Nintendo Enables Wii Direct-Play From SD Cards…Soon!
A few months ago Wii owners were blessed with a system update that expanded the functionality of the SD card increasing the size limitation from 2GB to a exceptionally large 32GB of high capacity space, and the capability of playing VC/Wiiware directly from the memory card. Apparently that was just one step as Nintendo will begin to allow actual Wii game data to stream from a trusty SDHC card.
This means that Downloadable content will no longer need to occupy the HDD and will load them straight on an SD card and leave it there. These benefits come right as Guitar Hero 5 goes gold next month – essentially becoming the first title to take advantage of the latest feature.
Keep reading for all the details!
As IGN properly explains:
“All the tricks used for both Guitar Hero and Rock Band in the past – leaving internal memory open- is gone. Instead, straight-up booting off the SD card is available, and that means easier downloads, larger expansions, and quicker loads when bringing in song data from the SDHC card into GH5.”
Of course what this mean is that full DLC is now a reality for the little console as full albums and other features are now available with ease and without size limitations, as well as the ability to import your favorite song from Guitar Hero World Tour just like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.
It’s taken Nintendo a while to find a viable solution to their storage issues, but this good news for Guitar Hero followers and its even better for the Wii in general, especially when you consider how inadequate things were compared to the other powerhouse consoles that sport hard drives. A quick look online finds that 32GB SD cards (the highest capacity the Wii console currently supports) can be had for roughly $59 and up, and with prices sure to keep dropping perhaps Nintendo will put this new resource to proper – and more mainstream – use soon. Playable game demos, anyone?
