What's next for Wii? System Menu 4.0 and Beyond

**alexjlopez** · 03-29-2009, 08:47 PM

I was chatting with Javier a few days ago about the way System Menu 4.0 really does change everything with regards to what we may see in the future with Wii. Here are some of the possibilities:

Lifting the memory limits on WiiWare: Due to past storage limitations, developers were forced to work within some pretty heavy restrictions with regards to memory blocks used for WiiWare titles. Imagine how great Onslaught could have been with better textures and more variety in terms of enemies. I think we'll start to see an increase in quality releases on WiiWare if Nintendo increases the limit, which they will likely do.

Future firmware updates: With a simple firmware update, Nintendo changed the horribly slow SD slot into a speedy SDHC compatible SD slot. Could future firmware updates add other highly sought after functionality such as USB headsets for chat or actual USB hard drive or thumb drive compatibility? Dare I speculate whether 720p resolution might be possible via the component video cable at some point?

Playable demos of retail Wii games: Demos are sorely needed on Wii considering the flood of titles released each week. 32GB is more than enough storage to support retail game demos which could be served up via the Nintendo channel the way DS demos are. This would be huge.

GameCube games on Virtual Console: GameCube discs were limited to less than 1.5GB in size with most GameCube games taking up less than 1GB. There's no reason why we couldn't start seeing GameCube games showing up in Virtual Console soon, minus the New Play Controls which Nintendo seems happy to sell as retail discs.

Dreamcast on Virtual Console? Sega has been a huge supporter of the Virtual Console and is one of the first in line to support the DSi Virtual Console in hinting that we'll see Sega Game Gear games released for the service at some point. Dreamcast games were no larger than 700mb (per disc) and with the right emulation would bring a ton of treasured hits to Virtual Console.

Retire the Friend Code system: Nintendo has uncharacteristically budged on pressure from fans on a number of items from the storage issue to voice chat to the recent flood of mature rated titles. Could the end of the unpopular Friend Code system be next?

Premium WFC Online Service? One way to give the core gamer his own "turf" on Wii is to offer a Premium WiFi Connection Service similar to XBox Live with friend lists minus friend codes, enhanced online play with headset-based voice chat, leaderboards, and achievement system. It would tie in well with the newly launched (in the US that is) Club Nintendo service and would mark the day when Nintendo really gets serious about online gaming.

Okay, a few of these might be a stretch, but a year ago WiiSpeak and SD-based storage didn't seem possible either. The point I'm trying to make is that with these firmware changes the sky is the limit of what we might see. And while we're just now getting functionality that arguably should have been there from day one (MotionPlus included), perhaps we won't have to wait until Wii 2.0 to get the features we're looking for from Nintendo's console.

**WorknMan** · 03-29-2009, 09:28 PM

Hmmm, demos of Wiiware titles... seems like a no-brainer.

**Darksol** · 03-29-2009, 09:32 PM

Most of this was already being done through the Homebrew Channel. Nintendo was just catching up.

**Chris** · 03-29-2009, 09:47 PM

Before I move on to requesting more stuff, let me just say that it has been fantastic putting my 4gb sd card in and having it say "25,700 blocks open". I think I'm all set now. Hadn't turned my Wii on in a few months out of sheer frustration with the storage issue. It's good to be using it again.

I want demo's, 720p if possible, and to ax the friend code thing once and for all.

**javierdlopez** · 03-30-2009, 03:10 AM

I think the easiest, yet most welcomed addition for me would be WiiWare demos. I download tons of demos on XBLA and as a result have purchased a bunch. With no demos available, I'm a little apprehensive on purchasing WiiWare titles and rely on "word of mouth". I don't think that offering up demos is a big deal, and would help sell more WiiWare... Just a thought.

**alexjlopez** · 03-30-2009, 08:33 AM

Curious about what Wii games would look like in 720p?

Be sure to click "HD" to see the video in high-res.

http://kotaku.com/5187762/how-your-w...d-look-in-720p

**javierdlopez** · 03-30-2009, 10:34 AM

So let me get this straight. The games are actually rendered at 720p on disc, yet the Wii only outputs them at 480? Seems like a waste of disc space and processing, don't it?

I'm not sure if it would be possible to fix that via a software update. I'm thinking more of a hardware add-on would be in order.

**alexjlopez** · 03-30-2009, 11:22 AM

I dunno, video cards get updated via driver improvements that result in measurable performance improvements. You never know hehehe.

**TripHamer** · 03-30-2009, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by Darksol

Most of this was already being done through the Homebrew Channel. Nintendo was just catching up.

And a day after updating to 4.0 I learn of the Homebrew Channel. And now, until another exploit becomes available, I can't install it.

**DaMenace** · 03-30-2009, 02:56 PM

Personally, I would like to see another console added..
Amiga games - The Amiga is simply the one console/computer that I never got the chance to try out or play.
I bet there's more stuff on the Amiga series than the C-64 worthy of the Wii VC..