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[DrGAKMAN]

One thing I was thinking about after hearing Nintendo Voice Chat tease that Nintendo is planning an 'unorthodox' solution for the storage issues:

(1) Say that they add two new channels to the Wii Menu: VC Games & Wii Ware. Instead of having separate channels for each game, they're contained within folders inside each of those.

(2) Others have talked about the system helping you when you're downloading something by telling you that you don't have enough space and allowing you to delete a game via that interface rather than having to go back to the Wii's memory and do it there. That would work fine for what I'm thinking.

(3) Now, imagine you ARE going to delete a game to free up space: What if, as you delete it, a window popped up and asked, "Would you like Nintendo to save your data for this game remotely?" If it's something like MLAAK or whatever, then you might want them to and would say 'yes.' For something like Super Mario Bros, obviously it's less of an issue and you could say 'no.'

(4) Once you've deleted the game, it's still listed in your VC Games or Wii Ware Channels and you could have the system redownload it immediately from there without visiting the Shop Channel. For save games that you had Nintendo remotely store, they would be automatically put back onto your system and you could return to where you left off.

Is it the solution that gamers would want? No, not really. But what it does is put more control in Nintendo's hands, something they love. For you to be able to do it, you'd have to freely share data on your system with Nintendo, meaning that it could potentially help them crack down on piracy or homebrew or whatever the hell they feel like targeting. It would also address the customers most in need of a storage solution: the high-end casual / hardcore gamer that likely has access to the internet anyway. If people choose not to update to get this functionality, it tells Nintendo how much of their customer base is likely using applications that haven't been approved by them.

If this isn't feasible, please tell me. It's just something I started considering based on how they prefer to offer options but without actually putting themselves at risk from opening up the Wii.

So, do you mean to say that every time you download a Channel into internal memory it must first be approved by Nintendo like when the game is first shopped & decrypted then? It makes sense in order to help prevent the kind of use Nintendo doesn't want, but I'm not understanding...if that's what you're suggesting then no, that's even worse 'cos: A) what if you have the game stored on SD ready to copy it over to the Wii but can't 'cos your internet is down for the approval/decryption process and B) the process to do stuff online on Wii is still slower than just copying from SD. Maybe I'm missing your point, but you did say something about storing large save files on Nintendo's end (which I don't think Nintendo would do BTW as it'd require more free servers) when it'd be better stored on SD.

Your first point of adding two new Channels to subcategorize the games you've shopped is sorta like a subfolders menu, of which Nintendo said they wouldn't do 'cos they prefered to have users (including mom's & grandpa's) have no confusing subfolders. Don't get me wrong though, my suggestion of an "SD Channel" or whatever would sorta be like a Wii Channels Menu within the SD card showing all stored Channels as such and launching them in the same way you would if it were the main Wii Channels Menu. Of course launching Channels from the SD card would take longer as this would require the Channel to be decrypted & approved, copied over to the Wii's internal memory, a software reset to load up and play...but still this one-click process/access would be a lot easier & faster than the fridge method. Added benifits would be that the last loaded up game could be instantly accessed from this new "SD Channel" as it would still be internally stored or could be quickly deleted from internal memory to make room for another Channel that's stored on SD. The "SD Channel" menu would be much like the Wii's main Channel Menu only maybe with a black background to signify it's the SD card. Each Channel stored on the SD card would look like it does on the Wii's main Channel Menu and since SD cards can be much larger than Wii's own internal memory the Channel amount would also be much much more than the limited 48 slots.

My idea of an "SD Channel" really isn't a solution or a fix, but I think it's something Nintendo would consider if they're not going to give us a hardware solution or allow us to dirrectly access SD. Anything beats the fridge method at this point.

 

[HUELEN10]

Saw this here....

http://www.nsider.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=214651


Here is the important stuff.

(This is in NA)

Its nothing big. Infact its very small and very wierd.

But I just went to the shop channel to redownload SMB3 when I saw the main page (Not the welcome page the page after that, where you choose weather you want WiiWare,VC,or channels)

So You know the 3 options at the bottom of the page? they are from left to right "Account Activity", "Titles You've Downloaded". and "Settings"

However today I noticed that they changed "Settings" to "Settings and Features"

And yes I'm sure that they JUSt changed the name of it.

I though "OMG! NEW UPDATE? NEW FEASTURE? WHAT WHAT!!!"

So I clicked it and there was nothing new.

It was the same 3 settings as before (From top to bottom)

"My Nintendo Settings"
"Gift Settings" - Who would turn this off?
"Remove Wii Shop Channel Account"

BUT there was ANOTHER thing that I noticed that changes (Not just the name of it!!)

