Wii U emulator can now upgrade game graphics to 4K

[Scorpus]

The Nintendo Wii U isn't exactly the most powerful game console on the market. A small subsection of Wii U games run natively at 1080p, but the vast majority are rendered at 720p before being upscaled to 1080p. The console doesn't support 4K output at all, and it's clearly too slow to render games at this resolution.

While the console itself is largely limited to 720p and 1080p, the developers behind Cemu – an experimental Wii U emulator for Windows – have found a way to render games at a much higher resolution. The latest version of Cemu, version 1.7.0, supports customizable graphics, allowing users to apply "graphics packs" to existing titles for a range of graphics improvements.

In a sense, the latest version of Cemu has integrated game modding into the emulator, and each of these graphics packs are basically just mods for Wii U games. Graphics packs can be created to increase the resolution of a Wii U game without much hassle, and while these packs can theoretically modify other aspects of a game's graphics, currently available graphics packs are focused on increasing the render resolution from 720p to 4K.

The difference between 720p and 4K is huge for most Wii U titles. Games like Super Mario 3D World go from muddy garbage to beautifully crisp 4K thanks to the latest version of Cemu. It seems that performance in these games at 4K is quite good as well, at least on high-end PC gaming hardware.

Cemu 1.7.0 is currently available to Patreons who pledge $5 or more per month, although the update will be available to all for free on January 17th. It can be a complicated process to rip Wii U games for use in Cemu, but now that the emulator supports 4K in some games, it might be worth the effort.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/67730-wii-u-emulator-can-now-upgrade-game-graphics.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

It's sad that an emulator is already beating the native console, while said console is still being sold.

OTOH, this sounds like much more fun then actually buying a wii u, especially at this state.

 

[Bigtruckseries]

Wii succeeded because it found a home with non-traditional gamers: senior citizens, physical therapists, Public School gym programs, etc.

wii:U was an abject failure because:

#1 the money has jumped to smartphones
#2 it looks like a toy
#3 the technology is inferior to PS4, XBO and the PC
#4 people realized how much they wasted on cheap plastic golf clubs and baseball bats for their wii Mote and they promised: Nevar Again!

 

[psycros]

If Nintendo had any brains the Switch would come with a Wii/Wii U emulator preinstalled and would let you download the games you already own, as well as purchase others for the old platforms. Memory cards = unlimited dead-simple storage...might as well fill one up with classics. Hopefully a few would be remastered.

 

[Kotters]

Wii succeeded because it found a home with non-traditional gamers: senior citizens, physical therapists, Public School gym programs, etc.

wii:U was an abject failure because:

#1 the money has jumped to smartphones
#2 it looks like a toy
#3 the technology is inferior to PS4, XBO and the PC
#4 people realized how much they wasted on cheap plastic golf clubs and baseball bats for their wii Mote and they promised: Nevar Again!

The Wii U failed because no one knew what the hell it was.

 

[Slappy McPhee]

If Nintendo had any brains the Switch would come with a Wii/Wii U emulator preinstalled and would let you download the games you already own, as well as purchase others for the old platforms. Memory cards = unlimited dead-simple storage...might as well fill one up with classics. Hopefully a few would be remastered.

Word is that the Switch can emulate the GC so the Wii isn't much of a stretch. Wii U may be though. I know that CEMU needs a higher clock per core on the CPU to run well and a more modern GPU. I have an emulation PC for example that has the 3.7 Core I-3 6100, 16GB 2400 ram, and GTX 1050 ti which seems to run it OK, but not the greatest.