Original Downloadable games confirmed for the Wii

[flizmo007]

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/archive/2007/06/26/level-up-exclusive-on-nintendo-wiiware.aspx

"Patience is a virtue, a wise man once said, and nowhere is this more true than the circumstances surrounding the story we're about to bring you right now. A month or so before the March Game Developers Conference, Nintendo's PR agency approached us about a hush-hush new content initiative that the company had been cooking up, and wanted to know whether or not we'd be interested in being the first to get the lowdown. We were. But GDC came and went without any more information. From then on, we'd check in with Nintendo from time to time, but no new information was forthcoming, not even about when new information might be forthcoming. So we began to despair. But on Monday, the folks at Golin Harris PR reached out to us again to inform us that the time was now, that the offer was still on the table, and that Nintendo of America president Reginald Fils-Aime would be available to speak with us Tuesday afternoon. We spoke with him, and here's what we learned.

On Wednesday morning, Nintendo will officially announce to the general public its plans for WiiWare, downloadable games for the wildly popular Wii videogame console. Unlike the vintage games already being offered for legacy systems (i.e. Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx 16) through the Virtual Console, these games will be built specifically for the Wii and sold via the Wii Shop Channel for Wii Points currency, much like the Xbox 360- and Playstation 3-specific games being sold on Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.


What's more interesting is that Nintendo isn't only seeking WiiWare from established publishers and developers like Ubisoft and Sega. At a Nintendo developer's conference earlier this week, the company informed attendees that it was seeking from indie developers as well. Shorter, original, more creative games from small teams with big ideas; these are the buzzwords that you'll be hearing from Nintendo when its Wednesday announcement goes wide. Fils-Aime told us that while Nintendo, as the retailer, would itself determine the appropriate pricing for each game on a per-title bases, the games themselves would not be vetted by Nintendo. Instead, Nintendo would only check the games for bugs and compatibility, with developers and publishers responsible for securing an E for Everyone, E10+ for Everyone 10 or older, T for Teen or M for Mature rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board--Adults Only titles like Manhunt 2 aren't welcome. Look for the first WiiWare titles from Nintendo and third-parties to become available next year. And check back shortly with Level Up for more details on our conversation with Fils-Aime."

[Strell]

GIVE ME MORE CHANNELS AND/OR A WAY TO GROUP SYSTEM GAMES TOGETHER FIRST NINTENDO

ALSO SUPPORT FOR HARD DRIVES PRZ

Thank you.

[magiic]

sucks we have to wait till next year :(

[drfunk85]

Well, this is great news.

The only thing I'm concerned about is that Nintendo will "determine the appropriate pricing". I would prefer some cheaper indie titles and I don't see that happening if Nintendo is the one setting prices.

[PleasantOne]

Next YEAR? WHY! Nintendo claimed this would be part of the console all along, didn't they? Not only old games, but new content... WHY are they just getting into developing the idea now? *sigh*

Well, at least it's supposedly unique, Wii specific content... I'll believe it when i see it, though.

I undestand the flow of games being sort of lacking, because of how the launch was viewed by third parties... but I don't see why Nintendo didn't plan better on their end. By now there should be the demo channel, and original content in the Wii shop, and online play for the Virtual Console. The unused potential of the Wii is starting to piss me off :P

[botticus]

Next YEAR? WHY! Nintendo claimed this would be part of the console all along, didn't they? Not only old games, but new content... WHY are they just getting into developing the idea now? *sigh*

Well, at least it's supposedly unique, Wii specific content... I'll believe it when i see it, though.

I undestand the flow of games being sort of lacking, because of how the launch was viewed by third parties... but I don't see why Nintendo didn't plan better on their end. By now there should be the demo channel, and original content in the Wii shop, and online play for the Virtual Console. The unused potential of the Wii is starting to piss me off :PBecause if this was just officially unveiled at the developer's conference, its likely that there are few to no games approaching release. So they could open it tomorrow and have it sit there with no games for a few months, or wait till next year when they've got some games to release with some frequency.

I'm hoping that putting this announcement out now was a way of clearing the air at E3 for the related announcements that Strell is pining for.

[flizmo007]

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 /PRNewswire/ -- 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(TM), 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(TM) 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(TM) and Nunchuk(TM), 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(TM) 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 http://www.Wii.com.

