With the Wii's ever-growing emphasis on downloadable games and in-game content, console maker Nintendo has revealed that Wii owners will be able to download games directly to an inserted SD memory card beginning next spring.

"We have to address the console's insufficient memory storage," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said during a press conference last night, reports Kotaku.

Though Wii users have been able to transfer content to and from an SD card since the system launched, they have been unable to directly download games to the card, with titles needing to be stored within the 512MB of internal system memory to run.

It is assumed that games will be playable directly from the SD card, as there would be little sense in downloading a game if it was not immediately playable. Vicarious Visions' Wii edition of Guitar Hero World Tour, due October 26, will let users play downloaded songs from an SD card by automatically copying the content to internal memory.

Per its weekly tradition, Nintendo has issued details on the new downloads that will be available later today from the online Wii Shop Channel.

Today's update includes the WiiWare debut of Ghostfire Games' motion-controlled dancing game Helix, along with retro re-releases of SNK's NeoGeo fighter Samurai Shodown and Nihon Falcom's TurboGrafx-16 CD RPG Ys Book I& II.

WiiWare
• Helix (Ghostfire Games) - 1000 Wii Points ($10)
  
  Virtual Console
• Samurai Shodown 2 (SNK / NeoGeo) - 900 Wii Points ($9)
• Ys Book I & II (Nihon Falcom / TurboGrafx-16 CD) - 800 Wii Points ($8)

All three titles will be available for download beginning today at 9 AM PDT, 12 PM EDT. Keep reading for official descriptions of each game... Read more

Continuing its weekly tradition, Nintendo has issued details on today's additions to the Wii's online Shop Channel, providing the specifics on its three latest downloads.

Initially announced as Beer Pong, the game was eventually renamed Pong Toss, with all in-game references to alcohol removed, following a quickly-forgotten controversy that accused the title of promoting underage drinking.

Per usual, this week's games will be available beginning at 12 PM EST, 9 AM PST.

WiiWare

• Beer Pong Toss (JV Games) / 800 Wii Points ($8)

Virtual Console

• Art of Fighting 2 (SNK, Neo-Geo) / 900 Wii Points ($9)
• Chase H.Q. (Taito, TurboGrafx-16) / 600 Wii Points ($6)

Keep reading for more details, including an amazing Pong Toss trailer... Read more