Penny Arcade Forums› Games and Technology
The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.

Nintendo gives Wiis with hard drives to hospitals

PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
edited September 2008 in Games and Technology
I stumpled upon this and thought it was interesting:
http://www.nintendoeverything.com/?p=3738
A Wii hard drive has been something that consistent Wii downloaders have been begging for, but did you know that Nintendo has created a HDD-enabled Wii already? Nintendo and the Starlight Foundation for the Youth have teamed up and are providing numerous hospitals with unique Wii units. These systems are different that the average Wii, in the sense that they not only come with a hard drive, but they also store full games. So that means hits such as Super Mario Galaxy, Zack and Wiki, Twilight Princess, and more are all available on these special Wii units.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjXx1A6EO4c
Seems interesting.

Switch: SW-6132-4331-5349 | Steam profile | I made a small video game. It's free on itch.io
0hK3V5P.png
Peewi on

Posts

  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    That's exactly what we've been asking for. What's the deal?

    urahonky on
  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    The less fortunate get all the breaks.

    Rhesus Positive on
    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • urahonkyurahonky Cynical Old Man Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Rhesus Positive wrote: »
    The less fortunate get all the breaks.

    I was going to say something to this effect, but couldn't word it. Kudos sir. :^:

    urahonky on
  • OmegasquashOmegasquash Boston, MARegistered User, ClubPA regular
    edited September 2008
    Very happy to see that kids in hospitals are getting love from Nintendo. They're pretty liberal givers when it comes to that sort of thing, so more power to 'em.

    Now if only they'd sell me a drive with a USB attachment...

    Omegasquash on
  • PeregrineFalconPeregrineFalcon Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Give it another month or so and we'll be loading Wii disk images off a USB hard drive.

    PeregrineFalcon on
    Looking for a DX:HR OnLive code for my kid brother.
    Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
  • DehumanizedDehumanized Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    My brother used to spend a lot of time in the hospital. They had special SNES stations (and later N64 stations) on rolling carts that got him through some pretty rough times. Definitely an area where Ninty does a lot of good.

    Dehumanized on
  • slash000slash000 Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    I recently read that all of the planned DLC and music studio thing stuff for GH World Tour is supposed to save directly to and read from the SD cards. 'Course they said something similar about Gh3 and that never happened.


    I dunno why Nintendo doesn't just let players save and load data directly from SD cards. 2 gig SD cards are cheap stuff these days, and Nintendo wouldn't be required to try and market a niche and possibly expensive product to satisfy a small sector of the wii-owning market. If it's piracy concerns, just have the VC games, or the system itself, track what games have been downloaded to what system; I think the thing already does this right now anyway (you can't put your VC games on an SD, stick it in another person's wii and have it work).


    There really isn't any good reason not to simply let users read/write directly from the SD slot for a lot of stuff. Unless it's concerns about read/write speeds that vary from SD to SD card...



    Alternatively, they could just create some kind of firmware update that allows reading/writing directly to a USB mass storage device. They already worked out some contract with a company specializing in this; I'd have thought we'd see something come out of that agreement by now. If not a firmware update, at least some official Nintendo USB STorage Device - of which 2 to 8 gig versions are pretty cheap these days - that Nintendo could put some proprietary signalling mechanism on it to prevent piracy..


    I dunno.


    Whatever N does, it has to be an expensive solution, both for them and for the consumer. Nintendo can't produce an expensive item for an extremely niche market. It has to be cheap and simple and inexpensive to produce.

    slash000 on
    rs4sig3.jpg
    Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
  • RohanRohan Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Good call, Nintendo. I like the cut of your jib.

    Now give me my damned hard drive, dammit >_<

    Rohan on
    ...and I thought of how all those people died, and what a good death that is. That nobody can blame you for it, because everyone else died along with you, and it is the fault of none, save those who did the killing.

    Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
  • THEPAIN73THEPAIN73 Shiny. Real shiny.Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    So basically all 26 million+ who already bought their Wii will have to sit around and watch others download with glee, and us... well we can sit warmly with our 2GB SD cards...awesome.

    Why didn't they just do this in the first place?!

    Though that is nice what they are doing. I love Nintendo.

    THEPAIN73 on
    Facebook | Amazon | Twitter | Youtube | PSN: ThePain73 | Steam: ThePain73
    3DS FC: 5343-7720-0490
  • greeblegreeble Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    The wii doesn't seem like a good fit for kids that are bedridden. You don't want some kid pulling out his stitches trying to "bowl" while lying on a hospital bed. A "liveless" 360 with a bunch of arcade games on it seems like a better fit. (although with xbox hardware reliability problems maybe not.)

    greeble on
    PSN/steam/battle.net: greeble XBL: GreebleX

    Let me tell you about Demon's Souls....
    I’ll tell you what happens in Demon’s Souls when you die. You come back as a ghost with your health capped at half. And when you keep on dying, the alignment of the world turns black and the enemies get harder. That’s right, when you fail in this game, it gets harder. Why? Because fuck you is why.
  • Dr Mario KartDr Mario Kart Games Dealer Austin, TXRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Theoretically, that big box could just have a 20 disc changer :P

    Dr Mario Kart on
    The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values
  • ThreepioThreepio New Westminster, BCRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    It is good to see them supporting St. Crispin's Hospital for the Geek and Infirm. The Otaku ward really needed a pick-me-up.

