The Wii's always been getting a lot of flak from its critics who say that it's not really "next-gen." Well maybe this piece of news will keep them quiet. According to a report from What They Play, the second generation Wii will bring HD visuals, and improved storage capacity. More after the read more link.

In a PR faux pas, Nintendo of Europe's Marketing Director Laurent Fischer commented that the only people concerned with the Wii's limited flash memory are "geeks and otakus." This statement managed to raise the ire of God of War creator, David Jaffe. Check out Jaffe's heated response (when did he last issue a lukewarm statement, anyway?) in the full article.

Ever felt that the Nintendo Wii's built-in flash memory is a bit too cramped? Well, the good news is that Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s president Satoru Iwata has acknowledged the complaints, and have confirmed that the oldest company in the business is researching on how to make those complaints go away (hopefully with a viable solution). Check out all the info in the full article and see what it means to you.

In the scene of executing unsigned code on the Nintendo Wii, parties behind the recent exploits on Nintendo's next-gen console have continued to make slow but steady progress. The latest update from homebrew insider brakken, who you'll remember for his take of the WiiLi content-stealing deal, pits an SD Card DOL Loader by DDF which is exactly how you'd imagine an SDLoader for GameCube would work. But this one's for the Wii. Check out the full article.

Nintendo Power's most recent issue hints that the big "N" may have something lucrative in store for Wii console owners: game demos. This was brought up by GoNintendo reader Popple, who further noted that this was the topic of the questions being introduced to readers when they sent in their Player's Poll Sweepstakes. Here's a screenshot taken of the said questionnaire:

Definitely a good idea on Nintendo's part. But now that the possibility of demos is on the horizon, we have to ask: where are we going to store them? Unlike consoles like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, which have HDDs, the Wii's memory storage space is limited to 512 MB of flash memory.

While this is more than ample space for Virtual Console titles, perhaps Nintendo can also update the Wii to support SD cards with bigger memory and allow Wii owners to play the demos straight from the cards. That's just speculation on this author's part, of course. Check back in case we pick up more details on this matter.

German Wii news site Cynamite.de claims that Wii fans will soon be able to download demo versions of Wii titles. The German site claims that the demos can than be be saves on the 512MB console flash memory or on a separate SD card.

We're not quite sure if we'd consider the information from the German site as "official", so we'll chalk this up as a rumor for now. Nintendo Evolved however, claims that a NeoGAF reader also claims that this German report is true. Take that as you would.

We'll update you when more news on game demo downloads for the Wii is made available. Stay tuned.

In principle, the introduction of digital distribution in the game industry is a good thing for everyone: It can save companies a lot of money, minimize risks and on the part of the consumers, it may eventually lower game prices.

The entire idea is quite iTunes-ish. To have the ability to grab games that you want in the comfort of your home would be one hassle less for a lot of gamers. For companies, it saves them the entire manufacturing expense of releasing CDs and DVDs as a medium for game distribution. It saves them the money they pay to have their games on store shelves by replacing the brick-and-mortar dealer with a virtual one. When you combine the two elements, it seems to make a lot of sense.

Apparently, the triumvirate of the console business all agree that this is a viable model to extend their spheres of influence in the gaming community. Through their own respective networks, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have allowed the distribution of firmware, updates and old classic games for everyone to enjoy.

       

The vision, however, that digital distribution will replace traditional retailers may still be a few years away. Hardware limitations is not as talked about as corporate policies, but in truth, it's the most basic element needed to make digital distribution happen in this generation. The fact that next-gen games come in large files will mean that reliable internet connections which can provide fast downloads will have to be accessed by end users. Storage space is also a consideration as the Wii and X360 don't have built-in hard drives.

According to Chris Kohler the PS3 is in the best position to capitalize on its high-end advantage "since every PS3 comes with an internal hard disk. Wii only features 512 MB of built-in flash memory for game storage. And although Xbox 360 supports a 20-GB hard drive, it's an optional accessory, meaning that Microsoft can't count on gamers having one."

Add to that the fact not everyone has reliable and speedy internet access to download games that come in huge files, and you have another hindrance in getting the games across. Follow the read URL to get the details on why we can't get games like songs just yet.

Does PNY Technologies ring a bell? If you happen to know their stock of graphics cards (GeForce) or flash memory cards, then it shouldn't be too surprising that they are announcing the release of a new SD card, dubbed the "Gaming Card."

What makes this particular set of SD cards interesting (at least according to their ad) is that it's fully compatible with the Wii and with the PS3 (the PS3 will be hitting Europe this March 23rd).

The card comes in either 1GB or 2GB capacity, priced at £ 19.90 (US $39) and £ 34.90 (US $68) respectively. Expect their product to hit this March 7 on their online store and your local retailers. Or, if you prefer something more in the way of uber-slim file carriers...

When it comes to flash memory cards, the SD card is one of the most commonly-used. In fact, to some extent, even the next-gen systems will need these guys. Manufacturer Transcend knows this perfectly well, and that is why they came up with a new card which is compatible with both the Wii and PlayStation 3.

Actually, they've also announced this same product at the last CES in Vegas but it somehow didn't quite make enough ruckus back then. Anyway, we are all familiar with an SD card but Transcend is saying that this one that they have was tailor-made for consoles. Well, let's see. According to their press release, here's some of its more remarkable features:

• Available in 1GB and 2GB capacities
• Compatible with Nintendo Wii and Sony PS3 game consoles for saving and managing game saves
• Download and backup Virtual Console games from the Wii Shop Channel
• Compatible with all other media devices equipped with an SD slot for storing photos, pictures, MP3 and video files
• Lower power consumption, which maximizes battery life in small portable devices
• Includes Error Correcting Code (ECC) to detect and correct errors
• Mechanical Write Protection Switch
• Life time warranty

Some of these are actually pretty common features, but the life time warranty sounds good to us. What do you guys think? In the meantime, we're also wondering how much these SD cards cost, as Transcend is yet to announce its price.

   

Plug and play your "power stick" Wii remote all you want, dude. That's just got 4KB of internal flash memory - just about enough for your Mii avatars. But what about memory storage for the Wii itself? You've got that slot at the front of the console for expandable SD memory.

Yeah, it's just one slot, so you got to make sure you've got some trusty hardware to store all of your content, be they game saves or homebrewed Flash games. SanDisk just got their head in the game and their memory cards in the console, so to speak, as they've released a line of SD cards for your Wii. The cards are stamped with the Wii logo to stress their partnership with Nintendo.

Their cards come in 2GB, 1GB, and 512MB capacities, and respectively cost US$ 89.99, US$ 54.99, and US$ 39.99. Here are the specs:

• Download and store games
• Store your game saves
• Edit and store photos
• Compatible with Nintendo Wii game console and all other devices equipped with an SD slot

Thanks, badam, for the tip!