The extra memory isn't what makes it more powerful really,its the newer GPU and CPUs.
This is from the same guy that argues that Blazing Star can't be done on the Saturn due to memory constraints?
Also,Joe,its always typical of you to bitch and whine
That's the pot calling the kettle black, my friend. And who said I wasn't happy with the Wii? I've already said that I've greatly enjoyed Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy. I never said either of those games MUST have better graphics to be enjoyable. I'm just saying from a audio/visual point of view, the Wii isn't much more than a Gamecube.
At 640x480 the increased graphics memory isn't going to make it more powerful.You can cram 1 gig of Pc 133 sdram into a Pentium 2 computer and with a Voodoo 3 and its still going to run games at the same performance frames per second wise as the same computer with 128 megs if your only running games at 640x480 from that time period.
88 megs on the Wii is nothing. They only give the Gpu like 3 of it. This is the same amount they gave the Game Cubes Flipper GPU. Compare that to the 10 the ATI GPU in the 360 gets. Thats all it needs at 640x480,and honestly not even that much to do well since everything is going to be optimized to use a low storage number and load from the disc often. Same goes for the Xbox and its 64 megs it had. Not all of that went to the GPU. Ram stores the data,it doesn't push the frame rates up more at such a low res number like 640x480.
It could have survived off the same amount as the Xbox,even better if it would have had a hard drive. Extra numbers in ram wont matter until you plan to store tons of larger textures all at once and run at higher res like 1024x768 or higher. Obviously they did not intend on the Wii doing this kinda work,and even then,at those higher res numbers the ram has to be 256 bit ddr2 or 3 to make a huge improvement on fill rates these days,and the game has to be a heavy duty title needing it,something using alot of pixel shaders and other effects. Basically its clock speed on the ram also needs to be twice the GPUS speed on average too.
Whats going to make it more powerful at 640x480 res gameplay is the higher clock rates and newer core features to do the extra visual effects.... Do you know anything about how gpus work? Take for instance a Radeon 9600 64 meg versus a 128 meg version running 3D Mark 2k1 or 2k3 at 640x480. You wont notice any frames per second increase at that res because the generation of games (2000-2004)details dont have as huge a demand on memory at lower res settings. The same is going to be with the GPU memory on the Wii. Games made on it are going to be optimized for lower res that only needs a small amount of ram for visuals.
They got to stick to the same amount of ram graphically as the amount in the GameCube ,since they were determined to stay at 640x480 type res that still is enough for the new features the GPU has since that GPU isn't designed for awesome high res visuals and multi shader effects. Its highly doubtful they will need to tap all the ram on the system ever to a stressful point. If they ever get to the point where they need more ram then what is currently in there then most likely they are going to need a better Gpu to push whats being stored in the larger ram space. When they get to that point then they will prob make a new system obviously.
Basically the Wii is going to move graphics faster at better fill rates due to the extra core features and higher clock rates at 640x480 like res,not due to the extra memory inside it main hardware. Memory is for storage aspect honestly,not the power aspect graphically since its GPU has the same amount as the GC GPU. True,both the GPU and the ram need each other to do anything,but in the larger scheme of things the GPU plays the more important role,because a shit GPU wont get you anywhere,no matter how much ram you give it,and only a very powerful GPU is going to need a good large amount of ram to do its job well(high res gaming,mega high fill rates,multi shader effects).
The Saturn graphically could have done Blazing Star if it had more ram for storage of the game. Its graphics ability was more then powerful enough to do it otherwise. The STV could have done it,since it used carts versus cd medium and low ram for space. I already stated this. The 4 Meg ram card could have helped,but honestly alot more would have been ideal for a title like Blazing Star if you wanted a perfect port.
Also,I'm not like you,I don't whine,bitch,piss,moan,and complain about any of my systems or their capabilities.Why? Because I don't buy systems I don't like or keep systems for 2-3 games so I can complain how I don't like the rest of the library,how it under performs,or how I have to waggle the controller