They added a scroll bar that moves up and down! It was not there before. you could only choose the 3 option not scroll through them However you can barely scroll and obviously no 4th option.

So what do you think? Something big soon? I HOPE SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EDIT: Goto page 9 of the Wii Shop Manual and you'll see no scroll bar and the fact that it just says "Settings"

I wonder...this means a new feature is coming to the WiiShop but what? AND WHEN?!

Could this mean an HDD solution is on the way? What the fuck are "features" nowadays anyways? E3 can't come soon enough.

 

[later]

Wow they changed the title!!!!

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Could this mean an HDD solution is on the way? What the fuck are "features" nowadays anyways? E3 can't come soon enough.

Seems a stretch. I don't see why a storage solution would be handled online through the Shop Channel.

 

[Twig]

Seems a stretch. I don't see why a storage solution would be handled online through the Shop Channel.

I agree that it's a stretch and in fact I don't think there's any reason to believe this means an HDD is coming, however, there could be a setting to automatically download to the hard drive or something. That's not unreasonable. (I mean, it's not unreasonable IF hard drives are ever allowed. Let me repeat: there is no reason to believe a HDD is coming from this change.)

 

[Chinner]

i dont think we'll see any solution. looking at the past generations, once a console dominates the market and gets into first place, the company behind it usually gets pretty lazy. nintendo pretty much have no reason to care for us, shamefully : (

 

[Cosmonaut X]

i dont think we'll see any solution. looking at the past generations, once a console dominates the market and gets into first place, the company behind it usually gets pretty lazy. nintendo pretty much have no reason to care for us, shamefully : (

If they want VC/WiiWare to succeed and profit from it, they need a solution. If they want DLC to be a viable option (and they are clearly being pressured by third parties on this point) they need to find a solution. If they want to offer more in the way of channels to match their vision of the system, they need to find a solution. If they want to draw in the more hardcore gamers that they will need to utterly dominate, they need to find a solution.

 

[jarrod]

i dont think we'll see any solution. looking at the past generations, once a console dominates the market and gets into first place, the company behind it usually gets pretty lazy. nintendo pretty much have no reason to care for us, shamefully : (

Right... because Famicom, SFC, Genesis and PS2 all lacked add-ons.

 

[Twig]

Call me crazy, but I think if they release a peripheral for the Wii, a hard drive that "officially supports WiiWare and VC games", then more people will jump on the downloadable games bandwagon. People that otherwise might not know about it, or be interested.

But then I probably am crazy. (Yeah, it would never work. I can hope, though. ;-

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Call me crazy, but I think if they release a peripheral for the Wii, a hard drive that "officially supports WiiWare and VC games", then more people will jump on the downloadable games bandwagon. People that otherwise might not know about it, or be interested.

But then I probably am crazy. (Yeah, it would never work. I can hope, though. ;-

I dont think your crazy. it makes sense. There is money to be made by Nintendo, both of the potential hardware solution and the potential increae in sales. Nintendo loves money.

 

[Chinner]

Right... because Famicom, SFC, Genesis and PS2 all lacked add-ons.

i wasn't really talkimg aboot add ons specifically. i just mean they step away and cut of their involvement somewhat, but by that point because of the market dominance the majority of the developers have flocked so the quaility maintains and so on.


be gentle : (

 

[jarrod]

i wasn't really talkimg aboot add ons specifically. i just mean they step away and cut of their involvement somewhat, but by that point because of the market dominance the majority of the developers have flocked so the quaility maintains and so on.


be gentle : (

I'm just saying, there's a record for market leaders providing hardware expansions and additional hardware solutions thorugh various means. And even for Nintendo themselves (ROB, FDS, BSX, SFX/SA1/etc chips, Rumble Pak, 64DD, N64 Memory Pack, GCN BBA, GB Player, etc, etc). And in Wii's case, some sort of memory expansion/solution even benefits them financially by encouraging more content downloads... it's inevitable imo.

 

[Vinci]

i wasn't really talkimg aboot add ons specifically. i just mean they step away and cut of their involvement somewhat, but by that point because of the market dominance the majority of the developers have flocked so the quaility maintains and so on.

Nintendo isn't done with the Wii by a long shot and certainly not simply because they're currently kicking everyone's ass left and right, and singlehandedly changing the way the public views gaming and consoles. Their goals with this system are more ambitious than that.

 

[HUELEN10]

Nintendo isn't done with the Wii by a long shot and certainly not simply because they're currently kicking everyone's ass left and right, and singlehandedly changing the way the public views gaming and consoles. Their goals with this system are more ambitious than that.

