Post by: davidctaylor on September 18, 2006, 07:09:34 AM
I've got an extra 512MB laying around. But, I could get a 1GB from Newegg for ~$18. One thing that concerns me is that there is only 1 SD slot. If I fill up my internal memory and my SD card, how would I go about copying information onto a new (bigger) SD Card?! could I do it from my PC? That is one reason I'm thinking it might be wise to start with as large of an SD card as possible. I'm sure Nintendo has thought of this, but I don't see how copying from card to card will work.
Does anyone have any insight into this?
Thanks!
David Taylor
Post by: croenyit on September 18, 2006, 07:20:22 AM
You can do it on your pc if you buy an USB SD Card Reader. Put your old SD card in and copy the files to your hard drive. Then, take out your old SD card and put in your new larger SD card and copy the files off your hard drive to your new SD card. I'm assumming it's that easy.
Post by: BigJim on September 18, 2006, 07:42:16 AM
As for size, damn, I can't fathom filling up a 1 GB card plus the system's 512MB myself (although the Wii channels and UI are likely taking up a portion of that 512). But there are 2 GB cards for $30 on that site too. Wouldn't miss the extra money too badly for the "insurance."
Post by: Spak-Spang on September 18, 2006, 07:50:25 AM
The memory inside the Wii is enough to save several NES, SNES, and Cube games without trouble, and game saves. However, if patches, demos, and other Wii24Connect downloads take alot of space then you will obviously need more space.
My personal plan is to buy either a 128MB SD card or 256MB SD card (depending on price) and putting all game saves and virtual console downloads onto that SD card. (Then I can take my virtual console on the go.) The Wii memory will only be used for the Wii24Connect information.
Post by: couchmonkey on September 18, 2006, 08:22:20 AM
If you play a lot of sports games and/or plan to use the virtual console a lot, then you'd probably want a 1 or even 2 GB card. I think even the 1GB will probably last a couple of years, but who knows? Give developers more space to save and they'll always use it.
Post by: Arbok on September 18, 2006, 08:38:15 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: couchmonkey
My plan is to wait until I have to buy one.
That'll be my approach too. Like most computer related parts, it's always nice to wait. SD cards are only going to get bigger and cheaper as time goes on, after all.
Post by: davidctaylor on September 18, 2006, 08:55:46 AM
I think that they will be tied to YOUR account on YOUR Wii. That is my understanding.
Also, for all we know the Wii will use a different file system not compatible with PCs. I mean...this might keep people from doing hacks/homebrew that Nintendo doesn't want to happen. THAT makes sense to me. So...I'm not counting on the fact that I can back them up on my hard drive.
Post by: nitsu niflheim on September 18, 2006, 09:06:27 AM
Post by: Neodymium on September 18, 2006, 09:54:12 AM
Obviously anything less than 512 MB is just way way way too small to be practical, but 2GB+ cards go for a lot -- more than they're worth, probably.
I'm sure 20GB+ cards will be under 50 dollars by the end of the Wii's life cycle.
Post by: nitsu niflheim on September 18, 2006, 10:00:25 AM
Post by: AnyoneEB on September 18, 2006, 10:06:04 AM
davidctaylor: As nitsu niflheim said, you can dump the entirity of a card to your hard drive regardless of format, but that is annoying if you want to do any kind of file management. Writing an entire 1GB card to get one VC game would be a pain. Anyway, if Nintendo expects you to be sharing SD cards with your camera (as they do have a photo channel), then it would make sense for them to use files on a FAT filesystem (which is how flash cards usually come formatted anyway).
... and if Nintendo does come up with their own filesystem, it will be cracked within a few weeks of the release of the Wii anyway. :-D
Post by: Strell on September 18, 2006, 10:27:25 AM
I'll prolly throw down on a 4 gig since they are dropping in price so quickly.
Has there been any word on how large a card the Wii can recognize? I'd hate to think they capped it somewhere...
