490°

Nintendo confirms Wii U discs will hold 25GB of data

In a wide-ranging interview with Kotaku regarding the new Wii U console, one of Nintendo's chief game designers, Katsuya Eguchi, confirmed that the system's proprietary disc format will hold 25 Gigabytes of data.

sdtarm4716d ago

haha nintendo always trying to do their own thing, truth is that it has never worked and it means that it wont be able to play blu ray movies, what a let down :/

demonddel4716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

why you think nintendo a game company needs a blu-ray player

Max_Dissatisfaction4716d ago

Seems to have worked very well for wii...only console have multiple 20 million selling exclusives this gen...worked out very well

AEtherbane4716d ago

It's a safe assumption the Wii U will have netflix streaming in 1080p HD, so I fail to see why I would also need a blu-ray player.
And Nintendo's strategy has never worked? Haha, look at how many Wii's, DS's have sold -- how much money they've made in comparison to MS and Sony.
I'm happy to see that hardcore games will finally be on a nintendo console, the Wii has been starving for some, have had to stick to my PC for all my fav hardcore games.

Ilikegames764716d ago

Same thing with Wii, it has the DVD drive but couldn't play DVD movies.

fatstarr4716d ago

I own a blueray player and a ps3 and i have yet to buy a blueray dvd

XabiDaChosenOne4716d ago

@AEtherbane Quality wise. Blu ray>>>>>streami ng.

darthv724716d ago

seems they chose a different route. nothing wrong with proprietary so long as it is enough space. basically they revived hddvd for their own use.

ms, you still have a chance at redemption with the next system. hddvd or hvd or ....

blu is for movies and ps3 game. for games only you can use whatever works.

fr0sty4716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

"It's a safe assumption the Wii U will have netflix streaming in 1080p HD, so I fail to see why I would also need a blu-ray player. "

Well, if you like 9MBPS 1080p vs. 20-30 MBPS 1080p, then yeah. And we're not even beginning to touch on 3D either...

RememberThe3574716d ago

This is great for the new Wii, but lets be real blu-ray is the HD stadard for a reason; it's the best. If your not really into movies or don't care about HD that much then I can see why you would care either way, but for people that are this kind of sucks.

bruddahmanmatt4716d ago

These comments don't really answer everything though. Is 25GB the limit? Even Sony has gone to dual-layer BDs for some of their larger titles. Is 25GB also the standard capacity for a single layer disc, or does Nintendo's proprietary format max out at a lower capacity with only a single layer (i.e. 12.5GB for SL, 25GB for DL etc...)?

RedDead4716d ago

Bruddah, 25 is enough, 50 is not needed, it's a bonus but it is NOT needed at all. Compression techniques ensure that. It also depends on how many AMV's are on the disk. 50GB is so you can get a marginal increase in quality, nothing more. Uncompressed is better, but the Compression today has minimal loss of quality.

NeoBasch4716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

You're right, it's not needed. It's not needed if you don't want a nice little selling point when Blu-Ray adoption is skyrocketing. It's not needed if you don't intend to future proof your system with the added focus of 3D assets. It's not needed if you don't want to support 7.1 and above surround sound.

It's not needed if you don't want a 1080p adventure that lasts longer than five hours (entirely dependent on assets, but I'm sure this will be the general rule of thumb). Do you get the point yet? The system isn't future proof. There's a reason everyone's concerned about the system's success.

Let's put things into perspective. God of War III took up 35 GB. It'd be impossible to run without multiple discs. They already compressed the audio, as did Naughty Dog with Uncharted 2. The assets had a max resolution of 720p, and there was only a little over an hour of cutscenes (that used in-game assets mind you, and were prerecorded to make use of background loading: cache). That's a big deal for gamers expecting a little more than current gen performance.

Now, here's the kicker. You could finish both games in under ten hours. How long are Zelda and Mario games again? I can almost guarantee WiiU games will run generally in 720p, unless they want to make use of multiple discs. Just for your information, Heavy Rain came in at anywhere between 25-30 GB, and Killzone 3 over 40 GB. So are we really still going to have this conversation?

