Good news for anyone who has a friend with Donkey Kong Jr. Math on their Christmas list: Nintendo’s Virtual Console service for the Wii has now been upgraded to include a new “gift” feature, just in time for the holidays.

Scheduled to launch some time today (no exact time was given), the feature will allow users to purchase games and immediately select a recipient from their friends list for the title, done and done. The game will then automatically begin downloading once it’s been confirmed. In an earlier Associated Press story, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated, "We think this will be a breakthrough in encouraging customers to spread news of fun games [through] word of mouth.” The new option will no doubt have a unique impact on the Wii community but it remains to be seen how often it will actually be used.

With almost two hundred games currently available for Wii’s VC service (including an upgraded Pokemon Snap, the NES classic Ghosts ‘n Goblins and Neo Geo’s Baseball Stars 2 being released along with the gift service) and more along the way, it will be interesting to see how the new option performs past the holiday season.