Topic: SD Card Channel!

[NWR_DrewMG]

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/25/gdc09-nintendo-updates-wii-shop-channel-with-sd-card-channel/

WOO!

[Spinnzilla]

32 gig support confirmed!!!!  time to start buying!

[ShyGuy]

I wonder if Wiiware and VC game size limitations will get bigger.

[NWR_pap64]

ABOUT FREAKING TIME!!!!!

[NWR_DrewMG]

ZELDA 2 WORKS ON SD CARD CONFIRMED!!

[Jonnyboy117]

How long is it taking the SD Card Menu to load for you all?  It takes over a minute for me.  Once the menu loads up, I can load a game pretty quickly.  But if I back out with the Home menu, I have to reload the SD Card Menu, and it takes forever again!

[Pale]

Jonny it takes that long EVERY time? That's lame....

[NWR_pap64]

Mine loads in less than a second...

I don't have time to fully test it, but from what I saw it worked pretty fast.

[broodwars]

Finally...the SD card that's been sitting in my Wii for 2 years now finally has a purpose.  Now that there's a lot more storage to work with, maybe Nintendo will let larger games onto Wiiware and we can start getting demos as well?

[ShyGuy]

Maybe the capacity of the SD card affects the speed? what sizes are you using Pap and Jonny?

[BeautifulShy]

Could some one point me to a site that has 32 gig cards.I got a 1 gig card.

[BlackNMild2k1]

This is soo much more than just an sd card update

- Support for up to 32GB SDHC cards confirmed.

- Adds an SD Card menu accessible from the Wii Menu. STORAGE SOLUTION!

- Games transfered to the SD Card can basically be played from the SD Card. They are transfered to the Wii Memory before play, and deleted afterwards. An N64 game takes about ten seconds to load! If you don't have enough room on the Wii Memory, there's an automatic feature that'll transfer games to the SD card for you.

This means there's next to no reason to have VC games on the Wii Memory.

- You can download games directly from Wii Shop to the SD card.

- Save data must be accessed from the main Wii memory.

- The updates adds a "Virtual Console Arcade" menu in Wii Shop, contains a few Arcade games.

- For the homebrewers: According toWiibrew, system 4.0 somehow breaks some homebrew. Wait for a workaround before updating if you're nervous for breaking something.

Pictures!!!

The funny thing is I just asked about bringing a Virtual Arcade to Virtual Console last nite.

[NWR_pap64]

Maybe the capacity of the SD card affects the speed? what sizes are you using Pap and Jonny?

I am using a basic 512 MB card.

[DAaaMan64]

I'm using a 1 gig, and it tool < 5 seconds to load the screen. Why are your guys' so slow?

I have 42 games on the SD card, it less than 7 seconds to load Lords of Thunder.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Could some one point me to a site that has 32 gig cards.I got a 1 gig card.

www.newegg.com

This is where I bought my last three SD cards. They were the cheapest place I could find at the time.

[SirSniffy]

Virtual Console Arcade = Love. This update is more than I could have hoped for.

[BeautifulShy]

Could some one point me to a site that has 32 gig cards.I got a 1 gig card.

www.newegg.com

This is where I bought my last three SD cards. They were the cheapest place I could find at the time.

Ok thanks.

[Caliban]

Hell yeah!

[DAaaMan64]

Yup I do declare this channel rockin'.

[rad.i.kal]

I am excited, time to put some games BACK on my Wii.... or rather SD card, I have like 5 that I have downloaded that can not be played.... TIL TODAY! I was hoping for a big announcement, and to me, this is it! I have less than 32 gig on my xbox 360 haha! YES!

[stevey]

So they're going ahead with faking SD support....

This means there's next to no reason to have VC games on the Wii Memory.

Beside the fact that flash memory has a limited amount of time data can be erased-written before it wears out...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory#Memory_wear

Another limitation is that flash memory has a finite number of erase-write cycles. Most commercially available flash products are guaranteed to withstand around 100,000 write-erase-cycles, before the wear begins to deteriorate the integrity of the storage. The guaranteed cycle count may apply only to block zero (as is the case with TSOP NAND parts), or to all blocks (as in NOR). This effect is partially offset in some chip firmware or file system drivers by counting the writes and dynamically remapping blocks in order to spread write operations between sectors; this technique is called wear levelling. Another approach is to perform write verification and remapping to spare sectors in case of write failure, a technique called bad block management (BBM). For portable consumer devices, these wearout management techniques typically extend the life of the flash memory beyond the life of the device itself, and some data loss may be acceptable in these applications. For high reliability data storage, however, it is not advisable to use flash memory that would have to go through a large number of programming cycles. This limitation is meaningless for 'read-only' applications such as thin clients and routers, which are only programmed once or at most a few times during their lifetime.

