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Nintendo Wii U expandable memory, TiVO integration explained

Nintendo announces Nintendo TVii

Nintendo's Wii U will launch with 8GB and 32GB internal memory models, but those limitations will be easily expandable.

"You can plug in a full-on three terabyte hard drive if you want. I'll love you as a digital consumer," Nintendo America CEO and president Reggie Fils-Aime told Engadget. "The reason we did it that way is that the cost of that type of storage memory is plummeting. What we didn't want to do is tie a profit model to something that's gonna rapidly decline over time. We'll let the consumer buy as much as they want, as cheaply as they want."

The memory expansion, like that on Sony's PlayStation 3, will be available through USB on Flash sticks or external hard drives.

Fils-Aime also stated the Wii U doesn't have the TiVO hardware built in. The DVR functionality will require an existing TiVo or DVR unit. How the two pieces of hardware will connect and work together is currently unclear.