Nintendo optical disc
 Nintendo GameCube Game Disc (left) and Wii Optical Disc (right). |
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| Media type | Read-only optical disc |
|---|---|
| Encoding | Digital |
| Capacity |
GCN: 1.4 GB
Wii U:
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| Read mechanism | Laser |
| Developed by | Nintendo & Panasonic |
| Usage | GCN:80 mm Game Disc Wii:120 mm Optical Disc Wii U: 120 mm Optical Disc |
| Extended from | Nintendo Gamecube Game Disc |
| Extended to | Wii U Optical Disc |
Nintendo optical discs are the optical disc format used to distribute video games released by Nintendo. This includes the Nintendo GameCube Game Disc, Wii Optical Disc, and Wii U Optical Disc. The physical size of a Nintendo GameCube Game Disc is that of a miniDVD, and the Wii and Wii U Optical Disc is the size of a DVD. It was announced that Wii Optical Discs can be used in the Wii U, while the GameCube disc can be used with the original version of the Wii for backward compatibility. A burst cutting area is located at the inner ring of the disc surface.
Contents |
Format [edit]
| Optical discs |
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Optical media types
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Standards
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Nintendo GameCube Game Disc [edit]
The Nintendo GameCube Game Disc (DOL-006) is the game medium for the Nintendo GameCube, created by Matsushita (Panasonic),[1] and later extended for use on the Wii through backward compatibility.[2] The GameCube Game Disc is a 1.5 GB,[3] 8 cm miniDVD based technology which reads at a constant angular velocity (CAV). It was chosen by Nintendo to prevent copyright infringement of its games,[4] to reduce cost[5][6] by avoiding licensing fees to the DVD Forum and to reduce loading times. This also limits the consoles from being used as general DVD players.[7][8]
The GameCube Game Disc was often criticized by game developers[which?] for its relatively small storage: some games with large amounts of data had to be placed across two discs. Multi-platform games that fit on PlayStation 2 and Xbox DVD discs occasionally had to have certain features removed to fit on GameCube Game Discs. Full-motion video scenes and audio had to use more compression to fit on a single disc, reducing their quality. Prior to the Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo consoles traditionally used cartridge-based media.
Wii Optical Disc [edit]
The Wii Optical Disc (RVL-006) is the physical game medium for the Wii, created by Panasonic. Nintendo extended their proprietary technology to use a full size 12 cm, 4.7/8.54 GB DVD-based disc, enabling it to have the benefits of the Nintendo GameCube Game Disc, while having the standard capacity of a double-layer DVD-ROM. Although the Wii can use double-layer discs, all titles were single-layer prior to the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.[9][10] With the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Nintendo has admitted that some Wii systems may have trouble reading dual-layer discs due to a dirty laser lens.[11][10] Nintendo repaired systems with dual-layer problems,[10] and later released a disc cleaning kit for users to purchase.[12]
Wii U Optical Disc [edit]
The Wii U Optical Disc (WUP-006) is the physical game medium for the Wii U, created by Panasonic. The Wii U system is backward compatible with Wii Optical Discs, however not backward compatible with Nintendo GameCube game discs.[13] Reportedly to control costs, the Wii U also uses an optical disc format developed and supplied by Panasonic, with a capacity of 25 GB per layer. The optical discs used for the Wii U differ from other optical disc formats in that they have soft, rounded edges.[14]
Burst cutting area [edit]
Each Nintendo optical disc contains a burst cutting area (BCA) mark, a type of barcode that is written to the disc with a YAG laser. The data stored in this BCA mark includes an encrypted table related to the hardware-based copy-protection mechanics, in addition to 64 bytes of un-encrypted user-accessible data.[15]
A BCA mark is visible to the naked eye. It should not be confused with the IFPI mark that is on all optical discs. BCA is described in Annex K of the physical specification, and can be seen between radius 22.3±0.4 mm and 23.5±0.5 mm. There are also six additional evenly spaced small cuts just outside the BCA radius, which are related to the copy-protection used. These small cuts can clearly be seen if the disc is held in front of a strong light source.[15]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "Dvd - Faq". Nintendo World Report. 2001-03-07. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ Casamassina, Matt (2006-09-12). "IGNcube's Nintendo "Revolution" FAQ". IGN. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ^ "Nintendo GameCube Special Edition". Avrev.com. 2003-06-01. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ "Beginner's Guide: GameCube". GameSpy. 2003-07-30. Retrieved 2006-09-07.
- ^ Pian, Sharon (2001-11-11). "Business & Technology | Let the games begin: The 3-way race is on | Seattle Times Newspaper". Community.seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ "Dvd - Faq". Nintendo World Report. 2001-03-07. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ "Play it again". Smh.com.au. 2003-09-13. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ "Wii U will not feature DVD playback - Everybody Plays - Nintendo Wii". Everybody Plays. Everybody Plays. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ "Review – Super Smash Bros. Brawl". SlashGear. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ a b c "Tobacco smoke makes Super Smash Bros Brawl unplayable on Wii". TG Daily. 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ Scott Colbourne (2008-03-20). "Not just a smash, a Super Smash". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ Nintendo of America. "Repair Form for U.S. Residents". Nintendo of America. Retrieved 2008-03-09.[dead link]
- ^ Klepek, Patrick (2011-06-08). "Wii U Does Not Play GameCube Games". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ Gilbert, Ben (2012-11-12). "Take a very, very close look at the round-edged Wii U proprietary discs". Engadget. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
- ^ a b "» Anatomy of an Optical Medium Authentication (Part 1)". debugmode. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
External links [edit]
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