Players will be able to download Virtual Console and WiiWare games directly to their SD Card. Iwata said that this data would then be easy to transfer to the Wii's own memory afterwards.
According to Iwata, the new feature will be available next spring. With Nintendo holding a press event tomorrow and NWR in attendance, look forward to further details as they break.
CORRECTION: There is no clear indication at this time that games can be played directly from the SD card.
Finally. Does the Wii take larger than 2gb SD cards?
So, um, it skips the step of saving it into the Wii memory? BFD, loading from the SD card is still slow as **** and the copying to it is done only once anyway.No it would still copy to the main WII SD memory, the possible advantage would be having 2 SD memory sources for uploading and dowloading data, like streaming texture maps, geometry, audio for downloading or increasing the level of in game customizeability with an increase in the upload rate (which is usually slower for SD cards).
I don't understand why they'd let you download straight to the SD card if you can't play them off it, that would make no sense. Hopefully they'll clear things up later today.
uhh yes you can play them off the SD card. Thats the entire point. Save direct to SD, play off SD and that way you have 2 gig card to save and play your game and your Wii doesn't get full.
I don't understand why they'd let you download straight to the SD card if you can't play them off it, that would make no sense. Hopefully they'll clear things up later today.
So the solution to the "clean out your fridge" paradigm is to "use a bar fridge as well"?
Good thing I don't care about this VC/Wiiware stuff right now, otherwise I'd be pissed.
What idea of PartyBear are you guys referring to? The scenario of downloading a new game directly to the card instead of backing out to the menu to clean the fridge isn't an idea -- it's exactly how this update will work.
I was talking to the RFN guys and got the idea to display all your SD games on the Wii channel menu with some indication (like a highlight or gray-out) that shows they are on the card, not your system. If the transfer speeds have been improved enough, you should be able to click on one of these off-system games and have it quickly load into a reserved space on the system memory to be played within a few seconds.
But this is a FUTURE solution down the road? What are you kidding me? Why the hell would it take this long?Because they probably have to rearchitect their API so that the Shop channel actually has access to the encryption mechanisms for the channels it'll be putting on the SD cards.
What idea of PartyBear are you guys referring to?
The SD channel
Which will require users to leave a signifigant amount of WII memory card space free, possibly the majority of the space if not all and have everything that was on the WII uploaded to SD.
This free space is of course a virtual memeory to download whatever game or program is selected in the SD channel and possibly to be used to help performace of say, the Web browser and WII ware games.
That is my hypothesis at any rate.
Nintendo's action on this issue goes to show that they believe that a more drastic solution will be expensive, difficult, and possibly create more problems for them. Clearly they've evaluated this issue and rated it of vastly less importance than the vehement internet community. In my opinion, a hard drive was NEVER in the cards for the Wii, and Nintendo probably ruled out the idea a long time ago.
Anyways, why WOULDN'T Nintendo want to remove a psychological barrier to purchase? They are a for-profit company after all.
"We will make it so that, when there is not enough room on the Wii's internal memory, you will be able to purchase and download Virtual Console and WiiWare software directly from the Shopping Channel to an SD memory card. We will also make it so that you will need to go through just one process in order to transfer Virtual Console or WiiWare software stored on an SD card to the Wii console and then be able to play it. We would like to deal with this issue utilizing two methods. Since the updates to realize these new structures will require significant revisions to the Wii system, and these changes need to be made by taking care of a variety of different angles, this method will become effective beginning next spring. For some of you, this may be considered late. But please know that we really appreciate your cooperation and understanding. We are working hard so we can begin the service as soon as possible."> -- Satoru Iwata