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Wii Storage Problem 'Urgent' Admits Nintendo

uk.gizmodo.com — With the arrival of downloadable content like WiiWare titles and Virtual Console, as well as dedicated games channels, the laughable storage [0.5GB] on the Wii console has jumped to being a priority for Nintendo.

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  • Pottypotsworth, on 07/24/2008, -5/+149I must admit that i haven't had an issue with storage as i don't download too many games, however i can see the urgent need for a proper storage solution. There are some pretty sexy white portable usb HDD on the market, surely it can't be too hard to release some sort of drivers for these? Or simply rip them off, whack on a Nintendo Logo on and PROFIT!
    • sremick, on 07/25/2008, -1/+39You haven't had an issue with storage because game developers aren't putting in the downloadable content they want to. They aren't because there's no place on the Wii to store it.

      Guitar Hero 3, for example.

      Basically it was a game of chicken between Nintendo and the developers. There was no demand so Nintendo wasn't making a storage solution. There was no storage solution so developers weren't creating games that would cause a demand. The irony is, it's Nintendo's own WiiWare and Virtual Console games that finally broke the stalemate, and brought the demand for a storage solution out from being something from just a few to more of a widespread issue.
      • EpilepticMoose, on 07/25/2008, -1/+7The lack of storage space and downloadable content wasn't an issue for me with my Wii until I got Guitar Hero 3. Now I see new songs released practically every week for the PS3 and 360, but I can't download them for the Wii... very frustrating.

        So far, my only complaint about the Wii is lack of storage space for downloadable content.
      • Syphon8, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Guitar Hero 3 doesn't have DLC on Wii yet because Nintendo won't allow 3rd parties to use the store, apparently.

        Which sucks because I really, /really/ want to play Soothsayer.
    • theandy1, on 07/25/2008, -2/+5I agree with the OP and the reply at the same time. I haven't had to use near all my storage and if I ever do I have a 2 gig sd card ready. However, the wii is probably the most unfriendly console for 3rd party developers which is why my 360 is played much more.
      • dragon76, on 07/25/2008, -11/+4SD caeds are freaking ANNOYING. They're just bak up and yu have to go through a whole dance to back them up and restore them and it takes WAAAAAAAAAAAY longer to copy data to an SD card than it actually should.

        If Nintendo was serious about fixing the storage issue the first thing they would do is make the SD card look like system memory. A firmware update could accomplish that right now and THEN work on a large scale solution.
      • JickBahTech, on 07/25/2008, -0/+9It's that kind of crap that drives me crazy.
        If they would just open up the SD card slot as real time, accessible storage, then slap a Nintendo logo on an 8GB SDHC, then there would be any issues. I HATE the idea of some external drive flopping around under my TV. I already have way too much crap under there as it is.
      • blahtastic, on 07/25/2008, -0/+6Agree with jick. 8 gig would be plenty, and I can get one for under 30 dollars.

        By the time I could potentially run out of space, there will be a 16 gig out for the same price.

      • Nin10dude, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5While an 8 gig SDHC card would be ideal, the SD card reader on the Wii doesn't support SDHC... we're capped at 2GB.
      • blahtastic, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2^^Ack. Ok, thumbdrive then. Same price.
      • Furkle, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3The Wii's USB is 1.1 so that's hardly an optimal solution either.
      • blahtastic, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1Well there isn't any other way into it, is there? Unless you can send data through a gamecube controller plug or something.
    • Elranzer, on 07/25/2008, -1/+26If they would just allow games/WiiWare to run FROM the SD card (rather than needing to copy to the system's 512MB flash memory), then this wouldn't be an issue at all.

      Also, it would be nice if games saved directly to the SD card, too.
      • freetyme, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3I agree but Nintendo is afraid of executable non-Nintendo/ 3rd party software from SD cards so only content such as Songs for GHWT and Photos from Smash can be put straight on an SD card
    • jimmick, on 07/25/2008, -1/+8Dugg for excellent use of 'PROFIT!'
      It's not often an exclamation point doesn't make me cringe
    • harajukukei, on 07/25/2008, -2/+1i have a problem with the storage since i install VC game wads via waninko's wad installer. now that my wii is full, i can't unpack my wads anymore!
    • Cyber_Akuma, on 07/25/2008, -1/+2"There are some pretty sexy white portable usb HDD on the market, surely it can't be too hard to release some sort of drivers for these?"

      Given Nintendo's past history however, they would likely rather create their own propitery drive that uses exsisting technology in a slightly different format so that drive would be the only one to work with the Wii and only work with a Wii.

      And they would probably charge an insane price like the 360's harddrives.
      • ufee, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1He said just that in the proceeding sentence.
    • springboks, on 07/25/2008, -7/+1Agreed, how many 56K games are you going to have to download to fill your wii. Get a 2Gb SD card for $15. I hardly doubt the issue is as "urgent" as the blog makes it out to be.