Everything about not needing Blu-Ray is completely ridiculous. Microsoft has already suffered and missed out on golden opportunities because of their costly mistake. Nintendo better have a dual layer disc ready or we might be running into some trouble.

By the way, Bruddah, I think the acronym you were looking for was FMV (full motion video), not AMV (usually refers to anime music videos, or animated music videos), which by the way can be debunked because most games over 25 GB use in-game assets already present on disc. It's not some gigantic pre-rendered movie or something. Prerecorded, yes. Pre-rendered? No.

Aarix4716d ago

No offense but i don't want to hath to deal with mandatory installs on a "wii"

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 4716d ago
Poopee4716d ago

Well let's take a look at 360 and its 8 or 9 GB and see how far it got... I think this is good enough. Most PS3 games don't use more than 25 anyways.

xTruthx4716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

Yeah cus we like paying for DLC because it didn't fit on the disc

Voxelman4716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

hell a lot of PS3 games are under 10GB, the only games that need more are the ones with hours of FMV or lots of voice acting in multiple languages or in MGS4's case not compressing any of the audio assets. Most PS3 games have a lot of data duplication to cut down on load times as well.

Also as this disc format is probably just a slightly modified blu-ray so as to avoid paying royalties to the Blu-ray association headed by Sony just like the Wii disc was a modified DVD. A firmware update that adds duel layer support in the future isn't out of the question.

mac_sparrow4716d ago

And not compressing the audio means that it doesn't have to be decompressed, saving run cycles that can be used elsewhere.

Thecraft19894716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

Duel or single layer ? interesting it dose sound like its more of blu ray version of there own so possibly this only single layer.

8gb flash is really poor though.

Godmars2904716d ago

There was several variations of large capacity discs out there mid HD-DVD/BR war including DVD upgrades. Nintendo just had to pick.

Just means that it wont play regular movie DVDs.

Thecraft19894716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

IF it can play wii games I'm sure be able to play dvd's

Now what is MS going to do ? Two console with double or even quad there storage. Devs can't just ignore this now. 360's future is looking bleak after e3 now this.

DeFFeR Yes it can never heard soft mod works perfectly fine ?

DeFFeR4716d ago

@Thecraft ... the Wii can't play DVD's... so your point is moot.

kesvalk4716d ago

it can, you just need to enable it...

Sano644716d ago

"Just means that it wont play regular movie DVDs."

They never said it cant do that! Bluray players can and the same goes for HD-DVD. Even a moded wii can play DVD movies so keep the lies for another day

Ilikegames764716d ago

So in order to play a DVD movies, you have to mod your Wii. That's lame. Nintendo should have enabled that feature from the start.

sikbeta4716d ago

You guys are not being serious? you don't have to mod your console to play DVDs, don't you? don't rage on me, I'm just asking here...

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4716d ago
Shok4716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

When did they confirm 8gb flash memory?

EDIT: Oh, nevermind. I read the article and now I see xD

D2K4716d ago

Not when I can go out and buy a 2 TB external HDD and use that for storage. Had Nintendo not of allowed for you to use your own storage methods, I would agree that 8GB isn't much room Especially for things like map packs for FPS games. But if I can use my own storage methods(which they confirmed that you can)then 8GB of flash is just fine.

Sano644716d ago

The core 360 only has 4 so having double that is not bad at all. Plus you can expand with an external Hard Drive so you whats wrong with that?

NLGSean4716d ago

Yeah... A lot of people are overlooking the fact that the system supports USB Hard Drives... and with 4 USB ports I am happy...

dennisannamant4716d ago

well atleast its not 4gb of flash like 360 arcade

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4716d ago
Shok4716d ago

Great news. That's plenty of room.

jahcure4716d ago

Que Microsoft - "DVD is sufficient"

hiredhelp4716d ago

lol cheap but made me giiggle.

Allowen4716d ago

Would not be cheaper if Nintendo used a blu-ray disc drive instead ?

christheredhead4716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

not sure but regardless when does nintendo ever follow the "norm?" they always take their own approach but blu ray or not 25 gigs is plenty of space so thats great news.

overall though im sure they want to try and combat piracy in some small way. im unsure if it will help all that much but at least they are doing something in a sense.

