Gaming WHICH CONSOLE TO BUY? wii or wiiu?

[tswntk]

2. HDD flexibility. I prefer using NTFS for my Wii games partition; ISOs do not need to be split (like with FAT32). If I ever have to replace my HDD, the process would be simpler and quicker. I can also just take my Wii USB drive out, plug it into my Windows PC, and game from there with Dolphin if I wanted to. I actually have two Wii's -- one for my wife and I and the other for the kids. We can swap drives if we want; sometimes the kids will want to play with the one that has saves from when the whole family joined together, but in their own space. Or they may even take the drive over to their cousins' house. (Wii U drives are tied to the console).

Just so you know, Dolphin supports loading wbfs and there are less than 5% of the games need to be splitted in wbfs format (and splitting is no big deal, you can use WBM to manage those automatically). wbfs format also saves a lot of hdd space (in fact most Wii games from the internet are in wbfs format already). It is actually much more convenient to have everything (Wii related) stored in one big FAT32 partition unless you want to store big PC/Mac files on the same drive.

 

[zubz19]

Late to the discussion, but here are some pro's for the original Wii:

1. Native support for GC peripherals. There are even some games that behave improperly when not using native mode with Nintendont. Soulcalibur II in practice mode happens to be one of them if I recall. Some folks also complain about input lag in fighting games in general when not using real GC controllers. Physical memory card slots for GC memory cards are also nice.

2. HDD flexibility. I prefer using NTFS for my Wii games partition; ISOs do not need to be split (like with FAT32). If I ever have to replace my HDD, the process would be simpler and quicker. I can also just take my Wii USB drive out, plug it into my Windows PC, and game from there with Dolphin if I wanted to. I actually have two Wii's -- one for my wife and I and the other for the kids. We can swap drives if we want; sometimes the kids will want to play with the one that has saves from when the whole family joined together, but in their own space. Or they may even take the drive over to their cousins' house. (Wii U drives are tied to the console).

3. The original Wii is much closer to original GC hardware, for better or worse depending on who you ask. I personally consider this a a good thing for GC games.

4. Price -- Wii's are dirt cheap. Our second one was only $10 USD.

5. Less likely to brick (though if you are careful, this may be a non-issue for either system).



For the Wii U:

1. More power means better emulators. If you're into running emulators, Wii U will have a slight advantage.

2. More game titles (though I cannot think of any Wii U only titles that I feel I must have).

3. More modern A/V connectors without needing to buy adapters (although component cables would work fine for the original Wii, it's an additional expense; and HDMI adapter would add to the cost).

4. The controller is also a screen.

5. Four USB ports (some would argue only 2, if you use a GC controller adapter since it takes up 2 and only brings it up to par with the Wii's native GC ports).

Good comparison, there's no rush, and anyone reading this thread/discussion later on in future can benefit, if they are choosing either to get one or the other, or both. Am deciding to get both sooner or later, its just getting difficult to get hold of the exact model and where from?; a sticky situation.

 

[rs1n]

Just so you know, Dolphin supports loading wbfs and there are less than 5% of the games need to be splitted in wbfs format (and splitting is no big deal, you can use WBM to manage those automatically). wbfs format also saves a lot of hdd space (in fact most Wii games from the internet are in wbfs format already). It is actually much more convenient to have everything (Wii related) stored in one big FAT32 partition unless you want to store big PC/Mac files on the same drive.

We should clarify WBFS as a file TYPE, versus a partition FORMAT. You can use WBFS file types (as opposed to ISO), but you still have to decide whether to save that file type as FAT32 or NTFS format, and NTFS is simply better (especially when used on the PC side) because of better speeds, journaling, and no 4GB limitations, larger than 2TB support, etc. I personally use WBFS file types for my games, and they are stored on an NTFS partition. (In my previous post, I mistakenly used ISO as a generic term for all games, but yes you are correct that WBFS is a better file type). As for drives formatted to WBFS FORMAT, are you sure that Dolphin supports that? Because your PC must actually be able to read a WBFS formatted drive in order for Dolphin to make use of it. Only a few pieces of software can actually do that (e.g. backup managers). But if Dolphin can natively detect WBFS drives, that's news to me.

