Topic: Wii Mini Has No SD Card Slot

[Flames_of_chaos]

Regarding the Macs, to be fair Apple has been gradually moving away from optical media and going digital only. Hell, a lot of PC manufactures are going digital only and are treating optical drives as a USB peripheral.

[TJ Spyke]

Apple is just about the only manufacture I have seen be stupid enought to remove the optical drive (other than in net books). There is no benefit to the consumers (and don't say cost, because Apple already overcharges for products, and they just keep the savings for themselves).

[lolmonade]

Apple is just about the only manufacture I have seen be stupid enought to remove the optical drive (other than in net books). There is no benefit to the consumers (and don't say cost, because Apple already overcharges for products, and they just keep the savings for themselves).

I don't know, I can see an argument being made for why something like the Macbook Air may be better suited than a Pro for some people if they preferred something lighter and more portable than the Pro. 

And I'm not sure if "stupid" is an appropriate word to describe Apple.  You may be able to make that argument for some of their rabid fan base though .

[NWR_insanolord]

I can't remember the last time I used the optical drive on my MacBook Pro. Been thinking about taking it out and putting a second hard drive or SSD in the slot instead. I'd have no problem buying a new one that didn't have one.

[BranDonk Kong]

I never use my disc drive either.

And UncleBob will probably get like 4 of these things.

[yoshi1001]

You guys are really missing the point. Nintendo designed this to increase their profit margin for legacy Wii sales, not just now but for years to come. The people who will consider buying a Wii at this point don't care about the features being removed. Omitting components gives Nintendo flexibility to eventually lower the price even further to continue squeezing out sales from a very old platform. This tradition goes back to the mid-90s with the redesigns of NES, SNES, and even Genesis.

Perhaps, but I don't think either the NES or SNES redesigns took as much away functionally as this redesign. Is there a market for it? Probably, but at the moment it doesn't seem like that much of a plus.


By the way, does anyone know how much smaller it is? I've seen the pictures, but nothing side-by-side (might have to wait until it releases). The Wii's pretty small to begin with, so I'm not sure how "Mini" this will be.

[ShyGuy]

If they didn't remove GameCube support, this would be the cheapest way by far to play GameCube games in progressive scan. Thankfully my old Wii is still holding on for that though I worry it will break.

Re-purchase your Gamecube games off the future Wii U virtual console and you could get them upscaled to 1080p!

[UncleBob]

And UncleBob will probably get like 4 of these things.

Just one... maybe.

It *is* pretty awesome looking.

[Crimm]

And UncleBob will probably get like 4 of these things.

Just one... maybe.

It *is* pretty awesome looking.

You say that until they come in blue.
and all black
and Mario Edition

[KlingonCola]

What about through USB port? Can you connect external (SD) device?

[eggwolio]

No one has mentioned the biggest problem with having no SD slot.


How can ExciteTruck be properly appreciated without the custom soundtrack feature?

[Mop it up]

What about through USB port? Can you connect external (SD) device?

It probably doesn't have USB ports either.

[EasyCure]

No one has mentioned the biggest problem with having no SD slot.


How can ExciteTruck be properly appreciated without the custom soundtrack feature?

I actually thought of that but wasn't one of the first firmware updates for Wii one that prevented the custom soundtrack feature anyway? I haven't played the game in awhile so I can't confirm it myself.

[Shaymin]

The update took it out of the Photo Channel, but Excite Truck still reads .mp3 files.

[EasyCure]

The update took it out of the Photo Channel, but Excite Truck still reads .mp3 files.

Oh thank goodness. I should load that up one soon. Too bad they didn't implement the feature in Excitebots..

[Mop it up]

The MP3 playback is coded into the games themselves, it isn't a system feature, so it still works in Excite Truck and Endless Ocean. Which, sadly, I believe are the only two games to support it. I liked the feature and hoped it would return on the Wii U, but it would appear that Nintendo don't want to pay the licencing fees anymore.

[ejamer]

While talking about SD card functionality, you also lose the ability to take photos in Animal Crossing. Not a big deal, but something I actually used on several different occasions.


Custom soundtracks were awesome on Endless Ocean. I liked listening to Pink Floyd's Echoes while diving.

[ejamer]

Single USB port confirmed on the back of the Wii Mini.
Source:  http://www.gamefocus.ca/news/18651.html


Unclear what USB devices will/won't work.  I'm guessing that a USB network connection won't work (supporting hardware likely removed) and that USB SD card adapters won't be of any use either.


Looks interesting, but I just can't justify the asking price. If I could grab a system for about $70 then I'd nab one.

[Adrock]

Maybe USB is how Nintendo will allow you to transfer save data from the Wii Minus to the Wii U in the future. Since there's no Virtual Console or Wii Ware DRM and whatnot to worry about, transferring data can perhaps be handled this way.

[ejamer]

Maybe USB is how Nintendo will allow you to transfer save data from the Wii Minus to the Wii U in the future. Since there's no Virtual Console or Wii Ware DRM and whatnot to worry about, transferring data can perhaps be handled this way.

Maybe. But I suspect that Nintendo will just forgo data transfer of legacy game save files from this console entirely. How many people are going to notice? How many people are going to care? In both instances I'm willing to bet the number won't be significant.


There will be no digital purchases to worry about, no licenses to transfer to a new machine. If the Wii Mini console is targeted at people who are just buying a console now, then finding a way to copy save files to a brand new (expensive) console is an extremely low priority that probably won't be profitable.

[Ian Sane]

I can't help but feel that this is a lousy product for suckers.  With the Wii U being backwards compatible with the Wii, one really doesn't save money in the long run in buying a Wii stripped of features.  Yeah Nintendo released later versions of the NES and SNES but they were fully functional, the next gen did not play those same games and Nintendo continued to release a few new games for those systems after the next gen started while they didn't even make Wii games for the entire life of the Wii.  There are no new Wii games to play and you do not require an actual Wii to play Wii games.  I fear that part of the design here is to grab some impulse buys from late adopters who do not know that the Wii Mini is missing core functionality.  It isn't much of a deal if you know what's been stripped out.