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What Can Wii GFX Do?

The Wii, released by Nintendo in 2006, has gone on to sell more than 86 million systems worldwide as of March 2011. While the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, also released in the same time span as the Wii, produce an equal level of graphics to each other, the Wii uses less powerful graphics hardware that results in lower-quality visuals. Knowing this hardware, and what the Wii is capable of doing graphically, can give you a different perspective on the console.

  1. Nintendo Wii

    • The Wii is best known for being the first home video console to use motion controls. With the Wii Remote, players are not just controlling the game, they are often a part of the game. Like past Nintendo systems, the Wii's image is that of a family-friendly console. While M-rated games have appeared on the system, most of the Wii's games are rated E for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

    Wii Hardware Specifications

    • For graphics, the Wii relies mostly on three things: its graphics card, processor and RAM. For the graphics card, the Wii relies on a custom ATI card called "Hollywood," clocked at 243 megahertz. For the CPU, the Wii uses a custom IBM processor dubbed "Broadway," with speeds of 729 MHz. For RAM, the Wii uses 88 MB of RAM. These specifications are an improvement over Nintendo's previous system, the GameCube, but fall short of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 specifications, especially in RAM. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 both feature 512 MB of RAM in comparison.

    Wii Graphics Strengths

    • While the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are capable of creating realistic environments, the Wii finds itself best at replicating cartoonish worlds. Worlds that feature lots of color and characters that confirm to cartoon-like proportions work well on the Wii. In addition, the Wii can handle both two- and three-dimensional games in this style well. Like past Nintendo systems, any game developed and published by Nintendo takes full advantage of the system's specifications.

    Wii Graphics Weaknesses

    • As much of the Wii's development went into the motion control aspect, the hardware of the Wii suffered when compared to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. For example, the Wii does not support HDMI and cannot output into high definition; the highest the Wii can output is 480p. As a result, on some HD televisions, the Wii's graphics can be jagged and blurry. The lack of RAM on the Wii also stops it from outputting the same level of graphics seen on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. On games released on all three systems, the Wii version frequently has less detail.

    Best Examples of Wii's Graphics

    • As mentioned previously, the best example of the Wii's graphics can be found within Nintendo games. One of the best examples is "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword," featuring a diverse color palette and lifelike animations. Other examples of games featuring the same qualities are "Super Mario Galaxy 2" and "Donkey Kong Country Returns." Some third-party examples also include "Okami," published by Capcom, and "Epic Mickey," published by Disney.

Nintendo Wii
Nintendo Wii

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