
The switch is more powerfull, but that does not mean that the wiiu could not get some more 3rd party ports.... hell, the vita got a mk10 port and it was awfull so it was not like the power was a factor
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The Vita got a port of MK9, which was a PS3/360 title. It looked fine in regular gameplay. But I agree it looked pretty bad when the camera got close up.
 
hussien-11

hussien-11

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,315
Jordan
It has been known for a long time now that Switch is more powerful than Wii U.

for example, MK8 is 720p/60fps on Wii U but 1080p/60fps on Switch.

Switch's architecture is also more recent, and it offers a superior development tools.
 
Shoichi

Shoichi

Member
Jan 10, 2018
10,456
The architecture in the Switch is way more modern than the Wii U which matters a lot in development. It's able to support UE4
As well as being more powerful. Ports from WiiU run at higher res and in some cases framerates for a reason.

I would guess the BOTW sequel will look at least marginally better than the cross-gen BOTW has even post updates.

This feels like a question from 2017 when/right before Switch released.
 
Last edited:

Deleted member 4093

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,671
I'm just making fun of the OP yall. Relax lol

This information has been known since Switch launch and he asked that question lol.
 
Mejilan

Mejilan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,836
Switch is handily more powerful, and perhaps more importantly, more modern than the Wii U.

Sorry, but this is a pretty ridiculous question.
I could have understood it in early 2017, perhaps. But in 2019?
 
Tebunker

Tebunker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,844
I had to check and see what year this was, I could have sworn we just just travelled back in time to another place
 
HOUSEJoseph

HOUSEJoseph

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,320
There appears to be quite a bit of bad info in this thread. The Wii U was weaker than Switch. BOTW has a higher fps and resolution. As did Mario Kart 8 (that game is 1080p on Switch vs. 720 p on Wii U. Same with anew Super Mario Bros. U.

Wii U: 352 GigaFLOPS
Switch: 1 TeraFLOP (1,028 GigaFLOPS)
 
Sub Boss

Sub Boss

Banned
Nov 14, 2017
13,441
3x more memory, more power, 2x bandwith, faster media carts with less space and more costly.

However keep in mind its not much more powerful in portable mode, there are new games with less resolution than the GamePad!
 
jariw

jariw

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,283
WhtR88t said:
Or does the Switch have enough modern day hardware that it makes ports easier?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This is as important as the HW performance discussion. Same type of HW architecture as the rest of the hardware manufacturers make it much easier to port stuff. And Switch has totally superior middleware support compared to the Wii U, which is hugely important for smaller developers, like indie developers.
 
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