True, but sadly it doesn't seem this way. At this point, E3 can't come soon enough?

 

[Vinci]

True, but sadly it doesn't seem this way. At this point, E3 can't come soon enough?

I think you're being overly pessimistic on this issue, but I would love to see something announced to deal with it as well. So yeah, it can't.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

I've had 1800 Wii points burning a whole in my Wii for a while now. Problem is, no space :-/ I'm not expecting anything at E3 in regards to a storage solution...purely because this is Nintendo and it's full of stubborn people who like to tell us what's best for us despite what we ask for.

 

[Christine]

GHWT is confirmed to have both user-created download songs and pay DLC, hopefully Activision knows something we don't about a Wii storage solution. So yeah, E3 can't come soon enough.

 

[dyls]

I've had 1800 Wii points burning a whole in my Wii for a while now. Problem is, no space :-/ I'm not expecting anything at E3 in regards to a storage solution...purely because this is Nintendo and it's full of stubborn people who like to tell us what's best for us despite what we ask for.

You mean stubborn like someone who refuses to delete or move files to an SD card because it's annoying or takes too long and so he would sooner deprive himself of some great content than give in? That kind of stubborn?

A solution will come, but I wouldn't count on it too soon. Remember how long it took for Nintendo to finally upgrade those goddamn 59 block GC memory cards? I accumulated 6 or 7 of those (plus the Animal Crossing one) before they finally released the 251s. And a couple of those before they release the 1000 block ones—by that point there was basically nothing to buy for the console so I didn't bother to get one.

 

[DrGAKMAN]

Current Fridge Method...
Wii Main Menu > Wii Button > Memory Management > Channels > SD Tab > Select Channel To Copy > Copy/Decrypt From SD > Go Back Out To Wii Main Menu = sorta tedius, time wasting process for each Channel that doesn't take into account making space to fit said Channel if need be

Theoretical Whipeboard Method
Wii Main Menu > SD Channel > Select Channel To Copy > Copy/Decrypt From SD > Software Reset = less tedious, quicker method of doing basically the same thing only without the worry of navigating a bunch of menu's and making room for the copied Channel (since the SD Channel acts as a blank whipeboard to copy things to) and may even copy/decrypt things faster afterwhich sending you right back out to the main menu to select the Channel and play...added benifits being that they could make the SD Channel's menu much like the Wii menu for Channel selection and there wouldn't be as limited amount of Channels or space plus the SD Channel would automatically delete the previously loaded Channel upon selecting a new one to copy over...all this while still staying strict to Nintendo not having a subfolder system for the casual mom's and grandpa's to worry about nor making it easier to hack by allowing executables from an SD card

It wouldn't be a HDD or allow direct access to Channels stored externally, but overall it'd be better than what we have while still following Nintendo's policy thus far in regards to menu's & hacking.

 

[mrklaw]

why the obsession with Hard drives? the wii has an SD slot built in, and I would hope it supports SDHC or could with a firmware update. That'd give you up to 32GB storage which is more than enough for wiiware/VC considering Nintendo though 512MB was originally enough.

Even if it doesn't support SDHC, it'll still be up to 2GB extra which is 5x the original storage (2.5GB V 512MB)

 

[later]

Here is how guitar hero will do it:

GD:The Wii version of GH III plays wonderfully but owners have complained that the game didn’t offer any of the added downloadable perks that the Xbox 360 and PS3 games feature. We’ve heard that World Tour will have downloadable tracks?

KB: That’s right! Guitar Hero World Tour will be the first Wii game to offer downloadable songs through an in-game music store. Players can preview, purchase and download songs using Wii Points and we’ll have new songs available on a regular basis.

GD: With those downloadable packs, will players download that directly to the Wii’s internal memory or have you worked out a way to store those music packs elsewhere?

KB: Players can either download songs to the Wii System Memory or store songs on a SD Card, called the “Rock Archive”. When you want to play songs from the Rock Archive, players can create a custom set list, and then choose a venue and play!

GD: Will the packs feature music that’s more compressed to make sure that Wii owners can download other packs and save memory?

KB: The music is stored in a custom format for Wii so it’s as compact as possible, but still sounds great.

http://www.gamedaily.com/games/guit...ur-for-wii-getting-downloadable-tracks/?biz=1

 

[swerve]

If they provide a cute and efficient way to either re-download from a list without going via the shop, or to manage SD-to-Wii-and-back quickly via a new channel, well, either of those would be absolutely perfect. It does feel like the SD card potential is somewhat underused.

I'd certainly much rather they make use of the system currently in place instead of releasing some new hardware.