It's still better to run games you own off the SD with the HB channel...


Also the new update only blocks the installs of Home Brew and DVDX channels and kill the twilight hack.

[DAaaMan64]

Well the homebrew channel is awesome, I have it.  But I don't see how it is better to run from HB, this seems real convenient.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Beside the fact that flash memory has a limited amount of time data can be erased-written before it wears out...

So erasing games on the Wii memory and reinstalling them like you used to do is somehow better?

Boy people do complain about anything. Oh noes hacked Wii owners may have a broken homebrew channel, what shall we do?

In regards to demos, I doubt it in regards to Wii game demoes because you still have to deal with the internal memory since it sets aside a chunk of that memory for this feature depending on the game size. You may be able to double the size limit but beyond that there isn't much wiggle room when you only have 512mb total to work with.

About speed, everything seems to run really fast for me, maybe the problem is that you are using a slower SD card? It takes like 6 seconds for me to load the SD channel and 10 seconds MAX to load any game on it.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm trying to figure out exactly how the SD storage solution works. I've been reading around and there seems to be 2 different ways that are being talked about. If you know the actual answer please let me know.

1.) You can launch your game directly from the sd card. the save data remains on the internal sys memory. limited copying back and forth.

2.) You can't launch directly from the sd card. It makes a temp copy onto the internal mem and then deletes it after you are done playing. leaving only the save file on the internal memory.

Anyone know which one it is? I'm hoping its the 1st one. I'm not at home to try it out myself.

[stevey]

It's 2.

[BlackNMild2k1]

If they were just gonna do #2 shouldn't they just load the game in the sys RAM and leave the save on the internal mem?
that would save the needless wear and tear in the internal flash mem.

Oh well, this is still a good storage solution to the problem of not having a storage solution. so I won't complain.

[Jonnyboy117]

My SD card is 2 gigs, and I'm probably using 1/4 of that.  It was purchased around the time of Wii's launch, and I got it really cheap, although the brand (Kingston) came highly recommended.  Now that SDHC is supported, I may buy a new and larger card, since it sounds like mine is unusually slow.

[BranDonk Kong]

It's about fucking time! This is also semi-perfect timing, because SDHC cards are getting cheaper every day. You can get a 16GB card for $27 w/ free shipping from Newegg, or a 32GB for $74. They probably have pretty slow read/write speeds, but hey, at least you don't have to worry about space on the Wii, ever again.

[Jonnyboy117]

If they were just gonna do #2 shouldn't they just load the game in the sys RAM and leave the save on the internal mem?
that would save the needless wear and tear in the internal flash mem.

No, because WiiWare games and the VC emulators are written to use the system RAM.  They may not always use all of the RAM, but there would surely be a lot of problems if a chunk of that RAM was no longer available.

I think people are overstating the problem of flash memory rewriting.  Your Wii's disc drive is likely to burn out long before the flash memory will.  Laptops are now being sold with only flash memory storage -- and a computer saves data much more often than any gaming console.

[ShyGuy]

I will miss all the fridge jokes and gifs.

[vudu]

Oh ****--what's this update going to cost Insanolord?  For the past year he's been declaring games "worthy of a purchase once Nintendo releases a storage solution".  If he buys them all at once the poor man's gonna go broke!!

Anyone try loading up Super Mario Bros 3 from the SD card?  It's the game I picked at random to try it out and I received an error message stating that 'this game cannot be loaded from an SD card".  After that I tried Mega Man 2 and it worked just fine.  Can anyone else load SMB3 from an SD card?  Are there any other games that can't be loaded from an SD card?

[DAaaMan64]

Vudu, you don't have enough blocks free on your will. Find your biggest game, and try that.  IF it doesn't work, free enough up till it does. Then your safe for your whole library.

[vudu]

I have over 400 free blocks on my system and I'm pretty sure SMB3 is smaller than that.

[NWR_pap64]

Frankly, I don't see why anyone would complain about this.

Once more, I didn't get enough time to test this fully, but the first game I loaded with the new storage solution was "Alex Kidd". When I selected it, the game went straight into the part where I last played, and it was a seamless transition. It was as if I was running it from the home channel.

