Smash Wii U Questions regarding Wii U storage space.

[vegaspoker]

Hey all. So I have the basic 8gb Wii U and it's basically a glorified Smash 4 machine. However after the update today I am very near to storage capacity. I was wondering what I can do next time an update is required. On the screen regarding data management, I noticed that most of the space being taken up is game updates (this is seperate from save data, and add-on content). Theoretically, before an update, can you delete your current update contents then download the new update? (therefore saving space of the previous updates that are no longer valid). Or would that just mean you have to re-download every patch released so far?

So assuming that I can't do that, I need external storage, but apparently Nintendo don't recommend one without it's own power supply. However, what about using a USB stick (flash drive)? I mean, surely I can just put game update data on the USB stick and it wouldn't affect my gameplay, right?

Would love to hear any feedback. Let me know if you have used / use a USB flash drive with your Wii U and have encountered any problems, or if it's been 100% fine.

 

[Mario & Sonic Guy]

Sadly, as new updates are released, the amount of memory that the update data needs will end up increasing. This is because the update data also contains the DLC data, which is not stored in the game disc and eShop software.

Anyway, using a USB flash drive is on the risky side, since you "have" to keep it inserted into your Wii U system while it's running.

 

[CrabLeg]

This is what Nintendo says on their site about using a flash drive on the Wii U:

1. Can I use a Flash/Thumb drive as an external storage device?
   • Because these devices have a limited number of rewrites and are not suited to long-term storage of important game data, we do not recommend the use of Flash/thumb drives as an external storage device solution. For best results, we recommend using a hard drive with its own power supply that connects to the Wii U via the USB port on the console.
     
     
     
     
   • Commercial Flash memory has a limit on the number of times you can write over it and we don't recommend flash memory devices for long-term storage of important save data.
     
     
   
   

 

[vegaspoker]

Thanks guys. I'm not really familiar with how the Wii U works beyond turning it on and booting up Smash. I guess I'm going to have to buy an external hdd if I want to play the next update... It's not really the money that is a problem, it's more having to free up another plug socket...