Whither the Wii startup disc?
A few weeks ago, the inclusion of a "Wii Startup Disc" on an EBGames Wii box led to widespread speculation on the disc's nature and necessity. A pleading message on the Gamestop Wii kiosks only added to the intrigue. Did the disc include a late-breaking firmware update? A set of controller calibration tools? A super-secret piece of software that gives the Wii more processing power than the PS3?
Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but the final retail package for the Wii has replaced the Startup Disc with a Wii Sports Disc, as shown in the image at right. It seems the startup disc was just an initializer for the in-store kiosks and is not needed in the roughly four million systems Nintendo plans to ship by the end of the year.
Speculative fanboys shouldn't despair though -- the Wii system software can still be updated through an internet connection, so you can all hold out hope that Nintendo will push out that holographic interface update any day now.