      Nintendo are pretty forward thinking people. You can re-download content you've already paid for. Why have a shelf full of games when you're only going to play about 10 at a time. clever eh?
    • jzuska, on 07/25/2008, -1/+5Usb drive. Problem fixed. Move along.
      • Furkle, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4USB 1.1
        I guess your ignorance is bliss though sorry to ruin it for you.
    • implosion, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Nintendo could release a 4GB version of the WII for the same price or 8GB version at minimal cost increase if they wanted to make a profit on the system. They could probably even sell an 8GB version at the same price and break even on the system with the ability of making it up on downloadable content. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a higher capacity WII in time for the holiday season.
  • Tddupre, on 07/24/2008, -7/+246Then fix it
    • Gravey9, on 07/25/2008, -0/+7ya really how hard can it be to add more storage? There are so many ways of doing this now, usb, sd are just a few that would be compatible.
    • Kinneas12, on 07/25/2008, -0/+10This is not a problem at all. Am I the only one living where SD cards are insanely cheap? 2gig SD cards here are under $15

      Unless they're planning for the ability to download lots of media, a few gigs is suitable for saves and a dozens of applications.
      • aznpwnzor, on 07/25/2008, -6/+3i remember, back in the day, when SD cards ran up to $50 for 2 gig. oh who am i kidding that was three years ago.
      • dignation, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5Except the wii doesn't allow you to play downloaded games from the sd card. You have to copy it back over to the main system drive in order to play it then copy if back if you need more space. Defiantly not the most convenient solution.

        I'm hoping, though, that a simple firmware update would allow you to play games off the sd card.
      • Kinneas12, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1AH you're right. Good point, Dignation.
      • chaosblade77, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Would have helped if they had planned ahead and had support for SDHC cards. That's not something they can just fix with a firmware update.
    • daridave, on 07/25/2008, -6/+1Well, following Nintendo mentality, the problem here is that hard drives are too sensitive. Don't forget KIDS and ELDER people will probably hit the hard drive and break it. Solution? SSD at 1000$. :D Nintendo Style!
    • sh4rkb1t3, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1hmmmm... what a coincidence that nintendo couldnt possibly have anticipated this 2 years ago...

      they couldnt possibly be trying to force us to buy a new accessory, like the 20 others.....

      hmmmmmmmm...
  • btgoss, on 07/24/2008, -3/+123I am stunned that they never thought this would be a problem. I guess they have such fears of piracy that they put blinders on while thinking about how much storage the average user would need.
    It is a shame.
    • Callik, on 07/25/2008, -5/+14Judging by their E3 outing I doubt their target audience of kiddies, oldies and thickies don't really have the capability of pirating a game.

      Not that there's anything worthwhile to pirate anyway >.>
      • smiley2billion, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3Yeah, seriously. I have a chipped Wii and I still play my unmodded 360 90% of the time.

        It's pretty bad someone has the option of FREE and $60 and chooses $60.
      • KReal, on 07/25/2008, -1/+1Umm, they actually have a couple decades worth of legendary software under their belts. I see plenty to be pirated instead of paying $5 - $10 per game.
        But on actual subject, this has got to be the largest disappointment when it comes to the Wii. I found out a while ago that it had only mere Gigs (I'm surprised it's actually less than a G) and was like "Wha..." It just makes no sense when the Virtual Console was a planned feature from the start. Good thing I'm too poor to download ANYTHING in the past year+ Ive owned it.
    • dafragsta, on 07/25/2008, -0/+8Dude. ALL the efforts made by ANY company to stop piracy are because the blinders are on. First and foremost, it is virtually impossible to stop piracy, even with hardware locks. I think they still have this crazy notion that they can somehow get a handle on the situation.

      "Well, if we make it just a little harder, Joe Discswapper won't be able to give a perfect copy to his buddy all that easy."

      They don't realize that where there is a will, there is a way. The internet is not so obscure anymore that most people can get whatever they want with BitTorrent or some other P2P service. Getting a cracked copy should not be considered something that few pirates can do. If anything, it should all go back to zero copy protection. They still have ways to audit licenses of business using illegal software. Don't expect to ever get a handle on residential piracy unless you can offer something in the retail product that just can't be pirated. Either way, copy protection with dongles and disc checks only pisses off the people who legitimately buy software.

      /just spent $1000 on Native Instruments Komplete 5 and Kore 2
      • SoulDesigner, on 07/25/2008, -5/+5tell that to sony, because you STILL cannot crack the PS3 to play backups.
      • kingmanic, on 07/25/2008, -1/+2Each step it takes to successfully pirate, drop the pool of pirates logarithmically. It will never be eliminated but making it require 3 or 4 highly technical steps greatly reduces piracy.
      • chaoswings, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4@SoulDesigner

        Yes you can. It is just that blu ray burners and blank discs are still so prohibitively expensive. Not to mention that PS3 games are not so easily downloaded because they are so huge. If a person wanted a game and their friends don't have a copy they would have to go to a store, rent one and burn a copy. That means you need to pay money for the rental and a blank disc. It would take you awhile to break even.

        You just wait until blu ray becomes cheap. Piracy will be rampant just like it is everywhere else.
      • dafragsta, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2"Each step it takes to successfully pirate, drop the pool of pirates logarithmically. It will never be eliminated but making it require 3 or 4 highly technical steps greatly reduces piracy."

