Rumor: Wii U will be twice as powerful as Xbox 360

An anonymous developer working with the Wii U has told Develop that Nintendo's next-gen console will ship with twice the processing and graphical prowess of Microsoft's current Xbox 360 hardware. This follows other sources claiming the next Xbox will clock in at six times more powerful than Microsoft's current model, thereby sporting 2/3 more power than the Wii U if our strange, rumor-based math is correct.

Tossing the conflicting rumors aside, these reports suggest Nintendo's Wii U will not be on equal footing with its competitors when it launches later this year. According to their own experience, the sourced added, “I've heard [a project designer] complain it's underpowered compared to what Nintendo announced, resulting in people having to de-scale their plans.”

Nintendo has remained fairly tight lipped about the actual specs for its touchscreen console. Back at E3 2011, it did say the system would sport a multi-core processor based off the IBM Power series, and ship with all the standard HD bells and whistles. Everything else since — including leaked info that suggests the system boasts an IBM 3-GHz 45-nanometer CPU — remains unconfirmed. Nintendo did promise a final version of the Wii U will be shown off at E3 2012, so until then the fanboy wars might have to wait.