Nintendo Unveils WiiWare Initiative
By Ron on Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 4:30 PM PST In Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Nintendo, Nintendo
Nintendo has unveiled the latest push to get more developers programming for the Wii. It’s being called ‘WiiWare’ in the US, and was announced at a private developer’s conference this week.
Laurent Fischer, Nintendo’s European Marketing Director, said, “Wii Software provides developers with big ideas – rather than big budgets – an easy and very accessible way to create new games and bring them to the marketplace.” Fischer also said that the service would offer, “great additional value for Wii owners who will be able to download fresh new games.”
The first of these ‘WiiWare’ titles is scheduled to launch in early 2008. Users will pay for the titles using Wii Points. This service is the culmination of Nintendo’s stated intent for the Wii Shop, which was hosting original downloadable games, and not just the throwback titles currently available for Virtual Console.
Yes, the 360 and the PS3 both already offer this service, but I’m sure Nintendo is banking on the WiiMote’s unique control scheme, as well as on the creativity of developers, to help them maintain the sales boom they’ve enjoyed so far. Whether it works or not is yet to be seen
They just need something as awesome as geometry wars