Nintendo on Wii hard drive: 'pure rumor & speculation'
Nintendo has spooned out a helping of its classic canned response, dismissing rumor that an external hard drive for Wii is in the works. GameIndustry.biz was force-fed a mouthful of "pure rumour and speculation" when seeking clarification about the would-be peripheral.Originating from Japanese mag Gamelabo, the rumor claimed to cite undisclosed sources within Nintendo who allegedly revealed that an external hard drive for Wii is being readied. Regardless of the validity of this particular rumor or its source, the Wii hard drive question seems to be more an issue of when than if. Back when we still called the thing a "Revolution," Iwata openly confirmed, "practically any storage method can be used [with the console]." External USB hard drives have to be included in that sentiment, no?
As Wii users begin to fill the 512 MB of internal flash memory -- just imagine the burden of Saturn games and downloadable demos -- everyone's got an eye toward memory expansion. A pile of SD cards is one option; a hard drive is a better one. Here's the dilemma: if Nintendo releases a first-party drive, say for $100, then there's a risk of Wii being perceived as a $350 console. Whether or not Nintendo opts for dual SKUs, retailers would certainly bundle the "base" console and an external Nintendo hard drive together; in effect, damaging Wii's price advantage. Nintendo is likely looking at a hard drive solution, but don't expect the company to give up its R&S response until it's clear that a proprietary drive would be profitable. Our guess: expect third-party offerings later this year.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nikiwu @ Mar 19th 2007 8:05PM
Datel will release something for the Wii..
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 19th 2007 8:08PM
Its not that the Wii will not support External HD... is just that Nintendo is not going to release a first party HDD...
... and thats better, 'cause we have options... with 100 dlls you can buy a 250 GB External HDD
Probot @ Mar 19th 2007 8:13PM
"if Nintendo releases a first-party drive, say for $100, then there's a risk of Wii being perceived as a $350 console."
They could easily avoid that risk by not offering a ridiculously over-priced hard drive. I can easily get a 250 GB external HDD for the price of Microsoft's 20GB.
But the best option is allowing any 3rd party USB hard drive to work. They did that with the SD cards, so there is hope for it happening.
And they have those completely unused USB ports just sitting there.
steve17 @ Mar 19th 2007 8:13PM
the wii could really use a hard drive. a console of the next gen without a hard drive is not considered fully next gen IMO.
........but. this COULD be good or bad. a hard drive is a nice feature. but in reality no one can deny the necessity of a hard drive. and for that reason the wii could be considered a more expensive console.
like they said. if people start seeing it as a $350 console then sales will decline quite a bit. cause noone in their right mind would choose wii over 360 is they both cost the same.
as much as i like the wii and want to get one. the features and wiimote arnt what sells it so quick. its being $150 less than its closest competition.
K @ Mar 19th 2007 8:14PM
I thought Nintendo doesn't comment on rumors.
Rubang B @ Mar 19th 2007 8:34PM
If you downloaded all 68 VC games, would that even fill up half the 512 MB flash memory? I doubt we'll see a Wii hard drive until somebody releases something thta requires one.
Koopa Troopa II @ Mar 19th 2007 8:38PM
Whats the point? Wii doesnt do HD movies, has gimped mp3 playback, and has no downloadable demos or non-retro-console games. Their hardware partner, Panasonic, wouldnt like it either.. they want wii people to buy SD cards.. not HDDs.
steve17 @ Mar 19th 2007 8:43PM
"I picked up the Wii.
Why?
Because I can enjoy it with my non-gamer friends and loved ones. Not all of us pick our friends based on their videogame tastes."
come again? would you mind telling me exactly where i said i only play with xboxer's? quote me if you can find it. and i can enjoy xbox games with my non gamer friends too. i dont bust out halo. but i have plenty of games that all my friends like.
"I have the dough to keep my computer up to date every year. I could have picked up all 3."
im glad to hear you mom has been generous with your allowance. good for you.
and my ultimate point was: (since you obviously missed it) that if the wii and xbox were within $50 of each other, looking at features and game selection, most poeple would pick 360.
AJ @ Mar 19th 2007 8:54PM
One "word" USB.
LongshotX @ Mar 19th 2007 8:58PM
I guess Nintendo didn't include the hard drive in the Wii because they wanted to make the Gamecube 1.5 have as appealing price point as possible even though there are few things other than cosmetic differences, the addition of VC, a new controller, and Mii's that set it apart from the Gamecube. Pretty smart. Sony should have made a PS2.5 with motion controls instead of going next gen with the PS3.
Sin @ Mar 19th 2007 9:00PM
@2 There's actually a Western Digital MBook Hard Drive (250 Gb) for just 79.99 in Sam's Club... its a better choice. First party HD will be expensier (like the PS3 60 GB... for about 70 dlls, and the 360 20 GB for about 100 dlls
Diskoboy @ Mar 19th 2007 9:11PM
A little off topic - American Wii owners, Circuit City has a 2 pack of 2GB SD cards for $39 this week March 18-24th.