[jkam]

Good step Nintendo...it just should have been sooner...but hopefully there will be a mess of games when the service launches rather than a few or none. I also hope that the certification process isn't like Microsoft's for LIVE arcade. It is supposedly extremely strict and takes a lot of time.

We do need a demo channel!

[dallow]

1500 Wii points for new variation on Pong CONFIRMED!

(oh wait, this isn't gaf)

[Strell]

hot Wii

Mmmmmmmm.

Hawt Wii.

[Scrubking]

There are concerns regarding Wii's relatively small internal memory being filled by all this content (as well as VC games). Is this a concern for Nintendo?

Nintendo: Games can be saved on the internal memory or on SD cards - Wii Software games will come in a variety of sizes, but Nintendo encourages smaller, compact games for the service.

Will the games be playable from SD card, or will they need to exist on the internal memory, like VC games?

Nintendo: WiiWare is stored in and started up from the Wii internal flash memory so they would need to be transferred from SD like VC games. However like VC games you can delete a Wii Software game to make room for other content, then re-download it at no cost.

Is Nintendo considering releasing a hard drive to bolster the Wii's memory for all this new content?

Nintendo: No.
http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=166810

[Tybee]

http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=166810
This is from Nintendo UK (they don't even give the rep's name). They're an even less reliable source than the late, great queen of misinformation, Perrin Kaplan. This stooge is just repeating the party line as it has existed to this point.

I, frankly, will eat my hat if a HDD solution isn't announced at E3. Count on it.

[Sofa King Kool]

Awesome.

[PleasantOne]

Because if this was just officially unveiled at the developer's conference, its likely that there are few to no games approaching release. So they could open it tomorrow and have it sit there with no games for a few months, or wait till next year when they've got some games to release with some frequency.

I'm hoping that putting this announcement out now was a way of clearing the air at E3 for the related announcements that Strell is pining for.

I just wish they had been working with developers way back so they could have something ready by now. Even if third parties were afraid to make big titles for the Wii, there had to have been some smaller developers who would have jumped on board.

but I agree... here's hoping for demos!

[ratzombie]

Awesome news, can't wait to see what indie developers come up with. I personally want to see a good classic point-and-click adventure game being made.

[Blaine]

I feel a CAG dev team brewing whenever the dev kit is released.
I also feel subsequent failure of said team as designing a game is always more difficult than it sounds.

I'm IN!

[Kaijufan]

Awesome news, can't wait to see what indie developers come up with. I personally want to see a good classic point-and-click adventure game being made.
That would be great. I would love to see the developer of Hotel Dusk release a new point and click game as WiiWare.

[Miranda]

I haven't used my Wii Points at all since I got them at launch because I still have my old consoles to play classic games with. I think I've subconciously been waiting for original games to spend my points on. Looks like I'll still be waiting for a while.

I totally agree with HeSaveDave about the demo channel. I'd love to have something like that. Both a Wii and DS demo channel, where you could play demos of upcoming Wii games and have your Wii act as a DS download station.

[Rocko]

Wasn't that a point Nintendo made about the Wii for a while? You could download DS demos on it?

I would love to see that. That would be great on so many levels.

[chimpian]

Im gonna hope for some cool adventure games in the same vein as the oldie lucas arts ones, IE sam and max(rumored for wii already), and monkey island.

[Javery]

Wow - if they release anything good I might actually buy some Wii points... assuming my system still works after months and months of inactivity.

[MisterHand]

What Nintendo needs is an equivalent to Uno on XBLA -- a small, casual-friendly, online game. Would only help to strengthen their existing user-base who is not necessarily interested in old school console play.

[CosmosTheMouse]

Wow - if they release anything good I might actually buy some Wii points... assuming my system still works after months and months of inactivity.

It should be fine as long as you don't keep it next to a 360.
All the melting parts could be a problem if they get too close to the Wii.

[MarioColbert]

I wonder if there'll be a cheaper SDK for WiiWare developers?

[Jay]

Awesome news!

[seanw]

Awesome news, can't wait to see what indie developers come up with. I personally want to see a good classic point-and-click adventure game being made.

What would really make this handy is if someone did as much work to create a Wii adventure game creator as they did to create LASSIE:

http://lassie.gmacwill.com/lower.php?section=news&page=index