Topic: Bad news for the Wii U eShop.

[tendoboy1984]

SOURCE: http://www.nintendo.co.jp


According to Nintendo's Japanese site, SD cards can't be used to expand the console's storage. You must use a USB hard drive for that.

Also, Wii software (Virtual Console, WiiWare) must be purchased on the Wii Shop Channel, which is accessible through the "Wii Mode" app. The content won't be available on the Wii U eShop.

This goes against what the 3DS eShop does, where both DSiWare and 3DS games are available from the same place.

[BlackNMild2k1]

source?

[Mop it up]

I think it'll just be temporary. WiiWare and VC can't be played outside of Wii Mode and so until that changes, there's not much reason to unify the shops yet.

[Shaymin]

There will be demos early on.

Bad news for the eShop.

[tendoboy1984]

source?

http://www.nintendo.co.jp (Nintendo's Japanese site)

[tendoboy1984]

I think it'll just be temporary. WiiWare and VC can't be played outside of Wii Mode and so until that changes, there's not much reason to unify the shops yet.

See, that's the stupid thing. I don't have to put my 3DS in "DSi Mode" to download and play DSiWare games. Everything is accessible from the eShop, and it downloads directly to the 3DS menu.


Why couldn't Nintendo unify the Wii and Wii U software and shops like that?

[NWR_insanolord]

You also couldn't access the 3DS eShop until several months after launch. I think a lot of this is going to be patched in later on, and Nintendo's just getting the essential stuff out at launch.

[broodwars]

Nintendo just baffles me sometimes. We know why the 3DS was released unfinished, as Nintendo was trying to get it out to prop up the end of a fiscal year. But they've been working on the Wii U for at least two years while barely supporting the Wii.  So why does it still feel like the Wii U is being rushed out the door unfinished in key areas like this? 

[Oblivion]

I don't see how this is a problem.

[ShyGuy]

Are SD cards not fast enough to play games off of?

[NWR_insanolord]

Are SD cards not fast enough to play games off of?

All non-DSiWare 3DS eShop games run directly off the SD card, so it can't be that much of a problem.

[MrPhishfood]

Are SD cards not fast enough to play games off of?

That is actually a good point. On Wii the eShop games were limited to roughly 40MB, I didn't bother buying anything WiiWare so I don't know about the loading times on slow SD cards.

Since you can purchase full retail games on the eShop I think Nintendo wants to forego the extra hassle when it comes to customer service. Can you imagine people going out buying the biggest and cheapest SD cards, downloading a game on it and then waiting forever for it to load, then calling up Nintendo to say their Wii U is broken.

With USB flash drives and hard disk drives the minimum read speed is consistently higher than that of SD cards. Also you get more storage capacity for your money.

I imagine Nintendo will strike a deal with USB drive manufacturers to to get some of them specially marked with "suitable for Wii U". In doing so they can guarantee a minimum speed that is suitable for Wii U games. I remember Buffalo routers having markings on the box saying it was suitable for Wii and DS.

The 360 has its own specially made USB flash drives that guarantee a minimum working speed but they are ridiculously expensive. Such is the case when a company tries to sell a product they aren't equipped to manufacture.

[Kairon]

According to Nintendo's Japanese site, SD cards can't be used to expand the console's storage. You must use a USB hard drive for that.

Where exactly does it say that? God I wish I could read Japanese.

[AV]

wow i'm pissed about sd card storage because that's cheap compared to USB. I don't want to carry around a external drive, or have a usb thumb drive sticking out from the back.

[Kytim89]

wow i'm pissed about sd card storage because that's cheap compared to USB. I don't want to carry around a external drive, or have a usb thumb drive sticking out from the back.

It would be nice if some third party came up with a console stand that hooked into the bottom of the Wii U and you could place a HDD inside and hook the stand into one of the rear USB ports on the back of the Wii U. It would look ssoemthing like the Gamecube Gameboy adapter of the N64DD, but much smaller.

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm sure we'll see something like that, but it'll probably be with the hard drive built in, or maybe a bay for any 2.5" drive.

[Spenczar]

But we can use USB externals, right?

[stevey]

According to Nintendo's Japanese site, SD cards can't be used to expand the console's storage. You must use a USB hard drive for that.

Where exactly does it say that? God I wish I could read Japanese.

