Joystiq

Nintendo support was crucial to uDraw's creation

Kyle Orland — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

THQ may be the company publicly pushing the recently announced uDraw tablet controller for the Wii, but a presentation of the new technology at Gamescom this week emphasized just how important Nintendo's support was to the device's creation.

"When we came to [Nintendo] in the beginning with the idea for uDraw, they said 'that's brilliant, let's figure out how to do this,'" THQ director Luis Gigliotti said during a presentation. "It's been an incredible partnership. ... I've been working in game development for 17-plus years and I can honestly say this is one of the smoothest collaborations with a first party I've ever had, just because everybody got it on day one."

Gigliotti specifically pointed out that Nintendo's hardware design expertise was key to transforming the monstrous uDraw prototype (nicknamed "Frankenstein" by the THQ team), into the light, sleek unit shown off at the show. "[The prototype] was a like bunch of lasers and mirrors and loose parts, it was wood and it had brass on it," he recalled. "I said, 'There's no way we can get this to something like this [the current hardware] without it costing a fortune.' Nintendo said, 'Don't worry about it. You guys are software developers, we are the kings of hardware. We will figure this out.' And they did, for one reason -- the idea was solid. Everybody knew it was a good idea, so we figured out the rest."

Continue reading Nintendo support was crucial to uDraw's creation

Nintendo support was crucial to uDraw's creation originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unofficial Smash Bros. Brawl rebalancing update released

JC Fletcher — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST

The "Balanced Brawl" project, first announced in 2009, aimed to fix Super Smash Bros. Brawl by removing overpowered combos and exploitable moves and by altering individual characters to improve the competitive balance. It was an impressive project then, and it's been made even more impressive by the fact that you can make use of it in your own copy of the game right now -- without having to install the Homebrew Channel or permanently hack your Wii.

The development team has implemented a clever mechanism that loads the Balanced Brawl files from an SD card. You just have to download the files to a card (and remove all your saved custom Brawl stages), pop it in the system and launch the Stage Builder mode -- the loader will automatically take over from there. If you're interested in having a Balanced Brawl party, we suggest throwing one soon, before Nintendo releases a firmware update to block the unlicensed balancing act.

[Thanks, Kyle]

Unofficial Smash Bros. Brawl rebalancing update released originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Walkthrough: Wii System Menu 4.0's SD Card Channel

David Hinkle — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:41:00 EST

Well folks, it's finally here, and many of you likely can't wait to run home and check out the new functionality. Above, you'll find a video walkthrough of the new SD Card Channel in action, and below is a slide-by-slide walkthrough, if you're anti-video. So, check out the new Wii update and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Gallery: Walkthrough: Wii System Menu 4.0's SD Menu update

Walkthrough: Wii System Menu 4.0's SD Card Channel originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC09: Nintendo updates Wii Shop Channel with 'SD Card Menu' [update]

JC Fletcher — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:40:00 EST

Click to check out our video walkthrough!

At his GDC 2009 keynote, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata will announce, Apple-style, that a Wii Shop Channel update will be available to all. We ran over to the Wii and began the agonizing update process to discover -- an "SD Card Menu" ...? Yes, it would seem that the vaunted "storage solution" has arrived.

"Welcome to the SD Card Menu! Here, you can launch channels saved on SD Cards by temporarily utilizing the Wii System Memory." CONFIRMED. That's right, launch from SD.

If your system memory is full, you still have to delete stuff, but there's now a streamlined, automated process to do that from this new SD Card Menu. It will even choose stuff for you, if you want.

Update: The new Wii system update also adds support for SDHC cards up to 32 GB -- that's alotta Virtual Console games folks!

GDC09: Nintendo updates Wii Shop Channel with 'SD Card Menu' [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PSA: Rock Band 2 SD card not required for Wii DLC

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:00:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo Wii

We're sure that most of our readers will already know this, but this is for our more casual audience. Rock Band DLC for the Wii is quite exciting, but let's be clear that nobody needs to buy the recently announced $13 Rock Band 2 SD card for it to work. The Wii should support any brand of SD card up to 2GB (beyond 2GB we get into murky tech territory).

