Gaming Forums => Nintendo Gaming => Topic started by: Kytim89 on February 10, 2010, 07:21:53 PM
Title: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Kytim89 on February 10, 2010, 07:21:53 PM
Let us suppose for a second that Nintendo released an update that allowed the wii to use an external hard drive for memory storage. It could use HDD or flash drives as a storage device that would hook up into the USB ports. However, there would be a catch to this. I for one would mod a NES controller with a large capacity USB flash drive inside. This way it would look nice along with my stickers that make my wii look like a NES console.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: EasyCure on February 10, 2010, 07:30:43 PM
This way it would look nice along with my stickers that make my wii look like a NES console.
pics?
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Kytim89 on February 10, 2010, 07:32:10 PM
I will get them to you soon.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Mop it up on February 10, 2010, 07:36:01 PM
That seems kind of unnecessary. You can already store Wii data on your PC by transferring them with an SD card. And really, isn't the space of an SD card enough?
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Kytim89 on February 10, 2010, 07:51:05 PM
how could i send you pictures?
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Mop it up on February 10, 2010, 07:56:34 PM
Upload pictures to here:
http://photobucket.com/
Post pictures using the image button and inserting the links.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Kytim89 on February 10, 2010, 08:04:05 PM
What about email?
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: TJ Spyke on February 10, 2010, 08:24:03 PM
That seems kind of unnecessary. You can already store Wii data on your PC by transferring them with an SD card. And really, isn't the space of an SD card enough?
But there is a LOT of data that can not be copied to SD cards (without modding your Wii), stuff like Animal Crossing: City Folk or Mario Kart Wii data, plus many Virtual Console and WiiWare games.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Kytim89 on February 10, 2010, 08:29:57 PM
I just think a flash drive NES controller would look nice with my NES themed wii.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on February 10, 2010, 08:55:47 PM
That seems kind of unnecessary. You can already store Wii data on your PC by transferring them with an SD card. And really, isn't the space of an SD card enough?
But there is a LOT of data that can not be copied to SD cards (without modding your Wii), stuff like Animal Crossing: City Folk or Mario Kart Wii data, plus many Virtual Console and WiiWare games.
You wouldn't be able to transfer that stuff to an external hard drive, either.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Morari on February 10, 2010, 10:39:49 PM
I was tempted by those NES case decals for the longest time! :)
If the Wii allowed for storage to an external hard drive, then they'd better allow for game installs as well. Nothing is worse than having to dig through a binder to find the game disc you want to play. It is my understanding that the PS3 and 360 already do this to some extent. It seems pretty redundant for consoles specifically though. We're not too far away from these being nothing more than locked down computers... we're 99% there already. :P
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Pale on February 11, 2010, 11:16:47 AM
Yeah, it's only really a worthwhile addition if it comes with some added features as well. Morari's idea is a nice one, as I also hate fumbling through binders. However, what Morari doesn't realize is that you still need to do that on the 360 because that's how they handle their rights management. It's only purpose is to decrease load times, but I do it for every game I'm currently playing to try and baby my 360, as I figure using the hard drive puts less strain on the system and generates less internal heat than the disc drive.
I think the biggest SD cards can already hold every single WiiWare and VC game at the same time.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Jonnyboy117 on February 11, 2010, 04:48:43 PM
It wouldn't make any difference at this point, except to give users more options and price flexibility on their storage solutions.
The real problem is that Nintendo still has tons of restrictions on how games access the SD card, and on what kinds of data can be delegated to the SD card.
Installs are nowhere near happening, as Nintendo has no system for online authentication. As Pale noted, you still need the disc on 360 -- installing just helps with load times and drive noise. On the PS3, there is no "optional install" feature. Some games require an installation to keep down load times, but you still need the disc because many assets are still loaded optically. Among all three consoles, the only legitimate games you can play without a disc are ones that are downloaded to begin with. (The closest things to an exception are the game-specific channels installed from Wii games like Mario Kart and Wii Fit.)
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Pale on February 11, 2010, 05:54:10 PM
Ya know, I never thought about that. You could let friends and family borrow your Wii Fit disc and it'd give them the ability to track their weight for free. Could be really handy for EA Sports Active players... and also precisely the reason why companies won't allow disc free game installs. =P
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Kytim89 on February 11, 2010, 05:56:10 PM
It wouldn't make any difference at this point, except to give users more options and price flexibility on their storage solutions.
The real problem is that Nintendo still has tons of restrictions on how games access the SD card, and on what kinds of data can be delegated to the SD card.
Installs are nowhere near happening, as Nintendo has no system for online authentication. As Pale noted, you still need the disc on 360 -- installing just helps with load times and drive noise. On the PS3, there is no "optional install" feature. Some games require an installation to keep down load times, but you still need the disc because many assets are still loaded optically. Among all three consoles, the only legitimate games you can play without a disc are ones that are downloaded to begin with. (The closest things to an exception are the game-specific channels installed from Wii games like Mario Kart and Wii Fit.)
