Maxconsole published new nintendo wii specs that where sended to them by an anonymous Wii Developer

The Wii Hardware

• Nintendo Wii’s ‘Broadway’ CPU operates at 729MHZ with a maximum bandwith of 1.9gbyte/sec.
• Nintendo Wii’s ‘HollyWood’ GPU is clocked at 243MHZ, the internal memory of it includes 3mb of embedded graphics memory and 24megabytes of high speed main memory.
• 64megabytes of GDDR3 (MEM2) as the external main memory. Just like the internal memory, it can be accessed from the CPU and GPU with a maximum bandwidth of 4gbytes/sec and can also store programs in the MEM2.
• The GPU of the Wii is identical to the GC’s but it is on average 1.5X faster.

Wii’s Optical Disc Drive

• Opitcal Disc Drive (ODD) supports single and dual layer Wii disks, discs eject with software or button and the maximum read speed is the equivalent of DVDx6.
• Two main disc types supported the single sided 12cm single sided 4.7gb and the double sided 8.51 GB. Nintendo GC discs also supported. Some of the capacity of the discs are used by the system and games can not use full disc space.
• Inserting a disc will start the Wii console, even if it was already in an off state. Pressing the eject button will change the console to an on state to take out the disc also.

Wii General Overview

• An optional wired LAN adapter that connects to a USB port is in the pipeline for users who do not possess a wireless LAN set-up currently.
• Internal non-removable 512MB flash memory used to storage game save data and downloadable content thus eliminating the Need for a memory card.
• Both Wii discs and Gamecube discs can be played via an intelligent mode swap. When running in GC mode, the Wii’s CPU and GPU will lower to the respective speeds of the GC and some of the MEM2 functions as ARAM.
• Software development environment is an upgrade to the ‘Dolphin SDK’ used with the GC; the same libraries are used so developers can get up to scratch easily as well as the possibility of ports being easier.
• The following interfaces are included with the Wii; SD card slot, Wireless controller, two USB 2.0 ports, wireless LAN, 4x GC controller ports, 2x GC memory card slots and an AV multi output jack (only an analog jack).
• Supports Wii disks (one sided 12cm) and GC discs (one sided 8cm) and console auto switches depends on what disk is inserted
• More than just the Nunchaku is planned as an extension. GC peripherals such as DK bongos can be used in both Wii and GC modes.
• Three power status, on, off and unplugged. To prevent mistaken turn offs, the power button must be held for about a second.

The Wii Control System

• The Wii controller features; Direct Pointing Device, Three axis accelerometer, Wii power button (remotely turn console on/off), buttons, wireless connectivity, indicator LED’s, rumble, battery powered (two AA alkaline batteries) and ability to connect extension unit.
• The Wii controller supports three types of operations; by itself, with a nunchuk extension or with a classic controller. Classic controllers will ship to developers during August 2006.
• The SYNCHRO button on the Wii controller exchanges wireless ID numbers when pressed at the same time as SYNCRHO on the Wii console. Wireless communications are only possible with consoles which have been authenticated.
• The rumble motor can be turned on and off and the intensity can be changed.
• The Wii remote has a pointer for fine movements as well as a motion sensor +/- 3.4G suitable for larger body movements, the nunchuk attachment has a sensor of +/- 2G
• The sensor bar must be placed above or below a TV set, the pointer measures coordinates between the ends of the bar which are about 20cm apart.
• The Wii remote has four status, disconnected, communicating, establishing connection and pairing wait status.
• The pointer can measure co-ordinates within bounds of rectangle centered upon the sensor bar, thus it can also measure points beyond the screen. It also responds to strong light sources, windows, fluorescent lamps, fireplaces, mirrors etc.
• Due to players hands shaking while holding the controller, a ring buffer allows a precise direction to be created to hold and average accelerator samples.

Wii Broadway CPU

Broadway is Wii’s CPU. Broadway functionality and specifications are as follows.

• Operating speed: 729 MHz
• Bus to main memory: 243 MHz, 64 bits (maximum bandwidth: 1.9 gigabytes/sec)
• 32-kilobyte 8-way set-associative L1 instruction cache
• 32-kilobyte 8-way set-associative L1 data cache (can set up 16-kilobyte data scratch pad)
• Superscalar microprocessor with six execution units (floating-point unit, branching unit, system register unit, load/store unit, two integer units)
• DMA unit (15-entry DMA request queue) used by 16-kilobyte data scratch pad
• Write-gather buffer for writing graphics command lists to the graphics chip
• Onboard 256-kilobyte 2-way set-associative L2 integrated cache
• Two, 32-bit integer units (IU)
• One floating point unit (FPU) (supports single precision (32-bit) and double precision (64-bit))
• The FPU supports paired single floating point (FP/PS)
• The FPU supports paired single multiply add (ps_madd). Most FP/PS instructions can be issued in each cycle and completed in three cycles.
• Fixed-point to floating-point conversion can be performed at the same time as FPU register load and store, with no loss in performance.
• The branch unit supports static branch prediction and dynamic branch prediction.
• When an instruction is stalled on data, the next instruction can be issued and executed.
• All instructions maintain program logic and will complete in the correct program order.
• Supports three L2 cache fetch modes: 32-Byte, 64-Byte, and 128-Byte.