In my humble opinion, the best setup for hard drives with the Wii is to use two partitions: 1) the first partition in FAT32, and large enough to hold all your GC games, homebrew, artwork, etc. and 2) the second partition in NTFS that holds nothing but your Wii games in WBFS file types (not ISO).

EDIT: Using a drive with two partitions like this means you never have to use your SD card for anything except the initial soft-modding steps. The only thing my SD card has on it is bootmii files, a copy of my original NAND backup, and a copy of the Homebrew Channel as a safety precaution. Occasionally, I grab my HDD and make backups of the various save directories. I am of the opinion that one should avoid using SD cards due to the limited write cycles (no matter how large that limit may be).

 

[spotanjo3]

Since Wii U can play Wii, the obvious answer is Wii U.

True but Wii U cannot played Game Cube. If he doesn't care about Game Cube then Wii U is the answer. If he prefer Game Cube as well as Wii games then go with Wii.. Not Wii mini, mind you, since it only run Wii games.

 

[EmulateLife]

True but Wii U cannot played Game Cube.

As usual you're wrong. Nintendont works on Wii U which plays all Gamecube games.

 

[zubz19]

As usual you're wrong. Nintendont works on Wii U which plays all Gamecube games.

he means probably playing with actual CD, you cant play gamecube cds on wiiU, but on wii you can (the older versions)

 

[EmulateLife]

he means probably playing with actual CD, you cant play gamecube cds on wiiU, but on wii you can (the older versions)

You're putting words in his mouth he didn't say. He said "Wii U cannot played Game Cube. If he doesnt care about Game cube then Wii U is the answer" That's false you can still care about Gamecube and play it and enjoy it. Like you said yourself newer Wiis can't play original Gamecube games either so it's no different. He didn't make any of these clarifications don't speak for him, 90% of the stuff he spews on this forum is wrong.

 

[Ryccardo]

EDIT: Using a drive with two partitions like this means you never have to use your SD card for anything except the initial soft-modding steps

My personal choice is (FAT32) SD only instead - now that 128 GB is affordable I can have everything on a single (indeed I never filled it up more than 55%), solid-state, and most importantly fully contained device - I was so satisfied I didn't repeat my internal USB HDD mod

He said "Wii U cannot played Game Cube" [...] newer Wiis can't play original Gamecube games either so it's no different.

Depends on the definition of "play" - horizontal Wiis do have a functional GC mode (with no official way to enter it since the drive doesn't accept miniDVDs, and with no official way to control it since GC ports are not installed at the factory, but both are solveable issues if one really cares) - WiiU doesn't; you can indeed use a software virtualizer to "play GC games" on Vwii (and you can run Windows software on Unixes with Wine), but that's because a 3rd party software is simulating the missing things while as far as the console knows it's Wii software, not because it has an actual GC mode, so you can "play GC games on a WiiU" yet "the WiiU doesn't play GC games"

---

Haven't looked at the wiimini motherboard in a while but I suspect it too can have add actual GC ports added (not so easy due to the different connector, and definitely nowhere as acceptable for fitting a miniDVD compatible drive, though)

 

[tswntk]

We should clarify WBFS as a file TYPE, versus a partition FORMAT. You can use WBFS file types (as opposed to ISO), but you still have to decide whether to save that file type as FAT32 or NTFS format, and NTFS is simply better (especially when used on the PC side) because of better speeds, journaling, and no 4GB limitations, larger than 2TB support, etc. I personally use WBFS file types for my games, and they are stored on an NTFS partition. (In my previous post, I mistakenly used ISO as a generic term for all games, but yes you are correct that WBFS is a better file type). As for drives formatted to WBFS FORMAT, are you sure that Dolphin supports that? Because your PC must actually be able to read a WBFS formatted drive in order for Dolphin to make use of it. Only a few pieces of software can actually do that (e.g. backup managers). But if Dolphin can natively detect WBFS drives, that's news to me.

