Nintendo Wii Like iPod: Reason For No Hard Drive For Wii
November 2, 2007 | Filed under Gaming, News, Nintendo Wii
There’s no doubt that the Wii’s Virtual Console channel has been a success but at what cost did that success come? Well, quite a few gamers seem to be running up the storage roadblocks of the Wii and are wondering what they’ve got in the way of expansion options beyond SD cards, that’s right - like the 360’s hard drive.
Unfortunately it seems that Nintendo’s not that keen on the idea with Eric Walter, the Nintendo of America PR manager, saying,
“we really don’t want people storing every single game they buy on their drive.”
I know it seems strange but the VC titles are yours, forever. Nintendo says that you can delete games and ‘go back and get them any time’, either that or start a collection of SD cards.
Walter went on to explain his statement by saying that the Wii’s situation is similar “to putting music on your iPod; you listen to it for a while, and then you get tired of it, and you pull it off, and you put some new stuff on.”
Like it or lump it the mothership has spoken - there isn’t going to be a hard drive for the Wii any time soon. So, third parties the ball is in your court to make it all better!
Would you buy a hard drive for your Wii?
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No, the Wii is not like an iPod, because there’s no “WiiTunes”
Since the programming data on the Wii is not hi-def, everything is fairly compact and a big hard-drive is neither necessary nor even desirable IMO. However, Nintendo really needs to patch their system software to allow quick and seemless SD card memory expansion which would give substantive breathing room: right now, SD memory is considered adjacent and it’s slow, so this limits its usefulness due to its inconvenience.
Conclusion: a fairly straightforward SD memory patch would be a great solution for the life of Wii#1.
And while I’m at it, Nintendo, I’d like a 3rd option on the WiiConnect: “WiiConnect on Power Up”, which would power down everything from the remote power button, yet reconnect upon power up, check for messages and be ready for the internet. I don’t like the idea of wasting energy and resources when it’s off, plus the overheating issue, but I want it all functional automatically when it’s on. Right now, I’ve got to either go through all the system menus to turn it off when I power down, then again when I power up, or walk over to the Wii after it’s powered down, press down on the power button for many seconds (while the LED is hidden by my finger!), to accomplish what I want minus the full reconnect on power up. It is trivial to patch the system software to get the Wii to do what should be an optimum behavior for the energy conscious crowd.
And while I’m at it, Nintendo, I’d like a 3rd option on the WiiConnect: “WiiConnect on Power Up”, which would power down everything from the remote power button, yet reconnect upon power up, check for messages and be ready for the internet. I don’t like the idea of wasting energy and resources when it’s off, plus the overheating issue, but I want it all functional automatically when it’s on. Right now, I’ve got to either go through all the system menus to turn it off when I power down, then again when I power up, or walk over to the Wii after it’s powered down, press down on the power button for many seconds (while the LED is hidden by my finger!), to accomplish what I want minus the full reconnect on power up. It is trivial to patch the system software to get the Wii to do what should be an optimum behavior for the energy conscious crowd.
“And while I’m at it, Nintendo, I’d like a 3rd option on the WiiConnect: “WiiConnect on Power Up”, which would power down everything from the remote power button, yet reconnect upon power up, check for messages and be ready for the internet.”
Turn off Standby mode while leaving WiiConnect24 on. There you go.
“plus the overheating issue”
Let’s see, mine’s been going on for 8 months with standy and WiiConnect24 on, and it’s still as cool as an iceblock.
i would really love a hd. its sort of a sense of security. knowing that I will have my games even with the internet off is a a good thing
“Turn off Standby mode while leaving WiiConnect24 on. There you go.”
…Let’s see, trying to access any internet-required app has the Wii stating it cannot work without Standby “on”…
I’ll pass on your other moronic remark. Problem is, these are video game systems we’re talking about, and any discussion is doomed to the most base adolescent idiocy…
“…Let’s see, trying to access any internet-required app has the Wii stating it cannot work without Standby “on”…”
Then something’s wrong with yours. Mine works just fine.
“I’ll pass on your other moronic remark. Problem is, these are video game systems we’re talking about, and any discussion is doomed to the most base adolescent idiocy…”
Talk about moronic remarks. So making a true statement nowadays is considered “base adolescent idiocy.” Wow. Perhaps if you weren’t so ignorant as to attack with ad-hominems just because you’re upset that you can’t get your Wii to work,(plus the fact that you’re also a smartass, apparently), then maybe you would have an easier time managing the system.
I’m with ‘that guy’.. Mine’s been on standby with Wii connect on for months now and not a hint of overheating.. If I want to save the 1w of energy it’s using up, I can just turn it off at the machine (takes all of 2 seconds..) next time I power up, Wiiconnect24 catches up and hey presto.. 1 flashing blue slit.. easy peasy..