How Did The Wii Have Such Good Graphics For Such Piddly Specs?

[iamdarkyoshi]

So I have been playing Super Mario Galaxy on my PC using an emulator. I am playing it at 1080p instead of the console's 480p, but my point still stands. How on earth did the wii have such good looking graphics...

 

 

...for having the following specs (according to Wikipedia):

 

I guess just really well optimized code? Low resolution being easier to render?

[PlayStation 2]

88MB of RAM is quite a lot when you know what the fuck you're doing. Most games ran anywhere from 512x384 to 640x480, and for the most part, models and textures could usually be rather low-res or low quality because the resolution was complete ass.

 

If you ever poke around Dolphin and rip textures from Super Mario Galaxy, not a lot of textures are high res.

[littlepigboy5]

1 minute ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

So I have been playing Super Mario Galaxy on my PC using an emulator. I am playing it at 1080p instead of the console's 480p, but my point still stands. How on earth did the wii have such good looking graphics...

 

 

...for having the following specs:

 

I guess just really well optimized code? Low resolution being easier to render?

because developing for a console is a lot different than developing for a pc.  When developers know the hardware of the device the are developing for, unlike pc where you have different cpu and gpu architectures, they can optimize the code to a MUCH higher degree than pc, allowing for really good graphics on seemingly bad specs.  Also, resolution affects performance by a lot.

[Sanderman135]

Who said it had good graphics?

 

[littlepigboy5]

Just now, Sanderman135 said:

Who said it had good graphics?

 

pretty impressive for it's time, sitll hold up very well

[manikyath]

5 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

88MB of RAM is quite a lot when you know what the fuck you're doing. Most games ran anywhere from 512x384 to 640x480, and for the most part, models and textures could usually be rather low-res or low quality because the resolution was complete ass.

 

If you ever poke around Dolphin and rip textures from Super Mario Galaxy, not a lot of textures are high res.

basicly this. "current gen" consoles are basicly just locked down PCs in terms of how the games run, the wii is a very different scenario where the game code is pretty much running bare metal, pushing much more towards optimization just like in the olden days.

 

if you look closely (and if you use dolphin to render higher res) you see most models are actually very low res, with very crude textures and bare animations. but because of the resolution the game was intended to run on (ladies and gents, we're talking the scart era here) you'd never notice, nor would you really care, because the gameplay of nintendo titles is generally too attention grabbing for the user to dream off into staring at polygons.

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, manikyath said:

basicly this. "current gen" consoles are basicly just locked down PCs in terms of how the games run, the wii is a very different scenario where the game code is pretty much running bare metal, pushing much more towards optimization just like in the olden days.

 

if you look closely (and if you use dolphin to render higher res) you see most models are actually very low res, with very crude textures and bare animations. but because of the resolution the game was intended to run on (ladies and gents, we're talking the scart era here) you'd never notice, nor would you really care, because the gameplay of nintendo titles is generally too attention grabbing for the user to dream off into staring at polygons.

Yep.

I'll get some screenshots of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! running at 1360x768 (because 1080p isn't an option) if I must to help out.

[manikyath]

Just now, Dan Castellaneta said:

Yep.

I'll get some screenshots of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! running at 1360x768 (because 1080p isn't an option) if I must to help out.

if it comes to that, i'll see if i can make dolphin run at 4K long enough to prove a point

[Godlygamer23]

Loads of optimization. Same goes with the PS3 and Xbox 360 - devs got a hold on the capabilities of the consoles and were able to push the boundaries of what they were capable of because they were able to get to know the hardware very well.

[PlayStation 2]

As promised.

Notice how the Chain Chomp is gone?

Since the game natively renders at 604x448 (close enough to 4:3), it only has to render that field of view properly. Objects can be taken off the screen if they are not in view.

 

Natively, it would render as below.

It also applies to the chain.

 

 

[iamdarkyoshi]

15 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

As promised.

Notice how the Chain Chomp is gone?

Since the game natively renders at 604x448 (close enough to 4:3), it only has to render that field of view properly. Objects can be taken off the screen if they are not in view.

 

Natively, it would render as below.

It also applies to the chain.

 

 

It took a lot of screwing around to get super mario sunshine to work at 1080p widescreen, but it does work now. Havent been able to get the framrate doubling to work though

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, iamdarkyoshi said:

It took a lot of screwing around to get super mario sunshine to work at 1080p widescreen, but it does work now. Havent been able to get the framrate doubling to work though

Framerate doubling is extremely screwy in Dolphin. It's usually a lot less work to get the game to properly work at lower framerates than it is to double them.

[branden_lucero]

SM Galaxy = probably my favorite Wii game by far. 

[minibois]

Because it uses almost the same specs as the GameCube (which also had beautiful graphics already) so developers (especially Nintendo's first party developers) knew how to work with the system and make things look B-E-A-utiful.

 

It also helped that Super Mario Galaxy has one of the most amazing art styles for any game ever and that you are upscaling the game (and I assume adding AA?) in Dolphin.

[EscalatorBoy]

Nintendo are masters of art style, and a game can often look mad good with low technical demand if you develop within the limits of the hardware. There were a lot of third party games on the Wii that looked like wet hot garbage, but the first party titles hold up really well. Hell, most first party Gamecube & N64 games still look amazing today.

[iamdarkyoshi]

12 minutes ago, EscalatorBoy said:

Nintendo are masters of art style, and a game can often look mad good with low technical demand if you develop within the limits of the hardware. There were a lot of third party games on the Wii that looked like wet hot garbage, but the first party titles hold up really well. Hell, most first party Gamecube & N64 games still look amazing today.

*ahem* BOOM BLOX BASH PARTY

 

Buggiest game since sonic 06

[PlayStation 2]

5 hours ago, EscalatorBoy said:

Nintendo are masters of art style, and a game can often look mad good with low technical demand if you develop within the limits of the hardware. There were a lot of third party games on the Wii that looked like wet hot garbage, but the first party titles hold up really well. Hell, most first party Gamecube & N64 games still look amazing today.

This x5200.

Even if Nintendo's games look a bit rough up close [looks at Mario Kart 8], they still look fucking amazing because of how they are stylized and where the priorities went.

[typographie]

Those games "look good," but the rendering tech underneath is actually very simple. They use lots of solid bold colors or simple gradients, simple textures, and low-poly geometry. The art direction of games like that play to the favor of the developers. It allows them to make harsh technical compromises that don't ruin the appearance of the game.

 

It's not just the graphics, either… most of these first-party games developed for the Wii U also manage to run at 1080p and 60 FPS. Mario Galaxy probably doesn't, as I think it's actually designed for the Wii.