To me (at least) WBFS denotes the partition type and wbfs denotes the file type.
I always store my homebrews app on SD to minimise writting to the HDD to keep it from wearing. I wouldn't want to lost my entire collection all of a sudden (though i have backups) and it has been serving me well over ten years.
I have never trusted Wii homebrews on writting to NTFS (though it's been 10 year when it was not so stable on NTFS support, I keep it that way even though support MIGHT have been improved). NTFS just require more resources to support - the reason why NTFS is not supported in many homebrew, including Nintendont as it don't have access to more memory than it wishes.
As I always dedicate my HDD to the Wii, so to me, the NTFS system has absolutely no advantage over FAT32 as far as Wii is concerned.

 

[rs1n]

To me (at least) WBFS denotes the partition type and wbfs denotes the file type.
I always store my homebrews app on SD to minimise writting to the HDD to keep it from wearing. I wouldn't want to lost my entire collection all of a sudden (though i have backups) and it has been serving me well over ten years.
I have never trusted Wii homebrews on writting to NTFS (though it's been 10 year when it was not so stable on NTFS support, I keep it that way even though support MIGHT have been improved). NTFS just require more resources to support - the reason why NTFS is not supported in many homebrew, including Nintendont as it don't have access to more memory than it wishes.
As I always dedicate my HDD to the Wii, so to me, the NTFS system has absolutely no advantage over FAT32 as far as Wii is concerned.

I guess this all boils down to how people use their HDDs. All the benefits of NTFS are on the PC side (e.g. copying large files onto the HDD). In practice, once you have your games ripped (and it is possible to rip onto NTFS drives), the only time homebrew should be accessing NTFS drives is to read Wii games. As I wrote earlier, NTFS for Wii games in WBFS files; Nintendont should be placed onto the FAT32 partition of the same HDD (I use two partitions, first one is FAT32 and the second one is NTFS). Keeping two separate partitions reduces the possibility of homebrew cross-corruption due to fragmentation (e.g. Nintendont saving a game state and you unfortunately have a power outage; only the FAT32 partition should be affected).

All else being equal, the HDD will actually last longer than an SD card (i.e. neither device has manufacturing defects and the like). If anything, you should be using the HDD as it's the SD card that has a limited number of write cycles (not sure if the Wii and/or homebrew that use SD cards are set up for proper wear leveling). When an SD card dies, it just dies with no warning. HDDs will return I/O errors, at the least. In practice, though, either device should work for decades without issue under proper care and usage.

 

[Ryab]

can wiiu also play gamecube emulator at native res?

if you mod the system for 7$ yes

 

[tswntk]

I guess this all boils down to how people use their HDDs. All the benefits of NTFS are on the PC side (e.g. copying large files onto the HDD). In practice, once you have your games ripped (and it is possible to rip onto NTFS drives), the only time homebrew should be accessing NTFS drives is to read Wii games. As I wrote earlier, NTFS for Wii games in WBFS files; Nintendont should be placed onto the FAT32 partition of the same HDD (I use two partitions, first one is FAT32 and the second one is NTFS). Keeping two separate partitions reduces the possibility of homebrew cross-corruption due to fragmentation (e.g. Nintendont saving a game state and you unfortunately have a power outage; only the FAT32 partition should be affected).

All else being equal, the HDD will actually last longer than an SD card (i.e. neither device has manufacturing defects and the like). If anything, you should be using the HDD as it's the SD card that has a limited number of write cycles (not sure if the Wii and/or homebrew that use SD cards are set up for proper wear leveling). When an SD card dies, it just dies with no warning. HDDs will return I/O errors, at the least. In practice, though, either device should work for decades without issue under proper care and usage.

I used a 16G SD to store all my homebrew apps and assoicated files (covers, cheat codes, ini files ect) and it has close to 10,000 files. However, backing up a 16G SD is a piece of cake (and I do it at least once a year).
Remember, 2 partitions on a single HDD is -- still a single HDD, any wear on the first partition still affects more or less the whole HDD.

 

[zubz19]

You're putting words in his mouth he didn't say. He said "Wii U cannot played Game Cube. If he doesnt care about Game cube then Wii U is the answer" That's false you can still care about Gamecube and play it and enjoy it. Like you said yourself newer Wiis can't play original Gamecube games either so it's no different. He didn't make any of these clarifications don't speak for him, 90% of the stuff he spews on this forum is wrong.

sorry, btw azoreseropa has just confirmed.

