Various sources today point to the possibility of a hard drive, though the existence of such a device is based on a number of assumptions. Firstly, it is expected that a brand new piece of will be revealed by Nintendo at this year's E3 show. IGN's latest podcast also hints that a variety of new Neo Geo titles could be on the way from the Big N - utilising larger file sizes than previous VC offerings.

The IGN podcast then speculates that a new hard drive peripheral for the Wii console could be revealed in the future, enabling much larger downloadable file sizes, supporting larger VC offerings and other downloadable content without the need for too much switching of SD cards.

Any hard drive peripheral would of course give Nintendo the ability to better compete with and Microsoft's consoles, which offer rival download titles which are frequently more sophisticated than games from the Virtual Console. recently launched a larger memory card to enable even 'Core' system users to acquire increasingly complex 'Arcade' downloads.

Could a Wii hard drive be Nintendo's way of bolstering their online service? Speculation only at present, but we'll keep you posted as we hear more idle gossip on the grapevine.

By Luke Guttridge