Go get some, and back up those dowloads and game saves, people! :)
Capt. Castellanos @ Mar 19th 2007 9:14PM
"Sony should have made a PS2.5 with motion controls instead of going next gen with the PS3."
whats the difference?
or was that a joke?
lessbiasedthanmost @ Mar 19th 2007 9:15PM
Anyone reminded of the N64 DD when they read this? Sorry, but nintendo really hasn't delivered on the external memory idea for 2 consoles in a row. But hey 3rd time's a charm right?
scepia @ Mar 19th 2007 9:17PM
LOL no HDD fo' you!
Mr Khan @ Mar 19th 2007 9:21PM
People assume that the USB drive has to be used for something, but i doubt it ever will, remember all those ports on the bottom of the GC? aside from the GBA player, they were virtually never used (2 games all told)
those USB ports are there simply because Nintendo wanted to have the option, its future-proofing, nothing more
And the key difference between Wii having an optional HDD is the fact that a Harddrive is next to essential with the 360, a 360 without an HDD is like owning a Wii with no Nunchuck, you won't be able to do many basic things
an HDD would only become necessary anyway if Nintendo worked with Sega to offer Saturn content (or Sega CD content, i hope i hope i hope)
Ben @ Mar 19th 2007 9:27PM
Well, at least Nintendo can spell rumour correctly.
T-Man @ Mar 19th 2007 9:36PM
Or they could just release a patch that would let me use a network drive.
REUYL @ Mar 19th 2007 9:41PM
This is why I don't own a Wii.
Nintendo, get your act together! 512MB isn't going to last long at all.
and I couldnt save my game @ Mar 19th 2007 9:50PM
I see them compressing the hell out of larger games like they did with SOTN for XBLA then allowing you run stuff off of SD cards.
USB hard drives? It would be nice, but come on, I seriously see them taking advantage of SD cards before USB stuff.
Shadow @ Mar 19th 2007 9:54PM
I would only want an external HDD if they updated the firmware to properly work with it. I want to be able to access games, demos, etc. directly off of the HDD. When I download a demo I don't want to be swapping demos off and on my HDD because I can only fit one or two on my 512 MB of internal memory.
That's the one thing that I didn't really like about the SD cards was that you couldn't load/save/whatever directly off of the memory card, but it's forgivable since there's nothing that huge YET for the Wii to download/save. On the other hand, it would be unforgivable for them to release an HDD(Or even HDD support) and not allow direct loading/saving from the HDD. I don't want to have my friends over and ask to play the new Mario demo, and I have to tell them to wait 10 minutes while I switch the latest Pikmin demo over to my HDD and then put Mario on my Wii.
hotblack @ Mar 19th 2007 9:56PM
There is no reason for a HDD for the Wii though. SD cards are a fast, cheap, elegant and readily accessible solution. And, already supported! They're a matter of a few dollars/pounds per GB now with higher capacity (8GB and up) just round the corner.
The only way anyone could even vaguely start to use up the space available with current options is if you make this rumour dependant on other entirely fanciful rumours. Even with larger games from the VC Channel you're talking about games being at most hundreds of MB, not many GB.
Let's leave the HDD arguments to Sony and Microsoft, who have a vested interest in making their consoles media hubs. That or create some more rumours of like that of Super Mario Bros. the film being available via the Wii Shop Channel ;)
http://gamenian.blogspot.com/2007/03/wii-dont-need-no-stinking-hdds.html
Jake @ Mar 19th 2007 10:07PM
The Wii doesn't really need an HDD, so why add support for it. A 1Gb SD card would pretty much do the trick. That is, unless the Wii starts supporting Wii game demos, downloadable EDTV movies, downloadable Wii game content, etc.
So really, if an HDD support through USB rumor ever came to reality, the real juicy part would be what they do with it. Tow of my favorite things about the 360 since I've owned it have been free downloadable levels for multiplayer and demos, especially demos. Wii HDD support would open those doors.
But their console and current service structure really doesn't need an HDD at all.
carg0 @ Mar 19th 2007 10:24PM
let me spell it out for everyone:
there never was going to be, there never IS going to be any kind of hard drive for the Wii.
Why? because that would cost Nintendo time and money and spending money is the exact opposite of why they created the Wii in the first place. it's also the reason why you won't see any comprehensive online service like Live or Home. and it's also the reason why Nintendo is still struggling to meet demand. to meet demand would mean more production plants, which means more employee's to hire and pay, which leads to less profit.
why bother with all that when people are still falling over themselves to buy your product just the way it is now?
Antonio @ Mar 19th 2007 10:36PM
A key problem with an external hard drive is, last I heard, YOU CANNOT TRANSFER GAME DATA OFF THE SYSTEM. In other words, even if Nintendo lets you d/l a Saturn game it will have to be saved to the internal memory, unless the current scheme is modified.
The company is very wary of piracy and I doubt that'll change soon. So they're going to employ some sort of security if they ever intend to let you transfer games to external drives.
