Another Wii mystery port spotted

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jul 10th 2006 at 12:55PM }

A member of the Spanish gaming forum Canal Nintendo has posted an image that appears to feature another mystery port located near the bottom of the left side of Wii.

Last month, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime debunked rumors that the front flap concealed anything more than a SD card port, adding that Wii will be compatible with several memory options. If this newly discovered detail is indeed another port, could it just be another expansion slot? ... Probably.

Tags: memory, port, Reggie Fils-Aime, ReggieFils-aime, SD card, SdCard, slot

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Martin @ Jul 10th 2006 1:00PM

We all know its the Wiiffle button. It turns any thing you put into the Wii into a buttery breakfast Wiiffle!!!

Ron Smith @ Jul 10th 2006 1:04PM

Man, over at Warppipe forums we have seen this pic about a month ago and alreay went through tons of specualtion.

http://forums.warppipe.com/index.php?showtopic=26533&st=40

jc @ Jul 10th 2006 1:13PM

User replacable CMOS type battery. You need a way to refresh the games in your built-in 512M. Without a battery, you would lose your downloads... and when the battery dies, you need to replace it.

Drew @ Jul 10th 2006 1:14PM

hmmm, this is getting ridiculous. I'm looking forward he WII as much as anybody but this is crazy. I think the "port" is too low to serve any useful purpose because if the WII is in its stand then the port would be blocked.
I say it is nothing more than a hook for the stand. Instead of screwing the WII into the stand (like the GCN GBA player) it clicks into the stand. Or it could be a port where you connect multiple WII's together to form a super computer.
I guess we'll find out later.

Paul @ Jul 10th 2006 1:17PM

Anyone think this may just be a slot for the Wii to securely lock into the bass? Seems too small to be an expansion port, also would be an odd location.

vidGuy @ Jul 10th 2006 1:17PM

If it's a slot, it's probably for the DVD dongle that's needed for DVD video playback. The dongle passes the cost of DVD licensing on to only the consumers who want the functionality, a win-win situation if you ask me (I'll never play DVD videos on the Wii, so I don't want to pay $20 more for it).

I expect the last media formats to be announced in September along with the date and price. Guess: any USB media. This will allow Wii users to save games and downloads to thumb drives or external harddrives.

Daryle @ Jul 10th 2006 1:20PM

Regardless of what it's for, I would love to have a GBA port on the Wii like the GBA adaptor on my Cube. Compatible with Gamecube, GBA AND you can download NES, SNES and N64 titles... plus Wii games... H-O-L-Y C-R-A-P.

BillDoor @ Jul 10th 2006 1:20PM

This thing has more hidden flaps, doors and ports than a DeLorean.

Jake @ Jul 10th 2006 1:24PM

The Wii will be the first ever stackable system. You can buy multiple Wii's with varying special powers and abilities, then hook them up right there to make the ultimate gaming monster.

chris @ Jul 10th 2006 1:31PM

jc, why would you need a CMOS battery for the built-in 512 MB? I would assume that it's non-volatile memory (needs no power to keep information), a la CF, SD, et. al., as opposed to volatile memory (needs a pulse of power every few fractions of a second to keep information) like you put in your PC.

vidGuy @ Jul 10th 2006 1:37PM

chris is right, at least with everything I've read.

The 512MB is like an internal thumb drive. No power is no problem.

ncdign @ Jul 10th 2006 1:44PM

I believe if you punch that slot a coin comes out.

Brian @ Jul 10th 2006 1:49PM

Possibly just a way to open up the system or remove the shell. Maybe they'll sell different colored shells that you can pop on and off relatively easy.

Tommy @ Jul 10th 2006 1:58PM

It's obviously for the Wii Disk Drive they are going to release in the future....

J B Cougar @ Jul 10th 2006 2:01PM

Whatever it is, we can all be certain that a similar port has just spontaneously appeared on the casing of the PS3.

jc @ Jul 10th 2006 2:07PM

Chris, I don't know about yours (thumb drive), but mine has a battery built into it.

