That outlook changed in a big way with today's release of Orbient. It's an expanded remake of Orbital, one of the Bit Generation games released only in Japan for Game Boy Advance. Bit Generation was a series of six simple, stylish games designed to launch with the fashionable Game Boy Micro, though they played on all GBA and DS systems. Skip (creators of Chibi-Robo and Captain Rainbow) developed five of the games, while the sixth came from Q-Games, now well known for their PixelJunk brand on PS3. Many Nintendo fans longed for a worldwide release of the Bit Generation series, and it seems we may finally be getting it, albeit it in a completely unexpected way.
Along with the out-of-nowhere release of Orbient on WiiWare, with extra levels and a price of only $6, Nintendo has also created a new sub-brand called Art Style. For now, I can only assume this is a rebranding of Bit Generation, although there may be some brand new games planned for the series. With two more Art Style games headed for WiiWare in October alone, chances are good that we'll see even more of the "lost" Bit Generations games on our TV screens this year.
I just want to say to Nintendo: good job on delivering a fantastic surprise to your "hardcore" American audience. The irony is that Bit Generation titles are mostly casual-oriented, but the origin of these games and their bizarre gameplay ideas will not go unnoticed by your long-standing fan base. Keep 'em coming, and I'll keep downloading.