Nintendo has a *Buffering*

[Dark Jaguar]

So a gentle blue pulse tells me there's something new, and that something new is a Metroid Prime 3 preview for download. I was quite happy to find Nintendo was finally taking this step that both MS and Sony were doing, or so I thought.

It's not a game demo. Unfortunate, but understandable considering the space limitations on the Wii. Even ONE demo would take up more than 512 MB in a single go.

It's a preview video. Well, that's something, but Nintendo screwed this up. Here's what you actually download. Basically, it's just a small app that goes online and STREAMS the preview video onto your screen. Nintendo's servers aren't exactly up to this task though. That means 3 minutes of "buffering" for roughly 5 seconds of video at a time. I've got things to do, and that's the most inhumane way to watch video humans have ever concieved. It's like dental work before pain killers.

I'd suggest Nintendo just add a video section where we can download videos, indeed, a list of queued up downloads that continue in the background as we continue to use the Wii (just like all the other systems) as opposed to this waiting for Mario to hit a bunch of blocks while we can't do anything else on the system. However, aside from Nintendo still having a way to go, there's also the space issue. The fact is, Nintendo needs to release a hard disk for the system, and this is the proof. It's the main reason we aren't getting video and game demo downloads on this system.

On the other hand, Nintendo is finally adding USB support. It's limited, not in the web browser yet for example, but at least I can finally TYPE messages to people on my contact list so there's that. Now if they could redo the contact list into something worthwhile...

[DMiller]

That's a lot of complaints, but nothing I disagree with. I tried to watch the video too, but it was going so slow I gave up on it. I'm going to buy Prime no matter what so I can do without seeing another video of it.

[Dark Jaguar]

Keep in mind I am certainly getting this game. I know I complain a lot about what Nintendo is not doing but keep in mind I did buy a Wii and I have been buying a number of Wii games. Nintendo still does gaming right. I've said everything I've wanted to say about where Nintendo gets things right. I just really want them to be better at a lot of other things, so I say where I think they should improve, and often enough it turns into some long diatribe. Just keep in mind this is the internet. Everyone sounds way more concerned about things here than they might in real life. These issues don't consume my waking thoughts and haunt my dreams. I just think Nintendo's online support could use some work is all (and also details about what they could do better). Hopefully that makes things a little more clear since often I seem to give the false impression that I'm accusing Nintendo of murdering orphans or something.

But yes, Nintendo needs to revise their online support and key in doing so is adding hard disk support, though via USB. Often enough USB hard disks suffer from slower access speed than through others, but that doesn't have to be the case. It is simply that very few USB devices use the full speed available in a USB 2.0 port. I think it's power requirements. Nintendo could just custom make their own hard disk that reached near that speed and access times would certainly be at least sufficient for use with games and movie files.

I will say this. Nintendo at least is doing stuff. It is slow and lethargic compaired to the speed at which Sony and MS are moving, but they are moving along. I actually wonder about the size and budget Nintendo has assigned to Wii's firmware and online support teams. It's not like they don't have the cash. In fact I'm pretty sure they could fill a tower up with gold coins and swim around in it, ala Scrooge McDuck. Best to put that money to use. Ya can't take it with you! But... a penny saved is a penny earned... He who hesitates is lost, but fools rush in... Um... maybe folk expressions don't equal a logical argument after all...

[Great Rumbler]

Let it load all the way through once and then play it again. The whole movie will then play without interuption.

That means 3 minutes of "buffering" for roughly 5 seconds of video at a time.

Three minutes of load time for five seconds of video? I don't know what sort of connection you're running, but it probably took me five minutes tops to watch the movie and that includes that time it took to buffer.

[A Black Falcon]

USB keyboards... USB hub needed then I guess, at least if you also need the USB cable internet connector or if they add other USB device support like USB harddrives... easy enough though.

As for 'buffering', what they need to do is have it so it preloads, so you can wait and have it fully download and then watch it. But have it auto-delete when you finish or something, to save space. Like how any online video-sharing site works.

I will say this. Nintendo at least is doing stuff. It is slow and lethargic compaired to the speed at which Sony and MS are moving, but they are moving along. I actually wonder about the size and budget Nintendo has assigned to Wii's firmware and online support teams. It's not like they don't have the cash. In fact I'm pretty sure they could fill a tower up with gold coins and swim around in it, ala Scrooge McDuck. Best to put that money to use. Ya can't take it with you! But... a penny saved is a penny earned... He who hesitates is lost, but fools rush in... Um... maybe folk expressions don't equal a logical argument after all...

Yeah, but when you're starting from several hundred paces behind the other two competitors in most any aspect of online networking or gaming, how much does that count for...

[Great Rumbler]

Two new videos are up. Another two are arriving this Thursday.

[Dark Jaguar]

I suppose I could try at night, when maybe the server drain isn't so great. My internet connection, by the way, is very quick with both low latency and high bitrate. Further the connection is solid. It isn't that. It's an issue with the videos themselves, either during "busy" times or something else. One thing's for sure, it was a mistake for Nintendo to go with "streaming".

[Great Rumbler]

Streams work just fine for me. Loaded for about thirty seconds then played all the way through.

[EdenMaster]

I dunno. I haven't encountered any problems. Wait, I do take that back, at one point it told me I had to reconnect, so I did and it played fine after that. I never had jumpy videos or excessive buffering at all. It loaded and played. That's it.

[Dark Jaguar]

I'll need to try it again I suppose. I did get it pretty much the second my Wii lit up with that subtle blue so maybe it was some early issue.