Nintendo makes Aussiies aware of WiiWare launch!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 20 May 2008 07:12

Opinion and Analysis

It’s not just old videogame classics that can be downloaded direct to your Nintendo Wii, but brand new Wii specific titles through Nintendo’s new WiiWare download service – launching today!

Got a Wii and want more? Sure, you can leave the house and buy a new Wii game. But now a whole new slew of Wii games will be made available to purchase throughthe Wii Shop Channel, using those Wii points you’ve been buying to access all those old ‘Virtual Console’ classics.

Although WiiWare has already launched overseas, Australians have had to wait until today to take part in buying and playing new downloadable titles, specifically designed for the Wii, although you will need your Wii connected to a broadband connection to take part, as you’ve needed to download Virtual Console titles.

WiiWare is also Nintendo’s way of encouraging yet more game developers to jump aboard the Wii bandwagon, with Nintendo saying that any developer, be they big or small, is able to wriite WiiWare wares for sale to all.

Nintendo says they are “changing the way developers create Wii games and how players access them, WiiWare will make it possible for smaller, creative titles to take centre stage.”

Thanks to a “combination of low development barriers and unique game experiences, through use of the Wii remote”, Nintendo says that “developers [can] try new ideas with lower risk in a quicker, more creative and affordable way.”

The headline WiiWare developer is the well known “Square Enix”, with the “Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My life as a King” title, while also listing “Frontier” as another up and coming developer with Lost Winds, and says that other independent developers are already on board.

So, which WiiWare games are set to launch this week? Please read onto page 2.