Wii U system software takes up over 4GB of storage space

El33tonline writes:

"During the latest Nintendo Direct conference broadcast the platform holder revealed how much free storage space Wii U owners can expect to have after installing the latest system software and creating a user profile on the console."

[millzy102]

at least there's no mandatory game installations like ps3. I have 160gb model and about 120 gigs of that is game instal data. mgs4 takes nearly 10gb its self. and as I don't download games because I prefer physical media this isn't too much of problem for me as I've ordered 32gb Wii u. however this probably is bad news for some but wait a year I bet they have bigger in built data storage with the massive update pre loaded in os.

[mandf]

it's not up to nintendo about mandatory installations. It's up to the developer. You want HD graphics, it will happen many times. Having a mandatory install is not a negative.

[Summons75]

it is, people shouldn't be forced to install a game like on ps3. The game will already have HD graphics without a mandatory install. The install is just to make the game load a half second faster, that's all. I like installing my games only when it is an option so I can do it at a later time if I want to or don't want to use that space.

[GribbleGrunger]

The mandatory installs on the PS3 aren't to allow it to have HD! And why is that of any consequence anyway? This is a Wiiu article.

[mandf]

This isn't a nintendo vs ps3 thing. This is about a developers ability to code. Pc installs a game being more capable. It's not a negative. I would install every game I come across. Mandatory or not you should install the game. It only became a problem this gen because of fanboy bickering.

@ summons loading screens are only a part of why you install a game. I'm going to work and I don't have enough time to explain it all.

[badz149]

@millzy102 & @Summons75
wow...just wow! you do realize that the Wii U is at least 6 years younger hardware-wise, right?

shouldn't you be worried that even 6 years late to the HD party, it still can't do 1080p properly?

"I like installing my games only when it is an option so I can do it at a later time if I want to or don't want to use that space."

so...you don't play PC games then? but yeah...whatever float your boat!

on topic, kinda strange to think that the OS takes up to 4GB and 1 GB of RAM reserved on top of it too!

[Quetzll]

i thought the disc read speed for wiiU pretty much negates any need to install. but i don't doubt that a few games might require an install.

[dredgewalker]

I prefer installations rather than the optical drive wear out. Plus the PS3 uses ordinary laptop harddrives that are quite cheap these days.

[RivetCityGhoul]

umm your forgetting that software patches take up storage space. every game nowadays comes with multiple patches.

[abzdine]

you can have 500GB on PS# if you want to. 10GB next to 500GB is nothing, while 4 and 32GB are quite close for one game.

[mac_sparrow]

I put a 750GB hard drive in my ps3 for £44.98 almost 2 years ago. That coupled with a 1TB drive for media makes my system excellent as a media centre.

Obviously not everyone is going to need that amount of space, I use mine to store my final video editing files, but hdd's are very reasonably priced for ps3.

Installs don't annoy me, it would be nice to not need them, but an install or no mgs4? Give me the install.

[madjedi]

@millzy " I have 160gb model and about 120 gigs of that is game instal data." Wow i didn't think it was that hard of a concept to delete game install data, if your not currently or will be playing that game anytime soon.

It's not the ps3's fault, the owner lacks common sense. This should be a no brainer to even casual gamers.

@badz &mandf thx for explaining it, to stupid people.

Do some people think the ps3 has mandatory installs, for the fun of it.

@summons 75

Your using a ancient sata controller on a old 5400 rpm hdd, what the hell are you seriously expecting. You can always put a higher capacity drive in, if space becomes a issue. I assumed everyone on this site was a gaming nerd, apparently not.

The ps4/720 will likely be designed to utilize a ssd at it's relative top speed. But it has a capacity trade off.

I install all my 360 games to my hdd, to avoid disc drive wear and tear.

There are a few game i wished the developer "forced" me to install on the hdd, if it cuts the load times, that isn't a problem to me.

I have a 750 gig(620-650) after format, probably an issue with sony's file system, and i still regularly delete old game data, demos ect.

[josephayal]

up to 4G? It really makes no sense

[wiiulee]

cant wait for the wiiu, nintendo created an almost perfect system. what more can u ask for

[r21]

Holy crap, unfortunate news for the cheaper model owners. Taking half of that 8Gig space, yikes! Thankfully theres that external hard drive thing.

[bigdaddy4247]

if the wii u has to same amount of required save data that the wii has, 4GB is still a lot of memory for saving. since the wii only had 512MB and i still have not used all that up yet. but i do think that is a lot of software data for memory and nintendo should have better planned this so instead of the 8GB you get 12GB and instead of 32GB you get 36GB which would give what you payed for after the software download.

[iHeartHelloKitty]

With 4 gb I can download Borderlands then my HDD is dead.

[Sucitta]

borderlands on the wii u? or did you just randomly insert a 360 4GB comment into the wii u article?

[The_Tr0ll17]

Epic fail!

[Neonridr]

That's why you buy an external harddrive. You think Sony or Microsoft would let you plug in any old external drive and allow you to store games on it? Not unless it said Sony or Microsoft on it first, and they made sure that you paid about $100 for a 250GB hard drive, instead of $100 for a 2TB instead.

[dredgewalker]

Uhhmmm you can put those $100 2tb hard drive on a PS3.......

[Neonridr]

You can plug them into the back of the console and store downloaded games on them, and the PS3 will let you play the games directly off the external hard drive?

That's cool, I didn't know you could do that.

[Optical_Matrix]

Er, no Neonridr, you can go out and get a 1TB Laptop harddrive for £60, take out the PS3's on board HDD with a surprising amount of ease and replace it with the the 1TB Laptop hard drive you just bought.

It's a very pro-consumer hardware design decision that I pray to god stays when PS4 launches.

[DivineAssault]

Only drives w external power source huh? thats some BS..

[lfclee]

If you like downloading music, movies, eshop, videos you need a huge hd but if you want it just for game saves then 20gb is more than enough.

[madjedi]

Short of uber casuals or gamers that only play nintendo games, even a 32 gb is ridiculously small. - out of all the wii u's sold in it's lifetime this will be a tiny minority, especially if they are used to a ps3 or 360.

Anyone interested dlc or digital games, will see the issue immediately, even 32 gigs will get filled up fairly quickly.

How many people would just use it for game saves. It's external i wouldn't go lower than 750-terabyte drive(which ever is cheaper), for a serious gamer.