How Will Nintendo Market a Hard Drive?

dean29 · 06-06-2008, 09:39 PM

One thing that Nintendo has been consistent about is marketing all their games and peripherals to "casual gamers".

Take a look at Wii Fit for instance. This is a way to sell the balance board to the masses.

I do not have any info other than a strong hunch that Nintendo will releasing some sort of storage device whether an hard drive or something else.

I am wondering if it is possible Nintendo packages the hard drive with some sort of software even if nothing much more than a demo. They included Wii Sports with the Wii. They included Links Crossbow Training with the Zapper. They sold the balance board as part of Wii Fit. It just seems like Nintendo doesn't sell just peripherals anymore other than extra controllers.

Anyone thinkn it is possible Nintendo might incude a storage device as part of another release?

If not, I think they should just make it an online update to support the SDcards fully.

Dean

linners · 06-07-2008, 01:41 AM

The thing I wonder about using SD cards.. will they be big enough? I don't know, maybe someone can elaborate more. But let's say I have a 1 or 2 GB SD card.. is that gonna hold much?

dean29 · 06-07-2008, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linners

The thing I wonder about using SD cards.. will they be big enough? I don't know, maybe someone can elaborate more. But let's say I have a 1 or 2 GB SD card.. is that gonna hold much?

A 2GB is 4 x bigger than the internal memory of the Wii,

However, I dont think it is a good longterm solution because you would like for people to be able to store their music, pictures, and other content as well as games having the ability to reduce load times and add content by saving to the hard drive.

A SDCard would just be a band aid.

Twilight Hero · 06-07-2008, 02:13 AM

I think you're on the right track. Nintendo might introduce a game that would have the ability to utilize a hard drive fully, and throw the two in a value pack. Not a bad idea.

But honestly, how much space do you guys want? 40 or 60 GBs like the PS3? I thought people would be happy with the 2 GB SD cards.

dean29 · 06-07-2008, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twilight Hero

I think you're on the right track. Nintendo might introduce a game that would have the ability to utilize a hard drive fully, and throw the two in a value pack. Not a bad idea.

But honestly, how much space do you guys want? 40 or 60 GBs like the PS3? I thought people would be happy with the 2 GB SD cards.

Disk space is real cheap and while 2GB might be fine now, in one year you will start to hear people complaining.

I say go for the at least 60GB hard drivee and have a good solution for several years.

If Nintendo stays true to form, they will sell it with something else to give non gamers motivation to buy it. If the hard drive came with Wii Sports 2 then that would sell them and solve the storage solution for the majority of users since almost everyone would buy it.

Dean

Twilight Hero · 06-07-2008, 02:23 AM

Wii Sports 2 + 60 GB hard drive = more than 50 dollars

Wii Sports 2 alone would probably be $50 because it's likely that they are adding more games, a different engine, wifi support, etc.

dean29 · 06-07-2008, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twilight Hero

Wii Sports 2 + 60 GB hard drive = more than 50 dollars

Wii Sports 2 alone would probably be $50 because it's likely that they are adding more games, a different engine, wifi support, etc.

I feel like Nintendo is hold backing Wii Sports 2 on purpose. I think that is their trump card to use when they need it. If there is a sales slump or something then Wii Sports 2 could have the best sales week of any game in Nintendos History. It one of the most universally loved games and went a long way in selling the Wii to non-gamers.

Dean

Twilight Hero · 06-07-2008, 02:49 AM

Hey, if that's their strategy, I don't blame them. There are lots of other great titles coming out soon so they might not release Wii Sports 2 any time soon anyway. Yes, Wii Sports attracted many different people and made the Wii really popular. But we can't forget that it came with the Wii in America. Nintendo may need to attach the sequel to something to really get the sells going, just like you said.

Kamikaze · 06-07-2008, 03:12 AM

Nintendo actually has some licensed SD cards, so I don't think a hard drive will be made by them but rather a third party publisher such as Nyko. If Nintendo was to actually do a Hard drive, I say it wouldn't be any bigger than 15 gigs and it will probably be packed with a game or so (I'd like to say Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King and 2000 virtual console points.). It'd be easy for them to market this, but it'd be heavily priced around 169.99 as a rough estimate. As I said before, it's highly doubtful though.

illmasaki · 06-07-2008, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by linners

The thing I wonder about using SD cards.. will they be big enough? I don't know, maybe someone can elaborate more. But let's say I have a 1 or 2 GB SD card.. is that gonna hold much?

