News: Nintendo Working on Storage Strategy for Wii Page 1

Nintendo Working on Storage Strategy for Wii

18.06.2008

Nintendo Europe's Laurent Fischer recently discussed Wii storage, again, confirming that the company working on a solution.

The Wii's memory limitations (512mb on-board and up to 2GB via SD memory cards), have always been a topic of discussion for Wii owners. Fischer recently, as a joke, noted that those seeking a hard-drive or external hardware were "geeks and otaku."

Since then, talking to Games Industry.biz, he reveals that the company are seeking ways to meet storage demands, but external hardware will likely not be the answer.

We definitely detect that they [gamers] are serious and we know there is an issue in this, so it's something that we're working on. Definitely there's no plan to issue hardware, an external hard drive, but we know that we have an issue in that area.

It's very obvious and we're perfectly aware of it, but there's nothing we can say beyond this. This area is fully handled by the development team in Japan. It's very linked to the overall strategy; that's something they're working on.

He goes on to re-iterate Nintendo's stance on the Wii's lacking capacity - the ability to re-download any material: virtual console titles, Wii software and WiiWare titles previously installed on the machine after deleting.

Is Nintendo's current approach adequate for your gaming needs? Or should there really be a simple addition for optional storage enhancements?

Thanks to C3 reader Demoni Rakkausenkeli for the tip.

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Demoni Rakkausenkeli 18.06.2008#1

I had a feeling Nintendo wherent working on a hard drive...and yet i knew they were working on a storage solution. As long as Nintendo's new solution works..im happy.

Agul 18.06.2008#2

No Wii HDD? Okay, that's fine with me, but can't they incorporate a system update that allows Wii to recognise SD cards larger than 2gigs AND allows gamers to boot their VC & WW games directly from them (while keeping them tied to your individual system)? Those are the major memory eaters. I thought for sure it's possible.

I understand what he says about deleting and redownloading games, but it's still a hassle to deal with. And a MAJOR hassle if you have a crap internet connection. Like me. Smilie Smilie It just can't compare to the convenience of having them available right there on your Wii and ready to play in any situation.

You would think Nintendo would've had the foresight to see Wii's memory limitation was going to be an issue pretty soon after launch. For crying out loud, there were major complaints about it when it was first announced let alone when the system launched. Smilie

Chance favors the prepared mind.

Phoenom 18.06.2008#3

So then, either it'll be stronger SD Card support, or will allow the use of other Hard Drives. I don't mind either, just hurry up Nintendo. Smilie

erv 18.06.2008#4

Maybe they'll be working with their own sort of file compression method. 413 blocks? It'll be 25 compressed.

Don't know, just an idea Smilie

Andrezao 18.06.2008#5

SD cards would be awesome or Usb drives since they're cheap and would support more storage capacity than SD cards. I won't download any Wiiware games till i get more space.

ohm 18.06.2008#6

Just let me save on the card first....

RudyC3 18.06.2008#7

SD cards max capacity can\'t be upgraded cuz\' 2GB is the max capacity for the SD card standard (a few readers are compatible for up to 4GB standard cards it seems, but not all cards are compatible, nor do readers do, and i don\'t think the Wii SD card reader would be). For higher capacity, the SD card reader (the hardware, not the software !!!) MUST be SDHC (High Capacity) compatible.

Which is NOT the case with the Wii.

So a firmware update can\'t in any way upgrade the max capacity for SD cards on the Wii, you\'ll have to stick to your 2GB forever and that\'s it ! (unless they rerelease the Wii with SDHC compatible readers and specific new firmware updates for the new model, but that would mean you\'d have to buy a new console. Who would do that ? Not me ...

The solution in the works, IMO, is the ability to read wii channels and wii saves directly from the SD card (allowing channels stored on the SD to appear directly on the Wii\'s Home menu)

( Edited 18.06.2008 10:35 by Kafei2006 )

Cubed3 Limited Staff :: Review and Feature Writer

Darkflame 18.06.2008#8

Yes,your correct about SD being a limit of 2GB already.

We must also remember there is probably speed issues from any "run from card" solution.
I think reserved internal SDD space is needed to cache games from the card before running.
This could certainly be done in a easy, near-seamless manor though without user action needed. It would just mean externaly loaded games take a bit longer to appear.

"Maybe they'll be working with their own sort of file compression method. 413 blocks? It'll be 25 compressed."

I'm pretty sure WiiWare games will already be pretty heavily compressed.

http://www.fanficmaker.com <-- Tells some truly terrible tales.
Last update; Mice,Plumbers,Animatronics and Airbenders. We also have the socials; Facebook & G+.

Darkflame 18.06.2008#9

Just let me save on the card first....

You already can.
Have been able to since release.
Any Channel/WiiWare game can be backed up onto card.

http://www.fanficmaker.com <-- Tells some truly terrible tales.
Last update; Mice,Plumbers,Animatronics and Airbenders. We also have the socials; Facebook & G+.

