Wii U Update Eats Most of Basic's 8GB

[McMullen]

Two things here.

1. It amuses me that even consoles can't get away from day 1 updates.

2. How retarded do you have to be to unplug a console in the middle of a system update? There's always a big ass warnin "Dont unplug or power down the console during this update." I haven't tested this myself, but I suspect if you unplugged say...a 360 when they did their new dashboard update halfway through you'd also end up with a lovely paperweight as well.

1). He might not be a gamer and may be unaware of how like PCs consoles are these days. Used to be you could power off your console for any reason at any time, and no harm (to your console) would come of it.

2). As stated in the article there was no warning text or explanation of any kind.

There ought to be some standard maximum ratio of system files to empty space on a machine. I would say it should be below 25%. 5 GB on an 8 GB drive is absurd.

 

[GenGenners]

Snip #1

Snip #2

Ooooooooh, I like you

 

[MiskWisk]

I'm going the completely original route and quote Yahtzee here:
"Every new thing thou learnest about the Wii U will somehow make it seem even worse"
Pretty much my thoughts on the Wii U.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Everyone here blaming this guy for unplugging the console is being silly. What if he had accidentally tripped on the cord, or the power went out? He's still gonna have a bricked machine, and that is unacceptable. You people should be thanking him for discovering this problem before the Wii U launches.

 

[laurenhiya21]

5GB of data for an update?
Well if that's true, than that's pretty stupid on Nintendo's part. But since this is based on "some estimates" from some guy I've never even heard of, I have trouble believing that. Don't people take into consideration that Nintendo's servers were probably swamped from everybody trying to update? :/

That is pretty stupid for the WiiU to brick like that though... (but even stupider for someone to unplug it during an update ._.)

 

[shintakie10]

Everyone here blaming this guy for unplugging the console is being silly. What if he had accidentally tripped on the cord, or the power went out? He's still gonna have a bricked machine, and that is unacceptable. You people should be thanking him for discovering this problem before the Wii U launches.

As I've said before, this can actually happen with every other console due to the weird way consoles are like fake computers.

As teh_gunslinger points out, bad design is bad design whether its been bad design for the last 10(?) years or not, but you can't specifically target Nintendo for this.

 

[LordLundar]

That sounds suspiciously like DRM. Guess it's just another reason I don't like consoles. It seems pointlessly badly designed/designed that way on purpose for silly piracy reasons.

Well game consoles run on their own proprietary OS (usually. The Linux capable PS3 being the most obvious exception) so it's not unreasonable for it to be built into the console firmware to only read that particular OS. I do see the DRM perspective though.

 

[Frostbite3789]

Here's a fun thing to try. Next time you have to update to a new windows service pack, unplug your computer halfway through. Come back and tell me how it goes.

Oh oh, also. Next time Sony or Microsoft do a new dashboard update, or whatever the hell Sony uses, unplug the system halfway through the update. Tell me how nice your paperweights are after.

This guy is a grade A idiot. Every single system update has a chance to royally fuck you over if you're a massive idiot. Why would you unplug durin a system update? At all? If the system forced an update when he loaded it up, even if it didn't brick the console, what part of his brain thought it wouldn't just restart the forced update?

Try it while it's downloading as this apparently still was.

Your system will still be fine. Not Nintendo apparently though!

 

[lacktheknack]

"There was no warning and no cancel button," Fritz Tweeted [https://twitter.com/benfritz/status/270035885272219648].

That's because you don't need one.

I have no sympathy for the "electronics journalist" who was derptastic enough to unplug his Wii U during a system update.

As for the update, reports are still varying on the final size. It might be as little as 1 GB, or as many as 5GB. We'll have to wait for Nintendo's response.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Gotta love how everyone whines about his inability to handle electronics when remembering that Nintendo aims their garbage at preschoolers and other newcomers to gaming. Anyone remember what system updates were like in the last console generation?

 

[Sylveria]

Snip.

I honestly can not fathom the fact that there are people defending a 5gb patch on a system whose basic package includes only 8gb of data. Have we as consumers finally become content with game companies shitting down our metaphorical throats? You should not have to stick an external hard drive or thumb drive into your console for firmware updates! That's fucking ridiculous and you damn well know it.

I can't comprehend it, but I'm not surprised by it. The electronics consumer has become increasingly complacent and video gamers are probably the worst example. The vast, vast majority will happily sacrifice their consumer rights and fork-over additional money that they shouldn't need to just to play their new games. What you snipped is a perfect example: The Wii-U update is massive, slow, and leaves the system vulnerable to bricking throughout the duration "You shoulda put it on a flash drive first!"

Do we even know if the update can be downloaded elsewhere then installed on the console? I see it suggested by talking heads in comments in a number of places, but likely none of them of a Wii-U and are making assumptions based on other consoles.

 

[Sylveria]

LOL even better Moviebob's WiiU was dead on arrival and he's not alone.

http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/check-your-wiiu.html

I'm becoming increasingly glad that I missed the Wii-U pre-order window.

