Onyxmeth said: thetonestarr said: The Wii is capable of reading data straight off of an SD card during gameplay. Recall Excite Truck? You're able to select songs - on your SD card - to play while you're racing. Thus said, the Wii is capable of using DLC straight from the card. It may require a minor firmware update to make it optimally practical, but it's definitely doable. Don't you think there's a difference between streaming MP3s into a game and putting downloadable content onto a game from an SD card? Just because we're talking about music here does not mean it's comparable. Harmonix's song DLC for Rock Band do not equal MP3 streaming for Excite Truck. The only comparable things we have to go on is the Wii-Ware game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Does anyone know if the DLC for that game(new houses, clothes, etc.) can be loaded straight from an SD card or must it be on the 512mb on the Wii? If it's the latter than Harmonix has a legitimate reason to not offer it and those saying it can be loaded from SD cards would be wrong. If it's the former, then I'm wrong obviously. Also Harmonix cannot just release a firmware update for the Wii, only Nintendo can, so you know where to put blame to there.

 There is no real difference between streaming a file and putting DLC into a game if the DLC is done right; its not like its a separate program in-and-of itself (well, it doesn't have to be).  They could send you the file encrypted to your Wii (as its save games are encrypted) with a certain file-name structure that the game then greps for in the list of files available to it.  The only difference between the system memory and an SD card in this case would be speed of access. 

ssj12 said: that might be true but to upgrade my PS3 to a 320GB HDD it will cost me $150 so cost per GB is 46 cents which is 100% better value then $2.50 per GB for that SD card.

I can upgrade my computer for about 1/3rd as much as you can upgrade your PS3, so ti's like a 100% better value than your PS3.

oh, wait, that's completely irrelevant.  The point is that you can have more than sufficient storage for $5 or $10, which you cannot do on other platforms with spinning disk.  Period.  

The difference between "more than sufficient storage" and "way more than sufficient storage" isn't relevant to this discussion, is it? 

The truth is, most Wii users DON'T care about the limitations of the light network capabilities of the console.

A sizable percentage of the user base doesn't own any other console, so there is no direct comparison to be made, nor any feelings of being "cheated" for not providing similar services available on the more expensive PS3 or 360.

As it's already been said, the only type of person who cares about the addition of an HDD for the Wii and regular integration of online play and DLC is the exact type of person who frequents sites like VGC. That person does NOT represent the typical Wii user. And that is not the typical user Nintendo is spending the majority of its resources attempting to court. They already know that gamer types who play Nintendo IPs have a Wii, or will buy one and most likely already have either a 360 or PS3.

When Nintendo chooses to adopt the industry standards of built in mass storage and a robust online network, they will. But given their past track record, odds are in favor of that happening in their next generation console rather than remaking a Wii 1.1 experience that better integrates online play with a better mass storage solution. The absence of either is not hurting the success of the Wii in any way shape or form.

Peripherals required for certain games, but not others beyond special controllers in general are not profitable. Anyone who believes the majority of Wii owners would go out and buy a Wii HDD if such a peripheral was introduced is kidding themselves. People will buy it if it's a part of a killer app package, but such a package would likely cost more than Wii Fit while generating less profit. I'd like to see a sheet on the actual cost of production for a Balance Board, but it's a safe assumption to say that it is very inexpensive to produce.

Figure unless HDD is incorporated into a majority of Wii consoles, developers are not going to integrate its use into their games by default. At best it would be for the purpose of adding additional, non-essential features for those with such a storage option. Features that the typical user will neither access, nor miss.

The best option would be a firmware update that enabled the use of any USB external HDD which is something I can't imagine Nintendo giving the green stamp. Too many issues regarding wider spread piracy which is already a problem in SE Asian markets.

As a semi-related side note: Do the official Rock Band forums *really* not have any threads about the Wii version, or do their search functions just work like VGC's?

Because if its the former, I am very surprised to the point of wondering if they just delete them, y'know? You'd think there would be at least one post with the word 'wii' in it...

