Every Wii U will need an external hard drive

Now that we know Nintendo's basic Wii U save data allocation, user profiles and system data, will all add up to over 4GB, it's looking like even those with the Premium console will need an external hard drive if they want to download more than a couple of games.

Of course this is one of the cooler features about the Wii U that sets it apart from current gen machines: you can download full games to it. However the downside of this is storage space. The basic version of the console comes with just 8GB (7.2GB) of space, so after the 5GB setup files are installed, you'll only be left enough room for one game. It won't be a  big one either, as Nintendo Land comes in at almost 50 per cent more than the 2.2GB you'll have left.

The Premium version of the Wii U will give you a bit more wiggle room. It's 32GB of internal flash memory (which is actually 29GB) will leave you with 25GB of space once the setup is complete. Considering the Wii U discs can hold up to 25GB a piece, you can bet that before long downloadable titles won't be far off that maximum – and potentially higher since they aren't limited by the constrains of physical media.

So considering even the big memory version of the console will only be able to fit one big game on it, even owners of the bigger machine will need an external drive before long. Fortunately Nintendo is offering a big size limit on them, allowing up to 2TB of external data storage and no limits on brands like there is with Xbox 360 hard drives.

Presumably there will be some official drives released, but there was no mention of them in the Kotaku translation of the original release.

KitGuru Says: Thankfully storage is incredibly cheap these days. A 2TB hard drive will set you back not much more than £60 and you can game to your heart's content. Here's hoping Nintendo doesn't require a first party branded adapter or enclosure though.

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