Psaakyrn @ Mar 19th 2007 11:03PM
2 words: online database.
Virtua Fanboy @ Mar 19th 2007 11:22PM
I think that 20 Gigs + your computers hard drive for Xbox 360, and .512 Gigs (sorry couldn't resist) + your biggest SD card for the Wii is enough for each console.
If the Wii gets demos...well, it doesn't. My 360 HD seems a little cramped at times but then I realize that I don't really need most of this crap so I clean it out and then everythings fine and life goes on, lol.
syco @ Mar 19th 2007 11:27PM
Why would they bother? 512Mb is enough to hold a few N64 games and lots and lots of SNES and NES games, tons of save games, and you can always back stuff up on an SD card if you actually fill it up... Load times on the Wii are almost as good as they were on the Cube, so there's no reason to hack around them by loading to a HD.
Basically the idea is pointless. The Xbox and PS3 have hard drives because they're hybrid game consoles / media centers. Even if they released one for the Wii, I wouldn't buy it.
epobirs @ Mar 19th 2007 11:28PM
Saturn games aren't a reason to add a hard drive to the Wii. The majority of those games are on a single CD and don't even use all of that. The biggest Saturn game I can recall is Panzer Dragoon Saga across four CDs. But that includes the massive duplication of data common to multi-disc RPGs and the audio is all in uncompressed Red Book format. Eliminating the data duplication and compressing the audio (and possbily putting the FMV sequences in a more modern and effcient codec) would bring the game's size down to a volume easily contained in a single 1GB SD card.
I can go out and buy a 4GB SD card for $40 today. That price will be cut in half by this time next year. There just isn't any great need for a Wii hard drive.
samfish @ Mar 19th 2007 11:43PM
I don't see why people think this is so crazy....or even bad.
Nintendo could (and should!) allow USB hard drives to be put on, as well as flash drives. Hell, I have 4 of those laying around my apartment.
The way I see it is that it's only a matter of time before they allow it. Given the success of the VC, I'm sure that they WANT to get their mitts on things like Saturn, Dreamcast 32X, Sega CD and maybe even 3DO...and that doesn't even include independent games.
I can even see Nintendo upping the amount of memory in future Wii models. It would be stupid not to. Just so long as when/if they do it, they allow people to use said external HDDs, SD cards and flash drives, it's all good.
Given that you can get a 1gb flash drive for about $20, I doubt it's going to break anyone's budget TOO much.
351 Ranger @ Mar 20th 2007 12:14AM
this is interesting.
i really don't see nintendo supporting this hard-drive threory down the road ever, unless they can find someone to pair up with and get a decent price to keep the manufacturing prices down. The Wii doesn't need a 20G harddrive in my opinion. i think maybe like 5-10G would do it just fine. if they ever did a price drop (of course they will) they could sell the basic Wii for say....150.00-200.00. Then sell the up'd version at 200.00-250.00. call it the Wii'd and then a day. anything over 250.00 total price (hard-drive included) they won't bother.
the thing that sparked my mind though...is the mentioning of the usb drives not being "used". I'm no computer expert by anymeans, but would there be a way to up the graphical power by some type of gadget plugging into the usb drive or sd slot? Think n64 expansion pak, but useful. I'm assuming not, but it would be cool if someone could pull it off.
Markham @ Mar 20th 2007 1:22AM
The way I see it, if the Wii were to support an external hard drive, it would have to be made by Nintendo and come with an update that modifies the system to run virtual console games on the hard drive while using the internal mem for game saves.
I hope they do this, since without it the future of the VC will be extremely limited.
gregory mitchell @ Mar 20th 2007 9:37AM
"And the key difference between Wii having an optional HDD is the fact that a Harddrive is next to essential with the 360, a 360 without an HDD is like owning a Wii with no Nunchuck, you won't be able to do many basic things"
WTF???? Did someone just say that dumbs**t!!!
The only thing people cant do without the 360 HD is download demos and tv/movies.....That is in no way ANYTHING LIKE NOT HAVING A NUNCHUCK!!! WHICH CAN COMPLETELY CHANGE THE WAY YOU PLAY THE GAME!!!!!!
Thats why the core is out there....I didnt get it at 1st I thought core what a POS.....But i get it now. IF you only what to game/watch dvd's/ Online play. Which is what most people use it for. then the rest really isnt necessary. I only DL demo's but i couldve done without that. I dont DL the tv shows and movies. SO thinking back i couldve just used a memory card.
Todd @ Mar 20th 2007 10:32AM
If anything, Nintendo will release a system update allowing people who own external USB drives to simply hook one up and use at leisure.
However the Xbox external drive is completely optional, and it works well for Microsoft. I don't see why this option couldn't also work for Nintendo.
Finnyou @ Apr 2nd 2007 8:12PM
honestly does every wii post made have to turn into a flame war.
On to the TOPIC AT HAND
there better be IPOD support because I've been keeping that quote they sited in this article in my head ever since it was said months ago.