Topic: The OFFICIAL Big N rumor thread *bring your own salt*

[Chozo Ghost]

Nintendo will never use Blu-ray Discs though. At most, they will use a custom disc that is the same size as BD (the same way the Wii Optical Disc holds the same amount of data as a DVD, but is not a DVD).

We've been through this - Wii games are DVDs. They hold the same amount of data because they are the same thing. File system is different, everything's encrypted. Disc is a DVD.

The FACT is that you are wrong. They hold the same amount of data, but are not the same. Xbox 360 discs are DVDs, PlayStation 3 discs are Blu-ray Discs, Wii discs are a propriety format that just shares the same data size as DVDs. You can feel differently, but you are wrong.

Actually Brandogg is right. Look at it this way: an audio CD and a CD-ROM game are both CDs. They just have different filesystems and data. That's how it is between DVDs and Wii discs. They both use the exact same physical media. The only difference is in what is written on the discs (the data). Do you think it was just a mere coincidence that they both share the exact same data capacity?

[BranDonk Kong]

And you can direct the Wii to read hard drives and the SD card slot in order to play games, too.  Turns out when you modify a Wii, it can do things an unmodified Wii can't typically do.

The point is, if it were as simple as a change in software, there would be something out there for homebrew that could allow users to alter the Wii's firmware to make it play DVDs.  As it stands, while Wii Optical Discs are entirely similar to DVDs, they are not one and the same, even if just because of the burst cutting print on a Wii Disc.  It's likely there's more to it than that burst cut, or new Wiis would be able to play DVDs like older Wiis can.

But there *IS* something out there for homebrew that lets you play DVDs on the Wii. You can't alter the firmware of the DVD-ROM, but you can alter the system software (and restore the DVD movie functionality that is hidden, but in the Wii's software, from the beginning). The Wii Menu does not have a built-in DVD movie player, which is why you use WiiMC or other means to actually play the disc. New Wiis can't play DVDs because the drive firmware (which cannot be updated via a system update) explicitly blocks DVD movies and DVD-R discs. I've already explained this, and putting an old Wii DVD-ROM should enable DVD movie playback, too. The stuff you're talking about (ISO loaders) has absolutely nothing to do with this, and is a completely different concept. You can also use homebrew that lets you use the Wii DVD-ROM to play games off of...DVD-R discs...because Wii games...are on DVDs. Yes, there is a BCA that is used to authenticate discs, that does not make the disc no longer a DVD, it just makes it a DVD with the appropriate BCA on it.

[Stogi]

I don't see the point of this discussion.

[Stratos]

I don't see the point of this discussion.

To see who has the larger E-Peen.

[UncleBob]

When is a DVD not a DVD?

Isn't a DVD a specific format of media, owned by a group of businesses, that are required to be set to a certain set of specifications - and that requires you to pay that group of businesses a fee?

As Wii Discs do not meed these exact specifications and Nintendo hasn't paid the royalties, can they be called DVDs?

[BlackNMild2k1]

DVD: A type of compact disc able to store large amounts of data, esp. high-resolution audio-visual material
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD

DVD is the disc itself. The royalties are paid for reading the DVD movie format that is used for encoding the video.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Video

To end this back and forth debate, from all I've just read, the Wii Optical Disc is a standard DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) that that doesn't license the DVD video format and therefore does not natively allow DVD movie playback.

The DVD-Video specification was created by DVD Forum and can be obtained from DVD Format/Logo Licensing Corporation for a fee of $5,000.[5][6] The specification is not publicly available, because every subscriber must sign a non-disclosure agreement. Certain information in the DVD Book* is proprietary and confidential.

*DVD specifications created and updated by the DVD Forum are published as so-called DVD Books

[that Baby guy]

I do agree this argument has no place here.  I have more I can say, but I'll refrain from posting it in this thread. If anyone wants to hear it, start a thread about Wiis and DVDs, or bump an old one, if there is an old one. I don't want to derail the rumor thread anymore.

[Chozo Ghost]

I just want to say I enjoy the discussion/argument even if it doesn't belong here... at least no one is trolling or personally attacking each other like in certain other threads. If going offtopic is the worst problem this thread has to deal with then I would say its pretty lucky.

[BranDonk Kong]

I'm done explaining it. I've already shown why a Wii disc is a DVD, and no one has shown otherwise. So...peace out of this conversation.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm done explaining it. I've already shown why a Wii disc is a DVD, and no one has shown otherwise. So...peace out of this conversation.

I backed you up with links so the doubters and read up on it for themselves. No need to explain it any further.

Now to put this thread slightly back on topic. E3 is less than 90 days away (May 7, 2011).

People are speculating that Nintendo might hint at new hardware and will reveal a handful of previously unannounced games for N.A, some we didn't even know existed and others will be previously un-localized (crosses fingers for Xenoblade & The Last Story).

