New Wii with DVD with player

[Haz]

I don't think people understand. The read/write heads in the wii are physically reversed. And you cannot just have firmware that alternates between the ways it reads the data between dvd movies and wii games. That would take way too much research and developement.



He means the wii reads in reverse, because the wii games are written in reverse. And he is correct. It is nintendos ingenius way to prevent game pirating. And it worked marvelously for the gamecube.

Cool - Learnt something new today. That's such a good idea by Nintendo.

 

[omegajedi]

The Wii has to be able to read DVDs because. A hacked Gamecube could play back-ups burnt to DVDs. So then a Gamecube game must be a DVD. The Wii plays Gamecube games. So therefore, the Wii must be able to play DVDs.

 

[DrYou]

The Wii has to be able to read DVDs because. A hacked Gamecube could play back-ups burnt to DVDs. So then a Gamecube game must be a DVD. The Wii plays Gamecube games. So therefore, the Wii must be able to play DVDs.

Whether or not it does or doesn't if you have a First Gen Wii it won't play them. The new Premiere Wii's will and you will pay more money for them. Nintendo doesn’t own any part of DVD technology so they need to pay someone to use it which will increase the base cost of the system.

 

[omegajedi]

Whether or not it does or doesn't if you have a First Gen Wii it won't play them. The new Premiere Wii's will and you will pay more money for them. Nintendo doesn’t own any part of DVD technology so they need to pay someone to use it which will increase the base cost of the system.

Couldn't it be like the Xbox, where technically it can play DVD Movies but unless you buy the little dongle and remote you won't have access to that feature.

What I was stating originally is that the Wii has to be able to read DVDs. Whether it spins the right way or whatever to read a DVD Movie is a something different altogether.

 

[ilcid]

I don't think people understand. The read/write heads in the wii are physically reversed. And you cannot just have firmware that alternates between the ways it reads the data between dvd movies and wii games. That would take way too much research and developement.



He means the wii reads in reverse, because the wii games are written in reverse. And he is correct. It is nintendos ingenius way to prevent game pirating. And it worked marvelously for the gamecube.

Source?

As far as I know, GameCube's disks spinning in reverse is just a misconception. "A common misconception about the GameCube optical drive is that it spins the discs in reverse (counter-clockwise) from normal disc drives (which spin clockwise). The peculiarity of this rumor is that one need only open the disc tray on an operating GameCube to see that the disc clearly spins clockwise as it slows to a halt." Source

I'm having a friend double-check this as I type this.

@edit: Friend just checked, it's true, they spin the same as normal DVDs.

With this in mind, I doubt they would use a media drive that spins in both directions, so theres a good chance that it is compatible with standard DVDs.

 

[klyick]

Read/Write heads in a drive aren't controlled by the firmware. This is a 100% hardware thing.

And if you get pissed about it you are dumb, because they made this announcement a month prior to the wii even being launched. Your bad for not waiting for one? Or go to wal-mart with $40 dollars and buy a dvd player.

I don't wish to seem rude, but this part about the reading of CDROM drives being 100% hardware is completely wrong. All DVD and CDROM drives are controlled by firmware, not hardware. Having had a opportunity to redesign such firmwares, I can assure you about the truth of this.

-Klyick

 

[ilcid]

I don't wish to seem rude, but this part about the reading of CDROM drives being 100% hardware is completely wrong. All DVD and CDROM drives are controlled by firmware, not hardware. Having had a opportunity to redesign such firmwares, I can assure you about the truth of this.

-Klyick

The hardware is controlled by the firmware, but if the hardware isn't capable of it, the firmware won't fix that.

But I doubt it matters in this context.

 

[jshannonbuller]

I love lamp!!!! And my replacement plan that I purchased with my Wii at Best Buy. If a newer, updated model comes out then I'll just replace it via my replacement plan. Oh yeah!!! But I still hope they just use an upgrade.

 

[Dalindeck]

Why does it matter? The Wii is a gaming system, not an entertainment system. I could care less about watching DVDs on my Wii. I have a DVD player and a computer for that. As far as reading discs backwards, did not know that either, marvelous job Nintendo!

 

[vagrant]

Source?