        Those steps are not increased to the end user pirate. Most warez installers are easier than the legitimate ones. Most games run better without the CD check. I LOVE the way corporations are allowed to ***** everyone, but mostly the people who buy their products.
    • SkippyDoorknob, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Piracy wouldn't really figure into it. You can already copy VC and WiiWare games to an SD card, but they only run on the Wii they were purchased from. So even if they enabled a way to play them directly off the SD card, they're still tied to the console.
      • kingmanic, on 07/25/2008, -2/+4Onces they figure out the encryption or hashing scheme they'll break it and it'll be a free for all. I hope it happens since I think the wii is very bad for my type of gamer. Basically anyone who prefers games have more then 30 min of content and require more then one button and a lot of masturbation simulation.
      • paOol, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2umm, you must not know about the homebrew scene.
        you can download any wiiware game as a wad, put it on your sd card, use the twilight hack to install the wad, and you've got wiiware/virtual console games on your wii for free.
  • Sabin, on 07/24/2008, -2/+93How about letting me store WiiWare/VC titles on the 2 gig SD card I have sitting in my Wii? 512 MB is not enough but considering the relatively small size of these downloads most people would be fine if they could use and SD/SDHC card instead of only being able to use the onboard flash memory.
    • karaokekidd, on 07/25/2008, -0/+15Or better yet, allow USB mass storage devices of all types to work, and just encrypt the data.
      • Elranzer, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4The data encryption is already there, actually. They just need to implement the ability to read from external storage.
      • TVarmy, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3Big problem is that the USB controller is just USB 1.1, so it's really slow. Some say it could be updated in a firmware update, but I think they're worried people would then use it for piracy.
    • keinestijl, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2I don't think the Wii supports/ can support SDHC. But 2 GB should be enough for most people who've run out of space.
      • Elranzer, on 07/25/2008, -0/+7A firmware update could fix that.
      • Bluezdood, on 07/25/2008, -1/+3Thank you Elranzer! I'm so sick of hearing people shoot down the SD card option because of the lack of SDHC support. Geez people, get your heads back in the game. A firmware update WOULD fix this, hence it is NOT a problem!
    • jamesdew, on 07/25/2008, -1/+7I believe Nintendo are afraid of another R4 card like pirating frenzy
      • HOTM, on 07/25/2008, -0/+8Well, it's already here with the Twilight Hack, so what else is there to fear.
      • jamesdew, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Ye but what if it gets as easy as popping an SD card into your Wii. Your average joe isn't going to use that hack.
    • merreborn, on 07/25/2008, -0/+7Pretty sure you can already transfer games to your SD card. (I did this once a year ago as an experiment, and haven't played with it since.) They can't be *played* while they're on the card, but if push comes to shove, you could transfer games on/off as needed.

      Downloaded Wii games are DRM'd and keyed to your hardware, so piracy is a non-issue. If your Wii dies, you have to have nintendo transfer your games to new hardware, which involves giving you new copies keyed to the new box.
      • evenstarred, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3I've downloaded a few games then transferred them to an SD card. You can put them back on the *same* system that you originally downloaded it on. I don't really play them that often so it's not too big of a deal for me.
        Regardless, there should have been more storage to begin with. As more downloadable content becomes available, the more of a pain in the ass its going to become.
    • Arasaka, on 07/25/2008, -3/+3While I completely agree with using 3rd party storage as a solution (SD or USB), let me play devil's advocate for Nintendo a minute:

      How can we turn this problem into profit for us? Hmm, let's pull another Wii Motion Plus! More hardware to fix our deficient design!
    • AK10, on 07/25/2008, -4/+1IIRC most SD cards are have much slower read/write speeds than would be tolerable for loading games and also have a finite number of times they can be overwritten (several hundred but still limited).
      • Sabin, on 07/25/2008, -0/+7Actually the SD 1.1 spec is rated for up to 10MB/s which is comparable to an 8x dvd drive while the Wii only has a 6x dvd drive.
      • AK10, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2@sabin
        Thank you for clearing that up, I guess I'm thinking of the older flash memory cards.
  • CollapseControl, on 07/24/2008, -4/+16I have no storage problem as of yet, then again I don't have that many games. About 17 VC titles and about 5 other channels. And then game saves for about 6 games, which doesn't take up much space.

    I also have a lot of extra SD cards that I haven't put to use yet. But if the Wii was my main console of choice I guess I would be getting close to capacity.
  • silverzone, on 07/24/2008, -3/+8They should make an external source instead of a new console. Much more consumer friendly.
    • WhereAmI, on 07/25/2008, -6/+11But not very Nintendo.
      • Murdats, on 07/25/2008, -0/+12actually how often has nintendo released a new version of the same console (except game boy)
        now how often does nintendo release add ons?
      • sjmulder, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4Rumble Pack.
      • Sethbacca, on 07/25/2008, -0/+7Wii motion plus.... DS Rumble Pack.... N64 Memory Pack... etc... etc... etc...
      • AgentD, on 07/25/2008, -1/+1Ohhh, I see what you did there.
      • ExSlashdotter, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3rumble pack, n64 memory packs, zapper light gun, the super scope 6, the power pad, ROB, four score, satellite, power glove, famicom disk drive, 64DD...

