Guess What? Wii U Discs Have A Rounded Edge

For some reason, I really like them and I honestly don't know why...

@SethNintendo That would have been awesome!
I don't know about anybody else, but I was wondering what the discs were like. It's interesting to see that they are Wii Unique. (boos, throws tomatoes, hisses)
Iwata: (laughs)

@Ideal_Hero All: (laughs)

Very nice. I wonder if there are any practical applications to this or if they're just for decoration...
@Ideal_Hero - I threw the tomato (laughs).

Heh, they look really nice, sadly, this means I will probably scratch them by mistake while trying to admire their shape with touching.

@Ideal_Hero: It was Reggie who threw the tomato!

@SethNintendo (laughs)

The rounded edges do feel better to hold, some PS3 discs are that way.

This post made me laugh. Yay, go rounded edges!

@SethNintendo I doubt Apple cares at the moment as they don't really make many discs. But if they were, or if they will in the future, I guess they would rather keep quiet and think: "Damn Nintendo did what we wanted to do, we got to find a way to make our discs look even better."

they should've made triforce shaped discs. now THAT would get someone's attention

I know when I walk around holding dvd's all day, I really wish they weren't so sharp.

When are the game reviews coming?

With the amount of data they are capable of holding it's no surprise that extra care has been given to these discs, I just wonder how long blu-ray discs will last. The smaller the data, the more sensitive they are to damage. Blu-ray discs were originally going to come in cartridges because they were so sensitive to finger prints and dust... until TDK invented a coating for them.

Perhaps the originals discs were sometimes sharp enough to cut a child's hands? Then I can see a very good reason for this.

okay... now for my smart alec answer... don't tell me those 14 year olds in China have been setting around polishing disc edges for the past month! get to work! only kidding

DVDs are 4.7GB, not 4.5

it depends on how you calculate it... ever try to put 4.7 GB of data on one? I get maybe 4.4 GB...

@SteveW I think you're maybe confusing GiB with GB

I don't like that rounded edge, I'm switching to all digital now.

...and there goes my dream of heart shaped disks. (covers mouth) Who said that?

The rounded edges actually do have a practical use:
It's not that the discs will hurt your hand less because it has sharp edges, although that is indeed handy.
The actual benefit is longevity of the discs. They are a proprietary BluRay disc format and there's a lot of info stored on it. Round edges on any surface have proven to be less susceptible to damage than sharp or cornered edges, so simply put: it will make your game discs less fragile and they will last longer.

But knowing Nintendo there may also be another motive and maybe it's even part of some sort of copy protection, although I can't imagine how that would work just from this info and these images.

@SteveW & @Lan:
Commercial DVD's (around 4.7GB) are larger than empty DVD's (4.37GB). It was once thought that this would help prevent piracy.

@Master_Ryno:
that better be sarcasm, otherwise it's a bit ridiculous...

Brb, cancelling my Wii U preorder. I've completely lost all interest in the console now. This was the final straw.

There goes my plan to sue the crap out of 'em.

@TheRealThanos I think you're confusing Gb with GB

Doesn't really help unless you can feel the disks, in which case I can't wait to get my hands on one of these!

@Madmanonfire

Step away from the ridiculousness Sir... O_O

aaaand @SethNintendo wins the thread, right there at the start. i lol'd, sir :3

This is truly the most amazing feature of the Wii U so far.

rounded edges.. really.. you wasted space on your site to talk about rounded edges. i think the bigger story is that they will hold 25gb.. now thats a def upgrade. 5 days out from launch, i wanna see some game previews or something...

Now, this is relevant!

Anyone know if these have the same protective coating as other blu-rays discs? I LOVE that. It makes a huge difference and I have kids that try to be careful, but are kids, after all.

Nice! They add a little special touch to the disks

Ooh they feel so nice. They do, they do.
(Enjoyed that last caption, btw.)

Guess what? Should be written as Guess what! I'll give you a moment to think why.

SOLD!

enjoy your discs, im just getting a wii u for the vc

@Lan
No offense, but methinks not. I'm not confused, I just stated facts.
I know quite well that DVD sizes are measured in Gigabytes, not bits.
I was trying to give a helping hand to solve the apparent confusion between you and SteveW, although I don't think there really was any.
Oh, and you repeated yourself in your comment there, and I already read that comment before making mine, so it would be silly to think that I did not take that into account.

@thanos316
Hey you! Do not insult our name by making silly comments.
I'm almost ashamed of being a Thanos...
And the fact that the disc capacity is 25GB is already old, so this is indeed news.
Maybe not very interesting news to some of us, but news nonetheless.

...huh.

@ogo79. I don't care why, just glad you are getting one sir.

@thanos316 Except that part has been know for months now

That's.....really something.

I...don't see a difference. Aren't discs round already?

That looks fun. I've never cut my anything on a disc edge before but still. Sadly though, each one was just monotonously bulk-manufactured in a factory somewhere.

