Topic: Wii Purchases Aren't Forever! (Yahoo)

I read this earlier and it reaffirms my belief that Nintendo had better come up with some solution for this when we move over to 3DS and the next console, whatever it may be. This is a lot of sh*t just waiting to hit the fan. Especially for consumers like myself who have several hundred games downloaded onto their Wii and DSi systems.

Yes, they need to fix this problem. They are more worried about trying to stop piracy, then actually taking care of their loyal paying customers.

Yeah, I read this as well. This can be easily fixed with a system update, so hopefully they'll do just that real soon here.

So what happens when you try to load your SD card with VC and WiiWare games on a different system? I've never tried myself.

I doubt an update can fix this, but I'm sure they are working on a solution for the next console and handheld

@Corbie Several...hundred....games?

This problem does needs attention.
Now I actually start looking for a retail counterpart first whenever I see a new (WiiWare/DSiWare) game I like released because of this issue.

I was all excited about the two services (WiiWare/DSiWare) until I recently had to send in my Wii twice once to California and than to corporate headquarters to fix a problem with Sonic Riders Zero Gravity not starting past the intro video and Wii Sports Resort Randomly freezing.
Corporate ended up swapping my console with another and it did fix Wii Sports Resort but not Sonic Riders.
They also sent back both discs all scratched up.

But I am keeping my Wii now as I want to play Mario Galaxy 2.

But when I was sending it in for repairs I could play the retail games on another Wii and had WiiWare withdraws and had to re-download everything.

Online game saves also will of course not transfer to a new serial number.

Yeah, they really should have your purchases tied to an account and not just the system. Their system is probably at least partially to stop piracy and encourage as many purchases as possible but does screw over the customer. Plus, the wii has been relatively easy to pirate despite any of their efforts. While I don't mind losing wii purchases on a wii2 for example I'd be pissed if I lost all my wiiware if my wii broke. This is one of the reasons I'm not crazy about VC except for games that are hard to find or emulate otherwise like turbografx 16 cd or neo geo cd games. You can't really "collect" VC games like you could physical games as you don't really own them just a license to play them on your current system.

Of course an update can fix it, and there's no reason to be sure they're working on a solution to a problem they created. It was a deliberate choice to restrict access by hardware, not some limitation of technology that they had yet to figure a way around, as evidenced by the competition, one of whose consoles predates the Wii. There's no "work" for them to do. How do you "work" on a solution that has been known since before you created the problem? Nintendo is just putting themselves before their customers, plain and simple.

Well said Adam. I'm not sure what this nonsense lz is going on about, but clearly he/she doesn't have the slightest idea how a system update works. Nintendo could fix this with the snap of a thumb, it's just that they DON'T WANT TO. They did this very intentionally.

This is what Nintendo have been saying Since the Wii Frist came out.

(Nintendo: No. All VC games will be locked to the console they are downloaded on so even if they are on an SD card they can't be used on other machines. You will have to take your Wii with you.

"Does that mean that if your console breaks you lose your VC games forever?"

Nintendo: No. Nintendo will offer support to help Wii owners with problems to recover their games.
but other then That, it out of our Hands if your Games are lost.)

I Found this in an Old report, I don't know if nintendo really can't take your Wii and put it in a Newer one.

Same gose for the DSi I Think, if they can't do it on the Wii

It is a shame, since Nintendo have the Best Games for Download.
and i only Game I Downloaded on the 360 was just MvC2

IDK... I just sent in my Wii console because it was having trouble, and they told me that if I repair it for $85, then I'm garanteed to get my VC games back, even if they send me a new console instead of sending my repaired one back, but they should do it, because the DSi just came out. I just think that 2 systems are going to be playing 2 of the same game from the same purchase, than no one will buy games online anymore. This is my strategy with PSN network.
EDIT: and besides the DLC problem, the 3DS isn't even the 5th version of the DS, it' a whole new deal, right?

This isn't exactly a new problem...I guess it's just more in the forefront of the relatively mainstream news now because of the recent release of the black Wii.

I'm quite certain Nintendo could simply use the Club Nintendo link to allow you to redownload games on a new console...they'd just have to be willing to do so. They'd BETTER do something to fix this issue with the next console at the very least, or I predict consumer confidence going down the toilet (my own, at the very least).