        come on. nintendo is the king of add-on accessories (only second to sega in the day of sega cd, 32x, etc)
  • jtbndy, on 07/24/2008, -27/+91If it was urgent, Nintendo would have addressed the issue at E3.... instead, they had a bunch of fruit loops on stage acting like idiots trying to play a bunch of gay games.
    • uberduger, on 07/25/2008, -14/+48Excellent; I have a number of homosexual friends who would like to hear of these announced 'gay games'. Could you please provide me a citation to this announcement, so that I might spread the word? Thanks so much, your comment has been a real help!
    • Krissam, on 07/25/2008, -5/+9"oh you mean like warcraft" ?
    • AhniTipesh, on 07/25/2008, -1/+14I love fruit loops...
  • dsanime, on 07/24/2008, -14/+3another corporate blunder
  • motang, on 07/25/2008, -6/+5Yes it is dammit...fix it!
  • ilovelegos, on 07/25/2008, -4/+3I feel the same way, get us some external hard drives for the love of earl.
  • Falldog, on 07/25/2008, -3/+73Listen Nintendo, people are going to hack your system to high hell in order to play games illegally no matter what you do. Don't hold off on features because you're worried about that. Instead spend some time making it so that people don't have to take those steps if you're so worried.
    • uberduger, on 07/25/2008, -0/+67Piracy-prevention measures: No trouble for pirates, console-crippling for the average Joe.
  • pedepy, on 07/25/2008, -16/+3stick some bluray in there while you're at it..

    • uberduger, on 07/25/2008, -6/+2For all those powerful and huge games that the Wii so often has to handle?! (Actually, maybe I shouldn't mock. You could fit a serious number of minigames on a 50GB disc.)
    • paulsmith288, on 07/25/2008, -3/+7wii hasn't got the power to decode a film. Storage only I am afraid.
      • pedepy, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2i meant in an 'hypothetical' wii 2, which would pack the necesary chips to decode the stuff.

        what's with all the bray hate ??
    • Mrstupid7, on 07/25/2008, -4/+3Ultra load times hooray!
      • buba1243, on 07/25/2008, -2/+3blue ray is already working on 400MBps transfer speeds it's new tech give it some time.
    • seraph582, on 07/25/2008, -3/+4WhoRay? ***** Sony
  • Froderick, on 07/25/2008, -5/+8Nintendo planned from the beginning to sell crap-loads of games that would reside entirely in the Wii's internal "hard drive". How could they have not thought that only giving us 0.5GB would cause problems?
    • Mrstupid7, on 07/25/2008, -1/+8Old SNES games are not very large.
      • Ebulating, on 07/25/2008, -1/+5I once downloaded a zip file with 2000+ NES games. It was 700 megs.
      • dragon76, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4Every single game you download from the VC also has the emulator in it.
    • Elranzer, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2No wonder there aren't many N64 games in there (and those are the ones I want the most).
  • SuperIntendo, on 07/25/2008, -14/+5"size doesnt matter" ya says the guy with the small dick...
    • Myonosken, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3Ya says the guy who obviously doesn't know much about sex.
  • Incidents, on 07/25/2008, -1/+44E3 addressed it.
    http://youtube.com/watch?v=SN4gXw3vQxk
    • Cwo655321, on 07/25/2008, -0/+38wow, that was painful to watch.
    • Andrwmorph, on 07/25/2008, -0/+16That was worse than a kidney stone.
      • texpundit, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5Speaking as someone who's had 3 kidney stones...this is not that painful.

        Close, but not quite.
      • Andrwmorph, on 07/25/2008, -0/+13 gall stones here. Not quite as painful but it still feels like getting stabbed repeatedly in the back.
    • Zcrubby, on 07/25/2008, -0/+11Wow... I... This.. What... Wow...
    • Gndoab, on 07/25/2008, -1/+2As a musician...Why?
    • neFariou5, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4Looks like all that's left for me is the cow bell.
    • zombiecarlin, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2I cringed so much I think I pulled something...
  • pauls88, on 07/25/2008, -20/+8who says 0.5gb?

    its 512 MB...isn't it?
    • sjmulder, on 07/25/2008, -1/+91 GB = 1024 MB

      512/1024 = 0.5
      • pauls88, on 07/25/2008, -4/+6yeah i know that its correct mate but its more commonly called 512mb rather than saying 0.5 of a gb...sounds a bit silly to me thats all.
    • Seth024, on 07/25/2008, -1/+4With hard drives it's probably 500MB.
      • Mrstupid7, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Too bad it's not an internal hard drive, eh?
      • sjmulder, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1More like ~478 MB. That's 500,000,000 bytes.
    • ScionX, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3.5 = half, 1/2, etc....

  • thecosmicpope, on 07/25/2008, -10/+3Is it really such a problem? The nature of the Wii doesn't have all of the content that the 360 and PS3 has available for download. I haven't seen a Wii owner with storage problems, and I certainly don't. It'd be great to have more I suppose, but I don't see it as an "urgent" problem.
    • RyanWilliams, on 07/25/2008, -0/+11Have you not noticed that Nintendo is rolling out its equivalent of PSN Store and Live Arcade? They're getting onto the full-blown game digital distribution market, and haven't got the storage to support full games being downloaded.

      Developers can *make* their games fit into smaller sizes, but then you're still only going to fit several on one Wii before having to delete them to make room for more.

      As far as Nintendo's digital distribution plans go, it is indeed an urgent problem.
    • sremick, on 07/25/2008, -0/+9"The nature of the Wii doesn't have all of the content that the 360 and PS3 has available for download."

