Topic: Bigger GameCube Memory Cards Might be on the Way

[StrikerObi]

For those of you who need even more space for your game saves.

According to www.gameinformer.com">Game Informer, Nintendo is planning on releasing a new official memory card for the GameCube. This new card will weigh in at more four times the size of the Memory Card 251. This card will hold 1019 blocks of memory. Finally, enough room to save a ton of Madden data.

This new card is rumored to have a release sometime this spring season. Keep in mind that the card has not been officially announced and there is no price set yet.

[Eminem]

I guess that's good for people who need the room. I still have a new memory card from Christmas that I haven't even used yet. Maybe some games in the future will require more space that these new cards will be needed.

[anubis6789]

Hmmm... I just bought my 3rd 251( I also have 3 59's if you count my AC one) because I was runing out of room and didn't want to delete anything. Wish I had waited a little longer.

If this is true though I wonder what color they will be and if they will be the same size as the other 2 memory cards denominations.  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

@$#&^^$^!#^@$$$@#@$%^$

It's about time.

And I expect they'll remain the same size, since modern miniaturization seems to be very efficient these days.  I have a 59 and a 251, and I've had to re-organize/delete data on many occasions.

[Bloodworth]

I still have an open 59 lying around from when I got my second 251. I have like seven cards though:
two US 251s
Animal Crossing 59
two Japanese 59s
a Doshin 59
and the blank 59.

[ruby_onix]

Quote
This new card will weigh in at more four times the size of the Memory Card 251. This card will hold 1019 blocks of memory.

For those who didn't know, the MC59 was 1/2 of a megabyte (four megabits). The MC251 is two megabytes, which is four times as big. But you can fit more than four times as much stuff on an MC251. A "59" times four should only be "236", not "251", right?

How does it work? Add "5" to each card. The MC59 is really a 64. The MC251 is really a 256. The math works when you do that.

This new MC-1019 is really a 1024. Something on these cards takes up 5 blocks (and index, or format, or something like that). The bigger the card you get, the less of an effect that will have (compared to just using multiple cards).

(BTW, this new card will be 8 megabytes, the same size as the memory card used by the PS2, which Sony has been rumored to lose money on for a long time now.)

What color do you think it'll be? The 59 was the white plasic from the front of the GCN. The 251 was the same black plastic as the Jet GameCube. What's next? Indigo? Platinum? Spice?

[Ian Sane]

It's about time.  I've managed to make due with one 251 card so far (the 59 I bought at launch is now used for my brother's Animal Crossing save) but I'm seriously running out of room and with Pokemon Colosseum coming out soon I think I'm going to have to delete some of the old rental game saves I have on my card.  I hope they release this soon because I would hate to have to buy a new 251 card because of necessity only to have this bigger card come out.

Hopefully Nintendo will learn from this experience and release a decent sized card from the get go for the N5.

[Shecky]

Don't forget clear, N. likes to think that's a separate color.... (if you ask me there were only 3 colors for the standard controller at launch) - Actually I'm quite happy with the Interact 8Mb card.... does have this occational habbit of scaring me a few times and looking totally blank in the internal memory card browser though...  

[Shecky]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
Hopefully Nintendo will learn from this experience and release a decent sized card from the get go for the N5.

Or maybe we'll actually see the SD adapter by then

[mouse_clicker]

I let my friend borrow a few of my Gamecube games recently and in return he gave me a memory card 251 (he got like 5 for Christmas). In addition I have another memory card 251 and three memory card 59's, including my Animal Crossing one. Needless to say I'm set for quite a while.  

[Berny]

I have 3 blocks left on my 2 59s so I am overjoyed.
for doing this Ninty
for not doing this from the start

[anubis6789]

I think that "missing" 5 blocks on the memory cards actually hold the formating data. Does anyone know for sure?

 

[JB]

Quote
Originally posted by: ruby_onix
This new MC-1019 is really a 1024. Something on these cards takes up 5 blocks (and index, or format, or something like that). The bigger the card you get, the less of an effect that will have (compared to just using multiple cards).

The file index table of the filesystem used on the memory card is what uses up the 5 blocks. The size of this table is also what stops you from putting more than 128 saves on a single memory card, because the name of the save, the aniimated icon and the banner also have to be stored within these 5 blocks.  

[joshnickerson]

Great, I was just about to go out and get a third party card for all my Mario Kart and 1080 ghosts and replays, but now I can just wait for the official one.

[KDR_11k]

I can fit all of my saves (20 games) on one 251...

[RareWare]

And I just bought two 1019 interact ones...  darn....  Oh well, it was only $20.

[Kairon]

Quote
(BTW, this new card will be 8 megabytes, the same size as the memory card used by the PS2, which Sony has been rumored to lose money on for a long time now.)

Hmmm... so you mean to say that Nintendo released smaller-sized cards in order to not lose a deal of money for each card they sell?

Interesting... and I thought that they did so because they were simply behind the times...

Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[kovu_br]

I do hope they release it soon, my 251 memory card just ran out of space.

[Renny]

Since only one game supports the SD now anyway, I wouldn't count on it for future game saves. Maybe the next Zelda will be released 6 months before the N5 and require it,  but until then the best we'll get is 8MB I guess.

As for the color, clear seems like a good possibility. Hori already makes "officially liscenced" Indigo, Silver, Jet and Spice 251s. So unless they use different colors than Japan it would have to be clear, or maybe Emerald. :¬]

[Jonnyboy117]

For the price of a PS2 memory card, I really doubt Sony ever lost money on them.  Those things sold for $35 at launch.

[Bill Aurion]

It should be pink...Why?...'Cause I say so...

[Deguello]

I expect EA Sports save files to expand to 900 blocks.  Because, just in case you didn't know... EA is bloatware.

[ThePerm]

i have a 251, 2 mc59, and 1 ac mc59, and an interact 8mb card. I dont use the huge one much but when i run out of space on my 251 then i'll just shift data from the 251 to the 8mb card..the 8mb card voerheats so i dont use itfor play...just storage.

[Berny]

Your 8MB overheats?! o_O Actually, that's hilarious. I want 4 of these on my desk by noon! Get on it!
*wants to play Harvest Moon and Twin Snakes*

[ruby_onix]

Quote
For the price of a PS2 memory card, I really doubt Sony ever lost money on them. Those things sold for $35 at launch.

I'm not 100% certain, but I remember hearing, about a year or two in, that Sony cranked the MSRP on the up to something crazy like $45, but a bunch of retailers said that their customers wouldn't pay that much, and refused to get more stock from Sony at that price (which caused a small shortage, letting other retailers get away with charging the $45 price), and then a month later, Sony quietly knocked the price back down to $35.

I think I was reading about it as it happened in the GameSpot letter columns, where some retailers were venting. I think that's where it was. It was quite a while ago. I can hardly remember it.

It could be that Sony was just being greedy. But some people were speculating that it was a money-loser, and Sony was hoping to fix that. But again, I'm not an expert. That's just what I heard.