 

[uncanny474]

Here's a fun thing to try. Next time you have to update to a new windows service pack, unplug your computer halfway through. Come back and tell me how it goes.

Actually, with Windows, it makes temporary backup files of everything before it begins to apply new service pack data and automatically reverts to that backup data if the main folder it should look into is corrupt or incomplete.

It means you move back one service pack but it sure as hell beats owning a paperweight.

Not to mention that with a computer, even a Windows Service Packet won't change the BIOS, so you can reinstall Windows even if the backups aren't in place or fail.

 

[Scars Unseen]

A lot of surprising responses in this thread. You do not make a program(and especially not something as vital as the system software) install an update until the download is complete. What if someone has slow internet? What if they have network issues? What if you have server issues? What if a kid trips over the power cord(because the shitty parents left the power cord out where it could be tripped on)? What if the significant other turns off the device while the customer stepped away to conserve electricity? There are dozens of things that could go wrong during an update process, and making that window of vulnerability as potentially large as it takes to download the update is just asking for trouble.

Say what you want about the journalist; this is Nintendo's fuck up.

 

[GAunderrated]

If this guy was supposed to be a games journalist then he should have known you NEVER unplug a console that is in the middle of an update.

While there should be clear warnings not to unplug or power down the device he should have known it was not a smart thing to do.

As other posters have already said, this isn't about the guy unplugging his wiiU during an update, its about nintendo not having a fail safe after requiring a 5GB update release day to prevent the system from becoming a brick.

I had a friend who got a pre-order from her fiance and its having the same problem as moviebob being DOA (dead on arrival). With the lack of WiiU's available and all the failures that are resulting from them I can safely assume that the WiiU was severely rushed that it doesn't have a basic fail safe and a 5GB update at launch.

I am glad I missed the pre-order window.

captcha: hoity-toity

yes captcha most people defending nintendo's mistakes tend to act that way

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Must not be much of a gamer or tech geek, he unplugged the damn thing before it finished updating.
#GotWhatHeDeserved

I bricked a few things when I was younger, mostly because I was *ahem* testing firmware that wasn't "stable" but I never unplugged it in the middle of updating, thats just dumb.

 

[medv4380]

Sorry, but there is no excuse whatsoever for designing a modern computing device which can be totally bricked by something as simple as an update being interrupted. There are any number of scenarios in which such a thing could happen which require no "user stupidity" at all, and other companies are evidently capable of designing systems capable of withstanding such mundane errors; why is Nintendo's inability to do so anyone's fault but Nintendo's?

LOL, I love the rantings of the ill informed.
There is a reason EVERY computer says
"DO NOT INTERRUPT WHILE PERFORMING SYSTEM UPDATES".
If you do that to Windows at the wrong moment you can fry it, and require it to be re-installed. You do that to the PS3 or 360 at the moment it's updating the firmware you'll fry them too. Their is almost certainly a way for him to Restore his Wii to working condition, but he'll ether need to download something, and boot it with a restore, or he'll have to send it to Nintendo so they can run it themselves. I'm not too sure if Nintendo would be eager to allow a functional restore too out of their service department since that would lead to wide spread hacking quickly. There is a reason people like me like to have their PS3 and other Firmware Updating devices hucked up to a UPS when we run updates. Unless you like the risk of breaking expensive equipment you should always follow the instructions.

 

[Yopaz]

A lot of surprising responses in this thread. You do not make a program(and especially not something as vital as the system software) install an update until the download is complete. What if someone has slow internet? What if they have network issues? What if you have server issues? What if a kid trips over the power cord(because the shitty parents left the power cord out where it could be tripped on)? What if the significant other turns off the device while the customer stepped away to conserve electricity? There are dozens of things that could go wrong during an update process, and making that window of vulnerability as potentially large as it takes to download the update is just asking for trouble.

Say what you want about the journalist; this is Nintendo's fuck up.

Well, accidents and mishaps like you mentioned does happen, but still, you don't unplug your console during a system update. That is something we get constant reminders of during any update on any system. Still you are right, a lengthy update should be downloaded then installed, or better yet, the option to update by using USB drives and downloading on your computer should be there.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Here's a fun thing to try. Next time you have to update to a new windows service pack, unplug your computer halfway through. Come back and tell me how it goes.

Actually, with Windows, it makes temporary backup files of everything before it begins to apply new service pack data and automatically reverts to that backup data if the main folder it should look into is corrupt or incomplete.

It means you move back one service pack but it sure as hell beats owning a paperweight.

Seriously, if you don't have a failsafe where Microsoft has one, that's goddamn stupid. Nice job Nintendo.

 

[theultimateend]

Well maybe now you'll learn to pay attention to that "super slow" progress bar. Too bad, looks like this Wii-U is...

*puts on sunglasses*

...on the Fritz

Shouldn't something this big have been installed prior to shipping?

I...the...

Where is Miyagi?

@OP: I wonder how much of the 5GBs is "failsafes" to stop their console from getting pirated.

I can't fathom anything being written so poorly that it takes up that much space. Considering how small entire OS's are these days.