An update implementing the change is reportedly coming Spring 2009.
[Via NWF]
Nintendo's Wii storage solution: Load from SD cards; coming Spring 2009
by Ross Miller 
on Oct 2nd 2008 1:58AM
55
An update implementing the change is reportedly coming Spring 2009.
[Via NWF]
Reader Comments (55)
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:06AM Foetoid said
I'm hoping their will be some sort of 'SD Channel' or Virtual Console channel. Heck, even then ability to rename channels would be cool. A channel like the two i mentioned would probably open up a new set of channel screens, tho i still think the current amount of channels is plenty enough. No-one is going to play that many games at once and deleted games can still be downloaded for free. This is the best option for Nintendo and their storage woes, but i would like to see some sort of software update, if possible, to handle the bigger SD cards. Good work Nintendo, now your console is flawless (for the first time since the SNES).
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:11AM Zak Canard said
I suspect that as part of the update either the 48 channel limit will magically increase, or they'll add the SD Channel.
Such a major change to the channel screen would no doubt coincide with efforts to try and foil the homebrew scene again.
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Such a major change to the channel screen would no doubt coincide with efforts to try and foil the homebrew scene again.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 8:55AM cuteSAVAGE said
I've been hoping for some sort of channel consolidation options since Wii launched.
Maybe have an SNES channel for all your SNES VC games, likewise with NES, TG16, and the rest. You wouldn't even 48 if they did that. They definitely need to do something though.
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Maybe have an SNES channel for all your SNES VC games, likewise with NES, TG16, and the rest. You wouldn't even 48 if they did that. They definitely need to do something though.
Posted: Nov 27th 2008 10:19AM (Unverified) said
it's pobably going to just slip in a new page like it does with memory space, as soon as toy had too many, a new page with a new container popped up
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:05AM (Unverified) said
do they really have to wait that fucking long to do this small of an update? PATHETIC
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:10AM (Unverified) said
Oh yes, I'm going to love it when that happens :)
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:00PM iofthestorm said
Well Team Twiizers, the guys behind the Twilight Hack, are against piracy so they won't crack the DRM for WiiWare, however others have already done so. And I'm guessing the reason it will take so long is because they're going to take another stab at crippling homebrew, but we all know it's going to fail.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:43PM Sarge said
You DO understand that they are trying to plug all available holes that hackers will try to get in through, right? That's not an easy job, and there only has to be one thing that wasn't thought of for a hacker to take advantage.
I'm sure the DRM is pretty substantial, and any update must be tested prolifically to ensure that it does not "brick" people's Wiis. That would be a bad thing, and the consumer backlash would be tremendous.
Here's hoping they don't go after the Homebrew Channel, although I don't even use it given that I've got all that set up more comfortably on the Xbox. And I've been too afraid to do any of the WAD install stuff, the last thing I want is for my Wii to be banned or something.
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I'm sure the DRM is pretty substantial, and any update must be tested prolifically to ensure that it does not "brick" people's Wiis. That would be a bad thing, and the consumer backlash would be tremendous.
Here's hoping they don't go after the Homebrew Channel, although I don't even use it given that I've got all that set up more comfortably on the Xbox. And I've been too afraid to do any of the WAD install stuff, the last thing I want is for my Wii to be banned or something.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:08AM (Unverified) said
Is 2GB the highest capacity SD card the Wii will take?
Not the ideal solution, but this was the most likely. I'll take it!
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Not the ideal solution, but this was the most likely. I'll take it!
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:55AM BPMOmega XBL PSN Steam said
It's not like any of the WiiWare games are THAT big...
The first Strong Bad episode weighs in at about 40MB.
Still, SDHC compatability would be nice.
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The first Strong Bad episode weighs in at about 40MB.
Still, SDHC compatability would be nice.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 12:02PM monkeyssuck said
It's probably memory addressing that's limiting it, sorta like the 3.5gb RAM limit on 32-bit systems. Kinda gay, but we probably won't ever see an upgrade to the max card it can take. However, like everyone said, all the downloadable stuff is really small. Even RB songs only take up ~40mb, and even though it'll add up quickly, it'll take some time. 2gb SD cards usually go on sale on Woot often too, so it'll be easy to find them.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:10AM darkinchworm said
Something: Factually better than nothing.
Sexually transmitted diseases aside.
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Sexually transmitted diseases aside.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:23AM Zak Canard said
Good enough Nintendo, you're no longer on quintuple secret probation. I'll just have to stock up on dirt cheap 2GB SD cards.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 6:03AM (Unverified) said
That's not what it's taking so long. The wait is really all about them developing the PSP-style homebrew-attacking that they'll trojan along with the feature.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 7:18AM (Unverified) said
the article does say the games can be played directly off the sd card,why would they say you can put games on them when you can already do that now...the games are gonna be able to be played on sd cards come spring 2009...hey im all for this,now i have a reason to pick up sd cards now
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 2:50AM rTwelve said
http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/19/sdhc-driver-released-for-palm-os-devices/
Can something like this be done for Wii, potentially bringing available storage to 32GB?