A quick search on Amazon finds that most 2GB SD cards can be purchased for under $10. For those who just can't live without the branding on this SD card (which you'll never see once it's inside the console), it'll be available this spring. Also, this PSA extends to those outrageously priced Wii-branded SD cards as well.

PSA: Rock Band 2 SD card not required for Wii DLC originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CES 2009: SanDisk brings the power of the Rock Band 2 logo to a new SD card

JC Fletcher — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:50:00 EST

Filed under: News, Peripherals

SanDisk's new 2GB Rock Band 2 SD card is sure to nab some confused gamers and parents when it comes out this spring. It's got the Rock Band 2 logo on it, you see, and that means it works with Rock Band 2. Also, it's white, so you can tell it's a Wii accessory! And it's only about twice as much as you could pay for a 2GB SD card from reputable brands like ... SanDisk!

Compared to some other Wii accessories, this one's not so bad. It actually is a working SD card that is just as usable as any other for Rock Band 2, copying VC and WiiWare games, and saving photos and stuff. It's just that you lose a lot of money when you buy an SD card from the video game aisle -- like, for example, SanDisk's Gaming SD card --instead of the camera accessories aisle.

CES 2009: SanDisk brings the power of the Rock Band 2 logo to a new SD card originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wii Warm Up: Fill 'er up

David Hinkle — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Wii Warm Up

Now that the Wii has begun its third year on store shelves, we've managed to download a lot of things. In fact, we've accrued quite the collection of Virtual Console and WiiWare titles already. Much to our surprise, we've yet to fill the entire capacity of a 2gb SD card, which is the maximum size supported by Nintendo's latest console. How about you all? Use a SD card with your console? How full is it?

Wii Warm Up: Fill 'er up originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo DSi: The Unboxening and Impressioning

Eric Caoili — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Reviews, Video, Imports

Yes, several other outlets have already posted their unboxing photos and first impressions of the Nintendo DSi, but we've put together our own article documenting the imported system's arrival, as we have a few new things that we can share with you, those things being:

Photos of a cat stalking the box while we unearthed the DSi
Surprises that we didn't expect with the DSi
Video of us trying to load DS Fanboy on the DSi's new Browser
Video of DSi Sound's 14 music visualizers
Music from a renowned Wu-tang Clan rapper

All of that, past the post break!

Continue reading Nintendo DSi: The Unboxening and Impressioning

Nintendo DSi: The Unboxening and Impressioning originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rock Band 2: Great news about SD cards, vague news about Guitar Hero World Tour guitars

JC Fletcher — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:50:00 EST

Filed under: News

MTV's Patrick Klepek allowed readers to submit questions for him to ask Harmonix about Rock Band 2, and luckily for us, people were curious about the details of the Wii version. Klepek got real, concrete answers about DLC -- and less concrete answers about instrument compatibility.

First, the good news: like its competitor, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Rock Band 2 allows players to run songs directly from an SD card. No need to scour the fridge! This contradicts what we'd heard previously, but we don't mind because it's awesome.

The less good news is that Harmonix didn't have a straight answer about compatibility between Rock Band 2 and World Tour's bizarro touch-pad-equipped guitar. That doesn't mean it won't work, just that ... maybe they don't know yet. At least Guitar Hero III guitars will probably be available cheaply.

[Screen via IGN]

Rock Band 2: Great news about SD cards, vague news about Guitar Hero World Tour guitars originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Point/Counterpoint: Is saving to SD the right way to keep Wii fridges fresh?