Unless the new hardware is a portable Virtual Console Game Boy

 

[Scrubking]

why the obsession with Hard drives?

Because the other guys have one and thus the Wii must have one too. Gamers don't like change, etc.

 

[fresquito]

The problem I see from the description is that DLC won't be present in career mode. It sounds like you can't mix Rock Archive with disc songs.

 

[avatar299]

A co-worker who hasn't owned a console since the SNES bought a Wii this weekend. Today he asked me how big the storage was in the Wii and I told him 512MB. When he heard that he commented on how small that was and that it looked like he wouldn't be buying any downloadable games for the Wii. I told him that VC games were small so he could get some of his favourites from back in the day but he told me that he didn't want to fill up the Wii or else he couldn't save games. Good job Nintendo. :lol

Really, we're resorting to lies and half-truths now?

 

[cordonbleu]

My biggest issue right now with all the rumours/speculation I have read regarding a possible hardware revision being shown at E3 is that I need a new Wii now.

The family have taken control of mine, and I cant get near it. I dont however want to buy a new one when there could be a great alternative with more memory right around the corner, as unlikely as that is.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

why the obsession with Hard drives? the wii has an SD slot built in, and I would hope it supports SDHC or could with a firmware update. That'd give you up to 32GB storage which is more than enough for wiiware/VC considering Nintendo though 512MB was originally enough.

Even if it doesn't support SDHC, it'll still be up to 2GB extra which is 5x the original storage (2.5GB V 512MB)

That'd be a halfway decent solution, but considering how slow it normally is to go through the copy/decryption sequence to put it on the system, I'm not sure it still wouldn't be annoying.

 

[swerve]

In fact, if they could just make the store load as quickly as they've now got the browswer loading, and they put all the downloaded software into categories, and let you view your currently 'installed' games from the store... WIN

 

[DrGAKMAN]

why the obsession with Hard drives? the wii has an SD slot built in, and I would hope it supports SDHC or could with a firmware update. That'd give you up to 32GB storage which is more than enough for wiiware/VC considering Nintendo though 512MB was originally enough.

Even if it doesn't support SDHC, it'll still be up to 2GB extra which is 5x the original storage (2.5GB V 512MB)

I agree that SD is really quite good enough and already available so...that's the way they should go. If they did a USB HDD or thumbdrive then basically they'd have to allow executable Channels from an external source...and if they aren't allowing it on SD, why would they on USB? I could be completly wrong and they may go with a HDD (as a another peripheral pack-in to sell Animal Crossing or something), but I think they're less worried about making it easier for us and more worried about making it easier to hack the Wii...in which case they won't allow executable Channels from an external source (SD nor USB).

The Wii currently only supports only 2GB's and no SDHC, but as you said 2GB's is still plenty more space. Problem being is there's no dirrect access to SD to play Channels from them and the current "fridge" method is very annoying, slow and tedius (whish is what the complaint ultimately comes down to. Hense why I'm suggesting a "whipeboard" method instead by having a more user-friendly (without being dirrect) "SD Channel" copy manager.

That'd be a halfway decent solution, but considering how slow it normally is to go through the copy/decryption sequence to put it on the system, I'm not sure it still wouldn't be annoying.

The initial copy/encryption to SD (which you really only need to do once) is a lot slower than copying it back to the Wii. It's just the process of going through all the menu's to do so is time consuming as is the need to make room for copies (if you're low on space).

For example, with my basic DSL WiFi connection and a Wii branded SD card it takes me about:
-6 minutes to download a large VC game (Sin & Punnishment)
-3 minutes to copy/encrypt it to SD
-1 minute to copy/decrypt it back to the Wii

That's why it should be "no thang" to most people except people want instant access to what's stored on SD. Wii can do it (as hackers have proved), it's just Nintendo won't allow it probably for security reasons...so...that's why I'm suggesting they'll do an "SD Channel" to act as a whipeboard instead to make the process quicker/easier to manage your externally stored Channels. Since it takes on average less than a minute to copy/decrypt a Channel from SD to Wii I think this is what Nintendo will do for their uncommon (as IGN called it) solution to the problem.

The problem I see from the description is that DLC won't be present in career mode. It sounds like you can't mix Rock Archive with disc songs.

DLC should work like custom soundtracks (Excite Truck, Endless Ocean, etc.), custom maps (Elebits, Blast Works, Smash Bros., Dewey, etc.) and instant replays (Smash Bros., etc.) which can all be stored on and played from SD. Some of these games require that you go to a different mode or sub-menu to access this data, others allow you to use the data in the main game...it all depends on how the developers handle it.