Posted Jun 08, 2008 at 09:16AM by Isaac C. Listed in: News Tags: Nintendo Company Ltd.
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Nintendo job post for Wii USB devices: hope for a hard drive? - Image 1 


Clamors for an external hard drive for the Nintendo Wii have been around for a good long while now, and rumors have always been proved unfounded. Still, we can always hope. With that in mind, this update feels a little like dangling a bone in front of a hungry Nintendog.

Nintendo has an intriguing job posting up on their website. The posting describes a job that has to do with creating USB devices for the Wii. The job posting lists this duty for the post:  "Creating and executing a test plan for Wii’s USB devices."

Now of course, we don't know if this actually means an external hard drive. That's just speculation, and wishful thinking. Still, even if it doesn't yield support for the hard drive, it might prove to be something just as interesting, like a Dualshock 3? We kid.

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   by BIH - 2008-06-08
 » Its not..

the problem of creating the device its how to make it secure for them in terms of VC/Wiiware games and not making it easy for pirates.
Second they need to hurry up, im running low on blocks.Shows how late the whole Wiiware idea was, otherwise they might have included a harddrive or bigger internet space atleast a gig.


   Re: BIH - 2008-06-08
 » Typo

Internal sorry was in a rush typing.

   Re: Techni - 2008-06-08
 » Nope

That's not an issue. It's be stupid for nintendo to even waste time caring about it, they've already opened Wii up by letting you copy VC games to SD cards. They have security in place already that prevents you from playing a VC game from someone elses Wii. They don't have to add anything new
   by khaijiao - 2008-06-08
 » lol@techni

"They have security in place already that prevents you from playing a VC game from someone else's Wii." Is this the first qj post you've ever read? WAD installer? What?

@ BIH - I agree on both counts. However, pirates are always going to find a way around these things, and not to mention Nintendo doesn't seem to give a ***** about homebrewers or pirates, or they would have included preventative measures to twilight hackers in previous updates. I think that once homebrew becomes more popular and it starts to put even the slightest dent in revenue they'll put up a brick wall, which is why I keep my use of homebrew legal, and to myself.


   Re: Techni - 2008-06-08
 » you missed the point

The point was the security in place is already broken, adding more security wont help matters at all. there is no point in doing so

   Re: Project D - 2008-06-09
 » Rather...

...I think the point is that the option to move games to SD cards for backing up is already open, therefore worrying about the HDD being open is silly, therefore it's probably not a point for worrying over.

   Re: BIH - 2008-06-09
 » thank you

My thoughts exactly.
   by BIH - 2008-06-09
 » @Techni

Do you know even how pirated VC/Wiiware games work?
Nintendos method works, in keeping the masses of Wii owners(familys, kids etc) from copying games with easy and no risk. And if know a average family that will go through the hassle and risk to install a few pirated game from the shop channel then Nintendo does have a problem, but this isnt the case. Nintendo doesnt care, 24 million consoles sold and only a few will of those are chipped or used to pirate games. Hence why they havnt reacted to the twilight hack which has been out for months.


If Nintendo added a flash drive device let you use it and the shop channel installed games on it such as WiiWare/VC it would be easier for us too see those games and dump them.
What you dont understand is that this could lead to more people pirating the games. It be like a Wii having its own USB port to the internal NAND where we can dump the games and pack them into .wads with ease.
Nintendo need to worry about an average family pirating games not about a few homebrew users.


   Re: theaceoffire - 2008-06-09
 » Dude, come on.

The average computer user thinks IE is the internet, thinks "flash" is youtube, etc.
   by Stinky_1 - 2008-06-09
 » usb

the thing is, i bet you hdd support is in the works by homebrewers all ready. it would be embarrasing to ninty to have us come out with support. this would also encourage more people to run the hbc or twillight hack. if it means more useable (expandable) internal flash space.

this seems more like a race. ninty needs more space. especially since i have only 60 blocks left and no room for mor wii ware. they need something as secure as possible, but out now! otherwise if homebrew does it first it could force honest people to consider less than legal (moral) means to keep their system working right.

   by potat4o - 2008-06-09
 » Yes this is desperately needed!

512MB is simply NOT enough! Please Nintendo an external HDD!

   by Mister Common Sense - 2008-06-09
 » .

Nintendo will most likely make another cheap gimmick (similar to wii fit) that goes in the USB port.

USB hard drives are easily available and could be used if Nintendo had unlocked that ability.

But we all know Nintendo wouldn't do that as it would add convienence to users but not profits to Nintendo.


