Update: Just to clarify, you won't be able to play games direct from the SD card. You'll merely be able to download items directly to it. Sorry for the mixup.
[Thanks, Sonic_13!]
Nintendo's storage solution: Load items direct from the SD slot [update]
by David Hinkle 
on Oct 2nd 2008 1:21AM
53
Update: Just to clarify, you won't be able to play games direct from the SD card. You'll merely be able to download items directly to it. Sorry for the mixup.
[Thanks, Sonic_13!]
Reader Comments (53)
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:27AM KaBob799 said
About time =D
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:33AM Master Yami said
That was the solution I was expecting. So will this mean the channels stay on the screen and it requests the SD card when you load it, because that's what I'm hoping.
If the same update patches homebrew, I'll be pissed.
If the same update patches homebrew, I'll be pissed.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:45AM iofthestorm said
@roto13: seriously, I remember when the 3.3 update hit it literally took like 20 minutes for them to find a workaround.
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:31AM mapi said
I have trouble believing they really need until 2009 to address this issue.
Too bad the SD reader in the Wii is slooooooooooow
Too bad the SD reader in the Wii is slooooooooooow
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:34AM hvnlysoldr said
They're trying to figure out how to speed the reading without compromising their "security."
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:35AM Master Yami said
I'm thinking the reason it will take that long is because they maybe want to include more with it, or they will have a big homebrew patch. With the storage 'solution' in there, it might convince some to throw the brew away.
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:45AM iofthestorm said
Haha, too bad their security is already compromised. People have been pirating VC stuff for a while, and now there's a buggy ISO loader too. I've never tried either though. I'm wondering if the DSi was partly just to add more complex firmware to the DS to prevent piracy, but I bet hackers will crack it open pretty fast since it's got a built in SD slot.
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:29AM XeroRiot said
so basically it is what we already do with the homebrew channel
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:36AM (Unverified) said
This is definitely the way to go. I've said many times before that releasing a hard drive would've been a mistake. The much more obvious and easiest solution is to simply open up SD card support, which I'm glad Nintendo has chosen to do.
Now, I wonder if you'll be able to do anything like play VC games on DSi since it has a SD card slot too...
Now, I wonder if you'll be able to do anything like play VC games on DSi since it has a SD card slot too...
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:47AM iofthestorm said
Ooh, that is interesting. The DS does have enough power for NES and a lot of SNES games through homebrew, and they haven't mentioned whether the DSi has a better processor so this could be a possibility, which would be awesome. Or, they could actually port VC games to DS instead of emulating and then N64 games would be possible too.
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:05PM (Unverified) said
That would be kickass. Take your VC games on the go.
Reply
Posted: Oct 3rd 2008 8:28AM Greg2k said
I believe the RAM on the DS would only allow NES and SNES VC games. Since an emulator loads the whole ROM into, well, RAM, an N64 title simply wouldn't fit. Plus you'd have the whole controls issue.
But definitely, NES and SNES games, along with GB, GBC and GBA games would certainly make a lot of sense on the DSi
Reply
But definitely, NES and SNES games, along with GB, GBC and GBA games would certainly make a lot of sense on the DSi
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:44AM (Unverified) said
oh no what about all the homebrewers?
so is this where downloaded songs from GH:WT go?
so is this where downloaded songs from GH:WT go?
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:50AM (Unverified) said
Actually, according to IGN (who has a Japanese correspondent or two) he said you'll be able to save and move items to SD. I'm not sure if you can actually play from the SD card...
http://wii.ign.com/articles/915/915504p1.html
http://wii.ign.com/articles/915/915504p1.html
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:58AM (Unverified) said
Uh, right now I thought you had to redownload games and couldn't move the actual downloaded games to the SD card. I figured it wasn't just my Wii...
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 3:07AM (Unverified) said
well i dunno about all that, but i DO know that I did just move some wiiware and VC games onto my SD card for storage...
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:56AM Snowman said
Can the Wii read SDHC cards?
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:07AM (Unverified) said
Well I guess this is a solution... not the one most nintendo fans were looking for but still, its a solution.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:49AM iofthestorm said
Wow, kind of underwhelming. Homebrewers did this ages ago, and this really doesn't solve much since SD cards are limited to 2GB. I was hoping for USB mass storage support and maybe even media center functionality, but I don't really mind since that's already available through homebrew anyway, and I probably won't download more than 2GB worth of VC/Wiiware stuff anyway.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 4:09PM (Unverified) said
if people are discontent with this 2gb sd storage, I hope it's not for the fact that you'll have to get up and put in another SD card, that's an excuse for lazy people.
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 3:11AM (Unverified) said
if any one is wondering, (i think) 2GB is like nearly 10000 blocks of "Wii memory".. that's like 150 Mega Man 9s!