    Threepio on
    142.jpg
  • MugenmidgetMugenmidget Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Threepio wrote: »
    It is good to see them supporting St. Crispin's Hospital for the Geek and Infirm. The Otaku ward really needed a pick-me-up.
    Huh? You lost me. :P

    Mugenmidget on
    e3ORbfq.png
  • psyck0psyck0 Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    It's too bad most of those games suck.

    psyck0 on
    Play Smash Bros 3DS with me! 4399-1034-5444
    steam_sig.png
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    urahonky wrote: »
    That's exactly what we've been asking for. What's the deal?

    We haven't exactly been asking for a big white box with no interface to speak of. The seizure warning didn't even have the "Press A to continue" flashing. It's not a Wii at all, and if it is it's been modded all to hell. It's functionally a different product, created just for this application.

    But yeah, if it was simply a Wii plus a hard drive that would be awesome.

    UncleSporky on
    Switch Friend Code: SW - 5443 - 2358 - 9118 || 3DS Friend Code: 0989 - 1731 - 9504 || NNID: unclesporky
  • Mr. GMr. G Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    So all we need to do to fix the storage space problem is have everyone get terminal illnesses

    Mr. G on
    6F32U1X.png
  • FireflashFireflash Montreal, QCRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Of course some people will try to steal these Wiis. They're better than a standard Wii and can't be purchased.

    Fireflash on
    PSN: PatParadize
    Battle.net: Fireflash#1425
    Steam Friend code: 45386507
  • DjiemDjiem Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    psyck0 wrote: »
    It's too bad most of those games suck.

    When you're bed-ridden for days in a hospital, all these games are awesome.

    Djiem on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Fireflash wrote: »
    Of course some people will try to steal these Wiis. They're better than a standard Wii and can't be purchased.

    You can't modify anything on the hard drive, there's no internet channel, VC, Wiiware or any other channels you may enjoy (no Miis!). Plus most of the games on them suck. I wonder if they're even internet-capable.

    So I guess they're only better than a standard Wii if you don't like getting up to swap Galaxy for Brawl.

    UncleSporky on
    Switch Friend Code: SW - 5443 - 2358 - 9118 || 3DS Friend Code: 0989 - 1731 - 9504 || NNID: unclesporky
  • FireflashFireflash Montreal, QCRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Ohh ok. I didn't read the full article. I only assumed it was standard Wii + HDD.

    Fireflash on
    PSN: PatParadize
    Battle.net: Fireflash#1425
    Steam Friend code: 45386507
  • SheepSheep Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2008
    UncleSporky wrote: »
    Plus most of the games on them suck. I wonder if they're even internet-capable.

    Galaxy, Twilight, and Zack and Wiki suck?

    Sheep on
  • PeewiPeewi Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Sheep wrote: »
    UncleSporky wrote: »
    Plus most of the games on them suck. I wonder if they're even internet-capable.

    Galaxy, Twilight, and Zack and Wiki suck?

    He said most, not all.

    Peewi on
    Switch: SW-6132-4331-5349 | Steam profile | I made a small video game. It's free on itch.io
    0hK3V5P.png
  • AmpixAmpix Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Peewi wrote: »
    Sheep wrote: »
    UncleSporky wrote: »
    Plus most of the games on them suck. I wonder if they're even internet-capable.

    Galaxy, Twilight, and Zack and Wiki suck?

    He said most, not all.

    Still, those games warrant enough fun for your average disease, wound, whatever.

    Ampix on
    steam_sig.png
  • SheepSheep Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2008
    Peewi wrote: »
    Sheep wrote: »
    UncleSporky wrote: »
    Plus most of the games on them suck. I wonder if they're even internet-capable.

    Galaxy, Twilight, and Zack and Wiki suck?

    He said most, not all.

    Three of the best games on the system, for free, on officially modded hardware.

    Not like you can really... you know. Bitch about it.

    Sheep on
  • Spacehog85Spacehog85 Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Seriously, those sick kids could give a fuck if its online, or if its a good game or not. Use your fucking heads, you all sound like SE++

    Spacehog85 on
  • The Reverend Dr GalactusThe Reverend Dr Galactus Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Spacehog85 wrote: »
    Seriously, those sick kids could give a fuck if its online, or if its a good game or not. Use your fucking heads, you all sound like SE++

    Too many periods and capitalized sentences.

    OH SNAP
    I have family that posts in SE <3

    The Reverend Dr Galactus on
    valar-moreshellus.png
    PSN:RevDrGalactus/NN:RevDrGalactus/Steam
Sign In or Register to comment.
Penny Arcade Forums› Games and Technology