Why don't computers use non-volatile memory? Time settings? Maybe it is power to run the auto-updates with your Wii turned off?

What made me think it was a battery, was the placement (and size). You don't want to have to remove the Wii from the base just to pop in a memory card.

bassbeast @ Jul 10th 2006 2:08PM

Naw, it won't "spontaneously" appear on the PS3. They'll have actually been developing it for years already - and developers will/won't already know about it. However, as a result of the "new" port, they won't be able to include the waffle iron attachment.

Armin @ Jul 10th 2006 2:11PM

The image in the circle doesn’t have the same lightning and contrast as the main one, a good sign of bad Photoshop work.

lolersticks @ Jul 10th 2006 2:16PM

jc, I don't know about your funky (probably old) thumb drive, but mine doesn't have a battery. In fact, none of mine have batteries. WFT chou talkin' 'bout Willis?

jc @ Jul 10th 2006 2:19PM

Well mine does play music as well, so it's not just a thumbdrive...

lolersticks @ Jul 10th 2006 2:27PM

Ah, that explains it. It's got a battery to save the music players' configuration.

vidGuy @ Jul 10th 2006 2:30PM

So nobody thinks it's the DVD dongle? It would be the perfect place for a one-time placement insert. Plus, we can't see any other slots for the dongle. I guess they could sell a CD for an upgrade to the DVD video capability, but I thought it was supposed to be a dongle.

I have to admit that seeing "Wii DVD Dongle" on a package would be pretty funny.

OldElvis @ Jul 10th 2006 2:43PM

I have it! It's the mystery "Let's keep the Wii in the Press Slot". BY releasing phots one by one, Nintendo can make sure that the Wii is constantly talked about, right up to the Product Release. Look for the next "leak" to occur in about 2 weeks.

cringer8 @ Jul 10th 2006 2:49PM

@Armin

The contrast has been kicked up to bring out the detail in the darker lines. And the sharpness has been upped, as well. This is a sign of "good" Photoshop work. You don't know what you're talking about.

Jay @ Jul 10th 2006 2:50PM

judging by the size i think its definitely a CMOS battery slot, just for keeping that clock ticking over, maybe some temp settings too like Apple's own PRAM?

maybe it's a storage slot for the sensor bar, a la DS stylus? -or not.

Martin @ Jul 10th 2006 2:51PM

It is the less kiddy approach. I would tell you what the slot does, but there are kids around right now. But I will tell you it is very violent, and sexual at the same time!!!

Martin @ Jul 10th 2006 2:52PM

Because we know that is waht makes things mature!

jp @ Jul 10th 2006 2:54PM

it's the flash memory slot that will contain the dvd player add-on that will be sold seperatly!

Anticrawl @ Jul 10th 2006 2:55PM

It's so obvious; you put your fingernail in that spot and pull down then replace the empty clip with a new one so you can use your Wii for protection from the sexual advances of Bill Clinton.

On another note the shell replacement and DVD dongle seem plausible. But maybe it's just another empty space incase Nintendo wants to add something, much like the plethora of untapped empty spaces on the gamecube.

Anticrawl

epobirs @ Jul 10th 2006 2:56PM

Some might recall a similar battery in the Sega Saturn.

Phantom N @ Jul 10th 2006 3:06PM

Well my friend's, brother's, aunt's, grandson's, mother's, friend's, uncle's, nephew's, son's, friend knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who works at Nintendo. According to my extremely reliable sources. The port connects directly to your brain to make you directly in the game. Nintendo is still working out bugs in the system though. So far everyone that uses it dies instantly. It should be ready for release though.

-Phantom N

Henry @ Jul 10th 2006 3:30PM

You would need a battery to keep information such as time and date. Nintendo wouldn't want people taking the Wii apart so the slot like that is expected.

crono141 @ Jul 10th 2006 3:34PM

You don't need a battery at all. The damn thing stays plugged in in standby all the time, and any time power goes out/ gets unplugged any information can be saved on the 512 of SOLID STATE memory.

