Claims



1. A stationary game apparatus, comprising: an internal hard disk drive storing a program and/or data; a communication unit transmitting/receiving a program and/or data via a network; and a processor executing a program stored in the hard disk drive to perform game processing, wherein the game apparatus is not provided with an optical disk drive.



2. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a first storage configured of a non-volatile memory, wherein the first storage stores a first program starting to be executed when the game apparatus is started, and the hard disk drive stores a second program starting to be executed after the first program starts to be executed.



3. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 2, comprising a second storage configured of a non-volatile memory, wherein the second storage stores the second program.



4. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 3, comprising: a corruption determination unit determining presence/absence of corruption in the second program stored in the hard disk drive; and a program restoration unit causing the hard disk drive to store the second program stored in the second storage, if the corruption determination unit determines that corruption is present.



5. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a program and/or data concerning a game received through the communication unit is stored in the hard disk drive and is not stored in the first storage.



6. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a connection unit to which an external hard disk drive is detachably connected, wherein the program and/or data concerning a game received through the communication unit is stored in the internal hard disk drive or the external hard disk drive connected to the connection unit.



7. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a speed control unit controlling a speed of reading and/or writing of data with respect to the hard disk drive.



8. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 7, comprising an obtaining unit obtaining identification information of a program to be executed by the processor, wherein the speed control unit controls a speed of reading and/or writing of data in accordance with the identification information obtained by the obtaining unit.



9. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the speed control unit controls a speed of reading and/or writing of data in response to a command from a program being executed by the processor.



10. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the processor is able to execute a program which operates by using a different hard disk drive different from the internal hard disk drive, and the speed control unit emulates a speed of reading and/or writing of data with respect to the different hard disk drive when the processor executes the program.



11. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the speed control unit switches a mode for reading and/or writing of data with respect to the hard disk drive to either one of two modes with different speeds.



12. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 11, wherein at least one of the two modes is a mode for emulating a speed of reading and/or writing of data with respect to a storage device other than the hard disk drive.



13. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the game apparatus is compatible with another game apparatus comprising an optical disk drive for reading out a program and/or data from an optical disk, and a processor for executing the program read out from the optical disk to perform game processing, and an interface for the hard disk drive is same as an interface for the optical disk drive in said another game apparatus.



14. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: a wireless communication unit performing wireless communication with a wireless communication device having an operation unit and a battery, and wirelessly transmitting/receiving information concerning an operation accepted by the operation unit; and a power supply unit to which the wireless operation device is detachably connected via a power supply line, and supplying power to the battery of the wireless operation device via the power supply line.



15. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a wireless communication unit performing wireless communication with a wireless operation device wirelessly transmitting/receiving information concerning an operation accepted by an operation unit, wherein the wireless communication unit performs wireless communication with a dedicated communication protocol.



16. The stationary game apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a wireless communication unit performing wireless communication with a wireless operation device having an operation unit and a display unit, and wirelessly transmitting/receiving information concerning an operation accepted by the operation unit and information concerning an image to be displayed on the display unit.



17. A non-transitory recording medium recording a computer program executed by the processor of the stationary game apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the computer program includes a processing routine for the stationary game apparatus, and one or more processing routines for a game apparatus having a hardware configuration different from the stationary game apparatus, and the computer program causes the processor to operate as an identification information obtaining unit obtaining identification information of a game apparatus, and a selection unit selecting a processing routine in accordance with the identification information obtained by the identification information obtaining unit.



18. A game system, comprising: an internal hard disk drive storing a program and/or data; a communication unit transmitting/receiving a program and/or data via a network; and a processor executing a program stored in the hard disk drive to perform game processing, wherein the game system is not provided with an optical disk drive.



19. A game apparatus, comprising: an internal hard disk drive; and a storage configured of a non-volatile memory, wherein the storage stores a first program starting to be executed when a game apparatus is started, and the hard disk drive stores a second program starting to be executed after the first program starts to be executed.



20. A game apparatus, comprising: an internal hard disk drive storing a program and/or data; a processor executing a program stored in the hard disk drive to perform game processing; and a speed control unit controlling a speed of reading or writing of data with respect to the hard disk drive, wherein the speed control unit switches a mode for reading and/or writing data with respect to the hard disk drive to either one of two modes with different speeds, and at least one of the two modes is a mode for emulating a speed of reading and/or writing of data with respect to a storage device other than the hard disk drive.



21. The game apparatus according to claim 20, comprising a connection unit to which an external hard disk drive is detachably connected, wherein the speed control unit emulates a speed of reading and/or writing of data with respect to the external hard disk drive in the mode for emulating.



22. The game apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the processor is able to execute in parallel a plurality of programs including a program concerning a game and/or a program other than the program concerning a game, and the speed control unit switches the mode for reading and/or writing of data, for each program being executed by the processor.



23. A speed control method of controlling, in a game apparatus including an internal hard disk drive storing a program and/or data, a speed of reading or writing of data with respect to the hard disk drive, comprising: obtaining identification information of a program to be executed; and switching a mode for reading and/or writing of data with respect to the hard disk drive to either one of two modes with different speeds in accordance with the obtained identification information.



24. A non-transitory recording medium recording a computer program, causing a processor of a game apparatus including an internal hard disk drive storing a program and/or data to operate as a speed control unit switching a mode for reading and/or writing of data with respect to the hard disk drive to either one of two modes with different speeds in response to a command from a program being executed.



25. A game apparatus, comprising: a wireless communication unit performing wireless communication with a wireless operation device having an operation unit, a display unit and a battery, and wirelessly transmitting/receiving information concerning an operation accepted by the operation unit and information concerning an image to be displayed on the display unit; and a power supply unit to which the wireless operation device is detachably connected via a power supply line and supplying power to the battery of the wireless operation device via the power supply line.



26. A non-transitory recording medium recording a computer program executed by processors of a plurality of types of game apparatuses with different hardware configurations, wherein the computer program includes a plurality of processing routines for each of the plurality of types of game apparatuses, and the computer program causes the processor to operate as an identification information obtaining unit obtaining identification information of a game apparatus; and a selection unit selecting a processing routine in accordance with the identification information obtained by the identification information obtaining unit.