Is it even possible to cut yourself with a normal disk??

Anyone want to fill me in on how this differs from Wii games or other discs? They ALL have round edges... I'm confused.

So essentially this is to stop anyone potentially burning dvds to play pirated games on?

You've got to give it to Nintendo, they've got alot covered preventing piracy, especially as they are now relying on software sales to make up the loss on hardware.

I wish them the best.

Wii supports Dual Layer though I can only think of Metroid Prime Trilogy & Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and maybe Xenogears that use them.

I'm glad Nintendo rounded the edges. Not only will they fell better to hold, but no one can sue Nintendo over a cut finger by rubbing their finger rapidly on the edge pushing as hard as they can.

@SethNintendo: I know what you mean. Discs and iPhones are so similar Apple must do something in order to prevent people from just using discs because of how cheap they are in comparison. (that was a genius comment)

Rounded edge? As in, the disc is a circle? I'm confused!

@Happy_Mask How did you post that video?

@nintendoFTW1999: 'rounded edge' as in if you hold the disc so that you're looking directly at its edge, you'll notice that it's rounded over. normal CDs and DVDs have a flat outer rim. :3

@SMW
I can understand your confusion, so let me try to make that clear for you.
Yes the disc is round, but the outside of the circle is edged sharply.
Besides the printed side and the 'shiny' side that is read in a DVD player/console, there's also the small 1.2mm thick side (not as in side A or B) that makes up that outside. (hope you're following this)
You can feel this if you rub your finger along the edge in an up/down motion if you hold the disc like you would if you were about to stick it in a DVD player. (like in the third photo)
They (Nintendo) have apparently rounded the edges, so now if you would move your finger along the side of the DVD, it will feel smooth and rounded instead of sharp.

@wcb123
No. It doesn't stop piracy, I was just joking that the rounded edges may be a part of the whole Nintendo anti-piracy scheme, because since the GameCube, they have always used proprietary disc systems, so you never know what they've cooked up this time...

...Cool?

I mean...it IS cool, but...it won't be something I readily notice.

But watch, now I'm going to somehow cut myself on the Wii Disc and say, "Man, I'm glad the Wii U discs aren't sharp!"

@kyuubikid213
Please don't post a video of you bleeding...

I have actually cut myself on a wii disc. I was admiring the disc art on Skyward Sword and somehow the disc cut me. It hurt and bled a lot, so I am very happy about this

This is... cool... I guess..

Round baby..

@TheRealThanos

Thank you! That makes sense to me now. I never noticed that about CDs/DVDs before. I'm still not sure how anyone could cut themselves, though. Unless they were throwing them like ninja stars or something. lol

PROPRIETARY DISKS??? NINTENDO IS TURNING INTO SONY! THIS WILL COST US A FORTUNE! THIS IS THE END OF--...

Wait, just the disks? Oh. My bad.

@SMW
You're most welcome.
As for how this could happen: wear and tear from regular use can make the edges rougher, so small cuts can definitely occur. Smoother edges will probably prevent that, or bring it down to a minimum.

@DerpSandwich
Nothing bad at all. Since Nintendo went with recordable media/discs (in other words: since the GameCube) their discs have ALWAYS been proprietary, so to be honest I wasn't very surprised that they didn't go for Sony's format, and that is even besides the fact that Sony is a competitor and they probably wouldn't want to pay them any licensing fee or something like that.
Unless you were being sarcastic... (hence the use of capitals?) then just ignore this comment. It's probably time to go to sleep, since it's way past midnight...

I don't see the difference! But by the time I have Wii discs, I guess I will see it!

They should have made the discs scratch proof.

@NintendoFTW1999 (#53) It's called a GIF image/file, not a video.

I am planning on having one game that will never leave the system. If I have my way, all others will be digital.

Is this relevant at all?

Wii U disc: You made me right round baby right round like a Apple device right round round round
XD

[Looks at disc memory size]
I forgot the Wii U would use so big of disks!
Sakurai's going to have fun filling up SSB4 to the very limit of the Wii U!

Now no one can call Nintendo games edgy anymore

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the rounded edges are part of the anti-piracy measures. If the Wii U can tell the difference between these and normal discs, it can lock itself in Wii mode when reading a normal disc, helping to prevent people from being able to run hacks or Wii U games burned onto another disc format.

@WaxxyOne #72
I wouldn't put it past Nintendo, but that would probably cost too much to install.

bakayuro konoyuro!

We all know Nintendo's real agenda hear, child safe disks...

"I wouldn't be at all surprised if the rounded edges are part of the anti-piracy measures"

I was thinking the same!

Also: So Wii u discs aren't blue-ray (or HD dvd for that matter). Once again, Nintendo chose it's own format! While it's nice to see they don't need Sony or Microsoft that way, I hope it won't scare game-developers of in any way!!

@Super-Mario-Fan No... LOL