Today we get our first look at the inside of Nintendo’s upcoming console the Wii U. Usually we have to wait until after a device’s launch for one of the various teardown sites to open these things up but Nintendo has gone and done it for us. Check out the image gallery below.
As part of Nintendo’s regular “Iwata Asks” interview series, the company has released images and information of what is really inside the Wii U (via Arstechnica).
The focus here is on the Wii U’s internal hardware, more specifically its multi-chip module or MCM. The MCM allows the engineering team at Nintendo to keep the device’s main components close together for better performance.
The module is made up of both a multicore CPU and GPU as well as housing 2GB of memory on what is called a single substrate component. This close proximity of the Wii U’s main components allows for much reduced latency and power consumption. Nintendo engineers also say that this helps to keep the overall size of the device in check.
The MCM is made up of components from several different companies including, RAM from Renesas, an IBM CPU and an AMD GPU. Initially this turned out to be quite a challenge getting all these components on to a single module.
Early on defects surfaced and isolating the culprit became increasingly difficult. After Nintendo decided that it would be to time consuming to figure out which company’s chip was at fault, Product Development Deputy General Manager Ko Shiota forced the chip makers to conduct their own tests in order to “prove your own innocence.”
These new powerful chips create three times as much heat than the original Wii forcing Nintendo to implement a powerful fan system. Nintendo was very careful to balance much needed heat dissipation and the noise created by the fan assembly.
Here are a few other interesting things from the teardown:
-The Wii U casing was meant to be set horizontally but can be placed vertically with the Deluxe version stand.
-The USB access is hidden by a retractable door this time around as opposed to the clumsy fold down option.
-There will be a version of the Wii U in a completely clear casing allowing for the devices innards to show through.
Craig Hunter – who has written 1178 posts on The Jace Hall Show.
Craig Hunter is a main contributor for the Jace Hall Show and has been an avid gamer for over 15 years. He also freelances for a number of websites and magazines covering mobile products and emerging technologies.

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