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Wiis can now play VC games off SD cards, Wii sales hit milestone

25 March 2009 17:11 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 17 comments

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has announced during his GDC keynote address that a new Wii firmware update will allow gamers to run Virtual Console games straight from their SD cards, sidestepping the need for the company to release an external hard drive.

The new Wii System Menu 4.0 will allow gamers to save and load games directly from SD cards, which at 32GB can hold up to 240 games.

During the same speech, Iwata noted that the Wii had finally passes the 50 million units sold mark, making it the fastest console to hit the milestone.

Additionally, Iwata added that the DSi has sold over 2 million units since its release last year in Japan.

Permalink to this article | Topic: Consoles

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Discuss this article!
Morreale (Member) 25 March 2009 17:28
*Quote:* The new Wii System Menu 4.0 will allow gamers to save and load games directly from SD cards. FINALLY. [ + quote]
kubapolak (Junior Member) 25 March 2009 18:50
I do agree, it's about time. [ + quote]
bobiroc (Member) 25 March 2009 19:14
Is this limited to VC games? Does the new update make the inserted SD card part of the total system memory somehow? Also I thought the maximum the system could take in the SD slot was 2GB. I hope that with an inserted SD card it can play VC games and access games saves too. I am also looking forward to more info on that USB Hard Drive. [ + quote]
dragnandy (Senior Member) 25 March 2009 19:36
i dont know how VC games work, but does that mean you can just buy a bunch of classic games on a SD card and use it for any wii? or does it have drm and restrictions to only work with the wii you purchased it with? [ + quote]
bobiroc (Member) 25 March 2009 19:41
*Originally posted by dragnandy:* i dont know how VC games work, but does that mean you can just buy a bunch of classic games on a SD card and use it for any wii? or does it have drm and restrictions to only work with the wii you purchased it with? I am thinking the DRM restrictions will still be in play here. [ + quote]
hasamoder (Member) 26 March 2009 4:38
Woooo Finally [ + quote]
TSRSteve (Newbie) 26 March 2009 9:35
Like bobiroc said, I don't think the Wii can read SDHC cards. Is this a software issue or a hardware issue? Is this something that a firmware update can fix? [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 26 March 2009 9:39
SGSeries2 (Junior Member) 26 March 2009 11:00
*Originally posted by TSRSteve:* Like bobiroc said, I don't think the Wii can read SDHC cards. Is this a software issue or a hardware issue? Is this something that a firmware update can fix? According to the IGN article I was reading the other day (recollecting; I may be wrong), it seemed like SDHC support was (somehow) part of the inclusion. They also said that games still had to be loaded into internal memory when you actually want to play them, and games saves are a separate deal (meaning either you leave the games saves on the system, or you have to transfer them back and forth separately). The update's already available to update to. I updated the machine yesterday, and have an old 4GB SDHC card that (iirc) didn't work using the older software, but aside looking at the new menu, I haven't tried out the new feature yet to see how much of that was true. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 26 March 2009 20:45
SD 32GB is SDHC people........... [ + quote]
SGSeries2 (Junior Member) 26 March 2009 22:19
*Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* SD 32GB is SDHC people........... lol. That may be, but the article doesn't explicitly say that a 32GB sd card can actually be used. It just uses it as an example of how much one can put on a card of that size. A lingering doubt remains. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 26 March 2009 22:22
*Quote:* *Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* SD 32GB is SDHC people........... lol. That may be, but the article doesn't explicitly say that a 32GB sd card can actually be used. It just uses it as an example of how much one can put on a card of that size. A lingering doubt remains. It says 32BG cards can be used and the only 32GB SD cards are SD HC. [ + quote]
limelight (Member) 26 March 2009 22:28
*Quote:* *Quote:* *Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* SD 32GB is SDHC people........... lol. That may be, but the article doesn't explicitly say that a 32GB sd card can actually be used. It just uses it as an example of how much one can put on a card of that size. A lingering doubt remains. It says 32BG cards can be used and the only 32GB SD cards are SD HC. Dont try to explain, just say "whatever you say" and move on. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 26 March 2009 22:42
*Quote:* *Quote:* *Quote:* *Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* SD 32GB is SDHC people........... lol. That may be, but the article doesn't explicitly say that a 32GB sd card can actually be used. It just uses it as an example of how much one can put on a card of that size. A lingering doubt remains. It says 32BG cards can be used and the only 32GB SD cards are SD HC. Dont try to explain, just say "whatever you say" and move on. http://www.mattcutts.com/images/duty_calls.png >> I cna;t help myself >< [ + quote]
Pop_Smith (Senior Member) 27 March 2009 0:29
*Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* It says 32BG cards can be used and the only 32GB SD cards are SD HC. True, in fact anything from 4+GB up to 32GB is SDHC. *Originally posted by limelight:* Dont try to explain, just say "whatever you say" and move on. That works too except.... *Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* http://www.mattcutts.com/images/duty_calls.png >> I cna;t help myself >< I have to agree with ZippyDSM :P In regards to the article, it's cool to see them finally supporting SDHC and the ability to run games from SD(HC) cards. This feature is a very welcome addition the Wii. Peace [ + quote]
navi1199 (Junior Member) 27 March 2009 10:18
Hmm.. did they increase the time in transferring vc games... cause what i remember it took me 3 years to copy mario kart 64 on my sd card [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 27 March 2009 10:20
*Originally posted by navi1199:* Hmm.. did they increase the time in transferring vc games... cause what i remember it took me 3 years to copy mario kart 64 on my sd card Some SD cards are slloowwwww, some are not. [ + quote]
311814175 (Member) 6 April 2009 2:32
This is something that makes me want to buy another wii... or just a bunch of sd cards and snag all my friends and families games. : ) [ + quote]