Topic: Wii U Has 8 GB of Internal Storage

[tendoboy1984]

Here's my justification for that analogy: Nintendo's response to those who don't like the pitifully low storage on the Wii U is to go out and buy your own HDD.

And that's very common among electronic devices. Many smartphones come with only 8-16 GB of storage, and you have to buy memory cards to expand it.

Another device that has done this for years is the Xbox 360. The base model comes with a small amount of flash memory, and you need to buy a hard drive to expand it.

I have a feeling that Nintendo will sell the 8GB Wii U as a base model, and they'll also offer a "premium" model with an external hard drive. Just like the Xbox 360.


Not everyone is going to be downloading tons of games and apps. It's good to give consumers a choice with their purchases. The base 8GB model would be for more casual gamers, while a model with an included hard drive would be for the "core" gamers.

[NWR_insanolord]

It also supports SD cards and you can get a 32 GB SD card for $20 if you shop around, and that should last you a whole.

[tendoboy1984]

It also supports SD cards and you can get a 32 GB SD card for $20 if you shop around, and that should last you a whole.

Exactly. I wouldn't be surprised if the Wii U supported larger cards than 32GB.


And like I said before, Nintendo is very good at compressing file sizes.

[Oblivion]

I'm actually glad about this. Plug in a 32 GB SD card. Run out of space? Buy an external hard drive. Not enough cash for an expensive hard drive? buy a 32 GB USB drive. Easy peasy.

[tendoboy1984]

I'm actually glad about this. Plug in a 32 GB SD card. Run out of space? Buy an external hard drive. Not enough cash for an expensive hard drive? buy a 32 GB USB drive. Easy peasy.

Sarcasm?


If anything it will keep the base price of the console down. And that's a good thing if Nintendo wants to sell a lot of systems.

[Oblivion]

No, it isn't.

[Chozo Ghost]

I don't get why they couldn't also offer a premium SKU which has an internal hard drive. I'm not saying they shouldn't offer the 8gb flash model, but why can't they do both? That's the way Microsoft has done things with their various Xbox 360 models, and apparently it must be working well for them. Why can't Nintendo do that?

[broodwars]

I don't get why they couldn't also offer a premium SKU which has an internal hard drive. I'm not saying they shouldn't offer the 8gb flash model, but why can't they do both? That's the way Microsoft has done things with their various Xbox 360 models, and apparently it must be working well for them. Why can't Nintendo do that?

Because Nintendo can never seem to admit when others have figured out the best known solution to a problem before they have.  They just have to do things "differently" for the sake of doing so.

And, frankly, 32 GB of storage is not that great, either.  I wouldn't rely on that if you plan on downloading HD games from the eShop.  I'm close to maxing-out my 32 GB Vita memory card just porting over my PSP games and a couple of Vita games.  And considering my largest Vita game is 3 GB and my largest PS3 one is 14 GB....yeah, that 32 GB vanishes quickly.

[ShyGuy]

Why is this such a Hot Topic?

[UncleBob]

I don't get why they couldn't also offer a premium SKU which has an internal hard drive. I'm not saying they shouldn't offer the 8gb flash model, but why can't they do both? That's the way Microsoft has done things with their various Xbox 360 models, and apparently it must be working well for them. Why can't Nintendo do that?

XBox 360 4 GB - $199
XBox 360 250 GB - $299

1 TB External Hard Drive from Newegg... $89.99

So... do I spend $100 on a smaller hard drive that I can't use on anything else ever... or spend less on a hard drive that's more than four times the size that I can use on any PC ever?

[Chozo Ghost]

Uncle Bob, do you think casuals/non-gamers will be savvy enough to even know about that newegg site? When it comes to the non-savvy soccer moms and grandparents the product has to work out of the box, or else it isn't going to work at all. True, you can get it up to speed with additional purchases, but I don't think that is going to happen with a large segment of the market that Nintendo is going after.

[UncleBob]

1 TB External Hard Drive from Walmart... $89.99

Do casuals and soccer moms know about Walmart?

Besides, for casuals and soccer moms, 8 GB is likely going to be plenty.  Beyond that, the vast majority of them are not too stupid to either understand external storage or ask tech support/sales rep about it.

[Sundoulos]

Honestly, people talk as if all "casual" gamers can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

[Adrock]

Of course, they can. However, I think it's better to approach them by pretending that they can't.