Supports these bus pipeline depth levels: level 2, level 3, and level 4.
Reference Information: Broadway is upward compatible with Nintendo GameCube’s CPU (Gekko).

Wii Hollywood GPU

Hollywood is a system LSI composed of a GPU and internal main memory (MEM1). Hollywood is clocked at 243 MHz. Its internal memory consists of 3 megabytes of embedded graphics memory and 24 megabytes of high speed main memory.

Hollywood includes the following.

• Graphics processing unit (with 3 megabytes of eDRAM)
• Audio DSP
• I/O Bridge
• 24 megabytes of internal main memory
• Internal main memory operates at 486 MHz.
• Maximum bandwidth between Hollywood and internal main memory: 3.9 gigabytes per second
• Possible to locate a program here

Reference Information: Hollywood is similar to Nintendo GameCube’s Flipper and Splash components.

Wii External Main Memory (MEM2)

Wii uses 64 megabytes of GDDR3 (MEM2) as external main memory. Like internal main memory, MEM2 can be accessed directly from Broadway and the GPU at high speed and has a peak bandwidth of 4 gigabytes/sec. Programs can also be placed in MEM2.

Tags: nintendo wii specs, Wii Developer, Wii Hardware, Wii’s Optical Disc, Wii Control System, Wii Broadway CPU, Wii Hollywood GPU, Wii External Main Memory

    

I don’t really believe this report. I think it’s just a copy of the IGN, with some added “sounds legit” info added. I seriously doubt maxconsole’s source. I believe from other info sources on the web that the Wii is about twice what they have here.

i dont believe it either ….. nintendo cant realy think a gamecube and a half can realy stand up to either of the other 2 consoles.

I do have a theory about what is going on here. I think that original Wii kits may have been this, because IGN said a developer gave them about the same specs long before this report. This was pre-E3, and Nintendo, I believe gave developers something to start with before specs were finalized. They probably gave out kits that would be the lowest possible specs for Wii. This developer probably hasn’t received an updated kit yet, probably only launch title studios have gotten full kits. If this is true I’ll still buy a Wii though. Then again since maxconsole said the developer was anonymus, do they even know who they were? I think we’ll just wait for something official. Nintendo surely wouldn’t take a chance of failure with such low specs… would they?

Well, I actually think Nintendo easily could measure up to the other 2 consoles even if these are the real specs, not performance wise ofc, but people would probably still love the console due to the revolutionising controls.

Hmm… I don’t really care how powerful it will be. I just bought a GameCube and though it doesn’t quite compare to some of the advanced lighting and physics in some new PS2 and XBox games, it still has some pretty fun games. I hope the Wii can have gameplay to live up to the hype.
Right now, the GC is the cheapest of the Big 3 consoles. I got one used for $60, and it was worth it. The Wii is also gonna be cheapest, so I’m gettin that…

although I still don’t like that the gpu is the same as the gamecube’s, only a little better… nintendo had better be making pretty games or else…

whatever, who cares, it’s the Wii come on’!!!!

what are you talking about, the best looking games on the last generation consoles have been on the GC. metroid echoes,resident evil 4 are 2 that come to mind

We new most of this stuff frokm previous information weeks ago. Who cares about the technical specs?

… dont get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the gamecube… its by far my favorite console. I just think that Nintendo will release something with mre power than a gamecube and a half.

Very true, considering that the Wii will be much more thhan the gamecube and, is practically a gamecube!

It isn’t true. The Wii will have 1T-SRAM, not GDDR3 ram. MoSys already confirmed this. They are the ones supplying the ram.

I like the idea of the low specs, it will mean shorter development times and more focus on gameplay rather than graphics, which is where the majority of the development time goes. Well done Nintendo, a brave move which I think many pure gamers will appreciate.

CRAP CRAP CRAP its allready confermed the EXTERNAL RAM is allso 1t sram the whole catch and main ram is made up of 1t sram theres probably a 16mb pool of dram as sound ram allso included the official report on mosy ram and nec CLEARLY STATES 1t sram to be used on the hollywood gpu as well as a second external 1t sram pool on top of this is a pool of dram ACCESS RAM i still think the final ram spec is 27mb plus 64mb plus 16mb NICE TRY FAKERS

6XDVD DRIVE OHHHHH PLEASE MORE LIKLY A PRIORTY DISC DRIVE SYSTEM FOR GREAT LOADING SPEEDS AND NO PIRASY 6XDVD WOT EVER

It’s fake. You’ll laugh at some of these details in a few months

yea i dont belive this report either wii rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought it was more powerful than this. I got some demos from a friend and the real time graphics was the same as PS3 and 360
graphics. Since we do know that Wii is under power from their competitor and 480 p of HD quality, but remember it is still using the latest computer parts. Like 2005-2006 CPU and GPU technology. And before Nintendo took out the official Technical information web page. They say that it will be using state-of-the-art technology.

It is like installing the latest graphic card to your computer.