      Chicken and egg. Part of the reason developers aren't putting downloadable content into games that would otherwise have it (like Guitar Hero 3) is because there's no place to store it on the Wii.
  • PainToad, on 07/25/2008, -13/+6The real issue is getting games on the dam thing. And yes I do own a Wii (unfortunately)
    • KingGoonie, on 07/25/2008, -3/+5Thats funny... the main problem is that people are running out of space because all the games they download on the Wii... And back when people started really complaining Nintendo was still saying it was only a problem for a few... so now that they ARE admitting its a problem, it must be because millions of people are complaining instead of the hundreds of thousands that were complaining a few months ago.
    • ELCad, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Whatever. It's not like you can't sell it for for more then retail value still.
  • geebs61, on 07/25/2008, -3/+9It's about damn time. Yes it is an issue. Copying the games I want to play back and forth off my sd card is a tiresome process, especially considering the slow speed of the SD drive in the first place. And some of the WiiWare titles are huge compared to the VC games.

    They also need to address the progress bar for downloading content Unless they already have. I wouldn't know I havent downloaded anything in a few months. Coin collecting Mario is cute and all, but how the hell am I supposed to know how far along the download is, there doesn't seem to be any clear indication.
    • skywake, on 07/25/2008, -2/+241st block -> 1/3rd
      2nd block -> 2/3rds
      3rd block -> last 1%
      • repick3, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1I thought it was
        1st block 25%
        2nd block 50%
        3rd block 75%
        Mario hitting coins out last 1%
    • bduddy, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Coin=1%

      And does it really matter that much anyway? Do you time your day around your download finishing?
    • chaosblade77, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Actually for an SD card slot it's not bad (133x). They just don't have SDHC support, which was a stupid idea in the first place.
  • wazzledoozle2, on 07/25/2008, -1/+32Nintendo is extremely paranoid about piracy, the sole purpose of the Gamecube's mini-dvd was to thwart piracy.

    They are probably busy at work on a bulletproof DRM scheme for content stored on SD cards. I wouldn't expect any portability of downloaded content between consoles.
    • Archer007, on 07/25/2008, -0/+19Because we all know how well "bulletproof" DRM works.
      • amenic, on 07/25/2008, -2/+3DRM makes me laugh how many millions are these ***** companies going to invest in R&D, people and failures and all come up short in the end?

        Even if these morons do get flawless DRM working, it will be god damn eons before they see any return on the amount invested. Especially if you include legal fees.
    • Darkangel754, on 07/25/2008, -7/+2The mini disk actually worked pretty good, I mean how many people do you know that pirate GCN games? The data is written on the disk backwards for God's sake!
      • HOTM, on 07/25/2008, -1/+5There weren't many games to pirate.
      • zarcu, on 07/25/2008, -1/+3It was written backwards?...
      • smzig, on 07/26/2008, -0/+1It's a common misnomer that the GC disk spins backwards. The disk spun in the same direction as normal CDs. The difference between GC disks and CDs was that the GC disks read from the outside edge of the disk to the center, whereas normal CDs read from the center out to the edge.
    • SkippyDoorknob, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2There's already DRM for VC and WiiWare games. They will only play on the Wii they were purchased from even if you copy them to an SD card and take them to some other Wii.
      • Jereso, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Yeah, but that was cracked, all you need is a WAD Loader app from Homebrew Channel.
  • pedo, on 07/25/2008, -17/+8the fact that it isn't hi-def is "laughable" too
    • amenic, on 07/25/2008, -3/+4You'd be right if their focus was hd gaming / media / content. But it's not there for you completely miss the point of the wii.
      • pedo, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1the point of the wii is to make money for nintendo
    • Mrstupid7, on 07/25/2008, -3/+9Yeah, it IS laughable that they didn't try and go for that coveted 10% of the market.
      • pedo, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1yeah hi-def is for losers! real men use black and white TVs with rabbit ears!
  • havokdu, on 07/25/2008, -1/+3I expect a proprietary FS, encrypted 8GB USB flashdrive for $40 coming soon along a firmware update.
    • TVarmy, on 07/25/2008, -1/+138 GB? Who do you think Nintendo is? Trust me, they'll give you 4 GB, give it a crazy unit to make it sound like a lot (9,657 Chunks!), and have it require batteries even though it's plugged into the console.
      • Adiddy, on 07/25/2008, -1/+1lol
      • lordgibbon, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5Don't laugh, he's serious.

        I wish they'd just do a 100 GB HD add-on, the Twilight Hack is threatening to fill my console up with games they should have released on the Virtual Console already.
    • RobotLeAwesome, on 07/25/2008, -1/+8WTF is $40? is that like... 4,000 Wii points? Use real numbers man!
  • smacksaw, on 07/25/2008, -6/+2Nobody loves you like you love Nintendo, but who's lovin' your Wii? Reggie Fils-Aime is...

