Details on WiiWare Games Coming

Wii

by Steven Rodriguez - June 26, 2007, 11:40 pm EDT
Total comments: 12 Source: Level Up

Tomorrow, Nintendo will reveal its plans for original downloadable games ... that won't be available until next year.

N'Gai Croal and his Level Up news blog has got the scoop on Nintendo's new downloadable gaming service. As of right now, WiiWare only has non-game software available, but soon it will be the launchpad for the original games Nintendo has promised are coming. Nintendo will announce its future WiiWare gaming plans to the general public tomorrow (or today, if you're reading this on Wednesday).

During a Nintendo developers conference held earlier this week, it was reported that Nintendo not only wants the big-name publishers on board (and they surely will be), but also smaller, independent developers. Nintendo had stated from the beginning that the Wii was a platform that anyone could develop for, and now it looks like smaller development houses are finally going to get their chance to show what they can do on the Wii.

As part of the Newsweek scoop, Croal got a chance to speak with Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's president, about the upcoming WiiWare announcement. He said that Nintendo would set "appropriate pricing" for each game on the service, as well as check for bugs and compatibility (likely what it would normally do when certifying any Wii game, downloadable or otherwise). It would be up to the individual game companies to handle the creation of the game and ESRB ratings process.

The one sticking point to this development is that, according to Croal, the first WiiWare games from Nintendo or third party developers won't be available for purchase until next year. This being the case, the timing of this announcement is curious indeed, especially with E3 coming up. Even though games are six months away, at the minimum, why not wait until the big show to make such a big announcement?

Nintendo World Report will have all the details on this exciting development as soon as Nintendo officially announces WiiWare gaming.

PRESS RELEASE

WiiWare - The Official Announcement

Independent developers will begin offering downloadable games for the Wii in early 2008.

NINTENDO'S WIIWARE PAVES THE WAY FOR FRESH GAMES, COOL CONSUMER EXPERIENCES

Nintendo Sets a New Paradigm: One Game Can Still Make a Difference

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 27, 2007 – The search for the next ingeniously ground-breaking video game has begun. At a private developers conference this week, Nintendo announced the introduction of WiiWare™, a game-creation service that will allow developers large and small to create new downloadable video game content for sale by Nintendo through the Wii Shop Channel of the hot Wii™ home video game system. WiiWare paves the way for smaller, more creative games to make their way to the public at lower prices, without any inventory risk to developers. The first WiiWare content will launch in early 2008.

"Independent developers armed with small budgets and big ideas will be able to get their original games into the marketplace to see if we can find the next smash hit," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "WiiWare brings new levels of creativity and value to the ever-growing population of Wii owners."

The possibilities for WiiWare are limited only by the imaginations of developers. WiiWare provides game creators a simple method by which they can get their games to the public. This approach, combined with the remarkable motion controls of the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™, will give birth to fresh takes on established genres, as well as original ideas that currently exist only in developers' minds. The reduced barriers to development provide developers the freedom to create and an inexpensive, clearly defined path to reach consumers who will ultimately determine which game will become the Next Big Thing.

WiiWare will be posted on the Wii Shop Channel. As with current Wii Shop Channel offerings, users will redeem Wii Points™ to download content. It will support a variety of pricing options. Details about that and upcoming projects will be announced at a later date. For more information about Wii, visit Wii.com.

Talkback

NeoThunderJune 26, 2007

I wonder if this means porting of games that weren't originally on old nintendo or 16 bit consoles like original arcade versions

KaironCarmine Red, Associate EditorJune 26, 2007

Darn. So I sent my "tip" in too late huh? *sigh*

that Baby guyJune 26, 2007

Alright, NWR, here's your chance to use your reporting clout to get us Mother 3. GO!

King of TwitchJune 26, 2007

They mentioned "indie games" at E3 2005 and still have nothing to show for it. 2 years and little progress: the nintendo difference.

"why not wait until the big show to make such a big announcement?"

They must have enough material for a full E3 show already, with all their big guns fully playable

KaironCarmine Red, Associate EditorJune 26, 2007

Apparently, Nintendo likes to pace itself, and not try to do everything at once.

But with regards to the indie devs, it's pretty obvious what the hold up is: not enough dev kits. By far.

BlkPaladinJune 26, 2007

Well that is one of the reasons.

Alex.GJune 26, 2007

Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
Apparently, Nintendo likes to pace itself, and not try to do everything at once.

Or anything at all...

What is the point of announcing this right now? To piss people off more?

Michael8983June 27, 2007

Come on. Nintendo has only just begun rolling out some of the best Virtual Console titles and its best Fall line-up ever is just around the corner on top of surprisingly good Summer line-up topped off with Samus. This year is crowded enough and anything more would be over-kill. I say Nintendo is wise to leave WiiWare for 2008. Besides extra development time means it's going to be something better than just the usual cheap, generic, soul-less garbage you often see on cell-phones.

As for why they're announcing it now.
My guess it they're going to have a few to show off at E3. And I do think by next year they mean next January or February. To counter-act the usual post-holiday drought.