Nintendo working on storage issue, won’t release a hard-drive
Nintendo’s not going to develop a hard-drive; Reggie says Nintendo’s got something much better in store.
Since the dawn of time the Nintendo Wii’s have never really needed any more storage than the 512mb it has internally. I mean, seriously, how big is a game save? Then Virtual Console appeared, then WiiWare hit, then downloadable content because an issue and now Wii owners are crying wolf for something they never thought they’d need - space.
Fast forward almost two years into the Wii’s lifecycle and owners still don’t have an answer to the impending problem. The two biggest fake band games of the year - Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero: World Tour are going to sport downloadable content and will need considerable space on all consoles to house it.
The real question is: Will the Wii have the means to support downloadable content?
According to 1UP.com - with files taken from Club Nintendo, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime assures Nintendo is working on a “better solution” when asked about a hard-drive add-on. But what could really be better than a hard-drive?
Maybe Nintendo’s working on a Wii update that’ll allow users to use any SD or external hard-drive they already own. Wait, that won’t work because then the issue of piracy becomes a problem. Hey, I got it! Maybe Nintendo’s going to ask for a recall on all Wii’s to get upgraded with 1gb of internal storage! Ok, so that’s not practical and pretty stupid as well.
Lost in the interview is Reggie’s mention of Nintendo not developing any more peripherals for the system. This is going to be an interesting task for Nintendo - giving the users considerable more space for downloadable content while not having them buy any new external add-ons.
Maybe something web-based ala GMail? That’s my only guess.
Nintendo DS2 on its way, hopes to eliminate homebrew scene
Nintendo is set to release an upgrade to the current DS Lite. Will you take the plunge? Not even for dual touch screen functionality?
This may come as a shocker to some of you but the Nintendo DS will see a new, fresher, model out within the next year or so. Let me give you a minute to absorb that - done?
IGN has posted some mocks of what the new DS might look like and what it might incorporate. The specifics are still largely rumor heavy, but news has it could release in April or May 2009 release.
Nintendo DS 2 on its way, maybe
Low Japanese DS sales are prompting Nintendo to take serious action.
Word out of Gizmodo is rumoring the Nintendo DS could see a face lift as early as the end of this calendar year. Are you really surprised? The original DS got the overhaul in June of ‘06 just a year and a bit after its original release. Now, in ‘08, it wouldn’t come as a shock for Nintendo to keep up the strong sales with a new look DS. Also, since piracy has become a problem for Nintendo, an ulterior motive might be to curb the homebrew scene as well.
Nintendo in more hot soup
I just realized how long that picture actually is. Makes this article look so short in comparison.
According to Reuters the Big N has filed a lawsuit against five Japanese firms for importing equipment that allows illegal programs to be loaded onto the Nintendo DS.
It’s no secret that flash-card options like the R4 and DSTT are probably taking a chunk of change out of Nintendo’s pockets. But, when looking at the large global reach Nintendo has, how much could it really be affecting them? I mean, Nintendo’s target is the casual and young gamer.
Nintendo gets sued, DS still prints money
If you haven’t picked up a classic controller yet, you might want to do so. Hurry!
The Texas-based company Anascape Ltd. is making life misterable for video game console manufactures everywhere. First, it was Microsoft and now its aimed right at everyone’s favourite - Nintendo. Anascape, who has apparently patented the use of analog sticks, is looking for $21 million dollars of Big N money. What does this do for Nintendo you ask? This could effectively kill off the distribution of Wii classic controllers and the popular Gamecube and Wavebird controllers as well.
Nintendo doesn’t seem to phased by the lawsuit, though. They plan to appeal this case to the Federal Circuit court.
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