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=2zFU2PoGzo0
  • seavers, on 07/25/2008, -0/+37Wii storage™ coming soon for only 39,95$
    • amenic, on 07/25/2008, -0/+7Sure if it's like 5 gigs.
    • Darkangel754, on 07/25/2008, -1/+12That's actually a faily good price concidering the xbox360 drive is like $100 for 20GB
      • SilentRamble42, on 07/25/2008, -5/+2Yeah, but it's Nintendo, so it'd probably only be about another half gig. You know how they love to rip us off.
    • mooboy322, on 07/25/2008, -8/+3you put a comma which makes your amount 39,950 and a $ sign in the wrong place.
      • philipz78, on 07/25/2008, -1/+3Other countries/cultures use notation that way. 39,95$ is the French-Canadian currency convention
      • cm32438, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3Not if seavers lives in another country where they do things differently than you...
  • monkiboi, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3Just read the actual interview with Reggie Fils-Aime:

    http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/07/23/wii-stor ...
    • Mrstupid7, on 07/25/2008, -1/+3This article also has him explicitly stating that DLC is coming to the Wii. Unless I missed something that's pretty freaking new and amazing.

      Hell yeah.
      • Mrstupid7, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3I misread the article, MTV said that, but Fils-Aime didn't deny it.
      • SkippyDoorknob, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1There are already games with DLC for the Wii.
  • irgeek, on 07/25/2008, -0/+6At least glad to see them acknowledge this. This is a HUGE problem for me personally. Yep, I download a lot of virtual console titles and have purchased a few wii ware titles. However, even if you just have all the stock Nintendo 'channels' installed you're only left with enough space for a combination of 3 or 4 VC/wii ware titles tops. What makes the current implementation all the more unusable is that it takes a lot of effort to copy to SD card, delete, copy from SD card, repeat. Especially since it's slow as Christmas to copy to/from the SD card.

    This limitation has without a doubt led me to play my Wii less than I would otherwise. What's the point of channels if u can't load and go when the urge hits u?
  • gamben0, on 07/25/2008, -0/+27Just let us save to the SD card. Problem solved with a simple software update.
    • amenic, on 07/25/2008, -3/+4But but but then you would be able to 'share files' and that's a huge threat to any greedy corporations bottom line!
      • Doggalina, on 07/25/2008, -0/+7Actually, we can already save to an SD card. The thing is, Virtual Console games and the like are tied to your console, so opening SD cards couldn't hurt anything.
  • paulsmith288, on 07/25/2008, -0/+8I dont buy any VC stuff. So my wii has lots of space.

    If I did buy VC stuff - then ran out of space and had to delete. Can I download again without paying again?
    • Striss, on 07/25/2008, -0/+10Yeah anything you've purchased can be downloaded again for free. I ran out of space already and had to delete a bunch of stuff to fit one N64 rom.
  • orthodoxDrew, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4man, the for the money they ask for you'd think they would throw in a whole gig. even the xbox has 8, and there was no downloadable content PLANS during PRODUCTION.
    • acevoncash, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4to be fair it got to 8 by the end of the life cycle, 1.0 boxes often had 4 gigs.
      • Darkangel754, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Really? that's intresting (not being sarcastic)
      • cheeseron, on 07/25/2008, -0/+11.0 boxes had 10 GIGS
      • acevoncash, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1get back to me once you mod over 100 xboxes.
  • error2k2, on 07/25/2008, -1/+5You just know as soon as they come up with solution the Wii will be raped with homebrew, that's the only reason it hasn't been fixed yet.
    • Sethbacca, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5As though its not already? You'd be amazed just how much you can fit on a 2gb SD card.
      • Solkre, on 07/25/2008, -0/+12Gigs?
      • Sethbacca, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1Yeah, you know 2 gigs? I don't think the Wii takes anything above that :P
  • jeffpm, on 07/25/2008, -6/+11I've had enough with the Wii. Nintendo really screwed the pooch in terms of satisfying anyone besides the casual gamer. What pisses me off even more is how Nintendo used to say that storage wasn't a problem because you can just delete your games, and now they finally admit they were wrong after almost two years of complaining by the consumers. Xbox 360..here I come.
    • Sethbacca, on 07/25/2008, -4/+6Get a PS3, less problems ( I have all 3, PS3, Xbox360, Wii), I just got my first RROD a couple weeks ago on 360 off one of the falcon systems, I think the 360 is getting better, but I still don't fully trust whatever their hardware people are doing.

      Annoyed the heck out of me when that thing died :(
      • KingGoonie, on 07/25/2008, -9/+8Do NOT get a PS3. It is VASTLY inferior gamewise then both the 360 and the Wii.

        Go the Wii60 route, then you will have 99.9% of the great games out there.
      • Andrwmorph, on 07/25/2008, -8/+6I'm fairly satisfied with the PS3 library so far, and Wii games all suck for the most part.
      • doshindude, on 07/25/2008, -4/+4I never believe anyone who says that the 360 is plagued with problems, my 360 is a second-generation one (the "really unstable one"), I've had it for more than a year, and it hasn't given me ANY problems.
      • Sethbacca, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3Yeah I had my 360 Falcon system (I'm guessing you're referring to this as 2nd gen) for about a year and a week with absolutely no problems. Then it died out of the blue. The odds of it surviving are not in your favor :P
    • Coldstreak, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2wait....so youre done with the wii because nintendo admitted it was a problem?
  • amenic, on 07/25/2008, -2/+15I use a 2 Gig SD drive. Well, I shouldn't say "use". I actually bought it and it sits in my wii with absolutely nothing on it. I got excited when I first learned of the virtual console and aimed to fill it up. Only to be disappointed by over priced games with NOTHING added to them and a controller that not only isn't wireless, it only has about a 3 foot long cord :|

    IMO charging 5-10$ for games that are 20-25 years old, without making any modifications to them is wrong and I will not buy them. So the 0.5 GB Storage is working out fine for me.