No battery!

korey @ Jul 10th 2006 3:38PM

yeah not to be an ass but its prolly nothing you gus see a scratch in the plastic and your ike "OMG whats nintendo got up its sleeve? I wonder if its a warp tube" you all sound like your on one big acid trip just be like everyone else buy the shi* and find out

32_Footsteps @ Jul 10th 2006 3:52PM

Maybe I'm just crazy, but for the life of me, that looks like a slot for a Gamecube memory card to me.

Jay @ Jul 10th 2006 4:13PM

I think this is just the answer to the question that I asked when they first showed the front flap open....."Where does the DVD attachment go if its not in the front?"

Thomas @ Jul 10th 2006 5:17PM

Does anyone know or seen where the Bar attaches.. Could that be as someone pointed out, where the Sensor bar connects..

Maybe.. ??

vidGuy @ Jul 10th 2006 5:25PM

The sensor bar attaches via a 15-25 foot cable in the back of the console. There's a port labeled "Sensor Bar". Go look for pics.

It was suggested this is where you put the sensor bar AWAY, like a stylus dock, but it's way too small for that.

Baboon @ Jul 10th 2006 5:54PM

-vidGuy

Not necessarily, we don’t know for sure how big the sensor bar is. A reference picture, albeit with no way to see if they are really at the same level in three dimensional space, shows it being a little longer than an average pen. If that was the case, it certainly could fit in the length.

The biggest problem I see is keeping it from interfering with the loader.

Capt. Castellanos @ Jul 10th 2006 6:07PM

to #13, Brian

that actually is an awesome idea.

i like that.

BPM? @ Jul 10th 2006 6:44PM

#28. Anticrawl:
"much like the plethora of untapped empty spaces on the gamecube."

OBJECTION!

Only one port, the Serial Port 2, was never used on GameCube. The Hi-Speed Port was used for Game Boy Player, and the Serial Port 1 was used for the (vastly underused) Modem and Broadband Adapters.

Hm, considering the size, it might be a opening to store a battery, for saving system data (not game data/downloads, since that's stored on flash memory). But it is also possible that it is where the DVD attachment will go to, since Wii only needs the codecs to play DVD movies (it already has a standard DVD-9 drive).

Also... is it just me, or is there some sort of hole in the base?

Alex ~ @ Jul 10th 2006 6:57PM

Does anyone else notice that the gamecube doesn't have a battery replacement socket?

I just believe its for symmetry in the design.

But i do like the interchangable case idea.

kylekyle @ Jul 10th 2006 7:17PM

Yeah, I noticed this port back when the final design sketches were found. I thought there was a second longer one, but it seems that's just where the sticker goes. It would make sense to have the DVD attachment go in there, but is it possible that there is room left over for something else? Perhaps the system can connect to the stand through that bottom port, and the remaining hardware secrets lie inside the stand. I remember ONM mentioned that the stand would double as a power supply. I know they said it was a mistake in the next issue, but maybe they just weren't supposed to reveal that.

And BPMΩ (#40), yes there is a hole in the stand. There is a second vent on the bottom of the Wii located above that hole, which is designed to bring in air from the outside. I believe the Gamecube did the same thing.

Rallion @ Jul 10th 2006 7:29PM

If it was something super-secret, it just wouldn't be there at all. These aren't production units, they can easily just leave things out of the case.

Matt Burns @ Jul 10th 2006 7:41PM

One word:

FEET

The thing can stand up or sit on its side right? How is it suppose to be stable without sometype of feet on the bottom front. Then if you want to lay it on its side, simply push 'em back into it.

Case closed.

Its feet.

Fenra @ Jul 10th 2006 7:44PM

It's a Wee Wii slot for all the Nintendo fanboys to stick their wee wiis in and make sweet love to their Wii!

Wait... I'm a Nintendo fanboy... crap.

Marc @ Jul 10th 2006 7:54PM

vidGuy,

I think it might be the slot of the DVD dongle too. Maybe the dongle would be like the GBA cover slot on the DS lite. It slips in once, and you never have to see it again.

I'm personally looking forward to watching my favorite movies on a Nintendo console. That (for some strange reason) would be awesome.