Rumour: New Wii USB Hard Drives

[Patticus]

This, from N-Europe...

Are Nintendo set to expand the Wii's memory capacity with two new USB hard drives? Details inside...

With some users frequently maxing out the limited 512MB internal memory of the Wii, gamers have long been calling out for an answer to this problem (beyond just backing up downloaded Virtual Console and WiiWare titles to SD cards). The rumour on the street now however is that a solution is very close to being unveiled.

And the likely solution? The option of a hard drive add-on through the system's USB ports at the rear of the console. According to rumours, 32GB and 64GB options will be available. Which, while not up to the storage capacity of other consoles this generation, is certainly more than the 2GB SD card limit currently imposed.

Stick with N-Europe for the official details as soon as they're announced.

... and this, indicating that it's the "word on the street" apparently.

If it turns out to be true, it could be great, and a real boost for the possibility of there being more multimedia channels on the Wii (or its successor, if the Wii is to serve as a learning experience for Nintendo). My only concern would be that capacities of 32GB and 64GB sound suspiciously like SSDs... which could be expensive.

[Ichigo Storm]

Did anyone else think, "Yay! Possible Brawl DLC" immediatly after reading this?

I really hope this is true. It would be great if it was.

[LATER BUDDY]

Hmm, I'm excited, =D. I hardly play my machine anymore, but having more storage for things might appeal to some companies to start making some bigger things I guess. There doesn't sound like anything could be wrong with this other than it could be overpriced possibly, but either way, the more storage space the better, =3. Thanks for the heads up as usual D'harhan.

-Blur

Did anyone else think, "Yay! Possible Brawl DLC" immediatly after reading this?

I really hope this is true. It would be great if it was.

I did now, XD! I'm not sure if it'd happen, but I'd definitely welcome the idea!

Edited March 15, 2009 by Blur

[Patticus]

Did anyone else think, "Yay! Possible Brawl DLC" immediatly after reading this?

No. Because Brawl is old news now, and, as they're not in the habit of doing it, when implementing DLC they'll only go for a big new game with big new hype.

[ShadiWulf]

It will be great until we find out 32GB is 80 dollars and 64GB is 120 dollars.

[Chris]

No. Because Brawl is old news now, and, as they're not in the habit of doing it, when implementing DLC they'll only go for a big new game with big new hype.

Brawl doesn't have the infrastructure for DLC.

SSDs are still fairly costly so I wouldn't expect to see them used if the drive is to be a cheap alternative.

[NintendoBrad]

I hope this is true. The Wii's storage limit is finally hitting me since I've started downloading VC games again.

[Conando]

It will be great until we find out 32GB is 80 dollars and 64GB is 120 dollars.

Just like with Microsoft's ridiculous prices too, right? I don't really get why the hell they charge so much when you can get a normal HardDrive of the same size for considerably less. :|

[Chris]

Just like with Microsoft's ridiculous prices too, right? I don't really get why the hell they charge so much when you can get a normal HardDrive of the same size for considerably less. :|

Because the drives inside of them are 2.5" harddrives. They're a bit more costly than the 3.5" ones used in desktops.

[Carbo]

This talk about Wii USB Hard Drives has been going on for a while now and is kinda old, I've frankly given up on my Wii enough now to not give a shit about whether they release a hard drive or not granted that there's not many games bar Guitar Hero World Tour currently to be enough of a use for it if DLC was to ever be made, and 1 Gig SD cards are pretty cheap, the white ones specially made for Wii anyway. Would be nice to see it happen though.

Edited March 15, 2009 by Carbo

[Katanga Askar]

Now I can save Cooking mama to the USB drive, and have enugh space for Family ski!

/sarcasm

[GameFarnsworth940]

This would be nice, but...

Chances are I'm not the only one with remote chargers and/or wii speak. They take up both of my USB ports. So how would that work? I wouldn't want to constantly unplug one and plug it back in later. Im just too lazy for that.

[ShadiWulf]

Just like with Microsoft's ridiculous prices too, right? I don't really get why the hell they charge so much when you can get a normal HardDrive of the same size for considerably less. :|

Yeah, Microsoft's prices are bad, but I know Nintendo's will be worse for less space.

[Mollfie]

More space is always great!

[Stephen]

it would be cool if they put dreamcast games on the vc or xbox arcade. Im guessing they wont though

[PSI Wind]

They're possibly gonna allow Wii owners to send their console to them and add 64 GB and then add $30 to the Wii for 64 GB(in stores)

[DaBatGuy]

^It doesn't make sense for Nintendo to force their customers to send their Wii's back for something they can distribute much cheaper through retail.

[PSI Wind]

^It doesn't make sense for Nintendo to force their customers to send their Wii's back for something they can distribute much cheaper through retail.

I never said force. I said allow.

[Dreadknux]

Because the drives inside of them are 2.5" harddrives. They're a bit more costly than the 3.5" ones used in desktops.

The fact Microsoft's hard drives are proprietary probably doesn't help either.

I'm not sure where the rumour's come from unless it's just wishful thinking, but it's pretty good wishful thinking nonetheless. If it's not too expensive, I'd like some sort of option to HDD that Wii up proper.

[ovarloard]

This would be nice, but...

Chances are I'm not the only one with remote chargers and/or wii speak. They take up both of my USB ports. So how would that work? I wouldn't want to constantly unplug one and plug it back in later. Im just too lazy for that.

Use charging docks, where you get rechargeable batteries for the remote, and all you have to do is stick it into the dock when you're not using it.

Now, I'm not saying this brand is really good, but this sort of thing could work.

[ShadiWulf]

The fact Microsoft's hard drives are proprietary probably doesn't help either.

I'm not sure where the rumour's come from unless it's just wishful thinking, but it's pretty good wishful thinking nonetheless. If it's not too expensive, I'd like some sort of option to HDD that Wii up proper.

Not exactly proprierty, they just alter the software a bit and stuff a standard 2.5 inch drive into a plastic case

Major Ripoff, Sony was smart with the PS3 and lets you use any hard drive without any bullshit.