@montrealsoon:  Hardly, Nintendo could release a Nintendo brand HD, and that could be the only HD that works.

And I'm pretty sure that'd be ok with most consumers. Every Wii SHOULD have the HD, so that's not bad if it appears incomplete without it.

Nintendo could start packaging the HD with the Wii in the future as well, keeping the price at $250 hopefully.

I do hope they get the storage issue worked out. I don't know how fast the SD Transfer rate will need to be, but if they can improve/verify proper speeds on data transfer on the SD cards, then I say stay away from HDD as they can be unreliable. SD Cards can also be unreliable, but at least they don't have moving parts. My plan to fix this storage issue: firmware update for support of High Capacity SD cards.

Then I would hope that devs would make an MMO for the Wii and sell a SD Card with the game that allows for updates and DLC and the like. Perhaps even have games sold entirely on a single SD card. The load times would/should be nearly non-existent at that point.

Currently that Wii has 512 mb active storage

2 gb sd cards can be used only for storage.

A firmware update could make storage into active space.

Firmware could upgrade the sd to sdhc which goes up to 32gb as a format.

Firmware could allow usb harddrives with virtually unlimited storage.

Nintendo probably wont do any of those things because they are paranoid about piracy.

What I think Nintendo will do is relase storage solution of thier own(maybe flash 4gb or so) with Animal Crossing as a pack in.

 The PS3 does upscale PS2 games, but have you seen them?  There's not that much difference.

I guess I just don't understand what you mean by an HD Wii.  You mean the system would output in 720/1080p?  What would be the point in that?  It would hardly look better, because for a system to look much better in HD, it needs a better graphics card and processor to create HD textures, more polygons, etc.

Are you suggesting that Nintendo should make such a system?  Because then there's NO way an old Wii could play the new games.  And if you're suggesting that the system merely outputs in 720p/1080p for a marginally better picture, then it wouldn't make much sense for Nintendo to make this system, since upscaling only makes it look a little bit better.

perhaps a de luxe model with storage capacity, marginally better picture, dvd player, better interface and who knows what else - I'm not saying they should but all i'm saying is there's a lot of improvements could be done on the wii to produce a de luxe  model aimed at hardcore audiences. 

It could even have tighter wii motion controls that respond better.Who knows it could also have more power so devs could tie the de luxe in with ps3 / 360 on "hardcore" multiplat releases once a Wii user base is established so this console could have both library of games.

It makes sense to release a cheap, simple base model at first with it being such a big gamble and when you have a platform to build on then address these issues - not when it's only been out 16 months and demand still far outstrips supply.

That only makes sense with mp3 players and other various electronics that use things like mp3s, or dvds, or blu-rays. An old blu-ray player should still play a blu-ray just as good as a new one, except it just might be huge, not enough connections in the back perhaps, clunky controls, what have you.

You can't do that with a videogames console. You can't make a Super Mario Galaxy 2 with HD graphics on par with 360 and PS3 on a new HD Wii, because that would alienate tens of millions of customers who bought existing Wii consoles.

An old iPod can still play an mp3 from a new band. You're suggesting a model where an old Wii could not play new games. It's market suicide.

With videogames, you don't start out with a crappy base model and improve.  You start out with what you get for the entire generation, and the only improvements you can make are based on peripherals such as hard drives, new controllers (but NOT controllers that replace the standard), etc.

I have the feeling that a multi-tiered graphic solution between a Wii and a Wii De Luxe would be greatly hindering to the success of the Wii. The thing is that casual gamers just want to play a fun game, they don't want a confusing SKU setup. This also would pose a problem for devs having to make two versions for the Wii and the Wii DL.

There are a number of problems with the idea of two Wii SKUs with one having "better graphics"; the main problem being that a game needs to be developed for a specific set of hardware specs. You can't have one disk that will output "standard" wii graphics and then output "De Luxe" graphics in a higher SKU... It doesn't work that way.

I wouldn't mind active storage like was said before in a new SKU or a DVD player. But the graphics update is simply a bad idea that will seriously harm the adoption of Wii as this-gen leader/winner. In fact I might say that those that propose them could be undercover Sony/MS operatives that want to see that happen. Though it is just a theory and I am in no way implying that anyone is actually an undercover agent... Most people just don't understand that graphics problem I have pointed out.

i have a 4gb SD card... but i use it for pics, music, and videos in the Picture Channel.


I hate using SD cards on the Wii

I have an "ultimate high transfer speed Sandisk"
but it still takes at least 2 to 3 minutes to copy ANY type of file from the Wii to an SD card.

It is IMPOSSIBLE to run anything off the SD cards.
which means you cannot play Virtual Console games that are saved onto a SD card

Wow i didn't know SD to Wii was so slow

If the transfer rate weren't the problem, one thing Wii could to is use its 512Mb as flash memory and every time you want to play a game, instead loading the game from the hard disk, could be easier to unpack it [since as far as i know WiiWare game are compressed] on the Wii internal memory...

they need to quit beating around the bush, and give us another storage option, it make no sense to have to transfer data back and forth to an sd card. Im not buying anymore vc games until they make it easier, i hate doing it because it takes soo long.