well, a hard drive could have been quite useful, to add video and music and games, rather than the sd card, but if they give support to 32gb sd card, there's not need for a hard drive.... : P

Hard drive is faster. And no one will buy an SD card that costs more than the console.

As for media playback, that would contradict Nintendo's stance that it is purely a gaming device.

While I know there are Wii fans who would use it to remotely do chores and wash virtual laundry, if it were possible, Nintendo is primarily concerned with the majority demographic of people buying their console who just want to use it to play games.

Montana (and others), I think you need to choose your words better. I agree with Nintendo completely. I don't need a HDD for my Wii, and I am not even the typical Wii owner. The people who are running out of room on their Wiis are few and far between.

Frankly, I think you're a jerk for even suggesting such a thing, since I do exist and I do think my opinion should be heard and you are attacking the company for listening to me. Nintendo can do so much more for me than go out of their way to make a peripheral device I won't buy. They don't think I'm stupid, they've considered my needs and realize there are a hundred things I want before a HDD I won't use. And on top of that, they are still trying to work something out for people like you.

To be honest, your statments make it sound like it's you who thinks I'm stupid, not Nintendo. For that, I'll just say you're being an ass. Quit thinking your needs are more important than mine, and quit thinking that your needs are representative of the millions of people who own a Wii and don't have anything more than save files on their systems.

Really, I don't even know how anyone can find enough games worth DLing onto their Wiis yet to fill them up. 99% of the VC games I'd want to play I have either already played or could play right now for free. What in god's name is left to need an HDD for? I don't want to DL demos all that much. Very rarely do I think a game is worth buying an expansion for, and when it is worth it the reason is because it's practically a full game in and of itself. I don't even want developers to imagine they can release a crappy game then patch it later, like PC developers do. And while I like me some music games, a new song shouldn't take up more than 5 megs or so regardless of there being HDDs or not. EA is idiotic for selling 50 meg Rock Band files. I wouldn't buy them ewven if I played the game on an HD system just because of the way DLC is handled.

So that leaves WiiWare. Only a handful of games at the moment, most of which aren't the kind I'd play even if they were free. So, yeah, I don't need an HDD. What, then, makes you think that anything more than a tiny minority does?

So why don't they just update the firmware to allow you to play off sd or usb hdd. That would make everybody happy.

 Cause thats $100 less profit for them. Instead they'll sell you the same usb hdd, but with a 300% markup.

 But they  said they wanted to keep it simple with as little perepherials as possible. 

Hard drive is needed for Nintendo Wii to store more down loadable games. This would results in more online downloads for gamers which generates more revenue and profits for Nintendo.

But SD card full support would mean no extra hardware, and you still get extra space, and Nintendo still gets profits. 

 I don't know what Nintendo has said exactly (link?) but how does them supplying their own White cased, Wii branded usb hdd require any more perepherials than you buying a generic one from elsewhere?

 but isnt a 32GB SD card expensive as heck? And external HDD would probably be cheaper with more bang for your buck. Really they should make it so you can use an external HDD for your PC and Wii that way its a better value.