So I don't understand how ANYONE would find issue with this when so far it works flawlessly.

[vudu]

I think I figured out my problem--I got a replacement system in January, and anything I saved to my SD card from my previous system I can't launch from an SD card (I can't copy it to my Wii, either).  I guess I just need to redownload a bunch of stuff.  Annoying, but understandable.

EDIT:  There really needs to be a "download everything I've already paid for" option.  This is really annoying downloading them one-by-one.

[Adrock]

Awesome, though I have yet to buy a single VC game. Like most people, I'm curious why Nintendo didn't allow this from the start. Lack of foresight? Oh Nintendo, you so crazy...

[ThePerm]

make sure to keep backups of all your SD card data, my SD card recently died and I had to get a new one. Luckily i had backups of my info on my computer.

[Stratos]

That flash memory issue has me worried. I knew that flash could go bad, but I always assumed it would be ages from now like after I died or something. I still play older consoles from time to time, will my Wii eventually stop working years from now?

[TJ Spyke]

I'm trying to figure out exactly how the SD storage solution works. I've been reading around and there seems to be 2 different ways that are being talked about. If you know the actual answer please let me know.

1.) You can launch your game directly from the sd card. the save data remains on the internal sys memory. limited copying back and forth.

2.) You can't launch directly from the sd card. It makes a temp copy onto the internal mem and then deletes it after you are done playing. leaving only the save file on the internal memory.

Anyone know which one it is? I'm hoping its the 1st one. I'm not at home to try it out myself.

From what i've read on other sites, it's the second. It doesn't delete it afterwards though. What it does is it creates a "phantom" save spot. So if you play a game that is 302 blocks, it will create a file that takes up 302 blocks of your Wii memory. If the next game you load is 240 blocks, then the phantom save will become 240 blocks. You can choose to delete the phantom save anytime you want though if you want to free up the space.

[Adrock]

That flash memory issue has me worried. I knew that flash could go bad, but I always assumed it would be ages from now like after I died or something. I still play older consoles from time to time, will my Wii eventually stop working years from now?

Hard drives can go bad. Battery backup could go bad and die. Even regular old memory cards can go bad (my GCN memory card got corrupted and went bad though I luckily backed up almost everything on my other memory card). Anything can and will go bad because there's no permanent, perfect, fail-proof solution yet. Eventually (way, way down the line assuming everything works as it should in the meantime) you won't be able to save on the Wii though it's also possible for the hardware to crap out due to age.

[ShyGuy]

I backup my VC games to stone tablet. History has shown it as the most reliable media for long term backup.

[NWR_pap64]

I'm trying to figure out exactly how the SD storage solution works. I've been reading around and there seems to be 2 different ways that are being talked about. If you know the actual answer please let me know.

1.) You can launch your game directly from the sd card. the save data remains on the internal sys memory. limited copying back and forth.

2.) You can't launch directly from the sd card. It makes a temp copy onto the internal mem and then deletes it after you are done playing. leaving only the save file on the internal memory.

Anyone know which one it is? I'm hoping its the 1st one. I'm not at home to try it out myself.

From what i've read on other sites, it's the second. It doesn't delete it afterwards though. What it does is it creates a "phantom" save spot. So if you play a game that is 302 blocks, it will create a file that takes up 302 blocks of your Wii memory. If the next game you load is 240 blocks, then the phantom save will become 240 blocks. You can choose to delete the phantom save anytime you want though if you want to free up the space.

So basically, that extra data on your Wii stays there, but changes according to the game you play?

Doesn't seem so bad.

[TJ Spyke]

From what I have read, yeah. And you can always delete that extra data if you don't feel like having it take up space at all. It definitely is a good idea though for people who have a lot of Virtual Console/WiiWare games, you can reduce them down to 1 file now and just play them from your SD card.

I don't have a SD card right now, so I can't check it myself.

[AV]

I backup my VC games to stone tablet. History has shown it as the most reliable media for long term backup.

That's barbaric. use a laser and write it onto a diamond.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I backup my VC games to stone tablet. History has shown it as the most reliable media for long term backup.

That's barbaric. use a laser and write it onto a diamond.

hahah that is so 2008. I used nano bots to re-write genetic code with my save data

[Stratos]

I backup my VC games to stone tablet. History has shown it as the most reliable media for long term backup.

