Does the Nintendo Wii have 5.1 dolby digital in game?

[Anthony1]

You know, I don't think I've ever heard anybody mention whether or not the Nintendo Wii can do in game Dolby Digital 5.1 on the fly or not. I haven't heard anything about there being a optical output on the back or anything like that. I'm assuming in the year 2006 that all consoles should have this as a standard, but with Nintendo you never know. Considering the Wii is a Cube 1.5 with a gimmick controller, I'm not so sure it has the raw horsepower to do 5.1 on the fly, or if Nintendo really even thought about that. It would be a damn shame if that's the case. The GameCube had Dolby Pro-Logic II as it's best audio level, and while Pro-Logic II can almost sound like discrete audio channels, it doesn't quite do the trick. True discrete audio, is the way to go.


I've been enjoying 5.1 sound on the fly since the day the Xbox 1 was launched, and I've also been enjoying it with the Xbox 360, and finally Sony will have a system that can do 5.1 sound on the fly too. Hopefully Nintendo isn't going to have the only system that can't do 5.1 on the fly. Once you get used to that discrete sound, it's quite noticeable when you don't hear it.

[slip81]

Yeah it would be nice if the Wii had it. But something tells me that PR II is the best we're gonna get. Like you said, no one has mentioned it so far, so it was probably left out to cut costs like the Hi-Def was.

[Garry Silljo]

Quit being a damn snob. Not everyone has all the money to blow on the shit necessary to enjoy all of these things. As a matter of fact, poor people who cant afford suround sound speakers and HD shit far outnumber those who can. I think Nintendo should be commended with designing their system for ANY one to play and enjoy, no matter which tax bracket they are in.

Can we make one dedicated thread for Anthony to bitch about how spoiled he is?

[Anthony1]

Quit being a damn snob. Not everyone has all the money to blow on the shit necessary to enjoy all of these things. As a matter of fact, poor people who cant afford suround sound speakers and HD shit far outnumber those who can. I think Nintendo should be commended with designing their system for ANY one to play and enjoy, no matter which tax bracket they are in.

Can we make one dedicated thread for Anthony to bitch about how spoiled he is?

Oh my God, I'm such a spoiled brat, lol. You've got to be kidding me. Stop making fucking excuses for Nintendo and their lazyness to keep up with modern times. How many times do you see me bitching about the Nintendo Wii's lack of HD visuals? I might have complained about it once, when I first found out about it, but that was it. I haven't complained since first finding out. I actually don't have that big of a problem with them not having HD visuals, because I know what kind of hit 720p can take on a game engine, and with the Wii being underpowered, no 720p is probably a good thing. Also, I've heard that the Wii is fully capable of 480p and widescreen, and supposedly the majority of Wii games at e3 were running in 480p and widescreen on plasma monitors or lcd monitors and the games looked great. I know how good games can look in 480p and widescreen, so I don't necessarily think it's such a trajedy that we don't have 720p or 1080i visuals with the Wii.

Would I have liked them? Sure, but it's not a make or break issue. As for Dolby Digital 5.1, it's pretty freaking ridiculous if they don't have that, because from what I understand there is like a zero performance hit for it. And in regards to having an optical output plug on the back, you can go to any Wal-Mart and get a $19.99 DVD player that will have an optical output on the back, so that's no big deal at all.

The year is 2006, by the way. This isn't 1999, or 2000. Dolby Digital 5.1 doesn't create a performance hit, the Wii could easily handle it. There is no logical reason not to support it other than pure apathy. Now, does this mean the Wii is worthless or I won't play it? No. It's just another dissapointing thing about the Wii, but what can you do?



As for me being spoiled, get real bro. I'm a 35 year old male, and I'm far from wealthy. In fact you probably make more per hour than I do. Do I have a fancy stereo system? Yes, I do, but that's just because I really like home theater. Does that make me a little spoiled brat? I personally don't think so. Maybe you are into mountain bikes, and you have a $1000 mountain bike, well I don't. I have a decent little home theater that I enjoy, but I guarantee there are other DP members that have home theaters that would put mine to shame. It's not like my Home Theater setup costs thousands and thousands of dollars. You can get cheapo 5.1 setups for like $149.99 that include speakers and a subwoofer. It's not like this is some new radical technology. I'm not talking about Blu Ray or HD-DVD here, we are just talking about Dolby Digital. Even the PS2 had Dolby Digital and DTS, it just didn't support it "in game".

Again, this isn't going to change me buying a Wii or not, but it is slightly dissapointing. Nothing more, nothing less.

[ozyr]

Um..... I agree with Garry Silljo. You do seem to rag on Nintendo too much. It's just my opinion, so take it as it is - nothing more, nothing less.

And I don't care if it is 2006. I've never used 5.1 or any special sound system for any game system I have. I don't use HD either - and don't plan on doing so for some time. That stuff just cost too much. I'll wait around 5 or so years until the stuff is reasonable.

[Emuaust]

Anthony please dont take this the wrong way as I mean no
offence by this at all, but maybe its time to find another message
board?

