22 replies to this topic

[Scumbag]

Just wondering if there is anything I should bear in mind while looking at compatible USB hard drives for the Wii U. I am getting the 8GB Wii U so I can buy a 500GB - 1TB hard drive which should last forever lol

The problem is that I am not sure what USB hard drives are compatible with the Wii U, would USB 2.0 or 3.0 be better? Also I read that Nintendo prefer us to buy a USB drive with a seperate AC Adapter even though the Wii U could power it itself, what do you guys think is best?

[Joshua]

Considering the fact that the Wii U has USB 2.0 ports I don't believe getting a External Hardrive with USB 3.0 compatibility would really do much.

[duck360]

We will all take this step one day. The Wii U consumes I believe 75Watts (I believe anyway) so buying a Hard Drive with an AC Adapter is recommended but I don't know if it's a must.
I never give much thought about USB Types but all USB ports works with all USB types I believe. If Joshua is right and the Wii U has 2.0 USB Ports then having higher than 2.0 wouldn't do any difference.

I hope Nintendo makes some Official Wii U Hard Drives... ones that would fit on the console as if it's an part of the body to make it look better. I don't wish to have a huge Hard Drive sticking around the Wii U

[Nollog]

Any drive should work. If you want a list of officially supported drives they're on Nintendo's website.
One of them is a USB3 drive actually.

http://www.nintendo....usb_devices.jsp

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

Get a USB 2.0 with either a Y cable or a power suply up to 2TB, that is all you need to know young grasshopper.

[Scumbag]

I only have 2 sockets for my TV and Wii U, a USB hard drive that the Wii U could power itself would be ideal but is it risky? i.e could the Wii U overheat or something?

[Zinix]

Considering the fact that the Wii U has USB 2.0 ports I don't believe getting a External Hardrive with USB 3.0 compatibility would really do much.

There's external 3.0 hard drives with 2.0 backwards compatibility, so this is not necessarily true.

[Nollog]

I only have 2 sockets for my TV and Wii U, a USB hard drive that the Wii U could power itself would be ideal but is it risky? i.e could the Wii U overheat or something?

No.
There's zero possibility of USB drawing any power that would cause any issues either with extra drain, or over-heating.

The issue that Iwata brought up was that some drives consume more power than the USB standard is designed to do. It doesn't apply to 99.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of external hard drives and he should never have even said it, he was being overly honest to consumers, which seems to be making people worry too much about the unlikely.
3DS' 3D, Wii U Internal disk space are further examples of this trend at Nintendo.

[Jehuty]

edit; double post

Edited by Jehuty, 28 November 2012 - 10:20 AM.

[angelo07stang]

What really sucks it says on nintendos website once you formatt the hard drive for wii u you cant use it for pc unless you reformatt it again that is pretty dumb. Would have been nice to use a 2tb external for pc and wii u but you cant do it.

[Jehuty]

I only have 2 sockets for my TV and Wii U, a USB hard drive that the Wii U could power itself would be ideal but is it risky? i.e could the Wii U overheat or something?

It won't make it overheat. The Wiiu USB ports just providing voltage which USB does by default, it doesn't make the WiiU work harder or anything.. I have the 8GB model with a 160GB external powered by the USB y-cable.

My current setup. Wow, just realized how dirty my HDD is, Better go clean it.

[duck360]

My Advice is getting something like 100-200GB Hard Drive. I had 250GB PS3 and played over 600 games and it got filled not long ago... unless you will buy every single game on Wii U like I did with PS3 (Yes I also bought Hannah Montana) you will be fine with a 150GB or something close to it.

[Gamejunkie]

There's external 3.0 hard drives with 2.0 backwards compatibility, so this is not necessarily true.

It's actually not true at all as all USB 3.0 drives are backward compatible and support USB 2.0.

[Zinix]

It's actually not true at all as all USB 3.0 drives are backward compatible and support USB 2.0.

I noticed that some USB 2.0 drives are more expensive than 3.0 drives, must be because USB 2.0 is slowly fading away.

[Joshua]

There's external 3.0 hard drives with 2.0 backwards compatibility, so this is not necessarily true.

Sorry, I think I may have worded that wrong.
I meant it in reference to performance-wise.

[Zinix]

Sorry, I think I may have worded that wrong.
I meant it in reference to performance-wise.

Yeah you did, I thought you meant something completely different. You're right.

[currysonic]

It's actually not true at all as all USB 3.0 drives are backward compatible and support USB 2.0.

Also you will probably find the a single Wii U USB port won't have enough power to power a USB 3.0 hard drive.

[cannonshane]

Need a little help guys. Im looking to buy an external Hdd. However im buying online as its usually alot cheaper to do so here in Aus, So im looking on www.ebay.com.au and im finding it hard to work out which drives run from a Y cable. Any help would be appreciated.

[Gamejunkie]

Need a little help guys. Im looking to buy an external Hdd. However im buying online as its usually alot cheaper to do so here in Aus, So im looking on www.ebay.com.au and im finding it hard to work out which drives run from a Y cable. Any help would be appreciated.

Any USB bus powered hard drive ( one that doesn't use it's own power ) should work with a USB Y cable.

[Preacher Ken]

Need a little help guys. Im looking to buy an external Hdd. However im buying online as its usually alot cheaper to do so here in Aus, So im looking on www.ebay.com.au and im finding it hard to work out which drives run from a Y cable. Any help would be appreciated.

I only ever play 3 or 4 games at any given time so if I need extra space I'm just going to plug in a 64gig usb stick stuff using a hardrive