(totally gross estimations from the top of my head, please correct me if necessary)
(totally gross estimations from the top of my head, please correct me if necessary)
Posted: Oct 5th 2008 6:49PM (Unverified) said
ah shit, you're right, i thought i had a 512 MB SD card in my system but it was my 256 actually.. time to get a 2 gigger!
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 8:28AM chuckrich81 said
2 GB might not be much but it's 4 times the internal storage. And it's not like they're expensive. If you need a couple it's still much cheaper than a hard drive would've been, especially if they made their own like Xbox.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 6:10AM benmully said
FINALLY!!!! But why do we have to wait 6 months for it :-(
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 6:57AM sockatume said
Where does IGN's article say you can play from SD cards? It says you can download directly to SD cards, and that copying to and from main memory is easier, but that's it.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 11:25AM (Unverified) said
I've been wondering the same thing. I just re-checked the Gamega live blog of the conference and it says nothing about playing games directly from SD. It only says what you point out about directly downloading to SD and "easier" copying (whatever that means).
Reply
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 8:07AM (Unverified) said
So what about the GH:WT and Rock Band 2 DLC for the Wii versions?
We only get DLC by Spring 2009?
We only get DLC by Spring 2009?
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 8:30AM (Unverified) said
firmware update to support SDHC?
SDHC supports upwards of 32GB!
SDHC supports upwards of 32GB!
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 8:58AM mp3 said
Nintendo is finally waking up.
Downloadable, persistent content for the Nintendo DS coming, and now SD card that can be used to directly load WiiWare and Virtual Console games.
Yay! I'm getting back some faith in Nintendo.
Downloadable, persistent content for the Nintendo DS coming, and now SD card that can be used to directly load WiiWare and Virtual Console games.
Yay! I'm getting back some faith in Nintendo.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 9:08AM igorponweed said
I don't understand the gripes. Sure, we have to load it, but it beats checking if we can re-download, clear space, check if we can re-download, clear space, re-download.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 9:19AM adolson said
Wow. Just wow. Over two years on the market before a solution finally surfaces? Wow.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 11:15AM oneiroi said
I love how they hyped their solution for so long, telling everyone they were working hard on a solution, and they came up with something people have been asking for since they released the console.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 12:48PM LotusLord said
I'm hoping for SDHC support.
Also, anyone else mad about the lack of GBA slot on the DSi? I play A LOT of GBA games on my DS lite.
Also, anyone else mad about the lack of GBA slot on the DSi? I play A LOT of GBA games on my DS lite.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:44PM kgagne said
I have the Homebrew channel installed, but I don't know how to execute legitimately-purchased VC and Wiiware games directly from the SD slot. Does anyone have a link?
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 4:17PM (Unverified) said
Was that so hard Nintendo??
(although if they keep the 2 gb limit thats kind of a bummer).
(although if they keep the 2 gb limit thats kind of a bummer).
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 6:00PM ften said
There is NOT a 2GB limit on SD cards, there is a SDHC Issue. I wrote a little bit about it on
GBATemp;
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=99545
Link to the spreadsheet;
http://fathertom.net/wii/4gbsd.xls
GBATemp;
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=99545
Link to the spreadsheet;
http://fathertom.net/wii/4gbsd.xls
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 6:20PM (Unverified) said
It might try and kill homebrew, but the new update sure as hell didn't do it.
They might have given up, and just try and fight the pirates from a different angle. (Law suits)
(BTW, you guys remember that Patent infringement Case? I know the guy who represented Nintendo. Turns out that the judge rule that 20 million cause he had ruled fairly and people were saying that they would never go in his court and stuff, kind of interesting stuff)
They might have given up, and just try and fight the pirates from a different angle. (Law suits)
(BTW, you guys remember that Patent infringement Case? I know the guy who represented Nintendo. Turns out that the judge rule that 20 million cause he had ruled fairly and people were saying that they would never go in his court and stuff, kind of interesting stuff)
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 11:13PM calebu2 said
My 4Gb SD card works in my Wii? Where do you get the 2Gb limit from?
Posted: Oct 3rd 2008 6:38AM (Unverified) said
well this is somewhat of a solution for me. only thing i'm worried about is how big are the GCN games going to be since i might be storing them on the SD card. doesn't bother me about the homebrew channel. sure it can be used for LEGAL purposes, but the fact can't be denied that it was made MAINLY to play pirated games. and i'm not one to pirate so yeah. homebrew channle go bye-bye? my respones? idc, never used it anyway. never had it for that matter.
Featured Stories
Super Joystiq Podcast 004: 38 Studios meltdown, Gravity Rush, Civilization 5: Gods & Kings, Dragon's Dogma
Posted on May 25th 2012 3:30PM