You see with my experience and lon long time lurking you
dont seem to fit the DP Modern Gaming board, you see if you
ever mention nintendo is no good or that Sony are actually good
then you are flamed constantly and treated like a leper,
Rose coloured glasses and all that crap.


As for the topic at hand I do actually agree with you here as
surround sound is becoming so main stream and affordable,
coupled with the fact that it actually can improve the immersiveness
of a title I can say that I would be a little peeved if nintendo
overlooked this, But hey if you look at there stratergy with
this console they havent followed what gamers want instead
of telling gamers what they want, It could majorly backfire on them yet.

[Lothars]

Anthony please dont take this the wrong way as I mean no
offence by this at all, but maybe its time to find another message
board?

You see with my experience and lon long time lurking you
dont seem to fit the DP Modern Gaming board, you see if you
ever mention nintendo is no good or that Sony are actually good
then you are flamed constantly and treated like a leper,
Rose coloured glasses and all that crap.


As for the topic at hand I do actually agree with you here as
surround sound is becoming so main stream and affordable,
coupled with the fact that it actually can improve the immersiveness
of a title I can say that I would be a little peeved if nintendo
overlooked this, But hey if you look at there stratergy with
this console they havent followed what gamers want instead
of telling gamers what they want, It could majorly backfire on them yet.

I disagree fully I don't think Anthony1 is fine here, I do agree sometimes with him and other times I don't

I also disagree with you about the board being primarly Nintendo and against Sony

I think that it's because Sony has made alot of mistakes but so has Microsoft

but with Nintendo nobody knows if they plan to have 5.1 surround, or really much info on the Wii yet

I do agree though I think it's an nice feature and I hope it's on the Wii but if it's not it's not the end of the world

it's all good though.

[SirDrexl]

Yeah, it wouldn't be a performance hit. They would just need to include the Dolby Interactive Content Encoder (I think that's what it's called) with the system, which shouldn't add much to the cost. Someone on another board suggested that it could be that Nintendo doesn't want to pay Dolby the licensing fee for each game (although I would assume there's a fee for DPLII).

The thing that disappoints me about it not having 5.1 is that this system is going to be great for first-person games, and those are just the games where 5.1 really enhances the experience.

[c0ldb33r]

Can we make one dedicated thread for Anthony to bitch about how spoiled he is?

lol - I don't necessarily agree with this statement, but it was funny to read

As for the dolby 5.1 - I couldn't really care. I use my TV speakers for audio, so as long as it supports stereo sound, I'm happy

[Hep038]

WOW this board has gone WAY pro Nintendo if people get called spoiled brats just because they ask if Wii is going to have 5.1.

If you READ his post he WANTS the Wii to have 5.1. I do not see that as bashing, I see it as Anthony wanting the wii to compete with the other systems in areas he feels is important to him, which we all know is the technical side of the systems.


Of course I will get bashed for defending a suspected Nintendo basher. x_x

[LucidDefender]

As someone who's been gaming on 5.1 systems on PCs for many many years, and on all the current gen consoles(including 360), I think that DPL2 is good enough. I've heard some excellent use of it in a few Gamecube titles. Sure, DD 5.1 would be better, but I'm satisfied with DPL2.

[slip81]

Woah, what with all the hate flames against Anthony? All he did was ask if the Wii was going to do 5.1. If you don't have 5.1 or you don't care about it, don't respond in this thread, there is no need to thread crap the guy for asking a question.

He, along with myself and many other gamers have 5.1 (actually I have 7.1, how's that for being a snob?) And was just wondering if the system would support it, since it hasn't been mention yet. I didn't get a vibe of him "bitching" about it, it seemd that he simply had a question that no answer had been provided to yet.

And to answer the question, a quick search on wikipedia yealds that the system supports stereo and dolby pro logic II. There is no mention of dicrete 5.1 audio.

[c0ldb33r]

If they don't mention it, I'd assume they won't be including it. Because otherwise it'd be dumb to not advertise a potential selling point.

[sega-trader]

I seem to remember reading (possibly on joystiq.com) That Wii will not to DolbyDigital and won't even have a digital audio out. Additionally no HD video support, but I think we all knew that.

I can understand passing on HD video, but not having DD audio is just lame. It is on $15 dvd players so I have a hard time believing it is a cost thing.

[slip81]

I seem to remember reading (possibly on joystiq.com) That Wii will not to DolbyDigital and won't even have a digital audio out. Additionally no HD video support, but I think we all knew that.

I can understand passing on HD video, but not having DD audio is just lame. It is on $15 dvd players so I have a hard time believing it is a cost thing.

It may not be a hardware cost thing. It's probably done to keep game costs down. Like the decision to axe HD support, it's probably cheaper to develop the games in stereo and let the user's system matrix the sound than it is to develop full 5.1 audio. You gotta figure it's cheaper and faster to mix only two channels of sound vs. five plus a subwoofer.

