Gamertell

Nintendo has found unprecedented success with the Wii. Yet, the system isn’t everything that it could, or should, be. It’s certainly a fine console, with quite a wide selection of quality games. But there are things that can, and should be improved.

Since Nintendo so likes to “update” its existing systems (DS, DS Lite, DSi for example), perhaps it’s time to slightly tweak future Wii systems. Some of these fixes or improvements could be implemented with simple firmware updates or channel releases, while others could be new additions to future Wii console releases.

Add a bigger hard drive.

The Wii comes with 512 MB of memory, around 2160 “blocks” of memory. Some game saves can be between 10 and 128 blocks, not to mention the space that Miis, pictures, channels, WiiWare and Virtual Console games can take up. It goes pretty quickly. Even if you opt to have a larger memory card always inserted, there’s another issue at play. In order to run a Virtual Console or WiiWare game from an SD card, your Wii must have the number of blocks that game would normally use free. Plus, some games require the save file to be on the Wii and won’t read them from an SD card. Nintendo should fix future Wiis so they have at least 2 GB of internal memory available.

All game saves can be backed up.

With the Wii’s internal hard drive being as small as it is, you’d think Nintendo would make it easy to back up and transfer game saves so you can better manage your memory use. Not so. Many first-party games, like Endless Ocean, Animal Crossing: City Folk or Super Smash Bros. Brawl, don’t give users the option to move or copy the save data to a SD card. To make matters worse, these saves are often much larger than typical save files, taking anywhere from 25 to 128 blocks of memory. So if something happens to your Wii, those saves are gone forever. A new firmware update could probably do the trick and fix this issue.

Only one unique Friend Code.

The unique Friend Codes required for each Wii game are incredibly frustrating. You have to keep a notebook handy if you want to remember them all, or plug them all into a website for easy access. Each Wii console has a built in Wii Number, so why not simplify things and make that the all purpose Friend Code for every game. It’s be a lot easier to remember one 16 digit code instead of 10-20 12 digit codes. Unfortunately, this is one Wii fix we’ll probably never see implemented, as Nintendo seems perfectly content with the multiple Friend Code system.

Add in a DVD player.

A homebrew DVD player has already been created for the Wii, so we know it’s possible. It’d be nice to see an official DVD player released so people who want that feature don’t have to mod or hack their Wii. And I know, a lot of people will think this is a frivolous addition because so many homes already have DVD players already, but still. I know I often found myself using my PS2 to watch DVDs so I didn’t have to have an additional player hooked up to my TV. Adding this function would make the Wii even more of a living room staple. Nintendo could very easily release this as a new Wii channel, since homebrew developers have already been able to create a program to run on existing Wiis.

More colors.

My last suggestion is purely superficial. While the white Wii is quite striking and even stylish, a variety of colors would be nice. A black Wii was just announced in Japan after all. And the DS and DSi are available in an assortment of colors. It’d be nice to see future Wiis with a variety of casing colors. Since Japan is getting a black Wii, it could just be a matter of time before the rest of the world gets new colors.

Site [Nintendo]