Nintendo beefed up the Wii U to run Unreal Engine 4?

Unreal Engine 4

Today’s most interesting Wii U rumour is that Nintendo have tweaked the console’s specs to make it capable of running Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4, which will likely see increasing use by developers in the coming years.

The rumour originates from NeoGAF user BlackNMild2k1, who claims that the information comes from a friend of a friend who works for an unnamed multiplatform developer. The footing of the rumour is a more than a little shaky, but true facts have sprung out of NeoGAF in this fashion before and it’s plausible to think that Nintendo wouldn’t want to miss out on Unreal Engine 4.

Unreal Engine 3 is widely used in many current games for the ease with which it allows developers to produce advanced games with complex graphical effects. If you’ve played any of the Mass Effect or Gears of War games, then you’ve already seen the engine in action. As developers move on to Unreal Engine 4, however, it’s likely that many of them would not be willing to go to the extra trouble to port a game backwards to version 3 just so the Wii U can get it as well.

What would this mean for you as a gamer? More third-party support, and a more powerful console (and judging by some of the press and gaming forums out there, you can never cram enough power into a Nintendo console). The rumour sounds completely plausible and a bump in specs would make the Wii U more attractive to gamers and developers alike.

I, for one, hope it’s true.

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Comments, Reactions, and General Hooliganism

  1. kish

    now we wait for its. launch and see if it can deliver … tired of x360 and ps3 fans using graphics as a weapon against me

    • Wrinkledwood

      Don’t worry. They’ll still use it against you when the PS4 and NeXtBox releases.

    • uPadWatcher

      @Wrinkles – Too bad the PS4 and Next Xbox won’t even come close to supass the power of Wii U. The PS4 will have the same graphics as PS3 and aims towards casuals and women while the next Xbox will be 50% less powerful than Nintendo’s next console.

  2. Trulaw

    This has so got to happen 😀

  3. uPadWatcher

    I would love to see this rumor become true. Since Wii U is the next-gen console, imagine what a game look like when it’s powerd by Unreal Engine 4.

  4. CynicalBrony

    So….are Epic and Nintendo finally getting along now?

  5. Let’s hope for it!

  6. they are well they are making games together and they have the people that made ssb3 Skyrelm and call of duty mw3 if it does then Nintendo will go to the finals and kick Sony copy cat ass :):):):):):):):):)

  7. they have the people from epic games and they have the people from what I saw they will be the next gen