Peaceful_Jelly4716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

for taking their own approach is that they lost the lead with the N64 and then they almost went bankruptcy with the GC and had to come up with a new approach to separate itself from the top dogs.

The Wii success was pure luck and it's even more obvious if you been reading the Iwata ask series... But now the Nintendo brand has been restored and they can come up with any fad and it'll succeed just like with Apple products. It became a trend within pop culture.

RememberThe3574716d ago

@Peaceful: I don't know why your getting disagrees but I bubbled you up for telling the truth. Nintendo was in a really bad spot there for a long time, and the Wii really saved their asses. It's success was really good for them as a company not so great for me as a gamer. hopefully this new system will change that cuz it's looking pretty good.

Ilikegames764716d ago

Don't know if cheaper, as you know, the royalty fee could be exorbitant in some way.

hiredhelp4716d ago (Edited 4716d ago )

@Allowen
sony and few others own blu-ray so no sorry buddy.
unless they ask they get permission but it cost them a small bomb.

Show all comments (110)
170°

The Last Console Generation?

With the recent unveiling of the Wii U, and internet chatter talking about PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 being unveiled (if not released) next year, it looks like we will be ushering in a new generation of consoles in the very near future. But do we actually need another generation of hardware, and what do we hope for from the next generation?

Read Full Story >>
criticalgamer.co.uk
scruffy_bear4679d ago

Can't wait to see what MS and Sony bring to the next gen :, game's that will look like this will be amazing but the gameplay needs to match the graphic's

qwertyz4679d ago (Edited 4679d ago )

I hope next gen consoles have at least 12gb ram(ram is much cheaper than it was in 2005/2006. they will need it in order to handle Samaritan tech demo graphics the demo was running on 3 gtx580 (which have 1.5gb vram each) an i7(12 cores I'm amusing they used 3 quad core i7s) and I think 8GB ram.

AhmadCentral4678d ago

12GB of ram is not going to happen. Btw you can't really compare pc specs with console specs, they;re quite different.

Pikajew4679d ago

It won't be the last console gen. As long as there is innovation we will have consoles

Hicken4678d ago

I'll just agree with you here. I couldn't figure out how respond without sounding like a dick.

jacksonmichael4678d ago

Please let me know what your other comment options were. Lol.

Hicken4678d ago

It wouldn't have been nice; the very cleaned up version is that this is a silly article, written by a similarly silly person.

EVILDEAD3604678d ago

LMAO @ Hicken spamming inboxes with false information and then block responses because he's scared of the truth..

Fan Kids on N4G are hilarious...

On topic..the ball is already rolling..this gen is two years away from officially being done.

Pikajew is correct consoles are far from over..but who knows what gthe lanscape will look like 5 years from now

Evil

Hicken4677d ago (Edited 4677d ago )

lmao@ evildead stalking people while spreading ignorance as "truth."

Edit: Enjoy playing Uncharted and other console exclusives on your "superior" PC.

EVILDEAD3604677d ago (Edited 4677d ago )

Superior PC? What r u even talking about? I play Uncharted on my Slim just like anyone else who OWNS and plays games

Fact..you send me messages in my inbox..and when I call you on your fake facts.like you can't even name the 20 exclusives you pretend came out..then you send some silly rant and block me like a little girl...LOL

Look..your not even worth a bubble or even close to following..because your simply a one console fankid who doesn't even play the games he talks about. You've never even played Gears but hypocritically say that the sequel is the same game as the one before. Don't worry about a console you'll never play. Simply enjoy the games on your console of choice.

On topic..

WiiU will be released next holiday..The new Xbox will be in stores by holiday 2013..and Sony will follow.

The success or lack of success of the next gen will be known 5 years from now. This will determine the landscape. What will also change how we play is if Apple or others jump into the fray. By the we may by on Ipad 4 or 5..who even knows what products will compete with consoles.