[Edit:Their search works like VGC, because I found a thread with the word 'Wii' in the title that can't be found through search.  Strange, huh?]

"Just because there is rapid growth doesn't give you an excuse to be so backwards about the development cycle of certain aspects of your system (1), and what it offers. Why did Nintendo have no problems addopting the Stylus for the DS, or the Wiimote for the Wii - which are 2 big cash-cows in terms of the fact that "a smaller company" would have to devote alot of resources to make the change, and be at the forefront of controller devices, but about 5 years behind on Online components, and Multiplayer?(2)"

1. If they were backwards, they would be using dial-up, and voice chat but with some outdated standards. That's what being backwards would actually be.

Plus the rapid growth could falter if they rush things (see below), which did happen to Sega, and you seem to have completely ignored when he brought that up.

2. You're implying that control styles should be at most only slightly easier than online. One requires active servers and debugging. The other just needs feedback if there's a problem. So online cost A LOT more money.

Nintendo is not a corporation, with years of established online work. Microsoft and Sony were before they put that into their systems. Therefore, they had the means and the experience. Nintendo is trying to GAIN those.

alpha_dk said: Onyxmeth said: thetonestarr said: The Wii is capable of reading data straight off of an SD card during gameplay. Recall Excite Truck? You're able to select songs - on your SD card - to play while you're racing. Thus said, the Wii is capable of using DLC straight from the card. It may require a minor firmware update to make it optimally practical, but it's definitely doable. Don't you think there's a difference between streaming MP3s into a game and putting downloadable content onto a game from an SD card? Just because we're talking about music here does not mean it's comparable. Harmonix's song DLC for Rock Band do not equal MP3 streaming for Excite Truck. The only comparable things we have to go on is the Wii-Ware game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Does anyone know if the DLC for that game(new houses, clothes, etc.) can be loaded straight from an SD card or must it be on the 512mb on the Wii? If it's the latter than Harmonix has a legitimate reason to not offer it and those saying it can be loaded from SD cards would be wrong. If it's the former, then I'm wrong obviously. Also Harmonix cannot just release a firmware update for the Wii, only Nintendo can, so you know where to put blame to there.   There is no real difference between streaming a file and putting DLC into a game if the DLC is done right; its not like its a separate program in-and-of itself (well, it doesn't have to be). They could send you the file encrypted to your Wii (as its save games are encrypted) with a certain file-name structure that the game then greps for in the list of files available to it. The only difference between the system memory and an SD card in this case would be speed of access.

I think you misunderstood me. What I meant to imply is if Nintendo allows DLC to be loaded from the SD card and that's why I brought up the Crystal Chronicles argument if anyone knew how it goes with that game. I was saying that just because Nintendo allows songs to stream in their games does not automatically mean they allow DLC to be loaded off an SD card directly in game, meaning they would require a firmware update that only Nintendo can apply themselves. Technically a game being loaded straight off an SD Card is only a firmware update away probably but Nintendo does not allow it to happen.

 

Onyxmeth said: alpha_dk said: Onyxmeth said: thetonestarr said: The Wii is capable of reading data straight off of an SD card during gameplay. Recall Excite Truck? You're able to select songs - on your SD card - to play while you're racing. Thus said, the Wii is capable of using DLC straight from the card. It may require a minor firmware update to make it optimally practical, but it's definitely doable. Don't you think there's a difference between streaming MP3s into a game and putting downloadable content onto a game from an SD card? Just because we're talking about music here does not mean it's comparable. Harmonix's song DLC for Rock Band do not equal MP3 streaming for Excite Truck. The only comparable things we have to go on is the Wii-Ware game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Does anyone know if the DLC for that game(new houses, clothes, etc.) can be loaded straight from an SD card or must it be on the 512mb on the Wii? If it's the latter than Harmonix has a legitimate reason to not offer it and those saying it can be loaded from SD cards would be wrong. If it's the former, then I'm wrong obviously. Also Harmonix cannot just release a firmware update for the Wii, only Nintendo can, so you know where to put blame to there.   There is no real difference between streaming a file and putting DLC into a game if the DLC is done right; its not like its a separate program in-and-of itself (well, it doesn't have to be). They could send you the file encrypted to your Wii (as its save games are encrypted) with a certain file-name structure that the game then greps for in the list of files available to it. The only difference between the system memory and an SD card in this case would be speed of access. I think you misunderstood me. What I meant to imply is if Nintendo allows DLC to be loaded from the SD card and that's why I brought up the Crystal Chronicles argument if anyone knew how it goes with that game. I was saying that just because Nintendo allows songs to stream in their games does not automatically mean they allow DLC to be loaded off an SD card directly in game, meaning they would require a firmware update that only Nintendo can apply themselves. Technically a game being loaded straight off an SD Card is only a firmware update away probably but Nintendo does not allow it to happen.