    The Wii online component is a complete joke. Using an lengthy "id" system to find friends is horrendous. It's very obvious that nintendo has little interest in addressing it when their sales are so strong and they make absolutely nothing from it (in terms of game connectivity).
    • TVarmy, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4Homebrew, bud. Borrow Zelda: TP and google Twiizers and Homebrew Channel
    • FlyingSpaghetti, on 07/25/2008, -1/+1The XBox Live arcade is a perfect example of how classic games should be distributed. Provide a revamped game with HD graphics and surround sound as well as provide the original game for nostalgia.
  • Ortheos, on 07/25/2008, -7/+12Well 4GB SD cards work just gotta make them more flexible with the whole not being able to run games off them thing.

    However, did you know that the xbox360 console comes with 0gb of storage as standard? Well now you do.
    • gh0st3000, on 07/25/2008, -3/+2Yeah, but they let you buy a cheap external hard drive and hook it up, nintendo does not.
      • RobotLeAwesome, on 07/25/2008, -1/+3The external only being for your own media, not M$'s.
    • eyefone, on 07/25/2008, -1/+3The Wii can only use up to 2gb
  • Monkiest, on 07/25/2008, -8/+0My electric toothbrush has more storage than the Wii.
  • mmijatov, on 07/25/2008, -0/+6Nintendo has never been a proponent of online gaming, they formerly stood by the notion that the gaming community has no interest in online play . . . the net effect of that philosophy is unfortunately painfully apparent in the Wii.
    • seraph582, on 07/25/2008, -4/+2Take that vibrator out of your ass, son.
    • Tanze, on 07/25/2008, -0/+0i dunno, super smash bros. brawl online gameplay was/is definitely a joke. But i have to admit, mariokart online is very, very fun.
  • sisko2k5, on 07/25/2008, -1/+1new proprietary compressioin
  • fani, on 07/25/2008, -33/+27A joke of a console has a joke of storage. Wii is a severely underpowered console and isn't even in the same league as Xbox or PS2. They took last gen gamecube, changed its form-factor, added the gimmicky controller which is not accurate in its sensing. Storage is non-existent. Games suck. Look at their top games - all rehashed Marios and Zeldas. Thats it. Super Mario. No no, buy this - super duper mario. Now buy this - Extra Super duper mario with brawl. Etc. Throw Mario keyword in there and sell, sell, sell.
    That goofy Miyamoto and Nintendo are laughing all the way to the bank deluding people making a killing off consoles. Which are selling, but not games as much. Look at Top Spin3. Compare it to Xbox360 version and have a good laugh at those who bought it on the Wii. I don't even consider the Wii as a gaming machine. Its a stupid toy you play with for 2 hours and then throw away.

    Rant over. Now bury.
    • normalkid0615, on 07/25/2008, -15/+6DUGG UP!!!

      All you cheap asses get a PS3.
    • Myonosken, on 07/25/2008, -2/+4@normalkid: It's not being cheap. Some people genuinely can't afford to fork out that much and some, get this, don't want wan. :o Its that bastard free will again.

      @fani: Anyway, I was a massive wii fan when it first arrived. Unfortunately, my love is waning because they seem to be content to leave it as it is and not fix the game shortage, slightly dodgy controls and ***** online service.
    • mishaneah, on 07/25/2008, -2/+4Me and my two goat friends are going to be passing over your bridge. We don't want any trouble, ok?
      • veriix, on 07/25/2008, -4/+1"goat friends"? ...I don't think I'm gonna ask.
    • krismanx, on 07/25/2008, -3/+3super duper mario > top spin 3
    • Eevee, on 07/25/2008, -2/+4Surprise, Nintendo's most popular games are the Nintendo games. When has this ever not been the case?

      And of course the Wii is a toy. So are the 360 and PS3. They're all just lumps of plastic you play with when you're bored.
      • blofeld9999, on 07/25/2008, -2/+1I prefer playing with lumps of flesh when I'm bored. Usually your Mom's.
    • adasha, on 07/25/2008, -1/+2"isn't even in the same league as Xbox or PS2"

      I stopped reading there
  • djpray2k, on 07/25/2008, -1/+4At £180 (UK) the Wii looked like a good deal. Sure the system wasn't as powerful as the pricer 360 and PS3 but you got innovation.

    With the Wiimote ad on set to add more money to the cost pretty soon (something the Wii should have been able to do at the start) and an the extra cost of a hard disc its looking less like a bargain every month.

    Personaly with the multitude of packages now availible for the 360 its looking like the best value system in my book. HDMI, storage, decent games - not bad for the price.
  • Andrwmorph, on 07/25/2008, -0/+23I hope they don't do something stupid like try and sell us online storage.
    • ZippyV, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Judging by the time it takes to download a virtual console game, I hope they don't do it.
    • KReal, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1No kidding, whatever the solution is, it should be Free. They should also start bundling cheap-o SD cards w/ the Wii too. A gig at least.
  • Verugan, on 07/25/2008, -5/+0IMO the need for HD graphics is more urgent.