[Shaymin]

I've done tech support jobs before - for the most part, they can't.

[smallsharkbigbite]

XBox 360 4 GB - $199
XBox 360 250 GB - $299

1 TB External Hard Drive from Newegg... $89.99

So... do I spend $100 on a smaller hard drive that I can't use on anything else ever... or spend less on a hard drive that's more than four times the size that I can use on any PC ever?

The 250 gb comes with a headset, and it seems there are only bundles now for the 250 gb.  Either Forza 4 with a steering wheel or the two game holiday bundle.  All for $299, and they let you use an external hardrive.  But don't let that cloud your vision, obviously the harddive is overpriced because that other crap adds $0 value. 

Also, why are you so focused on the 360?  PS3 uses 2.5" hard drives, why can't the Wii-U?  I mean Microsoft is the only proprietary drive on the market and we are acting like this is a big win? 

I also like it how you've gone from I never tell people what to buy to telling everyone the Wii-U is not for them.  We are all Nintendo fans here or we wouldn't use this site.  No reason to get bitter because people are passionate. 

[Mop it up]

8GB will probably be plenty for me. The only reason I ever downloaded games on the Wii was because of all the cheap points I got from a Pepsi promotion, so I doubt I'll want anything on the Wii U unless that happens. I might fill up my memory with game saves once I play everything, but 8GB should be plenty for game saves, especially if none of that is used for the system's features, unlike the Wii's memory.

[smallsharkbigbite]

Honestly, people talk as if all "casual" gamers can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

Actually, I think people are just cheap and lazy.  $90 would certainly fix the issue by picking up an external hard drive.  But my entertainment stand is already cluttered and has plugs everywhere so why add an hd and a wii-u?  I'd probably not buy DL games rather than buy an external hard drive, unless there was a killer ap I felt I needed.  And thus, I think by having a bigger DL solution up front, Nintendo could encourage people to purchase DLC and thus they would make their money back ten fold on whatever the HD costs since DLC typically has big margins.

$90 start up cost for downloadable games is a deterrent to me.  $5-15 that they typically cost is not.  Plus early adopters are already getting screwed with all the other stuff you have to buy on top of the console that you're just adding one more thing.   

[RedBlue]

XBox 360 4 GB - $199
XBox 360 250 GB - $299

1 TB External Hard Drive from Newegg... $89.99

So... do I spend $100 on a smaller hard drive that I can't use on anything else ever... or spend less on a hard drive that's more than four times the size that I can use on any PC ever?

The 250 gb comes with a headset, and it seems there are only bundles now for the 250 gb.  Either Forza 4 with a steering wheel or the two game holiday bundle.  All for $299, and they let you use an external hardrive.  But don't let that cloud your vision, obviously the harddive is overpriced because that other crap adds $0 value. 

Also, why are you so focused on the 360?  PS3 uses 2.5" hard drives, why can't the Wii-U?  I mean Microsoft is the only proprietary drive on the market and we are acting like this is a big win? 

I also like it how you've gone from I never tell people what to buy to telling everyone the Wii-U is not for them.  We are all Nintendo fans here or we wouldn't use this site.  No reason to get bitter because people are passionate. 

Xbox 360 320GB hard drive 129.99 at walmart for the same price you can pick up a USB 3.0 2TB hard drive at walmart. So for the same price I could pick up 6 times more space for my Wii-U. I'll stick to non-proprietary hard drives. 

[NWR_insanolord]

I've got a 320 GB drive that used to be in my computer before I upgraded it that's just sitting here, so this doesn't really bother me personally, but I can see why some people are pissed about this. A hard drive bay, even if it shipped without a drive in it, would be nice as well.

[UncleBob]

The 250 gb comes with a headset, and it seems there are only bundles now for the 250 gb.  Either Forza 4 with a steering wheel or the two game holiday bundle.  All for $299, and they let you use an external hardrive.  But don't let that cloud your vision, obviously the harddive is overpriced because that other crap adds $0 value.

Forza 4 (assuming that you *want* it) - $45 on Amazon.
Offical 360 Headset (Wii U does voice chat without a headset, but okay) - $7.29 on Amazon.

So... $47.21 for the 250 GB Hard Drive...
500 GB Hard Drive on Amazon.com... $47.73

Fifty-Two cents, I get twice the memory and a hard drive I can use on whatever PC I want.