Since we like to speculate, and there is no official E3 thread (too early for one), what do all of you hope/expect to see at this years E3?
and I mean from all involved, not just Nintendo and affiliates. (Sony, MS, SE, Acti, EA, Ubi, etc. etc. etc.)

[NWR_insanolord]

I think we should leave this thread for actual rumors and start another thread for general Nintendo speculation. I know we've been doing it here for a while, but I think it would be better to separate them.

[Stogi]

Why? Aren't they one and the same? Don't you use rumors to speculate?

[NWR_insanolord]

There is some overlap, but there is a distinction between rumors that have actually been floating around the industry and us making predictions or saying what we hope to see.

[UncleBob]

I just want to say I enjoy the discussion/argument even if it doesn't belong here... at least no one is trolling or personally attacking each other like in certain other threads. If going offtopic is the worst problem this thread has to deal with then I would say its pretty lucky.

I should hope that the distinction between "DVD" and "WiiVD" isn't something worth getting fired up over.   I know, personally, I don't much care (although I do appreciate BnM's distinction between DVD-Video and a DVD Disc... I was under the belief that if something was a "DVD", you had to pay for the license...)

[Kytim89]

I found an article about somethin called Thunderbolt and it is a new type of USB connection cable that runs a lot fater than the normal USB. Could this ever find its way onto a Nintendo system in the future?
 
http://www.crunchgear.com/2011/02/24/what-is-thunderbolt-and-will-it-change-your-life/

[BranDonk Kong]

Doesn't belong in the rumor thread, since this is essentially a brand new technology that only a few companies (none of them being Nintendo) have signed on for. It will be years before (and if) it ever becomes a new standard. Also, it isn't a new type of USB connection cable, it's a new type of connection altogether. It does sound pretty awesome though, and probably will take off, which is cool for the future, but it's also kind of annoying when stuff like this happens.

[NWR_insanolord]

I can't really think of a reason why you'd want it in a Nintendo system. It doesn't offer anything that would be useful in that context.

[BranDonk Kong]

Well you could potentially use it to upgrade the GPU one day, I imagine.

[NWR_insanolord]

You could, but I don't see that as a likely feature on a console, especially a Nintendo console. It defeats the purpose of a console, having everyone have the same hardware configuration.

[Chozo Ghost]

You could, but I don't see that as a likely feature on a console, especially a Nintendo console. It defeats the purpose of a console, having everyone have the same hardware configuration.

The N64 had that memory pak thing which was required for certain games. So you can't say Nintendo hasn't done it before. Plus almost every console they made since the NES had at least the capability to be upgraded via some connection thing on the bottom. If you own or ever owned an NES if you look at the bottom of it there's something that can open up which something could have theoretically plugged into to expand the NES, like a modem or something... but it was never used for anything (maybe in Japan it was, I dunno). But it seems like with the Wii they finally dropped that thing, but even the GC had it, and in the GC's case it was used for the GB player and the almost completely useless modem peripheral. But I imagine it could have been used to expand the capability of the system if Nintendo had been so inclined, which they may have been if the GC had been a serious player.

[TJ Spyke]

The Memory Pak was just a memory card. I think you meant the RAM Expansion Pak.

[Kytim89]

The only reason I mentioned this new cable was that it might actually help in the download speed of disc based games. It might actually make it easier to download Gamecube games if they were to appear on the Virtual Console on the Wii 2.

[NWR_insanolord]

It would still be limited by the speed of your internet connection, and thus wouldn't offer any benefit over standard connections.

[Chozo Ghost]

The only reason I mentioned this new cable was that it might actually help in the download speed of disc based games. It might actually make it easier to download Gamecube games if they were to appear on the Virtual Console on the Wii 2.

You don't download games through USB/Thunderbolt; you download them from the internet. USB/Thunderbolt is for devices to communicate with one another. I don't think it would even be possible to have the internet run through USB/Thunderbolt because I imagine it probably has a maximum range of 20ft or something like that.

[Louieturkey]

You could, but I don't see that as a likely feature on a console, especially a Nintendo console. It defeats the purpose of a console, having everyone have the same hardware configuration.

The N64 had that memory pak thing which was required for certain games. So you can't say Nintendo hasn't done it before. Plus almost every console they made since the NES had at least the capability to be upgraded via some connection thing on the bottom. If you own or ever owned an NES if you look at the bottom of it there's something that can open up which something could have theoretically plugged into to expand the NES, like a modem or something... but it was never used for anything (maybe in Japan it was, I dunno). But it seems like with the Wii they finally dropped that thing, but even the GC had it, and in the GC's case it was used for the GB player and the almost completely useless modem peripheral. But I imagine it could have been used to expand the capability of the system if Nintendo had been so inclined, which they may have been if the GC had been a serious player.

The Wii still had expansion ports.  They just standardized this time instead of going proprietary and used two USB ports and an SD card reader.