That's barbaric. use a laser and write it onto a diamond.

hahah that is so 2008. I used nano bots to re-write genetic code with my save data

I can't wait to see pictures of your kids. With all that genetic re-writing to mimic Nintendo code imagine what they could look like!

[GoldenPhoenix]

So let's see if my math is correct. If you write and rewrite your system, lets say, 100 times a day. That would 36500 times a year so it would last you 2.7 years even at that pace (which appears EXTREMELY EXTREMELY unlikely). Better start worrying, Nintendo is obviously is the sux. Better limit yourself to like 30 games a day using the SD channel!

[Mop it up]

I'm not sure how many writes the Wii flash memory can tolerate, but there are some games which save an excessive amount. Take, for example, Mario Kart Wii. Now, this game autosaves so I'm not exactly sure how many times it saves, but it definitely does it multiple times in-between and possibly during races. Playing this game, it would be easy to have it save 100 times in a day, so one could conceivably reach the theoretical 100,000 limit in a few short years.

Flash memory worked for Nintendo 64 games because each game had its own chip and it would be unlikely for a person to play the same game enough to reach 100,000 saves. The Wii memory however applies to all the games you play and even extra content such as messages and channels, so now this possible limit of 100,000 could potentially present a problem sooner than one might think. I can't say it isn't something which worries me, but then again I like to worry about everything.

[NWR_pap64]

So let's see if my math is correct. If you write and rewrite your system, lets say, 100 times a day. That would 36500 times a year so it would last you 2.7 years even at that pace (which appears EXTREMELY EXTREMELY unlikely). Better start worrying, Nintendo is obviously is the sux. Better limit yourself to like 30 games a day using the SD channel!

So long story short, the only way to truly make a dent on the flash memory is to completely abuse it?

[BlackNMild2k1]

I backup my VC games to stone tablet. History has shown it as the most reliable media for long term backup.

That's barbaric. use a laser and write it onto a diamond.

hahah that is so 2008. I used nano bots to re-write genetic code with my save data

I can't wait to see pictures of your kids. With all that genetic re-writing to mimic Nintendo code imagine what they could look like!

never said it was my genetic code that was being rewritten for saved data

Besides, I just heard it was the deleting of data from flash that did most of the damage, is that not true?

[GoldenPhoenix]

The Wii memory however applies to all the games you play and even extra content such as messages and channels, so now this possible limit of 100,000 could potentially present a problem sooner than one might think.

Let's say you are right. Launching Wii games from your SD card is so minimal compared to that other stuff you are talking about that really it is no different then before. I would also wager that the 100k is extremely conservative. Regardless, the VC/Wii Ware portion of the "wear and tear" is virtually insignificant and IF there is a problem it would happen even if you didn't have any VC/Wii Ware games IF (yes IF AGAIN) what you say is true.

[NWR_pap64]

I don't know about you guys, but I think this was heavily tested before it was released. Everything just slips into place nicely and it loads quickly.

I think that along with piracy Nintendo tested the possibility of the update affecting the Wii's internal memory.

I know that things ALWAYS go wrong, no matter the company or the product. But I'm not worried about this.

[ShyGuy]

Is it an insult if someone gifted you a VC game and you move it to the SD card?

[GoldenPhoenix]

Is it an insult if someone gifted you a VC game and you move it to the SD card?

As long as it wasn't mine it is fine.

[ShyGuy]

As long as it wasn't mine it is fine.

...be right back.

[Spinnzilla]

it appears that a lot of wii GHWT and RB2 users can't get their DLC to play off the larger SD cards now. hmm...

[Stratos]

My GH RB data works fine on my 4gb card, I've been using that one for a while now.

[Spinnzilla]

well I was referring to the 16 gig cards and up. 

[GoldenPhoenix]

well I was referring to the 16 gig cards and up. 

My guess is that there will be a way to patch it, either patching the songs themselves or the game. Shouldn't take much.

[Pale]

Does anyone else find it ironic that stevey, the king of needlessly bashing NWR for supposedly being anti-nintendo, is the one finding ridiculous fault with this update?

My hunch says he's trying to rationalize the continued use of pirated VC games, which makes him a bad guy.

[EasyCure]

Does anyone else find it ironic that stevey, the king of needlessly bashing NWR for supposedly being anti-nintendo, is the one finding ridiculous fault with this update?

My hunch says he's trying to rationalize the continued use of pirated VC games, which makes him a bad guy.

devil on your shoulder: you know what must be done.. BAN HIM!
angel on your shoulder: Don't do it Pale, he's just an angsty teen trying to find his place in the world!