@Stuffy

It'll hurt hardware sales for the next console as well, if people are less likely to trade in their old Wiis/DSis to upgrade. I know I'll be holding off for probably a couple years on each, where with backwards compatibility and download transfers, I'd be in line on launch day.

If the new 3"DS" isn't touchscreen (or by extension double screen), then I see no reason not to keep my old DSi anyway. If push comes to shove, I've only downloaded March of the Minis, Flipnote and Rytmik, so I could imagine myself buying them again IF I got the new handheld AND my DSi broke down (I still have a GBA so I can play Gameboy games after all.).

My Wii on the other hand has many games stored on there - I bought them, and if Nintendo are going to ask me to download them all over again (my Wii - a secondhand machine will definitely be obselete) when I purchase the successor, I'm going to be very upset.

I can't see Nintendo offerring a service - paid or not, to transfer games from Wii to "Wii2" in their current state as noted in the link the OP provides. That is, it takes about two weeks for customer service and repairs to organise your Wii for transfer and fix it, and it's only in special cases where the customer has to "plead" for them to do something about it.

This is NOA though. I bet NOE are even worse.

Yea, it sucks. Yes, it can be easily fixed. Will it be fixed? I'm not holding my breath. Truthfully, if Nintendo wanted to screw us over(yes, screw us over, you can't convince me otherwise, so don't try fanboys) on the 3DS or Wii2, would any of you boycott their new products or convince others not to buy their products? ...I don't think so, well, at least, unfortunately, I don't see me doing it, not if there are new games to play on launch day. They'll fix it if they're feeling generous or unless there's class action litigation and they lose, twice.

I don't know about the DSi titles (not relevant to my situation), but I'm sure they will come up with a solution for the Wii downloaded titles. How am I sure? Well, I guess I'm being hopeful, but it seems like something they will do. The question is how. What they can do I think is move the d/l titles to the new console and DELETE them from the Wii... if not, people would just sell their Wii's for premiums with all the downloaded titles and still be able to enjoy them. This is the problem, and there's no other solution to it.

perhaps this is another something you can try and ask about at E3, man :3

Ninty changed their minds about providing an SD card solution for the Wii. I'd imagine they're working on some solution for this, too. it's just a matter of time, and it may even be introduced with the advent of the Wii2. who knows.

Old news, isn't it?

Anyway I think this is kind of a non-issue. Thinking about it realistically, Nintendo would not want to alienate and infuriate virtually its entire customer base (or at least the tech-savvy ones who have given Nintendo so much moolah from digital sales). In other words, importing digital content from your old devices is a must for the next generation. Nintendo are the ones who came up with the DRM system in place for WiiWare and DSiWare, so they're definitely able to create a workaround to accommodate the new generation of devices.

here's what the linked Wired article had to say:
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/05/black-wii-upgrade/

While Nintendo says it is “looking into” allowing users to transfer games, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich told Wired.com the company is working out the kinks in its digital distribution system. He expects the problem to be solved once Nintendo’s next-gen home console comes out.

so I'm sure they'll fix it...

but look at this:

Princess Skittles, a user of the NeoGAF message boards who declined to give a real name, said she bought a black Wii console Sunday. She called Nintendo and talked them into transferring her large collection of downloaded games.

“Nintendo is doing a transfer for me as a special exception due to the amount of paid content I have,” she said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “They made it pretty clear that it’s usually reserved for repair scenarios but they were very nice and from the get-go they were happy to help me because of my support.”

To get the games transferred, Princess Skittles has to mail both of her Wii consoles to Nintendo, and wait two weeks, she said.

you see, she had to mail both consoles, because user accounts don't prevent piracy. They would delete the content from the white console first. You can't blame Nintendo for this. I agree with Nintendo that otherwise people would abuse the system. The ironic thing is that it's already being abused by millions all over the world, and that it's easy to transfer the games to SD cards, mod the Wii, and play the games... Nintendo should realize that.

@mnemeth

The thing is, that sort of process is time consuming and expensive for Nintendo. It's feasible to do them occasionally, especially if they're repairing a console anyways, but it won't be a feasible system when thousands of people want to send in their Wiis and Wii2s on launch day.

I don't think we'll have to wait until Wii2. If there's going to be a solution, it'll roll out with the 3DS. They don't have as much to lose there, because DSiWare hasn't been around for as long as WW/VC, so they can try the transfer system out with that and find any holes for piracy and try to shut them before Wii2.