   Re: Lazyboy256 - 2008-06-09
 » Where've you been?

They probably will, or they probably won't. Either way, even though Nintendo may market a HDD-like USB device at a higher price than others, people will have a way to store more st00f.

   Re: Xastabus - 2008-06-09
 » Storage

Of the current generation, only the PS3 allows you to use a standard HD (or so I have read). Even then, I believe they write proprietary partition information to the drive.

The problem with giving open support for standard hardware is that it makes it much easier to hack. Even though Nintendo does not appear concerned about the Twilight hack now, they have a history and reputation for being against hacking and piracy.

It is fairly obvious that allowing users to buy just any external storage would not benefit Nintendo. It certainly doesn't benefit Microsoft to allow external USB drives as game and save file storage, which is precisely why it isn't done that way.

If Nintendo is thinking about any external storage, it will certainly be available only through hardware they produce. It would not be economical or secure for them to do otherwise.

   Re: BIH - 2008-06-09
 » Awww

I though you died....guess not :(

   Re: ISOHaven - 2008-06-09
 » WTF!?!?!?!?!

Because as we all know....HDD's are just gimicks....

What a tool!!!!

Space is a non issue. For now anyway...

   Re: Mister Common Sense - 2008-06-11
 » .

If space is a non issue, why do so many Wii owners complain about tedious copying of games stored on SD to internal flash?

What a pain in the ass, luckily I wasn't foolish enough to "invest" in a Wii.

Since isoretard has reading and grammar troubles, he doesn't realize I wasn't refering to a Wii hard drive. I was refering to a cheap gimmick like Wii fit, which Nintendo places at higher priority than QUALITY GAMES.

   Re: ISOHaven - 2008-06-11
 » WTF!?!?!?!?!

"If space is a non issue, why do so many Wii owners complain about tedious copying of games stored on SD to internal flash?"

Since you're too stupid to be able to understand such concepts on your own, let me explain it as simply as possible so even YOU can understand.

To date there have been ~27,373,179 million Wii's SOLD to consumers (compared to 19 million 360's which have been for sale for MUCH LONGER, HAHAHAHA!!!!!!).

If we take just 1 percent of this total we have 273,731 Wii owners. Let's say a full 1 percent is complaining. First of all you HAVE NOT seen that many people complaining. But let's just pretend since you do that SO WELL. That's a LOT OF PEOPLE complaining. But as anyone with any level of intelligence knows (this isn't you) 1 percent is a NON ISSUE.

"What a pain in the ass, luckily I wasn't foolish enough to "invest" in a Wii."
If you consider a GAME console an investment then you're dumber then you act.

"Since isoretard has reading and grammar troubles"
HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check it out everyone....Mr. Parrot is parroting again!!!! The fact that he copies me VERBATIM only further proves that I have broken him on every level.

http://wii.qj.net/Consumer-group-rates-appliance-power-consumption-PS3-one-of-the-highest/pg/49/aid/120804

"he doesn't realize I wasn't refering to a Wii hard drive."
What this moron doesn't realize is that everyone else is talking about HDDs and that no one really gives a crap about what HE thinks or is "attempting" to talk about.

Speaking of grammar troubles....refering? You spell that wrong 100% of the time. Yes, I've been keep track since you boast about how EDUCATED you are....HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

"I was refering to a cheap gimmick like Wii fit, which Nintendo places at higher priority than QUALITY GAMES."
Says the uneducated, know nothing moron.

AGAIN! - Speaking of grammar troubles....refering? You spell that wrong 100% of the time. Yes, I've been keep track since you boast about how EDUCATED you are....HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

   Re: Mister Common Sense - 2008-06-23
 » .

Only 1% are complaining? Where did that BS stat come from?

IF that were true, it could only mean nobody uses their Wii systems very often! 512MB isn't crap, and a memory card with that storage only costs $15!

"What a pain in the ass, luckily I wasn't foolish enough to "invest" in a Wii."
If you consider a GAME console an investment then you're dumber then you act."

A PS3 can be an investment, the 60gb model I bought is already worth $150 more than I paid (new in box!)

"I was refering to a cheap gimmick like Wii fit, which Nintendo places at higher priority than QUALITY GAMES."
"Says the uneducated, know nothing moron."

Is that backed up by "FACTS" again?

   Re: ISOHaven - 2008-06-23
 » WTF!?!?!?!?!

"Only 1% are complaining? Where did that BS stat come from?"
It didn't come from anywhere you moron. I used 1 percent to show how many people that small percentage alone would be, then you go from there.

Gees, how dumb are you?

