Wii Hardware Overview

Wii Hardware Introduction

The Wii is the smallest of the 7th generation consoles, measuring a petite 44mm x 157mm x 215m and weighing in at 1,2kg. Currently only available in white, it can be used horizontally or vertically with the supplied stand. Other colours of Wii will be available in the future – when the short supply situation has eased according to Nintendo. It has a slot loading drive that accepts Wii disks or the smaller Gamecube ones, two USB ports, a slot for an SD card and the requisite slots for Gamecube controllers and memory cards. There is built-in wireless networking capability (802.11b/g). The current console cannot playback DVDs but it has been announced that a later release of the console hardware will support this.

Nintendo have been very cagey about the actual main hardware specifications of the Wii, not wanting to get into the comparison tables where the Wii would likely fare badly against the PS3 and Xbox 360 in terms of sheer brute computing power – but it was never their intention for the console to compete directly on these terms anyway. The basic Wii architecture is based on that of the Gamecube, although it is reportedly 1.5 to 2 times more powerful than the Gamecube. General comparisons with other available consoles seem to show that is obviously less powerful than the PS3 / Xbox 360, but is more powerful than the PS2 and the consensus places it at the level of the original xbox. It is certainly capable of lovely looking games (witness Zelda Twilight Princess) but will not compete on eye-candy terms with the like of the PS3.

ATI Hollywood and IBM Broadway – The heart of the Wii

The Wii is based around an IBM PowerPC processor chip (CPU), codenamed “Broadway” and clocked at a reported 729Mhz, and a custom ATI graphics chip (GPU) codenamed “Hollywood” and clocked at 243Mhz. Note that the clock speeds are what has been reported – there is no official confirmation from Nintendo. The console has 88mb of memory to support the custom chips, with 24mb of this being integrated with the “Hollywood” GPU. There is also 3mb texture memory / frame buffer on the GPU. An additional 512mb of Flash RAM memory completes the internal storage capability. An SD card of up to 2gb may also be added to increase the available storage for gmae saves and downloaded Vitual Console games. In terms of video output, the Wii can provide 480i (NTSC), 576i (PAL/SECAM) and a 480p progressive scan output, the latter being via the component output lead and referred to as EDTV. There is a single multi purpose output socket on the console. Rumours do persist that the Wii hardware is capable of 720p HDTV output - but it is stressed that these are indeed only rumours and may just be wishful thinking, though it is not hard to see the possibility of a HDTV capable Wii2 in a few years.

Sound is output is analogue stereo, supporting Dolby Pro-Logic II for surround duties – there is no digital sound output.

Wireless Networking (Wi-Fi)

The Wii's built in Wi-Fi adapter is 802.11b/g compatible and supports WEP, WPA and WPA security/ encryption standards. It is broadly compatible with most wireless routers though there are some that will not work. The Wi-Fi connectivity (or usb ethernet adapter) allows the console to download updates via the Wii Shop and connect to the various internet based Wii channels (weather, news etc.). The shop connection allows for the downloading of Virtual Console games. Wii owners can also send e-mail either to other Wii's or any other e-mail account, though that account must respond to a request to allow e-mails to be sent. E-mail is sent via a hub system.

The Wii can also connect to other Local Wiis via the Wi-Fi connection – it forms its own ad-hoc network for this purpose – up to 32 Wiis may be linked in this way from one console. This is another option for multiplayer gaming – Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 and Battallion Wars 2 will support this feature.

The Wii supports online based gaming via a free service provided by Nintendo, enabling users to play with / against other users over the 'net. Access to this makes use of the Wii Friend code (a code unique to each console)that is also used for the Wii Messaging service (e-mail) to send messages to other Wii owners.

The Nintendo DS can also connect via the Wii's wireless capability. It can download updates/expansions to games and demos via the Wii, with the DS touchscreen and microphone being available for use as input devices for the Wii in certain games.