[Plugabugz]

Does anyone else find it ironic that stevey, the king of needlessly bashing NWR for supposedly being anti-nintendo, is the one finding ridiculous fault with this update?

My hunch says he's trying to rationalize the continued use of pirated VC games, which makes him a bad guy.

You have been warned for this post. Unless you're talking about pirates.

[ShyGuy]

Remember when Stevey was still learning the language? You've come a long way baby! /cigarette ad

[Tanatoes]

I just spent about an hour downloading all the VC and Wii-Ware games that I've had to delete in the past few months to make space.  (Wll not all.. there are still some games I didn't bother to download since I figure I probably won't be playing them again.)  Then I had to spend some time in the SD channel moving stuff around to sort of organize things.  (All the Super Mario games together, all the Sonic and R-Type games.. you get the idea.)  Now I have instant access to a VAST library of classics and new Wii-Ware stuff.. I'm LOVING this update.

My only complaint is that if you use the home button and quit to the Wii menu it doesn't copy the state of the game back to the SD card so some games are going to have to stay in the Wii memory.  (In particular I'm thinking here of Kid Icarus.  I'm too lazy to write down codes to save my game, so I just pause and save the game state to preserve my glacial progress through this bastard of an impossible game and just continue from my last death as though I'm doing one enormous long play-through.)

I'm rewarding myself by downloading some new games I didn't have room for before the shift.  Hooray for Ogre Battle and Beat.Trip.

I am a happy Nintenfan.

[Tanookisuit]

I love this.

[vudu]

My only complaint is that if you use the home button and quit to the Wii menu it doesn't copy the state of the game back to the SD card so some games are going to have to stay in the Wii memory.  (In particular I'm thinking here of Kid Icarus.  I'm too lazy to write down codes to save my game, so I just pause and save the game state to preserve my glacial progress through this bastard of an impossible game and just continue from my last death as though I'm doing one enormous long play-through.)

Wait, what?  Shouldn't the save file save to the Wii system memory so you can pick up where you left off?  It would totally suck if the update broke the temp save state feature.

[Flames_of_chaos]

My only complaint is that if you use the home button and quit to the Wii menu it doesn't copy the state of the game back to the SD card so some games are going to have to stay in the Wii memory.  (In particular I'm thinking here of Kid Icarus.  I'm too lazy to write down codes to save my game, so I just pause and save the game state to preserve my glacial progress through this bastard of an impossible game and just continue from my last death as though I'm doing one enormous long play-through.)

Wait, what?  Shouldn't the save file save to the Wii system memory so you can pick up where you left off?  It would totally suck if the update broke the temp save state feature.

It didn't break any of the save states, all my save states are fine and intact how they were before. Also if VC save files are moved to the SD card(most can't be moved there anyway) the save state is wiped(it's stated in the last page of every VC game manual). Any retail or download-able game for Wii can't access save data that's stored on a SD card only save data that is on board the Wii internal memory since that's how the games were programmed. 

[Jonnyboy117]

So there's basically no reason to put save data on the SD card.

Is it an insult if someone gifted you a VC game and you move it to the SD card?

No way!  I put ALL my VC and WiiWare games on the SD card.  Including my most favorites.  The only things I left on the system are channels like Wii Fit Channel that I want to load immediately (because I'm usually half asleep when I weigh in).

[Tanatoes]

I stand corrected!  I've just confirmed that save stated DO still work for NES games that are stored on the SD card.  So now I have no complaints at all about the SD Card Chanel.  This is the best thing to happen to my Wii in weeks.

Does anybody know when all the Final Fantasy VC games are supposed to hit?

[Smash_Brother]

devil on your shoulder: you know what must be done.. BAN HIM!
angel on your shoulder: Don't do it Pale, he's just an angsty teen trying to find his place in the world!

devil: **** angsty teens!

But yeah, this change goes a LONG way to making the VC more profitable.

Nintendo was basically losing money by making players decide whether or not they wanted to "shuffle the fridge" before every purchase as I'm sure it prevented quite a few game sales.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I was getting more and more pessimistic about this update as time went on, but it feels really good to be proven wrong.  I've got over 4000 Wii points that I can finally use.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

This will make VC/WiiWare wildly successful, eating into disc-based third party game sales.

GREAT JOB, NINTENDO.  THIRD PARTIES HAVE BEGUN THEIR EXODUS.

Wii Non-Development Conference.

