GDC 09: Nintendo announces Wii SD card support, Final Fantasy on VC and WiiWare and new Zelda on DS @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on March 25, 2009

News: And classic arcade games are coming to the Virtual Console.

Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has just concluded his keynote address at the 2009 Game Developer's Conference and in it he announced a ton of Nintendo-related news. Kotaku liveblogged the event, but here are the highlights:

Starting today, Wii owners will be able to load channels (including Virtual Console and WiiWare games) from SD (Secure Digital) and SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) cards. This effectively creates a Wii hard drive that can be as small as 2 GB and as large as 32 GB.

Rock & Roll Climber, a Wii game where players use the Wii Remote, Nunchuk and Wii Balance Board to simulate climbing a mountain will be added to the WiiWare service soon.

Speaking of WiiWare/Virtual Console, Square-Enix is jumping back onto the service in a big way with a trio of titles. First up is My Life As A Darklord: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, a sequel to the WiiWare title My Life As A King. The company also confirmed an earlier ESRB leak that Final Fantasy IV: The After Years will be added to WiiWare this year.

Finally, the original Final Fantasy will be added to the Virtual Console soon in all its 8-bit glory. Other Final Fantasy games will be follow it onto the VC in the future.

Not content with the Virtual Console and WiiWare, Nintendo plans to expand their downloadable offerings with the Virtual Console Arcade. Launching today, the VCA will offer classic arcade games for 500 Wii Points ($5) each. The initial lineup of games includes Gaplus, Mappy, Star Force, and The Tower of Druaga.

Finally, a new Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, will be released on the DS this year. Link will drive a train with a cannon and that's all we really know at this point.

We'll have more soon.