I didn't notice this mentioned in the thread yet (if anything it not being mentioned demonstrates yet another problem with the Wii Shop service or at least the PR*).
Over at Gamefaqs I coincidently stumbled on the fact that Gradius rebirth got the update in America on Feb 8th (or at least it was noticed then). From what I am aware this news has gone fairly unreported on the internet (well the big Nintendo sites who talk about everything are silent on this).
Apparently Europe also has the update.
For those of you who don't remember why this update was important. It adds the following to the game:
* Added BGM
* Score adjustments
* New ranking board (because of the score adjustments)
* Improved visuals
* Shows number of play times
* Stage select adjustments
Enjoy, Gradius Rebirth fans.
Come to think of this noticing this right before the months end probably wasn't the best timing on my part.
*-If the PR doesn't tell the only other way you can find is to check the Wii by checking downloaded games and noticing it saying update and honestly, how many people will do that?