Here’s a shocker… developers are unhappy with the processing power of the Wii U! Speaking anonymously to GamesIndustry International, several developers laid out their concerns about Nintendo’s next console:

“No, it’s not up to the same level as the PS3 or the 360,” said one developer who’s been working with the Wii U. What does that mean? “The graphics are just not as powerful,” reiterated the source.

Another developer at a major company confirmed this point of view. “Yeah, that’s true. It doesn’t produce graphics as well as the PS3 or the 360,” said the source. “There aren’t as many shaders, it’s not as capable. Sure, some things are better, mostly as a result of it being a more modern design. But overall the Wii U just can’t quite keep up.”

If what they say is true, it could certainly hurt the Wii U’s standing among hardcore gamers. The PS3 and Xbox 360 will be six and seven years old, respectively, when the Wii U launches, so the public is expecting it to pack a decent processing punch. Nintendo has said they plan to publicly reveal the final form of the Wii U at this year’s E3 Expo. So we should learn just how powerful the “next-gen” system is then.

However, I think the real crime here is that neither complaint has the artistry of former Maxis developer Chris Hecker saying, “The way you manufacture a Wii is you take two GameCubes and duct tape.”

If you’re going to slam Nintendo, you better be creative about it!

It’s probably best not to consider this a rumor. Instead, look at it as a really obvious prediction.

Wii U Daily is reporting that the Wii U will launch on November 18, 2012. The site claims that they’re in possession of an internal email from Japanese retailer Media Land that confirmed the North American launch date as well as a November 25 launch for Japan.

The questions start piling up when you read some of the site’s other highlighted stories, such as Grand Theft Auto 5 coming to Wii U in 2013. In that article, Wii U Daily cites a “Rockstar financial report” that not only confirms a Wii U version of Grand Theft Auto V, but a 2013 release date. Needless to say, no financial report was issued by Rockstar (or parent company Take-Two) recently and no release date for GTA5 was announced.

But the Wii U launch date might not be bogus. The Wii launched on November 19, 2006 and the GameCube launched on November 18, 2001. Nintendo just loves that weekend for launching new consoles in North America.

So whether or not the email exists, November 18 is probably the real launch date for the Wii U.