Nintendo launches WiiWare
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Monday Nintedo went head on with Microsoft and Sony when it launched WiiWare, its new online repository of downloadable games.
From appearance a service where Wii gamers will be able to shop for new, independant games. WiiWare seems to be Nintendo’s answer to Microsoft’s XBox Live Arcade and its XNA Studio, and to Sony’s Playstion Store.
WiiWare launched with six games: Square Enix’s Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, Frontier Development’s LostWinds, XGen Studios’ Defend your Castle, Nnooo’s Pop, High Voltage Software’s V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack, and Gameloft’s TV Show King.
Nintendo said that they would add new games to WiiWare each Monday, as there are currently more that 100 WiiWare titles in development.
And while many gamers would like to see more games in the system at launch, the fact that there are so many in the pipeline already means that Nintendo will likely not have to worry about populating the service with new weekly titles for some time.
For independent developers, the service also provides a new avenue for getting their work in front of gamers, and on a new platform. Microsoft has been very aggressive with using its XNA platform as a way of bringing independently created games to the Xbox community, and now Nintendo will be able to compete for some of those developers’ time.