It's from the hardware FAQ on the WiiU page

USB記録メディアを接続���本体�存メモリーを拡張�る��������？

    USB記録メディアを使ã�£ã�¦ã€�本体ä¿�存メモリーを拡張ã�„ã�Ÿã� ã�‘ã�¾ã�™ã€‚SDカードã�¯æœ¬ä½“ä¿�存メモリーを拡張ã�™ã‚‹è¨˜éŒ²ãƒ¡ãƒ‡ã‚£ã‚¢ã�¨ã�—ã�¦åˆ©ç”¨ã�„ã�Ÿã� ã�‘ã�¾ã�›ã‚“。動作確èª�済ã�¿ã�®USB記録メディアã�®è©³ç´°ã�¯å¾Œæ—¥ãƒ›ãƒ¼ãƒ ãƒšãƒ¼ã‚¸ã�§ã�”案内ã�„ã�Ÿã�—ã�¾ã�™ã€‚

Rough translation

Are you able to connect USB storage media to extend the storage memory on the system?

You can expand the memory storage by using USB storage media. SD card are not available as a recording media to extend the main storage memory. More information about USB storage media that have been tested will be announced at a later date on our website .

[KDR_11k]

Sony's excuse for the overpriced Vita memory cards is that SD speeds vary too much. Digital Foundry found that Sony's memory cards aren't much faster either, I suspect the massive prices are just to subsidize the lower-than-retail prices on the PSN store.

[TJ Spyke]

Sony has a long history of preferring their own memory cards (Memory Stick Pro Duo), we all know it's purely profit driven reason. They can say it's about speed, but they want the extra revenue from selling their over-priced memory cards.

[tendoboy1984]

According to Nintendo's Japanese site, SD cards can't be used to expand the console's storage. You must use a USB hard drive for that.

Where exactly does it say that? God I wish I could read Japanese.

I used Google Translate. Take that as you will.

[tendoboy1984]

It's from the hardware FAQ on the WiiU page

USB記録メディアを接続���本体�存メモリーを拡張�る��������？

    USB記録メディアを使ã�£ã�¦ã€�本体ä¿�存メモリーを拡張ã�„ã�Ÿã� ã�‘ã�¾ã�™ã€‚SDカードã�¯æœ¬ä½“ä¿�存メモリーを拡張ã�™ã‚‹è¨˜éŒ²ãƒ¡ãƒ‡ã‚£ã‚¢ã�¨ã�—ã�¦åˆ©ç”¨ã�„ã�Ÿã� ã�‘ã�¾ã�›ã‚“。動作確èª�済ã�¿ã�®USB記録メディアã�®è©³ç´°ã�¯å¾Œæ—¥ãƒ›ãƒ¼ãƒ ãƒšãƒ¼ã‚¸ã�§ã�”案内ã�„ã�Ÿã�—ã�¾ã�™ã€‚

Rough translation

Are you able to connect USB storage media to extend the storage memory on the system?

You can expand the memory storage by using USB storage media. SD card are not available as a recording media to extend the main storage memory. More information about USB storage media that have been tested will be announced at a later date on our website .

But that contradicts what Nintendo did with the DSi, Wii, and 3DS. If you can't use SD cards to store (and play) downloaded software, then what do you use them for?

[BranDonk Kong]

Who the Hell buys a Wii U to play Wii games anyway? It offers no improvement to visual quality and just seems like a hassle.

[EvilMario]

We've known about Wii Mode and why it exist for a while now. The WAD files used for the Virtual Console games are specifically designed for the Wii, which is why you're forced to run through this mode. It's a relative nightmare splitting the Wii Shop Channel and the Wii U's eShop, especially if they end up asking people to buy the same titles once more on Virtual Console.

I'm not sure how temporary it is either. Nintendo doesn't have a great way to transfer licenses from Wii to Wii. So moving them from Wii to Wii U, so you can load Virtual Console games directly from the Wii U (enabling Game Pad play, easier access, etc), in the future is not going to be a cake walk.

At this point though, backwards compatibility is going to be tougher and tougher each generation. Not just for Nintendo, but for everyone moving forward. It's a scary part about the digital future we face on consoles, at least for me.

[Kairon]

Yeah EvilMario. I personally have no hope of this situation improving. In fact, I'm thinking that the SD card support exists SOLELY for the Wii backward compatibility and that I need to buy an external hdd.