Info Tech: May 24, 2012 eNewsLetter |
As more consumers turn to the use of personal cloud, Nintendo is rumored to be adding a cloud storage feature to its new Wii U console sometime next year, according to published reports.
Nintendo will offer 512MB of online storage to each Nintendo Network profile, reported Wii U Daily. Seattle-based Mozy, Inc., an online backup solutions firm, is the company behind Nintendo’ cloud storage service, according to the report.
“Nintendo is reportedly working with Seattle-based Mozy, Inc., which has been offering cloud and backup storage for consumers since 2005,” Wii U Daily said, citing a source from within Mozy that claims the company was first approached by Nintendo in 2010, but that work on the cloud storage service began in late 2011.
Mozy offers its online backup service for consumers and businesses including more than 3 million customers and 80,000 business customers backing up 90 petabytes of information to multiple data centers around the world.
According to reports, the Wii U cloud is currently in development and will be rolled out in Japan sometime in 2013, and will be followed by a worldwide launch.
Nintendo’s main competitors, Sony and Microsoft (News 
- Alert), already offer cloud storage on their gaming systems, the latter offering 512 MB free via Xbox Live. Nintendo’s cloud storage system will reportedly be exclusively for save games and player profile data.
“The Wii U cloud will be seamlessly integrated into the Wii U channels and will be tied to the specific Wii U user account,” the report said.
In related news, the rise of personal storage clouds – such as such as iCloud, Box, Dropbox (News - Alert), Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive – is raising new privacy concerns, as users could potentially become vulnerable to requests or demands for access, InfoWorld’s Dave Linthicum recently pointed out.
While personal clouds are growing in popularity, their existence is creating privacy issues. Most information stored on personal clouds is a mix of personal and business files, including photos, financials and other sensitive information, making employers’ voyeuristic social media prowling tactics appear trivial, TMCnet reported.
