Iwata: We're looking into the Flash Memory situation
Yes, you read that title correctly. The dire situation regarding every Wii owner not having enough storage space is being considered by the Big N, so you can all bet we're happy campers. While Nintendo president Satoru Iwata doesn't come out and say that Nintendo is working on a hard drive for the console, or some other solution, he does say enough to get our hopes up for some sort of memory expansion (or support for external hard drives through USB)."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," says Iwata. "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." Interesting bit in that last line, if we may say so.
We all know that being able to re-download something just isn't a good enough solution because, well, it's a total pain. But, if Nintendo can come up with a solution to our storage space issues that doesn't provide us with a hard drive to buy or support for USB external drives, we'll be fine with it. We just need something to help us eliminate the chore of moving things around each and every week.
[Via IGN; Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
TheWarlock @ May 1st 2008 10:56PM
I will, without a doubt, be extremely mad[and that's it, I won't do anything else besides that because I just won't] at them if they don't. I mean, how can they NOT come out with bigger sized sticks??!! It's unconstitutional!
Ethan @ May 1st 2008 7:48PM
It needs to be their own USB stick so they aren't paranoid about piracy.
mian @ May 1st 2008 8:04PM
A VC game on a generic USB stick is no more open to piracy than a VC game on a SD card. VC games are already tied to the console they were purchased on, and jump drives won't make it any easier to beat that protection than it is now.
I imagine branding a USB drive and using special formatting and encryption would provide an extra source of income, and they may well be interested in it for that reason.
Mariolegend @ May 2nd 2008 1:26AM
lol people please, take it easy. This is nintendo, remember? They take a slow baby step at a time. If they want to compete and charm the developers to make WiiWare games for the system, then the logic OBVIOUSLY will come to upgrading the Wii's system memory. I feel so that Nintendo will release an updated Wii with more system memory, just like the ipod.
Though if they are REALLY gonna upgrade, it will be simply by updating the wii via Wiiconnect24 and releasing a driver so that people can use a storage device via the USB, just like the secret update that enabled the usb keyboard use. WiiWare will take a BIG chunk of memory folks, and I never thought about it until I installed Mario Kart Channel the other night, seeing that I have 533 blocks left...
Iwata knows, and he will fix the problem accordingly. It's like they know of a nuclear strike, and they have already set a top secret move that only pink panther will perform!
- g -
cantbeatmegaman @ May 2nd 2008 2:00AM
they will review it then disregard it. just like Bush does with advise, reports & investigations.
Ryuu @ May 2nd 2008 4:06AM
Oooor, they could just charge five bucks/500 points (or more) for the *privilege* to download an optional driver enabling USB hard drives. Seems like the least amount of work on Nintendo's part to cater to a "small number of people" while still raping them money-wise...
Nate @ May 2nd 2008 10:10AM
SDHC support could most definitely be added via a software update. If it can be done to my Windows Mobile phone it can be done to the wii.
If Nintendo were to release a new version of the wii that had more memory, there would be riots in the streets. This is not a case of poor design, as the original DS was, but an oversight.