[vudu]

Does anybody know when all the Final Fantasy VC games are supposed to hit?

I think the first one is supposed to hit this fall and after that they'll be releasing them in order.  No word on how long in between releases, but probably a couple months.  Unfortunately, we're not going to get FF II, III or V (and it seems VI might be up in the air, too).  Since no one wants to play the original FF anymore, you're probably going to have to wait at least a year until IV comes out.

[Pale]

You would be insane to want to play original IV on VC when you could be playing the awesome DS remake.

[NWR_pap64]

devil on your shoulder: you know what must be done.. BAN HIM!
angel on your shoulder: Don't do it Pale, he's just an angsty teen trying to find his place in the world!

devil: **** angsty teens!

But yeah, this change goes a LONG way to making the VC more profitable.

Nintendo was basically losing money by making players decide whether or not they wanted to "shuffle the fridge" before every purchase as I'm sure it prevented quite a few game sales.

I think this update will benefit WiiWare  more than the VC. Even if fans still download classic games on the Wii I think brand new, exclusive content is far more enticing than old NES games, and as World of Goo has proven fans will pay any price as long as the game delivers.

And yes Pale, I too believe stevey is endlessly trying to bash this update for the sake of bashing. But believe it or not, he is not the only one.

Its just proves to me that fans will never be truly happy with whatever Nintendo does and will just find something to whine about and use it to prove their discontent.

[UltimatePartyBear]

You would be insane to want to play original IV on VC when you could be playing the awesome DS remake.

Or completely unable to come to grips with how they pronounce "Cecil."

[vudu]

You would be insane to want to play original IV on VC when you could be playing the awesome DS remake.

Unless I prefer the original 2D sprites.

[Pale]

I'd say that makes you insane.

I could see having that opinion if the remake was JUST the 3D graphics... but the cut scenes, voice acting, and general flow are ALL so much better, especially when you get towards the end of the game.

[decoyman]

My GH RB data works fine on my 4gb card, I've been using that one for a while now.

Let me guess, it's not SDHC, is it? You used the "padding" trick for a regular 4GB SD card... If so, it'd still work fine. It can't read SDHC cards, or it's sketchy at the very least.

BUMMER, this is the main reason I was stoked about this update...

[UncleBob]

Okay, here's weird.

You can move the original Wii Speak channel to the SD Card - but you can't move it back, the system tells you to download the new version.  You can run the old version from the SD card.  You can download the new version and keep it on the system and run it.

Now, if you have 1.0 Photo Channel and downloaded the 1.1 update, you can move the update to the SD card and 1.0 will reappear on your Wii Menu.  However, there is no option to run 1.1 from the SD Card.

[TJ Spyke]

Now, if you have 1.0 Photo Channel and downloaded the 1.1 update, you can move the update to the SD card and 1.0 will reappear on your Wii Menu. 

Really? So you can basically downgrade back to 1.0? Being able to play MP3 files instead of AAC files would be nice.

[Pale]

I had a strange thing happen with Bit Trip Beat. I was playing it off the SD card and it didn't save my game.

By that I mean, level 2 wasn't unlocked and my high score wasn't saved.  I stressed out that it was some SD glitch so I tested out playing off wii system menu where it DID save my game.

Then I moved it back to the SD card and played some more, got a new high score, figured it wouldn't be saved, but when I backed out and fired it up again, it WAS in fact saved....

So what gives... did my system just glitch out the first time or something? Who knows.

[Spinnzilla]

does anyone else have the issue of when you select the SD Channel it takes forever and a day to bring it up on screen?

[Tanatoes]

does anyone else have the issue of when you select the SD Channel it takes forever and a day to bring it up on screen?

It takes about 10 seconds for me.  I have about 40 games on my SD card - it's an old 2Meg SD though, so no compression or anything to deal with.

[Spinnzilla]

I'm using a good old 2 gig too but with less than 20 games.

[DAaaMan64]

I'm using a standard 1 gig card.  45 games, < 10 seconds.  Sorry Spin. Pale thats weird.  Go get oiled up by a hot chick or something

[Stratos]

The first time I loaded the SD Menu it took forever but after that it loads really fast. Are you pulling it out and using multiple cards? Or perhaps you are changing what is on them a lot?

Say, Spin, your on the GH and RB forums a lot, right? Is the SDHC GH/RB issue very widespread over there or is it only isolated cases?

[vudu]

The first time I loaded the SD Menu it took forever but after that it loads really fast.

