Hoy he estado dando una vuelta por el sitio web oficial de Nintendo. Me he encontrado una curiosísima entrevista que que Satoru Iwata, presidente y CEO de Nintendo hace a sus propios empleados, acerca del diseño y desarrollo de la Wii. Durante los últimos años Nintendo se ha distinguido por usar las ideas y la innavación como caballo de batalla, en lugar de la fuerza bruta, como el resto de competidores. Llegado un punto en la entrevista, surge el tema de la potencia de proceso de la Wii:
nintendo.com website:
| Iwata |
In
general, no engineer hates higher performance. As an engineer, didn't
you experience any inner conflict when it was decided that we would not
necessarily take Wii in the direction of sheer horsepower alone? |
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| Shiota |
Yes,
there was some conflict. To be honest, I even felt quite anxious about
it. After all, it takes a lot of courage to divert from the Roadmaps. I
was especially concerned when it was still not very clear to me what
could be done with such a machine. The hurdle of reducing power
consumption could be overcome. We were certain that we could achieve
this goal in the early stages of development. But the conflict and
concern did not go away until it was clear how this would change the
gaming experience. Once the concept of Wii as “a console where
something new happens every day” became clear, we were certain that we
had made the right choice. This concept is made possible by the fact
that Wii can stay on for 24 hours a day. |
| Iwata |
Looking back at all the development history of Wii, were there any particularly memorable turning points? |
| Shiota |
Let's
see. When we were struggling to reduce the power consumption, there was
a point in time when we simulated how power consumption would change in
existing devices if we applied cutting-edge semiconductor technology to
them. In the case of the GameCube, we discovered that the power
consumption could be reduced to between one-third and one-quarter of
the consumption of the GameCube's semiconductors. I was really
impressed with these results. Of course, I was surprised by the data
itself, but it was also the moment at which I was struck by the
originality of Nintendo. Normally, when making new devices, companies
compete with each other on the basis of “How much faster is the CPU,
how much more memory is there, and how many more polygons can be
displayed?” But Nintendo posed the question “How much can we decrease
power consumption and maintain performance?” |
| Iwata |
Why do you think we were able to engage in that kind of argument? |
| Shiota |
Above
all, I think it must have been because Nintendo is always trying to do
something new and different. This message has been spread not only
within Nintendo, but to other companies as well. As a result, our
development partners have naturally tended to present us with new
technologies and ideas. It was this background of going against the
norm that gave birth to Wii. |
|
|
| Takeda |
Of
course, the issue of performance was not secondary. Anyone can realise
“low performance with low power.” Others tend to aim for “high
performance with high power.” With Wii however, Nintendo alone has
pursued “high performance with low power consumption.” So, while Wii
embraces cutting-edge technology and high performance, the direction it
is aiming in is completely different from that of previous systems.
When we look at the automobile industry, not every car is following the
same evolutionary course. While some are trying to make faster cars,
others are gathering public attention around the world with their
hybrid engines. If automobiles can be used as a metaphor, our industry
has always been trying to compete over horsepower, even though not all
cars are made to compete in F1 races. |
| Shiota |
Just
as hybrid cars have created a new emphasis on “environmental
performance,” I believe that Wii has also discovered new values. Having
said that, however, Nintendo has never shied away from technological
competition. On the contrary, we have integrated a number of highly
technological elements into Wii. |
| Takeda |
Using
state-of-the-art technology in unprecedented ways is far more complex,
difficult, and requires more technological know-how than simply using
the technology to improve performance. The Wii system is far more
complex than that of the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. Furthermore, since
Wii is compatible with GameCube software, we have not only tried to
create something new, but we have also retained some of the old
functionality. Honestly, this was not an easy task, but I think we can
proudly present to the world a new console that will have so much
appeal for so many.
|
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Esto me hace pensar nuevamente en el significado rendimiento: trabajo desempeñado por unidad de energía consumida. Normalmente tendemos a olvidarnos de esto y pensamos que un sistema que sea capaz de ejecutar el Call of Duty a una resolución de 2200x1600 a 32 bits de color con una velocidad de 300fps es un sistema muy potente de alto rendimiento; pero se nos olvida mirar la caja del PC que seguramente se parezca más a una central nuclear que a un ordenador.
Precisamente la tendencia actual va encaminada a reducir el consumo de potencia, como demostró Intel pasando de la gama de Pentium IV (consumidores natos de watios) a los núcleos Conroe (aka Intel Core), que consumen mucho menos y rinden bastante mejor.
Aún así, ¿qué pensáis vosotros? ¿Se debe procurar el máximo rendimiento a toda costa, a pesar del consumo? ¿Se debe encontrar un equilibrio entre potencia y consumo? ¿O bien debemos procurar siempre el mínimo consumo a costa de perder un poco de potencia?
¡Saludos!