No longer content with inadequacy and mediocrity, Nintendo’s absurd storage philosophies for Wii data are starting to metamorphose into something downright insulting.
A feature on WiiWare in issue 190 of UK-based Edge magazine, posted Wednesday on Next Generation, quotes Nintendo of Europe’s Laurent Fischer as saying only “geeks and otaku” are having storage problems on Wii. For the unfamiliar, “otaku” is essentially the Japanese equivalent of the English “nerd” or “geek,” more specifically aimed at obsessive fans of manga and anime.
In an apology issued earlier today to videogaming247, Fischer said, “I have huge respect for those who, like me, share a common passion for Nintendo and want to make it clear that I would never use and I didn’t use this terminology in such a context or way to cause offence.”
So apparently, Nintendo’s corporate strategy moving forward is to disparage consumers who are actively buying software and using their console to the fullest, while catering to those who bought into the fad and treat it merely as an occasional tennis partner and yoga trainer.
Brilliant, Mr. Fischer. Absolutely brilliant.
daverage
“I have huge respect for those who, like me, share a common passion for Nintendo and want to make it clear that I would never use and I didn’t use this terminology in such a context or way to cause offence.â€
Tool. At least have some backbone dude.
DRock067
I understand Nintendo’s POV. I mean is it really hard to put your games on an SD card and transfer them over if you want to play a game.
I mean back in the day you had to get off your ass and change the cartridge, what’s wrong with navigating a few menus?
Guch
@daverage: Ditto. uber phail by Fischer.
4th full paragraph says it all for me.
Von Torpedo
“I understand Nintendo’s POV. I mean is it really hard to put your games on an SD card and transfer them over if you want to play a game.
I mean back in the day you had to get off your ass and change the cartridge, what’s wrong with navigating a few menus?”
Transferring to an SD card is all fine and dandy… if you’re working with save files. Bigger files take ages to copy to and from a card.
If I ever felt like playing Lost Winds, I’d have to free up space on the console by moving data to the SD card, then I’d have to copy Lost Winds back to the Wii.
That’s 5+ minutes of watching a loading screen, which is unacceptable.
If Nintendo doesn’t announce a proper way to store large amounts of data soon, I’ll… do nothing.
But I won’t be happy about it!
deepthought
hahahaha
*sigh*
uiliand
Yes, I am one of that and I´m still need more space to store all the games I´ll get on the future…
uiliand
ok, ok… jokes aside…
It´s clear they wanted to say is that only the PEOPLE MOST EXIGENT needs more space. Such afirmation is not a proper ofence even using a term commonly used with some negative load.
KillerHeroes
Hey, where did you get that picture of me?!
DRock067
@Von Torpedo
if you had everything backed up on an SD card. Transferring things back to the card would be unnecessary. 😀 That’s what i do. But the internal memory is far from filled on my wii (I’m not really stoked at the lineup of Wii Ware games yet).
I do understand you and everybody’s plight as well. I just don’t really see a need for HDD when you have an SD card.
kgb
I download a lot, keep all my save files, have useless channels, and haven’t had space issues. If I finish a game, I delete it. If I want to play it again a few min to get it is worth hours I’ll be playing. I don’t care about a hard drive, I’m tired of purchasing accessories!
Bree
I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore gamer or total game nerd… and yet I’ve run out of space. It doesn’t take much, just download a few WiiWare titles, create save data for Brawl and Endless Ocean, and download a half dozen SNES or N64 titles off the Virtual Console and the blocks are maxed out! I think Nintendo underestimated this problem and now they need to admit that average gamers are having an issue and then do something to correct it.
schmuck
Wow, that guy is a jerk. Well, I’m not really offended, but you don’t say that if you’re in the public light.
Olas
How could calling people “Geeks and Otaku” not be offensive? And the worst thing of all is he’s insulting people for spending money on products from the very company he works for. I sure hope he was fired.
I personally don’t have this problem, due my super limited budget, and therefore small wiiware/VC games collection. But I feel for all who do. It’s bad enough to be having memory issues WITHOUT Nintendo executives dissing you for it.