Same here.  In fact, after waiting 5 minutes I just restarted my system.  The next time it loaded up immediately.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Well so far I have had no problem with it loading. It always takes less then 10 seconds. No complaints from me so far besides minor ones like easier accessibility to the SD card channel without having to load it every time

[DAaaMan64]

The channel is overall amazing. I love it. But I do agree with the reloading thing.

[Mop it up]

Just out of curiosity, did anyone here not download the update because they don't need it?

I'm not getting it until it is forced upon me, such as when I buy a new Wii game which contains the update.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I haven't downloaded it cuz i'm no hurry play non-disc games.

I'm waiting for the dust to settle, so I don't get hit with any surprise VISTA SERVICE PACK UPDATE that the SD channel might contract.

You've all been warned.

[TJ Spyke]

Just out of curiosity, did anyone here not download the update because they don't need it?

I'm not getting it until it is forced upon me, such as when I buy a new Wii game which contains the update.

Don't you want to download any Virtual Console Arcade games?

As for me, I download every update as soon as it is available.

[Mop it up]

Don't you want to download any Virtual Console Arcade games?

Because of my collectoritis, I can't bring myself to pay for downloads. The very rare exception was Bomberman Blast, because it's online Bomberman. Nobody could resist that.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

None of the VCA games are great, unlike Castlevania.

[Spinnzilla]

The VCA seriously lacks brawlers.  Live AVP.

[Stratos]

I haven't downloaded it cuz i'm no hurry play non-disc games.

I'm waiting for the dust to settle, so I don't get hit with any surprise VISTA SERVICE PACK UPDATE that the SD channel might contract.

You've all been warned.

And it is too late. My RB/GH DLC no longer works. This is the worst update ever. 

[Spinnzilla]

This is a good update, it's just nintendo didn't toubleshoot enough outside of VC/Wiiware stuff.  Even though they had what? over 6 months to do so?

[Flames_of_chaos]

I haven't downloaded it cuz i'm no hurry play non-disc games.

I'm waiting for the dust to settle, so I don't get hit with any surprise VISTA SERVICE PACK UPDATE that the SD channel might contract.

You've all been warned.

And it is too late. My RB/GH DLC no longer works. This is the worst update ever. 

How doesn't the RB/GB DLC doesn't work? Is it because you switched to a SDHC card? That's because the games were made when the Wii could only support SD cards, so that means SDHC cards will not work on Rock Band 2 and GH: World Tour.

[Stratos]

I haven't downloaded it cuz i'm no hurry play non-disc games.

I'm waiting for the dust to settle, so I don't get hit with any surprise VISTA SERVICE PACK UPDATE that the SD channel might contract.

You've all been warned.

And it is too late. My RB/GH DLC no longer works. This is the worst update ever. 

How doesn't the RB/GB DLC doesn't work? Is it because you switched to a SDHC card? That's because the games were made when the Wii could only support SD cards, so that means SDHC cards will not work on Rock Band 2 and GH: World Tour.

No, it is the same card I've used since the games were released.

I have another 1gb card kicking around somewhere that I will try when I find it.

[Spinnzilla]

Hey stratos, i'm not sure if they still do, but Walmart sold me an 2 gig SD card for 5 bucks.

[Stratos]

I'll check that out, thanks.

[Mop it up]

The Wii memory however applies to all the games you play and even extra content such as messages and channels, so now this possible limit of 100,000 could potentially present a problem sooner than one might think.

I would also wager that the 100k is extremely conservative.

The other day when I was managing my GameCube memory cards, I was thinking about this again. The memory card I got with my GameCube back in 2001 is the one which has always had my Super Smash Brothers Melee data on it. I've played SSBMelee more than I'd care to admit... but I need to use it as an example. I've played over 100,000 matches, and the game saves at least twice per match: once before the match begins, and once when the match is finished. So, that alone would be at least 200,000 writes to my memory card, and that's not counting the saves from playing other modes or from the various other game data which has been saved to it throughout the years.

Obviously the GameCube memory cards can withstand a lot more than the predicted 100,000 writes for flash memory. With the Wii internal memory being tied to the entire system and non-replaceable, I'd think it would be at least up to the quality of GameCube memory cards, if not better considering it was released five years later. Therefore I'd say it's going to be a long time before I (or anyone) had to worry about the Wii internal memory reaching its write limit and possibly becoming corrupted.

A little more on-topic, I still haven't downloaded this update. Hooray me!