JC Fletcher — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:38:00 EST

Filed under: Point/Counterpoint

During Nintendo's conference, Satoru Iwata announced the long-awaited fix for the Wii storage "crisis" -- but rather than the Wii Hard Drive peripheral or the pipe-dream "you can use any USB hard drive!" update that Wii fans dreamed of, Nintendo has chosen to refine the current SD card implementation. Basically, you can now save things from the Wii Shop Channel directly to the SD card. The act of transferring from the SD card to the Wii's internal storage and back will be simplified, as well.

Despite not being exactly what people wanted, will it serve our needs? Is saving to the SD card the right solution? Two bloggers have copied their thoughts on the subject over from their internal memory.

NEXT >>

Point/Counterpoint: Is saving to SD the right way to keep Wii fridges fresh? originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Team 17 boss wary of DSi features

David Hinkle — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:07:00 EST

Filed under: News

When the DSi was unveiled, the DS Fanboy offices were filled with nothing but whooping and hollering, for Nintendo managed to actually improve on what we considered was the closest to perfection a handheld device could be. The DS Lite has great screens, is smaller than the Phat and has a huge library of great games. How could Nintendo even improve on that? Well, they did, with the DSi, but one individual sees the new handheld as an avenue for pirates to perform their dastardly deeds.

Team 17's studio director Martyn Brown has been eyeing up that SD slot as a potential source of piracy. "Adding an SD slot makes a bunch of sense for downloadable content given the way things are going," Brown said. "I just hope they've done something to counter the mass piracy that exists via the R4 on the Lite. It scares me that with an SD card input, that might leave it even wider open that it was on the original device." He brings up a valid point, but we guess we're just going to have to wait until Nintendo reveals more about the security features of the handheld.

Either way, we're sure the homebrew community will have a field day once it releases to Japan in November.

Team 17 boss wary of DSi features originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wii Warm Up: Does it solve your storage problems?

David Hinkle — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Wii Warm Up

You heard it boys and girls: Nintendo's storage solution is coming in 2009. But, is it too little, too late? With the system only supporting 2gb cards, is this a viable solution to a growing problem? Sure, you can buy a bunch of 2gb cards, but who wants SD cards all over the place? What we're wondering is will this be enough to satisfy those of us who need more than 512mb of storage space?

Wii Warm Up: Does it solve your storage problems? originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo's Wii storage solution: Load from SD cards; coming Spring 2009

Ross Miller — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:58:00 EST

Filed under: Nintendo Wii

Well, it's no hard drive (then again, it's certainly no air conditioner unit). Nintendo has revealed its answer to the Wii storage solution by allowing for software to be opened directly from (and downloaded directly to) an SD card. That will give you 2GB of storage per card swap. We expect a megaton amount of DRM to try and keep the games linked to one console at a time, though.

An update implementing the change is reportedly coming Spring 2009.

[Via NWF]

Nintendo's Wii storage solution: Load from SD cards; coming Spring 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo's storage solution: Load items direct from the SD slot [update]

David Hinkle — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:21:00 EST

Filed under: News

Nintendo's Satoru Iwata and his company have come up with a solution to the biggest issue for Wii gamers: storage. Iwata announced during the Japan fall press conference that, in the spring of 2009, gamers can expect to have the ability to load ~~and play~~ software direct from your SD card in your SD slot, as well as download items directly to their SD slot. For those of you with more than 2gbs of downloaded goodies, we only have one suggestion: buy a bunch of 2gb SD cards.

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] originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sega unconcerned about Wii storage, falling

Jason Dobson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:15:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Nintendo Wii, E3, Business

Planning ahead, you're doing it wrong. That appears to be the mantra for Sega, at least when it comes to the ever-elusive topic of Wii storage. Strange, given that it's also a topic upon which the company is blazing a trail, announcing yesterday plans to release downloadable songs for the upcoming Wii-exclusive Samba de Amigo. In the same interview that gave us this insightful nugget, we also asked Sega marketing VP Sean Ratcliffe how the company plans to cope with the console's internal shortcomings, to which he had little response.

