As for the Geeks and Otaku, they're probably right. This actually came up while I was in a GameStop, and one of the clerks there told me that the Wii basically has enough memory to download the entire library of games currently offered on the Virtual Console. That was right around when WiiWare came out, though, so the figures may have changed slightly. In that case, buy a damn SD card. Don't say you can't afford it, either.
As for the "not speaking to hardcore gamers" part, I'd like to blame the "hardcore" gamers for that one. Nintendo releases a game, the "hardcore" fanbase complains, loudly, that it's too easy or "dumbed down," and give Nintendo bad rep. I'd ignore them, too (well, I'd actually call them a bunch of whiny 20-year olds that can't wean themselves off their mom's tits, but that would really be bad for business).
Besides, we all know that the hardcore gamers are still going to bend over for Nintendo once LucasArts releases a game for the Wii.