    Also, Nintendo's always nickel and dimed for accessories. It's one of their key business strategies while keeping the initial investment low.
    • Darkangel754, on 07/25/2008, -0/+6Why do people think HD = Good graphics? you can play doom in 1080p, doesn't mean it looks good.
      • jonshipman, on 07/25/2008, -0/+3And playing a game at 1900x1080 would mean your fps would drop to nil with hardware designed to play it at 720x480.
    • sremick, on 07/25/2008, -2/+3"IMO the need for HD graphics is more urgent."

      Hardly, since the number of Wii owners with SD televisions who are in-need of more storage far outnumbers the number of Wii owners with HD sets. HD TVs have a very weak market penetration at the moment. Just because that's all that's sold NOW doesn't mean that that's all that people OWN now. People are content to hold on to their SD tube TVs until they die.
  • dblespresso, on 07/25/2008, -2/+8Do you really think that Nintendo didnt include HDD initially because of piracy, I think it has everything to do with system cost.

    What about the first 360 core??
    • TVarmy, on 07/25/2008, -3/+3Actually, in a proud tradition of alienating their older fans, the president of Nintendo actually said they didn't want to add a hard drive as they feared 5 year olds would be rough with the Wii and break the hard drive.

      Yeah. I think cost was also a big factor. They don't like to sell systems at a loss, and they knew they couldn't compete with the power of the PS3 or 360 without selling at a significant loss, so they put together a gimicky controller. I own a Wii, I don't own either of the other two. I have a gaming laptop I love dearly.
    • veriix, on 07/25/2008, -0/+5Thats all well and good if you could run stuff off of the SD card...but you can't.
    • Kanten, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2The 360 Core was a horrible idea that never should have seen the light of day. Having an HDD standard on PS3 meant that developers could actually USE it.
      • chaosblade77, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1For what? Game installations? If that is what we are going to get with hard drives in consoles by default, they can keep their hard drives. I'd rather buy memory cards than have to install games on a console.

        Downloadable content is/should be entirely optional for the user. They can offer that while still offering cheaper versions of the console without hard drives.
  • TheGreger, on 07/25/2008, -1/+4Wow... Gizmodo UK is ugly.
  • NeoCortex, on 07/25/2008, -0/+6And while we're at it. How about Microsoft letting us use USB hard drives for storage. The 1st party ones are way too overpriced.
    • Kanten, on 07/25/2008, -1/+5For all the flak I see PS3 get for "WTF PROPRIETARY MEDIA", everyone seems oblivious to fact that 360 uses nothing BUT proprietary hardware and accessories.

      Want a wireless headset to use with your 360? Too bad, pony up $50 for the badly-reviewed Microsoft one.

      Charging $1.33/GB in storage is a rate that would get HOUNDED by the PC market. You can get 320's for the same price point.
  • Slayerdude51982, on 07/25/2008, -1/+4*Crosses fingers* Hard Drive...hard drive!!!

    Seriously it's the best way to go, online storage just doesn't seem right and getting the ability to play VC and WiiWare titles off of a SD card just seems kind of lame, I'd rather pay the flat amount for the hard drive, have tons of space to put on as many VC and wiiware games as I want.
  • honeymonster, on 07/25/2008, -1/+5Nintendo. Just release a f'ing external USB hard drive. Job done.
    • sremick, on 07/25/2008, -1/+6No, just allow us to use any regular USB hard/flash drive and not pay some ridiculous Nintendo tax.
    • veriix, on 07/25/2008, -0/+4I'd rather just have a firmware update.
      • chaosblade77, on 07/27/2008, -0/+1Both would be nice... Transfer speed won't differ much (20MB/s vs 22MB/s max). SD cards in the Wii will always be limited to 2GB though because of the hardware. No SDHC support and as far as I know, it's a hardware limitation. For a hard drive, theoretically you could plug in any hard drive into your USB port.
  • CptnObvious, on 07/25/2008, -0/+2Personally this isn't a huge problem for me but I would like to see Nintendo be more proactive, everyone knew this was going to be a concern at launch.
  • Kbriggs, on 07/25/2008, -4/+2Cept for Littlebigplanet & MGS4.
    • KReal, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1ps3 IS mgs4. It just IS. Sony should know, from me, that they've failed, but Konami has triumphed. Sony owes Kojima EVERYTHING. All $600 of my green, anyway.
  • JeremyK684, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1I don't think it matters since they aren't easily available to consumers anyways, even almost 1.5 years later o_O
  • pennvneff, on 07/25/2008, -2/+13I got an "urgent" problem. I bought NCAA 09 Football for the Wii and holy ***** does this game suck.
    • SilentRamble42, on 07/25/2008, -4/+4It's a third party Wii game, what did you expect?
      • pennvneff, on 07/25/2008, -1/+5What did I expect? I expected EA to do a good job. It's not like they haven't had the time to put out a good product.

        Other games for the Wii haven't sucked as bad as College Football does. I love Tiger Woods Golf for the system.
    • Odindusk, on 07/25/2008, -2/+3Way to wait for reviews.
  • normalkid0615, on 07/25/2008, -10/+1Credit Cards hello? You don't need to have a job to life the life. Apply for a platinum card and just buy whats hot right now....what...

    -sarcasm
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