Only time will tell..it's going to be fun to see how it all unveils

Evil

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4677d ago
meganick4677d ago

True, and as long as consoles offer exclusive games that people want, that you can't play on computers, then consoles will stick around.

zinkabassy4678d ago (Edited 4678d ago )

Maybe ,.. because gaming is getting to shit really fast,..
It used to be about games,.. now most publishers are more concerned how to leech money from us... Shit is always good for them,.. Nothing industry ever does is good for us,.. Hell you must agree to god knows what in eulas before you can even start a game,.. this shit is incredible,.. look at this guy
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
Will stop now, because everything I would say from now on I have written to many times today ,.. about monetizing advertizing and making gamers caught into their social systems instead of supplying them actual games and could be considered MS hate(because I really dislike them for 20years now),.

Shit is getting really bad really fast,.. And they have us in these fanboy clubs instead of some unity,.. and they are just fucking us left and right,..

and to predominantly PC gamers,.. (I am also a PC gamer) Don't think what these fuckers are doing to us does not concern you,..

nCiTy4678d ago

If anything I feel like consoles keep slowly becoming PCs.

Mr Tretton4678d ago

I don't think they're becoming PCs fast enough.

AWBrawler4678d ago

i prefer to keep those separated. I want my MMOs and RTS on my PC, and my Marios, Zeldas, and Smash Bros. on consoles

meganick4677d ago

I think it's more accurate to say they're becoming more PC-like, but I know what you mean.

jacen1004678d ago (Edited 4678d ago )

graphics wont make a difference in gameplay so unless other innovations are brought forward the gen wont move because graphics is not the key in generation leaps , pc's already exist if consoles keep upping the graphics and power eventually they will become pc's or on the other hand you would be better owning a pc because it is best of both worlds

SoapShoes4678d ago

What do you have to say for PC then? It keeps going forward and all that changes are the graphics... PC doesn't have innovative hardware to play games, it doesn't need it and frankly I don't think consoles need it either. It's all about gameplay and more power often does allow for new types of gameplay.

jacen1004678d ago (Edited 4678d ago )

ther is only one way u can play a game with a control so no power dosent make for different gameplay, on the other hand you would call what the wiiU is doing next gen.
also pc's were not developed originally to play games nor do they class there self as gaming consoles but consoles are gradually becoming pc's
also pc's dont get classed under GENS because hardware is evolving rapidly and pc's are constantly upgradable , consoles are not

N4g_null4678d ago

Pcs keep getting bought because there are apps out their where the name of the game is make millions in real money. So that's why you get the rush for pc tech. Right now there is not a reason to get the most high end video setups unless it helps you make games faster lol.

Yet console you are just waiting on content, waiting in the hype. On pcs you can just go and get a 3d app and an engine and go crazy if you want. On consoles your are waiting on the content.

The key for console has always been take the tech make fun games not wait on the tech, wait on the power, or ohhhhhh look at my powerful console. Yet thanks to none console friendly console makers real console game makers are being marginalized ever so more by web sites and gamers. You all know some thing is wrong but at least the graphics are good.

If power is your goal then you should just be a pc gamer. You guys are confusing developers.

Show all comments (34)
100°

Why Bioshock Infinite Is Not Coming Out on the Wii U

"In a new interview over on IGN, Irrational Games creative director Ken Levine has announced that they currently have no plans to develop Bioshock Infinite, or any games, on the Wii U."- Shanghai Six

Read Full Story >>
fronttowardsgamer.com
maxcavsm4680d ago

Well, that's easy. Wii U is going to be a ridiculous gimmicky system.

qwertyz4680d ago

yeah the 3ds and wii are gimmicky but we still don't know much about wii u so I'll reserve my judgment for now.

theonlylolking4680d ago

Wii U is nintendos way of saying Wii F U

ChickeyCantor4678d ago

its gimmicky how?
It provides standard controls as well, there is just an extra input on there.

So what are you complaining about?

yavorsv4680d ago

who gives a shit. keep hating on nintendo. :)

30°

6 Uses for the Wii U Controller's Camera

Have you wondered how useful the Wii U controller's front-facing camera could actually be? Here are six ways games could potentially utilize it.

bojanson4683d ago (Edited 4683d ago )

i like the concept of this. Anything that wii can bring to the table that makes it more family friendly the better. I'm sure the way they incorporate the camera into profiles, games, videos, etc will be a great way to get people interested.

I just hope they don't allow the camera for online multiplayer, we could have another chat roulette on our hands. lol