Frustrated with the Wii’s internal memory? Nintendo is listening

By Ryan by May 2nd, '08 at 10:22am CST

flashmem.jpg

If you are one of the many Wii users who is experiencing Wii memory shortages, it seems like there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, had the following to say regarding this matter:

Statistically speaking, it is true that there are a small number of customers who feel that the flash memory is too small, while many others find that they have plenty of memory. However, because this small number of people are none other than the most avid players, we know we have to review the best possible solution to eliminate their inconvenience.

Even though I believe that this is a much bigger problem than they are publicly stating, it is nice to know that Nintendo is planning to provide us with a solution. Let’s just hope that this solution is reasonable, and doesn’t completely rely on purchasing more SD memory cards. While an external hard drive would be an excellent solution, does anybody else have any other ideas how Nintendo could pull this off?

QJ.net

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Categories: Wii

About the Author: Ryan

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  • drktrpr1

    This is the first time that Nintendo even acknowledged that there was a problem. Maybe tomorrow they will release a statement saying how “a few customers” are dissatisfied with Nintendo’s online service.

  • Robert

    We, the people who request a HDD, are the minority. The other “casual gamers” are the majority by leaps and bounds. They’re the grandma’s, little brother and sister, aunt and uncle, who enjoy Wii Sports and nothing more. Might’ve checked the VC to see what it was about, but that era of gaming doesn’t interest them.

    While the Wii has opened the doors for gaming by enabling people of any age to play video games, it is also its weakness; at least for the hardcore gamer. Why target a smaller demographic when the larger one is pleased?

  • DarthObvious

    Perhaps with WiiWare coming out this month (more games that may do better at attracting that audience than Virtual Console stuff) they realize they need a “Memory solution” finally. As long as I can have all my virtual console games availble without having to “clean out my fridge” I’ll be happy. Espeically since Wi-Fi isn’t always available to me.

  • http://www.lonely-soda.com RF Larke

    USB memory sticks. Like a friend of mine said, they should have a fast enough transfer rate to use them for VC games.

    *shrug*

  • Ryan

    @RF Larke
    I think this is a good idea, considering you can get 16 GB ones for under 80 bucks these days…That’s almost as large at the Xbox360′s pro-bundle HD.

  • http://www.thetanooki.com Christian

    As long as it’s not a hard drive, I’ll be happy. Flash memory: smaller, quieter, no moving parts.

  • jespoir

    How about greatly improving online capabilities by giving each Wii owner 1GB of online storage space? Plus, if one wanted more space they could buy more with Wii points. Simple. All they have to do is get a ton more servers to speed up everything having to do with their online services.

  • Nintendude

    @Ryan
    If you aren’t a hardcore gamer, and don’t wanna drop the 80$ for 16gb, there are ones at Walmart for 15$ (1gb), enough to satisfy memory needs, and keep your wallet happy too. Hopefully this is the idea the big N is hinting at. :D

  • drktrpr1

    @ jespoir: a good idea, but way too complicated for Nintendo’s “casual gamer.” A gig of space per Wii user could cause lots of problems for Nintendo.

  • P373R

    An SSD hard drive would be faster than any old USB stick and could withstand much more read/write operations. SSDs are getting rapidly cheaper, too. It is very likely that Nintendo will eventually launch an official SSD storage solution.

  • Pyro

    I currently have a 2GB SD Card in there, but obviously we have SD limitations. They need to take off the limitations.

    Then allow any HDD to be connected to the USB slot. ANY KIND. Like the 360 has.

    I can use a 20-120GB Official HDD from Microsoft, and connect a USB Thumb Drive, and connect an external HDD, and connect my iPod, and my PSP, and pretty much anything else with a drive in it, at the same time. 500GB space? No problem for under $100 bucks. Smaller, cheaper, quiter drive? No problem, $10 thumb drive. Music and videos only? Connect your iPod.

    All Nintendo needs to do is provide a SOFTWARE update to allow the usage of these drives. The USB slot/hardware is there.

  • Michael

    Imagine what we could do with a simple USB.. 2-8 GB of memory could go a long way.

    If not, as much as I want the HD, Christian is right, they’re annoyingly loud and tend to be slow. I like P3T3R’s idea, solid state is quick and I believe completely quiet? That sounds more like Nintendo’s style to me.

    at jespoir: I like the idea, and Bill Gates would too, but online storage is a fair ways off. Until the majority of computer owning families have access to ultra quick internet speeds, it just isn’t reasonable. Myself, being just outside of town and in a black area of high-speed internet would not be happy if Nintendo rolled out something like that.

  • Pyro

    Save solid state drives for next gen consoles (as in after 360, Wii, and PS3)

    Right now the drives themselves cost more than the consoles. Once prices come down, they would be a good idea.

    Lets look at comparable pricing,

    16GB SSD: $200.00
    20GB 360 Drive: $40.00
    20GB HDD: $20.00

    128GB SSD: $3,265.00
    120GB 360 Drive: $150.00
    120GB HDD: $40.00

    And all of this, when you can get a good 500GB+ External Hard Drive for $100. I mean really. Just package it up in foam or something to make it sound proof. The price difference is just too huge to really make an issue out of 1db of drive noise when your Wii makes the same noise when the disk spins up.

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