 That's completely irrelevant to a discussion of Rock Band DLC, which would be streaming songs into the game...

Onyxmeth said: alpha_dk said: Onyxmeth said: thetonestarr said: The Wii is capable of reading data straight off of an SD card during gameplay. Recall Excite Truck? You're able to select songs - on your SD card - to play while you're racing. Thus said, the Wii is capable of using DLC straight from the card. It may require a minor firmware update to make it optimally practical, but it's definitely doable. Don't you think there's a difference between streaming MP3s into a game and putting downloadable content onto a game from an SD card? Just because we're talking about music here does not mean it's comparable. Harmonix's song DLC for Rock Band do not equal MP3 streaming for Excite Truck. The only comparable things we have to go on is the Wii-Ware game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Does anyone know if the DLC for that game(new houses, clothes, etc.) can be loaded straight from an SD card or must it be on the 512mb on the Wii? If it's the latter than Harmonix has a legitimate reason to not offer it and those saying it can be loaded from SD cards would be wrong. If it's the former, then I'm wrong obviously. Also Harmonix cannot just release a firmware update for the Wii, only Nintendo can, so you know where to put blame to there.   There is no real difference between streaming a file and putting DLC into a game if the DLC is done right; its not like its a separate program in-and-of itself (well, it doesn't have to be). They could send you the file encrypted to your Wii (as its save games are encrypted) with a certain file-name structure that the game then greps for in the list of files available to it. The only difference between the system memory and an SD card in this case would be speed of access. I think you misunderstood me. What I meant to imply is if Nintendo allows DLC to be loaded from the SD card and that's why I brought up the Crystal Chronicles argument if anyone knew how it goes with that game. I was saying that just because Nintendo allows songs to stream in their games does not automatically mean they allow DLC to be loaded off an SD card directly in game, meaning they would require a firmware update that only Nintendo can apply themselves. Technically a game being loaded straight off an SD Card is only a firmware update away probably but Nintendo does not allow it to happen.

User made levels in SSBBrawl can be save onto SD cards and then used right off the SD card in games.  I do it all the time.  I don't see any difference here. 

 

Gamerace said: User made levels in SSBBrawl can be save onto SD cards and then used right off the SD card in games. I do it all the time. I don't see any difference here.

You can also stream music off of SD cards, and MySims uses the Wii internal memory  to cache assets in game to improve performance. 

I've lost my patience with Harmonix. They make a crappy port and then lie all the time to shift the attention from the fact that they are greedy lazy bastards. You complain about a million things, they pick one to comment, and their response is always a fallacy.

I remember when people were complaining on the Rock Band forums about DLC, no online, no GHIII guitar compatibilty, poor world tour mode and no character customization; the latter issue being the least discussed. Then someone from Harmonix took the time to answer, but the guy simply said that customization was not possible on the Wii because it's underpowered.

First, that's not completely true. Second, WHO CARES? All the other issues were way more important but he conveniently forgot to address them. That's the same as this "we need an HD" BS. They don't mention their other faults and don't explain why SD cards are not a viable solution to them. To hell with Harmonix!