I have just read this http://arstechnica.com/gaming over 5gb will be reserved space. Looks like anyone getting a basic will really need to get a hard drive asap.

Ouch. Thats a bullet to the basics.

I think it is pretty bad Nintendo never warned us about this and with only what 4 days until the US launch we only just found out about this. I can see a lot of people going out and picking there basic model up and buying some Nintendo eShop points to buy some downloadable games only to find out they will only be able to download 1 maybe 2 games. If you are getting a basic pack I would advise you to pick up a cheap USB hard drive if you are planning on downloading games or even some demos.

@ocelot20

I'm pretty sure people who planned on buying the Basic and also were gonna go digital knew well in advance that it had insufficient space by itself.

Correct but am sure most of them thought that they where getting at least 6-8gb to use not only 3.

Computers have been around for many decades, and have been in the same situation for that long as well. Pre-installed software takes up space.

Hard for me to feel sorry for someone who is planning to download a lot of games and buy's an 8GB video game console and was not expecting the capacity to fill up rather quickly.

Luckily it won't affect me even though I preordered basic: I got a 4 GB flash drive new and (If it works with Wii U since my grandma used it once already), my old 8 GB I have.

Yeah, and that 4GB USB Flash Drive cost you what, $10?

Yes. But I don't care, as space is never a problem for me. My 8 GB SD card on 3DS is nowhere close to running out.

I may be mistaken but I believe there's a limit to the size of digital downloads on the 3DS and none on the Wii U. And even if I am wrong, I am sure Wii U games will be much larger. 8 GB is plenty on the 3DS but nothing on the Wii U.

No limit on 3DS....but files size are naturally MUCH smaller.

Yay for deluxe.

I believe that it won't matter in the long run if you have a good external hard drive. Though with other updates that may come to the system memory itself, and maybe even new functions, that could dry up rather fast.

Oh, come on. Like you wouldn't already have bought an external HDD if you were truly serious about digital retail, where it's Basic or Deluxe anyway.

LOL, both versions of the Wii U have ridiculously crappy internal memory. You're going to have to buy a HDD if you're even remotely serious about digital downloads.

Thanks for the correction, I wasn't sure but it's sorta a moot point, the main thing is that the file sizes are very different between the 3DS and the Wii U. SD cards are fine for the 3DS but would be ridiculous for the Wii U. Even a USB thumb drive is unrealistic. A HDD is the only way.

but with 32 at least you have a bit more room before you will need to get a hd... and i dont plan on buying any retail games digitally until i do get a hd

*25. The 32 GB only actually has 25 GB of free space available.

a. Knux is just an adorable little troll.

b. The more expansive the internal storage capacity is, the more succeptible it is to hardware failures (oh, hello PS3). Filling up internal storage to an extent also noticeably slows systems down, and that's especially not good for a console.

c. Adding more internal storage and adding an extra $50-100 on to the Wii U is redundant, when I can get much more storage for a much cheaper price. Nintendo has clearly read the external market sensibly here, and used it to their advantage.

Besides, some people won't even touch digital downloads. Why force consumers to mandatorily pay for an optional expense? The Wii U is clearly flexible, in this respect.