Wii U is less powerful than Xbox 360, PS3, according to developer

Wii U
Up until now we’ve heard many things about the Wii U and its hardware. We’ve heard estimates that the Wii U is about 50% more powerful than the current generation of consoles, and we’ve also seen some leaked Wii U specs. However, now there’s a new set of opinions of the Wii U hardware. Opinions that suggest the Wii U is less powerful than originally thought.

Speaking to GamesIndustry, and speaking anonymously, a developer working on the Wii U said that the console is less powerful than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. According to the source, “the graphics are just not as powerful”. The developer made the argument that there weren’t enough shaders and that the Wii U “just can’t keep up”. However, the developer did say that some things were better, like a “modern design”. The source also mentioned the new Wii U controller, and said that you only have one of them, which is apparently a drawback. Nintendo has previously hinted at supporting multiple Wii U tablet controllers.

We’ve now heard from developers who think the Wii U is more powerful, and those who think it’s less powerful. This has always been the case with developers, depending on how they approach their work. That’s why some games are much better looking than others. We can’t know for sure what the Wii U is capable of until we see some games running on the system, and until we can compare the games against each other.

And since Nintendo was never known for touting its system specs, we don’t expect the company to brag about what CPU or how much RAM the new console has. What Nintendo focuses on is the innovation the Wii U brings to the market, like the new tablet controller and the games. We’ll know a lot more in a few months when Nintendo reveals everything at E3 2012.