So I just got the WRs in 200cc Itemless- both 32 track and 48 track.

Why the big cut from my previous 48 track PB of 1:33:30? When I got that old PB, it was 3rd place, which was 8 seconds faster that Bison in 4th (I wanted to beat all other times using internal memory before I experimented with this stuff). However, I noticed that my times were not nearly as fast as those above me, despite me using a lot more drift strats and shortcuts. I basically would have needed a god run to WR, and even then it may not have been possible.

I did some research and found this video comparing loading times on Wii U using various methods of loading the game...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xw9533_peformance-comparison-of-wii-u-media_videogames

Basically in terms of speed, External SSD > Internal Memory > External HDD > Disc. If you don't know, SSD stands for solid state drive, which is basically a faster version of the hard drive that doesn't have moving parts.

So I tried it. I found a used 120gb SSD on amazon for about $30, then grabbed an external case for it as well as a USB 'Y' cable (you need one of these if your external case doesn't have its own power source- as I learned the hard way). It was about $45 USD total, and also worked as a solution to not having enough storage on the Wii U, so why not.

The result was a timesave of about two seconds per track purely from loading. Since my run was slightly weaker than my old pb in terms of gameplay, I estimate this method saved me in the neighborhood of 1:45 off using a digital copy on Wii U internal memory.

I'll do more timing later, but I believe the load times I now get match those Videowiz and burkhalter (who has removed his 200cc times) were getting.

So what we have here is the possibility of extra hardware helping with the speedrun. I consider this in the same category as OoT a few years ago, where players were buying Chinese N64's to save time.

Questions:

1. Burk and Vid- can you guys confirm that you were doing something like this to get your load times?

2. What do we think about runs that do this? Is it just another step up (like disc to digital) or is it unfair?

3. What do other Wii U communities do about this?

OPINION: I think it is silly that load times work like this and silly that I purchased this (I am silly). However, you probably can't really prevent something like this in a ruleset, as load times aren't always consistent anyway, and I'm not sure if the mods want to be timing loads anyway.

I propose a new variable on the charts- "Game Save Type" containing a drop down list with the options (Digital- External SSD, Digital- Internal Memory, Digital- External HDD, Disc). Would be weird, since the leaderboards are already pupulated with dozens of times however.

So yeah, that's about what I've been researching the past week or two. I will be submitting my run, but we'll see what this post says about all of this stuff.