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After being grilled since forever over its lack of any appreciable built-in storage space compared to competing consoles, Nintendo's Wii should be getting an update "next Spring" that will allow it to better leverage its support for Secure Digital memory cards.  Essentially, Wii owners will be able to simply download WiiWare and Virtual Console software directly onto an SD card already inserted into the Wii's flash media slot.  Users will also be able to play the titles directly off the SD card as well.

We're left wondering why Nintendo didn't just open this functionality for the Wii in the first place, since it just seems like a no-brainer that one should able to able to store digitally distributed games directly onto flash media when built-in storage is tight. Until now, the SD card could only be used for backing up software when it came to the Virtual Console, and nevermind WiiWare.  Then again, there are issues of what consoles have ownership of the software, since SD cards can be removed and swapped from the Wii.

In any case, it's not quite the external hard drive which most of us were pretty much expecting up until now, but it's not an expensive solution either.  You can pick up SD cards from reputable brands for cheap these days, but remember the Wii currently only supports cards up to 2GB in terms of storage space.  The good news is that Wii gamers like good ol' Akira_EX just might finally stop being forced to play the data block juggling game when it comes to making room for new downloads on the Wii, but we'll have to see just how convenient Nintendo intends to make this solution.  Now if only the Wii could be made to support SDHC cards, which feature up to 32GB of storage!