Post by: couchmonkey on September 18, 2006, 10:30:52 AM
Post by: nitsu niflheim on September 18, 2006, 10:42:14 AM
Post by: Nick DiMola on September 18, 2006, 11:33:22 AM
Post by: couchmonkey on September 18, 2006, 11:40:13 AM
Post by: Kairon on September 18, 2006, 11:42:08 AM
And when you DO need to buy an SD card, you'll be able to get a better deal because you waited a little longer and the prices will have dropped.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Ian Sane on September 18, 2006, 11:44:39 AM
I hope it's not like this because then years from now when Nintendo has disabled the service you can't play the games you paid for anymore. That's why above all else I'm a big supporter of having physical copies you the buyer own so that no matter what happens you can still play your game. Regarding the VC I would consider saved games on your SD Card to be the same thing as a physical copy. All that matters is that no one can permanently "turn off" your game for whatever reason.
Post by: RickPowers on September 18, 2006, 12:01:39 PM
Under $20 for a 1GB card is a rockin' deal. Personally, I'll probably get a bigger card for my digital camera, and use the old 512MB card for the Wii.
Edit: Something else to consider ... you'll probably want to put game saves on the SD card as well, so that you can back them up and/or upload them. Perhaps a 2GB card would not be unreasonable.
Quote
Originally posted by: Strell
Just go to dealnews.com or newegg.com and get a gig minimum, but I'd recommend a 2 gig.
I'll prolly throw down on a 4 gig since they are dropping in price so quickly.
Has there been any word on how large a card the Wii can recognize? I'd hate to think they capped it somewhere...
You can't use more than a 2GB card unless the Wii supports SDHC, the new high-capacity SD cards. Supposedly, they are electrically identical, but require some devices to have a firmware update to support them. Wii could probably use them, but I certainly wouldn't bet on it.
Post by: davidctaylor on September 18, 2006, 12:27:32 PM
YEP! I thought of that after I posted. Very good point.
Post by: BiLdItUp1 on September 18, 2006, 12:58:58 PM
Post by: Ceric on September 18, 2006, 04:47:14 PM
Post by: jasonditz on September 18, 2006, 07:26:39 PM
I'd wait until launch though, personally, to see if Nintendo puts any limitations on their SD support.
Post by: RickPowers on September 19, 2006, 12:53:44 PM
http://web.mac.com/stewart.lawrence/iWeb/wii/VC%20Stuff.html
But here's the good stuff.
"Seven hundred and fifty dollars (USD), 25 N64 games, 31 SNES games, 50 NES games, 376Mb!"
Post by: JonLeung on September 19, 2006, 02:42:11 PM
Then I lost the cable that lets you transfer images from the camera directly to the computer, so instead of buying a replacement, I bought a card reader/writer, which is also apparently a good choice because now I'll be able to back up whatever I save on the card(s) from the Wii.
(It also means I can abuse the Wii's Photo Channel with all that porn I have... >_>)
1 GB is a pretty good standard starting size. I guess 2 GB and 4 GB is good if you can get a good deal on them, why not? I saw an 8 GB one that was ridiculously expensive, but maybe that was a CF card.
The Wii's OS is upgradeable, so unless there's a physical limitation, the Wii can be upgraded to handle larger cards in the future, can't it?
EDIT: BTW I found the article that Rick linked to fairly interesting. If that's really the case then maybe you can hold off on the SD cards, depending on how much space is used for other things, like Wii game saves and whatnot.
Post by: AnyoneEB on September 19, 2006, 03:12:15 PM
I do not see any reason to buy a SD card until I have filled or almosted filled the Wii's internal memory. Then again, I am also hoping for USB mass storage device support to be added in the future becuase then I could just use a flash drive... and justify getting a 1GB+ one.
Post by: Ceric on September 19, 2006, 03:14:10 PM
Post by: BranDonk Kong on September 19, 2006, 07:25:17 PM
Post by: IceCold on November 13, 2006, 12:52:27 PM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on November 13, 2006, 01:12:37 PM
Worst launch ever.
Post by: Nick DiMola on November 13, 2006, 03:42:26 PM
Post by: Flames_of_chaos on November 18, 2006, 06:32:16 AM
According to Nintendo the Wii may experiance difficulties if a SD ranked higher than 2GB is put in so I guess the recommended boundary is 2GB for the best bet and to write to your SD cards you DO NEED a firmware update online.