Could an SD card handle downloadable content from wii games like the HDD does for the PS3 and 360. Also, is this Johnathan Metts from RFN? If so, could you mention that the DSi can play itunes podcasts on your next show, please? I found this out a while back and would really like to start a trend.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on February 11, 2010, 06:03:04 PM
Ya know, I never thought about that. You could let friends and family borrow your Wii Fit disc and it'd give them the ability to track their weight for free. Could be really handy for EA Sports Active players... and also precisely the reason why companies won't allow disc free game installs. =P
How are they gonna track their weight without a balance board?
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: TJ Spyke on February 11, 2010, 06:14:12 PM
If so, could you mention that the DSi can play itunes podcasts on your next show, please? I found this out a while back and would really like to start a trend.
Is that really news? Podcasts are just MP3 (or MP4) files, any device that can play those will be able to play podcasts.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Chozo Ghost on February 11, 2010, 07:28:47 PM
If Nintendo released an external hard drive for the Wii at this point it would probably fare little better than the 64DD add-on for the N64 console. A much better idea would be for Nintendo to integrate an HDD into their successor to the Wii.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Pale on February 11, 2010, 07:41:28 PM
Ya know, I never thought about that. You could let friends and family borrow your Wii Fit disc and it'd give them the ability to track their weight for free. Could be really handy for EA Sports Active players... and also precisely the reason why companies won't allow disc free game installs. =P
How are they gonna track their weight without a balance board?
Hah, good point.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: BranDonk Kong on February 12, 2010, 01:06:20 AM
My Wii has an external hard drive.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Kytim89 on February 12, 2010, 03:34:03 AM
Could the SD card handle DLC for wii games like punch-out, sin and punishment 2, no more heroes 2, etc?
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Chozo Ghost on February 12, 2010, 04:59:14 AM
Could the SD card handle DLC for wii games like punch-out, sin and punishment 2, no more heroes 2, etc?
Well, considering SD cards with capacities exceeding that of DVDs are rather common now, sure, why not?
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Stratos on February 12, 2010, 05:02:57 AM
I think you can store DLC for WiiWare games on your SD Card.
Also, Bock Band and Guitar Hero DLC are stored on them as well.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Mop it up on February 12, 2010, 05:03:30 AM
Can an SD card handle DLC? Yes. But only small files, as the Wii can't run data stored on an SD card, it has to be transferred to Wii system memory. Nintendo would have to release a firmware update if they wanted to allow data to be read directly from an SD card.
Can those specific games receive DLC? No, because they were not programmed for DLC.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: ejamer on February 12, 2010, 08:14:16 AM
Although unsure if SD card transfer speeds are really fast enough, I would much rather just use cheap and easily available (ie: non-proprietary) SD cards for my external storage whenever possible. It does seem to work very well for the WiiWare/Virtual Console/DLC content currently available.
As for having a Wii with a Hard Drive, I don't really see any benefits as things stand right now. It makes more sense for the next system with some different design chioces being made right out of the gate.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Pale on February 12, 2010, 08:48:07 AM
Sony really has the best system in place for all this stuff. OEM laptop hard drives that can be swapped in and out. Rights management that involves just putting your account on the PS3. Allowing any one account to live on up to five PS3s concurrently.
It's the perfect compromise in my opinion. They still protect their content from massive sharing, but don't control it so much it hurts the user experience.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: ejamer on February 12, 2010, 10:56:37 AM
Sony really has the best system in place for all this stuff. ...
Agreed - especially because they had it planned this way from Day 1. It would be nice to see something similar emulated (ie: blatantly copied) by other consoles in the future.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: that Baby guy on February 12, 2010, 11:01:04 AM
I definitely wish I could move gamesaves, VC titles, and Wii-ware with me very easily. Essentially, it's possible with homebrew, but both consoles need to have gone through extensive set-up procedures to handle that. My Wii is installed upstairs, in my room, while my roommate has a Wii installed downstairs. It's sad that the easiest way to play my games, saves, and things like that is to disconnect my Wii and take it downstairs, opposed to just transferring things on an SD card.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: Stratos on February 13, 2010, 02:46:15 AM
I definitely wish I could move gamesaves, VC titles, and Wii-ware with me very easily. Essentially, it's possible with homebrew, but both consoles need to have gone through extensive set-up procedures to handle that. My Wii is installed upstairs, in my room, while my roommate has a Wii installed downstairs. It's sad that the easiest way to play my games, saves, and things like that is to disconnect my Wii and take it downstairs, opposed to just transferring things on an SD card.
I would still carry my Wii because I'd either be to lazy to copy it all from my Wii to the SD card to the other Wii and back again when I was done playing or it would be too easy to forget to transfer it and then start playing with old save data and end up with two unique saves.
Title: Re: What If the Wii had an External Hard Drive?
Post by: BranDonk Kong on February 13, 2010, 02:59:00 PM
The Wii doesn't have to update the firmware to allow DLC to be loaded directly from the SD card, they just have to let devs do this with their software. You can already run stuff directly from the SD in homebrew, no need for a firmware upgrade.