"IF that were true, it could only mean nobody uses their Wii systems very often!"
HAHAHAHA!!!! Typical BS Mr. Common Douche Bag logic! This is hilarious!!! In order to MAKE himself right he claims everyone hardly uses their Wii. This is interesting because above you THOUGHT I was trying to use some factual number (of which your retarded ass was WRONG!) yet here you are pulling CRAP out of your ass yourself.

"512MB isn't crap, and a memory card with that storage only costs $15!"
And? What's your point? The Wii comes with external storage. Making a unit with as few movable parts as possible also keeps total costs down in repairs. If you're smart enough to look at the big picture (we all know YOU aren't Mr. CDB) then you would be able to see WHY Nintendo took this route.

"What a pain in the ass, luckily I wasn't foolish enough to "invest" in a Wii."
If you consider a GAME console an investment then you're dumber then you act."

"A PS3 can be an investment, the 60gb model I bought is already worth $150 more than I paid (new in box!)"
That's not an investment you moron! Plus, not all consoles get sold at that amount. YOU a private seller would be LUCKY to sell at that price. Your PS3 is NOT NEW in box.

Damn, you will LIE about anything just to prove a non existent point.

"I was refering to a cheap gimmick like Wii fit, which Nintendo places at higher priority than QUALITY GAMES."
"Says the uneducated, know nothing moron."
"Is that backed up by "FACTS" again?"
I can say the same about. Is YOUR comment backed up by facts? NOPE!
   by The Frenchman - 2008-06-09
 » Most people here are dumb.

If you want to keep deleting stuff from your wii and copy it back from SD cards, it's your choice but it's not conveniant and it's crappy.

I want to be able to store all my VC games in one place and play them on demand! I don't want to keep messing with copying and creating space.

Nintendo should just make it so the USB HDD registers to the Wii and when unlinked or when plugged to another wii asks to be formatted. Simple stuff.

an HDD wouldn't be useless, at all, if you think it is, then you clearly haven,t maxed out your Wii storage, cause then you'd feel the pain in the ass that is to transfer VC/Wiiware games from Wii->SD

   by Koru-Kun - 2008-06-09
 » i think

that the best way for Nintendo to handle this issue is to support a USB Solid-State Drive. The response time is flash speeds but the storage sizes are comparable to a small HDD. The only problem is the price tag on those things (let alone to lack of USB interface support as of the time of this post).

   by Stewies - 2008-06-09
 » & Brian

Indeed, The Frenchman is correct that "Most people here are dumb." and Stinky_1 is the only one who mentioned our beloved homebrewers because they've already won the HDD support war.

http://wii.qj.net/Wii-homebrew-USB-Mass-Storage-Device-Demo/pg/49/aid/119340

So why should Nintendo waste their resources when the homebrew squad has beaten them to it?

It's a very similar situation to the PSP homebrew scene but on a smaller scale and so as always

Victory is mine!


   Re: Lazyboy256 - 2008-06-09
 » Well, victory is ours (the homebrew users)

But those millions of other Wii owners compared to us less than 100,000 (just a guess) homebrew users have no knowledge of this stuff, sadly.
   by Xastabus - 2008-06-11
 » SD Card Backup

I've seen a lot of people saying that you can move items to an SD card. I decided to try it last night and I got "This item can not be copied" on the VC titles. As far as I can tell, you can only backup save files which are much smaller than VC, Wii Channels, and WiiWare titles.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I purchased Bonk's Revenge, Air Zonk, and Super Metroid a while ago. None of those three allowed me to copy to SD.
I have not yet purchased any WiiWare and didn't think to look for Wii Channels amongst my game saves.


   Re: Project D - 2008-06-13
 » Thank you

I've been waiting for someone to point that out. I don't know if people have hacked their consoles to allow the files to be moved, but if that's the case, this isn't an option for me, as I refuse to mod this thing. At least, not yet. So I'll throw my vote behind an official HDD expansion.

   Re: Xastabus - 2008-06-18
 » Correction

Ok, my bad. I have tried this again and can confirm it actually IS possible to copy Wii Channels to an SD card. The Channels are stored in a separate menu from the saves.
Unfortunately, channels aren't accessible from the SD card, which makes the entire solution useless except for backup.

Further Developments: http://wii.qj.net/Nintendo-working-on-a-Wii-storage-solution-but-it-won-t-be-external/pg/49/aid/121212
   by Rapfnny - 2008-06-21
 » Wii Hard Drive Petition

http://wiidrivepetition.tk

WII HARD DRiVE



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