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I should be looking up Wii specs myself at this point, but does the thing have a hard drive and can it save the games there?


Yes, as others have explained as well. 512 megs of built in flash to use for Wii save games, Mii storage, channels, and the virtual console games. An SD card can also be used for the storage of these items. However, GameCube save games must be saved to a GameCube data card.

Hardware wise, the Wii is simply a faster Gamecube. It uses the same CPU and GPU out of the GameCube, so when a GameCube disc is put in, it simply clocks the chips down and kicks off a slightly different rom to run it. The eject on the slot load drive is seen as opening the cover, and the wireless cabilities of the Wii are totally invisible to the GameCube. It can't play LAN games, and Wii controllers simply blink indicating they can't find a console.