Also, why are you so focused on the 360?

Because some folks keep bringing up the 360 in comparison...

PS3 uses 2.5" hard drives, why can't the Wii-U?

Wait... Casual players are so stupid they won't understand external memory, but now we expect them to dissect their system and install a hard drive?

I also like it how you've gone from I never tell people what to buy to telling everyone the Wii-U is not for them.

Anyone who says "I want the Wii U to fail" has already decided the Wii U is not for them.

Of course, they can. However, I think it's better to approach them by pretending that they can't.

If Nintendo should approach groups of consumers based on poor stereotypes of the most vocal within that group, then Nintendo should just assume that all hardcore gamers are whiny twits that will never be happy with Nintendo no matter what, so why bother doing anything for them anyway?

[Shaymin]

The 250 gb comes with a headset, and it seems there are only bundles now for the 250 gb.  Either Forza 4 with a steering wheel or the two game holiday bundle.  All for $299, and they let you use an external hardrive.

The USB storage capacity for the 360 is capped at 32GB (2x16), actually. You can mod existing drives to work in the 360, but you can't just plug a hard drive into the 360 like the WiiU can and have it work.

[broodwars]

Anyone who says "I want the Wii U to fail" has already decided the Wii U is not for them.

Considering I'm the person you were originally talking to when you said "the Wii is not for you", I'm really curious when I've used the phrase "I want the Wii U to fail".  I've seen a few other posters use that phrase in regards to Nintendo learning humility (a sentiment I can sympathize with), but I don't believe I've ever said that.

On a sidenote, to whoever keeps smiting me whenever I make a post (regardless of whether it's positive or negative): get a life, because you obviously don't have one.

[Chozo Ghost]

Anyone who says "I want the Wii U to fail" has already decided the Wii U is not for them.

My opinion on the Wii U is subject to change. Right now after seeing what I have of it at E3 my opinion is really low. Things could turn around. I understand E3 isn't necessarily the end all be all, and maybe this year's GDC thing will set things right.

Considering I'm the person you were originally talking to when you said "the Wii is not for you", I'm really curious when I've used the phrase "I want the Wii U to fail".  I've seen a few other posters use that phrase in regards to Nintendo learning humility (a sentiment I can sympathize with), but I don't believe I've ever said that.

I was the one who said "I want the Wii U to fail", hence why my title was changed to what it is... but that is completely out of context. The reason I said I wanted it to fail is because I am afraid its going to end up like the Wii all over again, and I believe that for the good of the company it might be best if it did fail, because then maybe things would go more towards the way core gamers want them to be.

That said, for all I know the Wii U could even end up being a great system. I don't know that yet... if it does end up being a great system with consistent 3rd party support and no software droughts then I don't want it to fail, and if that were the case it wouldn't fail anyway.... but again, if its the Wii all over again with nothing but droughts and shovelware then yes, I think it would be best if it failed and was out of its misery.

The last 6 years with the Wii (especially from about 2009 onwards) have been really depressing for me as a Nintendo fan. I don't want to go through that again... if that's what the Wii U is going to be then yes, I do want it to fail. This is the context in which I said that... its not because I'm some anti-Nintendo troll or anything, but just from seeing my title without that context one might think that.

[Ceric]

Ironically, Even though from what I've read its super easier to swap the PS3 Harddrive.  I would put it over head/comfort level of most people. 

Honestly, people talk as if all "casual" gamers can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

Actually, I think people are just cheap and lazy.  $90 would certainly fix the issue by picking up an external hard drive.  But my entertainment stand is already cluttered and has plugs everywhere so why add an hd and a wii-u?  I'd probably not buy DL games rather than buy an external hard drive, unless there was a killer ap I felt I needed.  And thus, I think by having a bigger DL solution up front, Nintendo could encourage people to purchase DLC and thus they would make their money back ten fold on whatever the HD costs since DLC typically has big margins.

$90 start up cost for downloadable games is a deterrent to me.  $5-15 that they typically cost is not.  Plus early adopters are already getting screwed with all the other stuff you have to buy on top of the console that you're just adding one more thing.   

For this all Nintendo needs is enough space to get people to use the service and like the service.  Once they run out of space if they like the services provided they need to make a choice:  Space Management or spending money for an external drive for more digital content that you just plug in.