[BlackNMild2k1]

I just got a 8GB SDHC card and I'm trying to back up all my Wii saves, but I have a problem.
I can't copy over the saves for the following games:
Mario Kart Wii
The Conduit
Kid Icarus (NES)
Adv. of Lolo (NES)
SSBB
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Animal Crossing Wii

How can I remedy this problem? Why are those the only ones not allowed to be be copied?

SMB2 The Lost Levels (NES) allowed me to copy the save.
The Secret of Mana (SNES) allowed me to copy the save.

[Stratos]

I can't really explain the VC games, though I think Saved States don't copy to the SD card so that might be their issue. But games with online components won't permit you to copy them over like MK, Conduit, Brawl and AC unless you hack the system.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Ahh. so I have to inastall and load the homebrew channel to get those saves backed up?

as far as the VC games go, I have 4 or 5 and all but those 2 let me copy over the saves.

[Mop it up]

I just got a 8GB SDHC card and I'm trying to back up all my Wii saves, but I have a problem.
I can't copy over the saves for the following games:
Mario Kart Wii
The Conduit
SSBB
Animal Crossing Wii

These are online games so they can't be copied because of problems which can occur with duplicate friend codes. The only way to copy them would be though illegitimate means.

[UncleBob]

Yeah, you can't copy them.  I mean, why would you ever need to back them up?

*sigh*

[Mop it up]

I don't know why the games aren't like Mario Strikers Charged which allows you to copy the save file but just deletes the friend codes when you do. That makes more sense.

[Stratos]

I don't know why the games aren't like Mario Strikers Charged which allows you to copy the save file but just deletes the friend codes when you do. That makes more sense.

Because companies like Next Level Games, Vicarious Visions and Monster Games are using extreme programming tricks like that and SD card custom soundtracks and DLC that are far beyond the skills of Nintendo's in-house teams apparently.

[that Baby guy]

The Wii memory however applies to all the games you play and even extra content such as messages and channels, so now this possible limit of 100,000 could potentially present a problem sooner than one might think.

I would also wager that the 100k is extremely conservative.

The other day when I was managing my GameCube memory cards, I was thinking about this again. The memory card I got with my GameCube back in 2001 is the one which has always had my Super Smash Brothers Melee data on it. I've played SSBMelee more than I'd care to admit... but I need to use it as an example. I've played over 100,000 matches, and the game saves at least twice per match: once before the match begins, and once when the match is finished. So, that alone would be at least 200,000 writes to my memory card, and that's not counting the saves from playing other modes or from the various other game data which has been saved to it throughout the years.

Obviously the GameCube memory cards can withstand a lot more than the predicted 100,000 writes for flash memory. With the Wii internal memory being tied to the entire system and non-replaceable, I'd think it would be at least up to the quality of GameCube memory cards, if not better considering it was released five years later. Therefore I'd say it's going to be a long time before I (or anyone) had to worry about the Wii internal memory reaching its write limit and possibly becoming corrupted.

A little more on-topic, I still haven't downloaded this update. Hooray me!

...Doesn't Melee only save when you leave the Character select screen for a higher level menu?

[Mop it up]

The Wii memory however applies to all the games you play and even extra content such as messages and channels, so now this possible limit of 100,000 could potentially present a problem sooner than one might think.

I would also wager that the 100k is extremely conservative.

The other day when I was managing my GameCube memory cards, I was thinking about this again. The memory card I got with my GameCube back in 2001 is the one which has always had my Super Smash Brothers Melee data on it. I've played SSBMelee more than I'd care to admit... but I need to use it as an example. I've played over 100,000 matches, and the game saves at least twice per match: once before the match begins, and once when the match is finished. So, that alone would be at least 200,000 writes to my memory card, and that's not counting the saves from playing other modes or from the various other game data which has been saved to it throughout the years.

Obviously the GameCube memory cards can withstand a lot more than the predicted 100,000 writes for flash memory. With the Wii internal memory being tied to the entire system and non-replaceable, I'd think it would be at least up to the quality of GameCube memory cards, if not better considering it was released five years later. Therefore I'd say it's going to be a long time before I (or anyone) had to worry about the Wii internal memory reaching its write limit and possibly becoming corrupted.

A little more on-topic, I still haven't downloaded this update. Hooray me!

...Doesn't Melee only save when you leave the Character select screen for a higher level menu?

Interesting late response. No it saves more than that. I've tested it.