James2t3 18.06.2008#10

Well when your playing games your not given a choice to save onto a card which is a bit annoying.
Also I have been running emulated games from an SD card ( a cheap slow SD card) on the wii and I have had no problems running SNES or Megadrive games. Might be a problem for the bigger N64 and Wiiware games but for small games I can\'t see why it would be a problem if hackers can already achieve it.

( Edited 18.06.2008 13:32 by Blade2t3 )

darksnowman 18.06.2008#11

My inner geek/ otaku rejoices! I just want to have all my VC/ Wiiware games downloaded at once and still have space for more.

RudyC3 18.06.2008#12

Blade2t3 said:
I can\'t see why it would be a problem if hackers can already achieve it.

Yup ! i\'m playing on the homebrew channel from the SD card, and an N64 game like Super Mario 64 loads as fast from the SD card as from the official VC channel if you count in the message that warns you that the game needs a classic controller. In fact, maybe there\'s indeed a load time hidden behind those messages.

It would be interesting to see what\'s the data transfer speed from a sd card, which depends on the reader itself (it can be up to 22.5 MB/S) i wasn\'t able to get my hands on this bit on info on the Wii specs.

EDIT : besides, i doubt heavily that a N64 game loads completely when played. and the amount of data is so insignificant, that i doubt we would see a diffrence if those games were executed directly from the SD card.

( Edited 18.06.2008 15:04 by Kafei2006 )

Cubed3 Limited Staff :: Review and Feature Writer

Fenton 18.06.2008#13

What Nintendo are saying here is that the next version of Wii with have increased storage space. Meaning we will all go out and buy another Wii.

If you release a product that has to last a lifespan, you dont make it as good as it can be when it first hits the shelves..

EdEN 18.06.2008#14

A 2 GB SD card equals, more or less, 15,000 blocks for your Wii. A SNES game takes 45 seconds to go to a SD card or 60 seconds to return to the Wii as a Channel. Lost Winds (at 250+ blocks) takes 137 seconds to go from the Wii to the SD Card and 164 seconds to g from the SD card to the Wii as a Channel). It took me 7 minutes to copy 6 Wii saves, 1 SNES and 1 N64 VC games and Lost Winds to an SD card and now I have 750 blocks free on the Wii flash memory itself.

Is 2 and a half minutes (tops) too much to wait for a game to transfer? You just turn on the Wii, select copy from SD to Wii memory, brush your teeth or change clothes, and you're ready to play...

WP-Final 18.06.2008#15

EdEN said:
Is 2 and a half minutes (tops) too much to wait for a game to transfer?

Yes.

Agul 19.06.2008#16

Kafei2006 said:
SD cards max capacity can't be upgraded cuz' 2GB is the max capacity for the SD card standard (a few readers are compatible for up to 4GB standard cards it seems, but not all cards are compatible, nor do readers do, and i don't think the Wii SD card reader would be). For higher capacity, the SD card reader (the hardware, not the software !!!) MUST be SDHC (High Capacity) compatible.
Which is NOT the case with the Wii.

Ah. I was afraid of that. Bummer. Smilie

Kafei2006 said:The solution in the works, IMO, is the ability to read wii channels and wii saves directly from the SD card (allowing channels stored on the SD to appear directly on the Wii's Home menu)

I'm hoping they can do that. It would be a huge help (I think), but I'm wondering about the data transfer rate. I understand it's damn slow. Smilie

Chance favors the prepared mind.

Darkflame 19.06.2008#17

Its not slow!
Just slowER then the internal Smilie
Flash cards are still quick in absolute terms.

"Also I have been running emulated games from an SD card ( a cheap slow SD card) on the wii and I have had no problems running SNES or Megadrive games. Might be a problem for the bigger N64 and Wiiware games but for small games I can't see why it would be a problem if hackers can already achieve it."

Emulated games like those can fit completely in Ram.

Even N64 games. (Mario64 = 8MB, Wii internal Ram is much bigger).

In fact, even a DS can do that with Nes games :p
(you can even remove your medium completely and it dosnt effect the game).

Also, remember, its not impossible to do any game with any "read speed".
The problem is (probably) that the WiiWare games have been designed for the ultra-fast internal speed.
Its not that games cant be made to run off the card,its that they havnt been.

"EdEN said:
Is 2 and a half minutes (tops) too much to wait for a game to transfer?

Yes."

If you had a PS3, youd be waiting that long for most games install times.
MGS4, for instance, has an 8 minute time, and thats just the install. After that you have load times each time you play, and extra mini-installs between chapters.

I'm all for faster, quicker interface and everything seamless.
But frankly, the Wii is already one of the fastest "to play" systems ever made.

2 minutes of copying only on the (imo) rather rare times when you want to "back up" or restore a lot of wii channels at a time isnt bad at all.
I cant picture myself doing that more then twice a year, frankly.

http://www.fanficmaker.com <-- Tells some truly terrible tales.
Last update; Mice,Plumbers,Animatronics and Airbenders. We also have the socials; Facebook & G+.

Lynk 22.06.2008#18

Why can't they just release a small HDD, say 8 or 10 gb, that clips on to the back and is USB. I'm sure it would make enough money to justify a release of something that wouldn't cost that much to make.

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