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Can something like this be done for Wii, potentially bringing available storage to 32GB?
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 8:29AM (Unverified) said
Is the read speed fast enough to run ISOs form the SD card?
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 11:06AM Keithustus said
"Is the read speed fast enough to run ISOs form the SD card?"
Yes. All forms of flash memory are faster to the Nth degree than disc-based media, for which ISOs were developed. The bottleneck in such systems is usually the bus speed rather than the card-reader speed.
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Yes. All forms of flash memory are faster to the Nth degree than disc-based media, for which ISOs were developed. The bottleneck in such systems is usually the bus speed rather than the card-reader speed.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 1:05PM iofthestorm said
I think it might have been a hardware limitation though, because for DS homebrew carts if you wanted SDHC you had to get a whole new cart. The palm devices might have had the necessary hardware but not the drivers. Also @FSK, that's definitely not true, a lot of SD cards and USB sticks use cheap flash memory which is around the same speed (sustained rate wise) as optical disks, although the random seeks are basically instantaneous. But sustained read speeds are more important for stuff like loading games.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 3:48PM Keithustus said
iofthestorm, no flash memory device sold within the last x few years is nearly as slow as CD-ROMs. Sure, the first years they were available, they weren't very fast, but flash media has come a long way in speed, size, and price. It's not worth comparing sustained speeds because as long as flash's is even close, it gets much better performance out of not having to wait the millions of nanoseconds for the disk to spin up and get the laser in the right place.
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Posted: Oct 3rd 2008 6:55AM (Unverified) said
Its not only games that we need this storage for - im very much looking forward to playing a proper version of Rock Band this november with some DLC. How quickly will my SD card fill up with songs as well as games?
Yeah, sure I can hot-swap. But that aint that hot...its pretty pathetic that I can put 16gig in my phone MICROsd and only 2 gig in my Wii. Sort it out Nintendo, preferably before spring 09 (srsly, wtf?)
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Yeah, sure I can hot-swap. But that aint that hot...its pretty pathetic that I can put 16gig in my phone MICROsd and only 2 gig in my Wii. Sort it out Nintendo, preferably before spring 09 (srsly, wtf?)
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 4:43AM Panic Blitz said
Considering how cripplingly slow the transfer between the card slot and the Wii is right now, I don't see this working too terribly well if they're having you play right off the card.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 6:14AM Megadanxzero said
2009? For fuck's sake, we should have been able to do this in the first place!
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 8:19AM Mr Khan said
Called it, totally called it. About damn time too
Now, a quote from Sega marketing circa the Master System era
"Now, there are no limits"
No functional limits anyway, 2 GB is a helluva lot for games that cap out at 64 MB.
Unless you enjoy Rock Band/GHWT DLC, then you might run up the wall quite a bit quicker.
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Now, a quote from Sega marketing circa the Master System era
"Now, there are no limits"
No functional limits anyway, 2 GB is a helluva lot for games that cap out at 64 MB.
Unless you enjoy Rock Band/GHWT DLC, then you might run up the wall quite a bit quicker.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 11:09AM Keithustus said
Each song file on X360 is 40-100 MB, so 2GB is enough room for enough songs for most, not all, users.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 9:36AM Mr Khan said
Thing is, the 360 was designed with an HDD in mind, so you get much higher file sizes for downloadable games and content. Wii was designed with 280 MB of user-accessible storage in mind. For a 360 designed with 20 GB in mind, 20 GB is paltry. For Wii, designed with 280 MB in mind, 2 GB is fine
Unless you're totally addicted to WiiWare and VC, but SD Cards are far more easily interchanged than HDD's at least.
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Unless you're totally addicted to WiiWare and VC, but SD Cards are far more easily interchanged than HDD's at least.
Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 8:49AM Vegeta has a ps3 said
It's not what most people wanted (it would have been nice to get a harddrive) at least it's something. Though it really shouldn't have taken that long for Nintendo to announce this.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 10:02AM lukeluca said
Actually I didn't want a hard drive, because then you have to buy a proprietary peripheral instead of using AnyBrand SD cards. I already have SD cards lying around I'm not using, so popping one into the Wii to add more space is no big deal. Also, an external hard drive would make the who unit a lot bigger, whereas the SD solution keeps it nice and compact.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 11:10AM Keithustus said
Luke, has Nintendo said you can play games from ANY SD card? It wouldn't surprise me if they have their own special "you can play from Nintendo-branded" SD cards.
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Posted: Oct 2nd 2008 9:48AM InsaneFool said
What about SDHC cards? they can go up to 16GB of storage on a single card.
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