As far as I know, GameCube's disks spinning in reverse is just a misconception. "A common misconception about the GameCube optical drive is that it spins the discs in reverse (counter-clockwise) from normal disc drives (which spin clockwise). The peculiarity of this rumor is that one need only open the disc tray on an operating GameCube to see that the disc clearly spins clockwise as it slows to a halt." Source

I'm having a friend double-check this as I type this.

@edit: Friend just checked, it's true, they spin the same as normal DVDs.

With this in mind, I doubt they would use a media drive that spins in both directions, so theres a good chance that it is compatible with standard DVDs.

k...you do realize that I never said they spin in reverse right? They are written/read in reverse. Meaning inside to out as opposed to outside to in.

And to the other guy, no, the read heads of the wiis cannot be controlled to read the discs differently just with a firmware upgrade.

Why is this even being debated when it has been confirmed that There is going to be a new wii that will have dvd movie reading capabilities.

I don't wish to seem rude, but this part about the reading of CDROM drives being 100% hardware is completely wrong.

The read heads need to physically be reversed. This is how people ripped GCN games, by taking a computer cdrom drive and taking it apart.

 

[ilcid]

Erm... CD's and DVD's are written/read inside to out...

You can even see the pattern on burned CDs.

And you still haven't stated the source...

 

[intekmdma]

Your talking about the Future Wii right? The current model does not have a DvD drive in it.

Where'd u get this info? Wii has a dvd drive in it ><

 

[intekmdma]

Erm... CD's and DVD's are written/read inside to out...

You can even see the pattern on burned CDs.

And you still haven't stated the source...

Yup written inside out ><

known fact

 

[monksealpup]

As near as I can tell, the whole "outside -> inside" thing is about where the master index table is, and where the data that is most likely to be read or will be read first is located. With the GameCube, the master index was the outermost data to improve linear read speeds (constant angular/rotational velocity means the highest linear read speed is at the maximum radius). Subsequently, data that was either to be read first (if the game supported a more linear data presentation) or data that would need to be read often (e.g. if the game needed to constantly load an area) would be located just inside the master index for the same reason (high data rates).

While I am not sure this is all that much of an issue with the Wii given its larger discs and possibly faster drive, if Nintendo decided to continue this method of data presentation (possibly likely for backward compatibility), surely data would be presented the same way.

[For the curious, "garbage" data would need to be introduced to "fill" the area between the "game" data (located in a ring extending from the maximum radius) and the minimum radius. If one looks at GameCube disc copies on the Internets, one may very well find that games have been stripped of this "garbage" data and will need it added back on before burning (you will find the exact byte count by using The Google).]


In any event, since data is presumably read linearly from a circular medium, it would be reasonable to assume that data is arranged in a spiral. From the previous discussion, it is reasonable to assume the spiral "starts" at the outermost radius and continues inward. So either the disc drive in the Wii/GameCube spins "backwards" (with respect to conventional drives), or the disc pressing facility needs to create the discs "backwards" (with respect to conventional optical disc arrangements) so that conventional drives can be programmed to look for "block 0" at the outermost radius, and the maximal data address at the innermost radius, whilst rotating in the conventional direction. The latter would seem to be the most logical as it allows Nintendo to get off-the-shelf parts, write a custom firmware/custom driving software to make the reversal to start at the outside and put the "unconventional" data presentation burden on the printing facility. This would seem to be inline with findings on the Internets about how the discs spin in the GameCube (and presumably in the Wii as well), i.e. the conventional way.

Anyway, hopefully this serves to clear up some of the misunderstandings I have seen pop up. Since I have not actually disassembled a GameCube or a Wii, I am relying on testimony from parties which have. However, the principles behind data presentation can be debated and theorized without inspecting hardware. Let me know if I have missed something -- it's 0245 here :\


[Disclaimer: I am well aware there is only one Internet, and Google is a company, and it is not 'The Google'. These errors are intentional and meant to poke fun at a certain someone who apparently does not know much about the Internet. Also, the Internet is not a dumptruck -- it's a series of tubes.]

 

[intekmdma]

ummm...? In lamen terms what i got from you was... everything should be the same as the game cube? (disc reading) that is