Personally I don't care. I love dicreet audio and definately think it sounds worlds better than PR II. But if I want to game in High Def with bullets whizzing everywhere and cars crashing in the background I'll play my 360.

I'm mainly getting a Wii as a party system, and something to play in short bursts when I don't want to or have time for a long gaming session. And since the Wii is designed for that, and it's going to be cheap, the decision to cut non essential features makes sense.

I think Nintendo is doing the right thing, they've basically been a multiplayer company since the days of N64, and really, when you're having fun with a bunch of friends in a game like Mario Kart or Mario Party or Goldeneye, HD and DD isn't really that big of a concern.

[Joker T]

I think it's good having Anthony1 around. In this day and age High Definiton and 5.1 sound are becoming more and more popular and many people on DP seem to be intrested in adopting new technology and he seems to be very knowledgeable on it.

And you don't need to be rich to have a decent 5.1 system, companies sell "Home Theaters In a Box" for under $200 and that includes everything with it, they may not have the sound quality of a full blown 5.1 setup but they are easy to setup and sound pretty great in my opinion.

[norkusa]

And you don't need to be rich to have a decent 5.1 system, companies sell "Home Theaters In a Box" for under $200 and that includes everything with it, they may not have the sound quality of a full blown 5.1 setup but they are easy to setup and sound pretty great in my opinion.

True. I got my 5.1 receiver at Goodwill for $20. Got the JBL front, center, and rear channel speakers there for another $20 too. Still looking for a sub but I'll eventually pick one up when I find a cheapie at the thrifts.

A decent sound system can easily be had for next to nothing if you know where to look.

[Garry Silljo]

WOW this board has gone WAY pro Nintendo if people get called spoiled brats just because they ask if Wii is going to have 5.1.

If you READ his post he WANTS the Wii to have 5.1. I do not see that as bashing, I see it as Anthony wanting the wii to compete with the other systems in areas he feels is important to him, which we all know is the technical side of the systems.


Of course I will get bashed for defending a suspected Nintendo basher. x_x

My calling him spoiled had nothing to do with company loyalty. It had to do with a disease I have called "Anthony1annoysthef'ingpissoutofme-itis." It's actually a common disease that many suffer from. My comment wasnt based entirely on this thread but was the sum of countless annoyances from countless threads finally boiling over the top.

In response to Anthony1's earlier rebuttal. I don't have a $1000 mountain bike. My car didnt even cost $1000. If I had something that I desired enough to even pay that much for, I couldn't anyway. So go back your "wah wah, Companies aren't giving me all the snobby shit I desire" posts, I'll just ignore them in the future.

P.S. Even if I wanted to play my old games in RGB I never will, just because I'm so f'ing tired of you pushing the @#$%, and will not appease you.

[jajaja]

Wii is not a next-gen console, even Nintendo themself say that. They dropped alot of the good parts to save money so its no big suprise if its missing this and that. We'll see how well it turns out.

Quit being a damn snob. Not everyone has all the money to blow on the shit necessary to enjoy all of these things. As a matter of fact, poor people who cant afford suround sound speakers and HD shit far outnumber those who can. I think Nintendo should be commended with designing their system for ANY one to play and enjoy, no matter which tax bracket they are in.

You can get a pretty good 4.1/5.1 system for a decent price so owning a suround system isnt categorized as "snob", since its actually quite common. Its true that not everyone have the money to buy a sound system like this, but saying that its shit and not needed is wrong. You dont need it, but if you experienced good 5.1 sound you dont want to go back, and it totaly enhance the experience.

[Anthony1]

Of course I will get bashed for defending a suspected Nintendo basher. x_x

Ok, the whole fanboy thing is just so funny to me. I really get a kick out of being a "suspected" Nintendo basher, or being considered a fanboy for either Sony or Microsoft or whatever. How many times have I stated that I think the Super Nintendo is the best console of all time, pound for pound? Many times I think. I rank SNES No.1 all time, with the PC Engine/TG-16 and it's various forms No.2. I bought the SNES the day it came out. The N64 the day it came out. The GameCube the day it came out. It's extremely likely I'll be buying the Wii the day it comes out (hey, I got a streak to protect, but it better be $199)

Just because I don't treat everything Nintendo does with kiddie gloves, like they can do no wrong, doesn't mean I'm anywhere close to being a "Nintendo Basher". I do understand that there are lots of hardcore Nintendo loyalists on these boards that have a very hard time with any criticism of Nintendo whatsoever. It isn't shocking that they would be pissed off at some of my posts regarding Nintendo. I will definitely admit that I'm not a Nintendo fanboy, so I'm not going to give them a free pass on any thing they do that I don't agree with. I can talk about this more and more but F it, I'll leave it at that.

Also, Hep038, this isn't directed at you. I just highlighted your quote because I think it illustrates a mis-conception about me as a anti-Nintendo person. Truth be told, I really shouldn't even be defending myself about this, because I really shouldn't even care if people get the wrong impression of me. But alas, I'm human and I do care if people get the wrong impression of me. At least I care a little bit.