All else being equal, the HDD will actually last longer than an SD card (i.e. neither device has manufacturing defects and the like). If anything, you should be using the HDD as it's the SD card that has a limited number of write cycles (not sure if the Wii and/or homebrew that use SD cards are set up for proper wear leveling). When an SD card dies, it just dies with no warning. HDDs will return I/O errors, at the least. In practice, though, either device should work for decades without issue under proper care and usage.

Best thing is make multiple copies (3, or more and place them each in 3 or more seperate cards/memory/hdd) of the important files, saves, games etc, another option would be to upload online/server somewhere, does anyone know a free place online to save large files permanently? it doesnt have to be that large, few gbs would do, so to store important backups/games?

if you mod the system for 7$ yes

what do you mean? "Modding" is to do with external? doing internal hacking you can play GC games at non native, but external Modding/hacking to play at native? How and who does it for $7?

 

[spotanjo3]

As usual you're wrong. Nintendont works on Wii U which plays all Gamecube games.

Usual ? LOL. You misread me. No, I am talking about Game Cube DVD backup.. Wii can do that and Wii U don't. That's what I am talking about.

he means probably playing with actual CD, you cant play gamecube cds on wiiU, but on wii you can (the older versions)

Precisely. Thank you!

 

[Ryab]

sorry, btw azoreseropa has just confirmed.



Best thing is make multiple copies (3, or more and place them each in 3 or more seperate cards/memory/hdd) of the important files, saves, games etc, another option would be to upload online/server somewhere, does anyone know a free place online to save large files permanently? it doesnt have to be that large, few gbs would do, so to store important backups/games?



what do you mean? "Modding" is to do with external? doing internal hacking you can play GC games at non native, but external Modding/hacking to play at native? How and who does it for $7?

theres software exploits for the wiiu though using one requires you buying a specific game off the eshop

 

[zubz19]

theres software exploits for the wiiu though using one requires you buying a specific game off the eshop

there's no hard modding required? like doing something to on the motherboard etc (dont have skills for this)

 

[rs1n]

Best thing is make multiple copies (3, or more and place them each in 3 or more seperate cards/memory/hdd) of the important files, saves, games etc, another option would be to upload online/server somewhere, does anyone know a free place online to save large files permanently? it doesnt have to be that large, few gbs would do, so to store important backups/games

If you have a Google account of any type (Youtube, Gmail, etc.) then you will also have access to 15 GB free on Google Drive (or just make an account for free). The only things you need to keep a backup of are the nand.bin and key.bin files generated from your Wii. If you have multiple Wiis, then place them in a directory that also includes a plain text file that holds the serial number of the Wii they came from. The only other thing that you might want to store "in the cloud" are your config files, and possibly your save files. Everything else can be obtained off the internet. I suppose you could also upload zip files of the apps that are on sites that may not be around in the near future (can't think of any personally).

 

[CORE]

Wii U Hands Down if you can once Homebrewed you get a nice Library of Nintendo Games All except 3DS and Switch.
That is not including much more other Games from other Consoles.

 

[Robika]

do you guys own both the wii or just the wiiu?

Both!

 

[zubz19]

If you have a Google account of any type (Youtube, Gmail, etc.) then you will also have access to 15 GB free on Google Drive (or just make an account for free). The only things you need to keep a backup of are the nand.bin and key.bin files generated from your Wii. If you have multiple Wiis, then place them in a directory that also includes a plain text file that holds the serial number of the Wii they came from. The only other thing that you might want to store "in the cloud" are your config files, and possibly your save files. Everything else can be obtained off the internet. I suppose you could also upload zip files of the apps that are on sites that may not be around in the near future (can't think of any personally).

yes, for sure, what do you say about how safe its to store on internet on Google account, or Cloud? like are there any chances that google/cloud blocks the account or the account gets suspended etc , and then you lose all your stuff? is it a permanent online storage solution? thanks

Both!

Robika: have you hacked both of them? and which one do you play most and why?