yes the wii internal memory is half of a 1gb sd card
if u could run channels off of a sd card this would help many peoples problems

making also possible to use more then 1 sd card for either different people using the wii or just some1 who dl a lot of stuff

software might be interesting promotion to hd

maybe a hard drive with software like mp3 player with play lists that can work in game play

games with level editing software like with ssbb
and improving games abilities like guitar hero and rock band

so maybe if nintendo marketed the hard drive as the only external hd u can run wii channels off of nintendo might have something

or how bout u need the external hard drive to have head set support

or a game with lots of dl content a puzzle game with characters, levels, music and more

(maybe with animal crossing with dlc[$150 for a game(animal crossing), 5000 wiipoints and a 50 gig hard drive])

Bushybrow · 06-08-2008, 02:55 AM

I'm probably wrong about this, but considering how compact the Wii is, it doesn't seem like there could be room for a hard drive. Making an update for an SD card would make more sense.
And in my opinion; a 1 or 2 gb sd card should do fine. I'm pretty sure it would hold my stuff and much more. (And I have 30 VC games and 3 WiiWare games).

mazdaboi · 06-11-2008, 01:16 PM

2GB SD cards (3rd party) are going pretty cheap. i found a Kensington 1GB for $8. Plus they do have some 4GB and 8GB cards out there just have to pay another penny for them.

I believe its just a matter of time before someone creates a 3rd party FIRMWARE for the WII to allow a USB HDD.

Give it time. it will come....

festivaman · 06-14-2008, 08:39 AM

i would love a storage solution for DLC but Nintendo is really dumb on those sorts of things so i don't see them releasing one. Wiiware is enuff marketing to Nintendo if they wanted to release a hard drive.

dean29 · 06-17-2008, 01:14 AM

At this point, I hope they just rip off us on buying having to pay $70 bucks a 2GB Nintendo SD Card han a $160 15 GB hard drive with a game I am not interestd in.

If Nintendo took that approach of marketing a game with a hard drive, I just dont see it being Animal Crossing. It is going to have to be something the "causal fans" would want right way.

If this is about the concerns that the games will be pirated then do a search on that Twilight Princess hack. Anybody with the homebrew can play all the virtual console games they want with that hack. They probably will soon be able to play WiiWare and ISO Images. I suspect someone will take the TP hack and made a bootable CD that will allow the functionality of the mod chip. I suppose its Nintnedo's fault for the whole they left in their own software.

I have cleared out my memory and now have 1100 blocks free. If today is any indication of Wiiware games to come then maybe I dont have to worry about the memory issue. However, I still msay a hard drive is the way to go because it adds a lot of functionality and future capabilities for the Wii.

festivaman · 06-17-2008, 06:30 PM

i am with you dean29 i would just like a harddrive for the purpose of games with dlc like (rockband) and increased performance.

Ytoabn · 06-17-2008, 08:57 PM

Bah, they shouldn't waste money on advertisement. Make it fairly cheap, and sell it online only. In the end, those that need it will hear of it from gaming news sites and forums.

Kamikaze · 06-17-2008, 09:30 PM

Here's an update on the situation.

Quote:

Source: 1up.com

Remember Laurent Fischer, whose name hit the net last week after he was quoted as saying "only geeks and otaku" want more Wii storage? He's back again, now reassuring Nintendo faithful that the company is working on a solution to the Wii's low memory problems.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that Fischer claims the company is "working on a solution." But those of you hoping for a USB hard drive may be out of luck, as Fischer says there are "no plans to issue hardware, an external hard drive" as the fix. However, "it's very obvious and we're perfectly aware of it, but there's nothing we can say beyond this." He pointed out that "this area is fully handled by the development team in Japan. It's very linked to the overall strategy; that's something they're working on." But if not a hard drive, what could this new solution be?

As for the infamous remarks from last week, on top of his apology, Fischer has clarified the context a bit. He claims that the words were just self-deprecating humor, "related basically to myself and to the journalists attending. It was a joke I made on myself and somehow it's been confused and taken out of context to define those consumers."

dean29 · 06-17-2008, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ytoabn

Bah, they shouldn't waste money on advertisement. Make it fairly cheap, and sell it online only. In the end, those that need it will hear of it from gaming news sites and forums.

This has not been the way Nintendo has worked since coming up with the Wii. They have sold more consoles by selling the Wii with Wii Sports and selling Wii Fit with the balance board. It has all been marketing.

I would prefer Nintendo just do a firmware flash that allows you to use USB drives/flash drives or SD Cards. However, why would Nintendo let you buy SD cards for $10 off ebay when they can sell the same thing for $69 with their copy protection?

I have cleaned up my memory and if we have more weeks of Arkanoid from a cell phone and a PS2 fishing game as the Wiiware releases then I have all the memory I need.

However, they should think about the future and the increased functionality and performance a hard drive would give users.

If Nintendo force feeds it to use with a product then it better be one that has large appeal. I could see them getting away with it on Mario Kart or Zelda but not a lesser product.

Dean