Post by: Kairon on November 18, 2006, 06:49:45 AM
And by then, SD card prices will have dropped anyways and we'll have gotten a firmware update to hit the 4+ GB SD card mark. Just buy one then why don't ya?
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Flames_of_chaos on November 18, 2006, 07:22:02 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
Either way, I think it's absolute lunacy to buy an SD card now. 512 MBs will take AT LEAST 9 months to fill up, and that's only if you buy every single VC title in existence and make LOADS of saves and stuff.
And by then, SD card prices will have dropped anyways and we'll have gotten a firmware update to hit the 4+ GB SD card mark. Just buy one then why don't ya?
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
There are games that support custom soundtracks but the songs need to be on a SD card so its not a bad idea at all unless you want to hear crappy EA soundtracks or soundtracks you hate or the generic music in Excite Truck. Also I doubt there will be a firmware update to allow 4GB SDs or higher to be read better here is the reasoning why.
Quote
From Wikipedia's SD card section
SD and SDHC - compatibility
A new SD format, SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity), allows capacities in excess of 2GB (4GB to 32GB). SDHC uses the same form factor as SD, but compatibility is not complete in either direction. The SD 2.0 standard in SDHC uses a different memory addressing method (sector addressing vs byte addressing[5]), causing devices that do not specifically support SD 2.0 / SDHC to fail to recognize the memory cards. Making the issue more confusing is the fact that some manufacturers have produced semi-nonstandard 4GB SD cards. These cards are incompatible with SD devices that don't support the larger formats, and are also incompatible with many SDHC devices, because they don't conform to the SD 2.0 spec for High Capacity memory cards. As of late 2006, the simultaneous availability of non-standards 4GB SD and 4GB SDHC cards, and the incompatibilities between SD and SDHC have caused a great deal of confusion among consumers looking to buy memory for various devices. "
Simply Nintendo didn't make the Wii's SD card reader a SDHC reader. Since SDHC is more expensive.
Post by: Caliban on November 18, 2006, 07:44:50 AM
Post by: Flames_of_chaos on November 18, 2006, 07:46:55 AM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on November 18, 2006, 07:49:24 AM
ADD ONE TO THE "NINTENDO PHAIL REPORT"
Post by: Caliban on November 18, 2006, 07:54:54 AM
Post by: Kairon on November 18, 2006, 07:55:13 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Caliban
Well I recently got a 2GB SD card, it has 0.97GB free from a total of 1.86GB. I put some mp3s in it already (obviously), but I also want to try to read some scanlations on TV, and I hope someone releases a decent movie converter so I can watch my anime.
You looking for this?
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: Caliban on November 18, 2006, 08:07:12 AM
Post by: Kairon on November 18, 2006, 08:14:47 AM
Now I'm in the same pickle...
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
Post by: IceCold on November 18, 2006, 08:17:34 AM
Post by: z64dan on November 18, 2006, 08:32:37 AM
But if you download a package online of around 3500 NES roms, its about 200 meg... So theres really no problem with ONLY nes games...
Unfortunately the file sizes get larger with each system.... SNES is bigger than NES and some N64 games are 32-64 megs each...
Post by: Caliban on November 18, 2006, 12:05:14 PM
I tried "my" converter, and what did I get? I got exactly what I wanted, the converted file was 220+MB when the original was 230+MB, picture quality is still there and I did not see any artifacts, the sound was a little lower in volume, but I bet if I convert it at 44KHz instead of the 24KHz in the end I will get the exact same file size/audio/picture quality.
Btw, the conversion took me roughly 30 minutes if not a little more, I didn't measure the time but it is roughly that.
Now all I have to do is test it on the Wii.
If you want to know what I used here are the links to it, it's shareware btw, and it can be a little confusing for beginners:
converter features
converter download
Post by: Kairon on November 18, 2006, 12:23:02 PM
...and from Joystiq that Zelda (NES) takes about 94 blocks.
~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com