"This is an innovation for us, so we're going to test the waters and see how well this goes," he explained. "It's clearly something we'll need to address in the future, but for right now I don't think it's going to be a problem in terms of storage for us...we're going to have to cross that bridge when we come to it." Just forgive us if we don't follow you across that expanse -- that bridge is likely to fall out from under you.

For more on Sega's strategies, or lack thereof, look for the full interview soon.

Sega unconcerned about Wii storage, falling originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guitar Hero World Tour can save DLC to an SD card

JC Fletcher — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: News, Interviews

Vicarious Visions' Karthik Bala has once again confirmed paid downloadable content in the Wii version of Guitar Hero World Tour, though current Wii guitar games have left us doubtful of any feature. Furthermore, you'll be able to save your songs to a "Rock Archive" on an SD card, and even play songs from the card without copying them over first. But ... but isn't that completely impossible?

Bala also confirmed that despite the new guitar's wacky gimmickry, your old Guitar Hero III (or Guitar Hero: Aerosmith) guitar will work just fine, and that "any USB microphone should work." With all these features, Vicarious Visions is going to have to be really creative if they want to disappoint us.

Guitar Hero World Tour can save DLC to an SD card originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wii Warm Up: Back that data up

Candace Savino — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Wii Warm Up

We know that a lot of you are running out of space on your Wiis, and many of you are using SD cards. We're curious, though, as to whether or not you like to back up your save files on them.

Because we're paranoid, and terrified of losing hours worth of data in games like Fire Emblem if our Wiis ever kick the bucket, we usually tend to put our files on our SD cards, for ~~piece~~ peace of mind. What about you? Are you equally as paranoid? And does it freak anyone else out that you can't back up your Brawl data? DOES IT?!? (Deep breath.)

Wii Warm Up: Back that data up originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Twilight Hack' now supports SD loading

David Hinkle — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: News, Homebrew

For those you in the know (see: you, because you read Wii Fanboy), the "Twilight Hack" has been behind the recent influx of wonderful homebrew we've seen for the Wii. Whether it's just some basic Tetris, or running something entirely new, the homebrew community has had their hands full as of late.

Those who were running the exploit before needed a GameCube memory card adapter. That is not the case anymore, as the hack has been updated to support SD loading.

For those who need a visual walkthrough on the process, head on past the break for a video explaining how to do this.

Continue reading 'Twilight Hack' now supports SD loading

'Twilight Hack' now supports SD loading originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wii Warm Up: Channel surfin'

David Hinkle — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Wii Warm Up

We were intrigued by not only a comment on the VC Monday Madness video wrap-up this week, but also the weekly chore (for this blogger, at least) of rearranging Channels and moving content to and from the SD card. The Wii may have some internal memory, but it's not enough for a console that has to download every Virtual Console game.

So, we thought about moving Channels around, which we've affectionately dubbed "Channel surfin'" for ease of conversation. How often do you need to drag stuff around on your Wii? Never? Not the type to load your Wii with content that isn't on a retail disc?

Wii Warm Up: Channel surfin' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why can't we play VC games directly from the SD card?

David Hinkle — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: News, Virtual Console, Tech stuff

You may have wondered this yourself, questioning why as you waited forever to load games to and from the SD card. And, while the dream of being able to just enjoy these Virtual Console games from your 2 or 4 gig SD card sounds like a very plausible one, the truth is very different.

See, the data access speeds for the SD card are extremely slow, apparently. That's why it takes awhile (in the case of the TG16 CD-ROM and NeoGeo, forever) to load the data onto and from there. So, if you tried to play a game directly from the card, it would be an atrocious affair. Shame, really, because the chore of copying and erasing all of this data can be a real pain.

Of course, this is all unconfirmed at this point, considering the "news" comes from a random post on an internet forum. So, if you have a grain or two of salt lying around, be sure to take this tidbit with them.

[Via Go Nintendo and Nintendo Everything]

Why can't we play VC games directly from the SD card? originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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