Jim
Stupid and absolutely unneccessary comment from Laurent Fischer.
Jaime
Did geek become an offensive word while I was sleeping last night? I figured most reading this site were self-proclaimed geeks… :-\
Gregory Weagle
Laurent Fischer should be fired. I spent money on Nintendo products to have fun with them; I didn’t spend money to get insulted by someone who is getting paid to KEEP customers (and make new ones of course) playing their product. If I want to see geeks and otakus get insulted; I’ll read Sean Malstrom’s articles. Why? Because he does it for free and is not on Nintendo’s payroll.
Iwata needs to get this problem under control…both on storage and loose mouthed creeps like Fischer.
Jonkind
I don’t think using the word geeks or otaku is what’s offensive, it’s the feeling of complete dismissal of the dedicated videogame people who have been their bread and butter for years. I mean they’ll be the ones who will probably still be around if the casual gaming market collapses on itself in a pile of rubble and mini-game compilations.
You’d think considering just how successful the shop channel has been, the oodles of money they must be making by selling old games for the hundredth time they wouldn’t be so resistant to giving the people who would BUY the hard drive and then continue to BUY even MORE games to fill it. Why not facilitate that?
The Balance Board, the Zapper, the WiiWheel and the litany of 3rd party battery chargers, plastic shells, drum kits and guitars should prove to them that people will BUY peripherals. Why wouldn’t you want to make more money?
Andrew G.
For me, it’s not that he used the term “geek,” because I have absolutely no problem calling myself that on a regular basis in everyday conversation. I like the word.
It’s the vain in which he used it, as many here have stated. He’s insulting the people who are regularly buying the products and software his company sells, and that’s just downright low.
The simple fact of the matter is, the gaming populace is larger than Nintendo chooses to believe right now, and as avid customers of Nintendo products, we deserve a solution to a serious issue. It’s not just annoying anymore. It’s ridiculous.
Now, anytime I want to download anything, I have to delete something else first. I had to do away with several games (including Sin & Punishment, which I haven’t actually beaten yet) just to make room for LostWinds and My Life as a King (which was not totally worth it, by the way). It wouldn’t be as big of an issue, having to go back online to download it for free (I don’t have an SD card), but I have to move my TV and Wii into the kitchen every time I want to do that (that’s where our wireless is strongest – my Wii doesn’t even know we have wireless when I’m in my room, which is weird).
And that’s an even bigger hassle than most cases.
I’m disgusted that Nintendo would even ask us to delete products that we bought in the first place just to make room for more products, which will probably need to be deleted later on, as well.
Bah, this isn’t even going anywhere. All I have to say is we NEED a solution to this problem ASAP.
DmNt
Yeah, I’m not exactly insulted that he said geek or otaku. It’s the way he said it, and how blatantly ignorant he was. As for the storage problem, I have no such troubles. I only download VC titles I’ve never played before. I mean, why would you spend extra on games you’ve already owned? I just use emulators for that.
SirVenom
“You are all GEEKS, YOU HEAR ME! No offense intended. GEEKS!”
No wonder Europeans hate their branch of Nintendo….
Only Nintendo’s most LOYAL fans who buy all of the first party games on the market and the VC games need space. Instead, Nintendo caters to those who buy one game and shelf the console :/
I say that the Euros should start an armed revolt.
Purple Chimp
I think VC is mainly used by fans anyway. And to discount the desires or wishes of the fans in such a feckless manner is wholly inappropriate.
Making things hard for consumers is not a good idea, if having a external hard drive makes things easier for people to download and play and people are willing to shell out for one, I can’t see why Nintendo still blatantly refuses to do so. There is money to be made, but they won’t do it! That is just strange…
I’d buy one, if not two just for the hell of it.
Brian
Geek/Otaku and proud of it. Having said that, I fear Nintendo will release something silly like an 8GB flash device that snaps onto the back of your USB ports and costs something silly like $79. They will have it set up to where it only recognizes your Wii and some sort of other security measures.