WiiWare Announced; Competition Stiffens
Nintendo has finally joined the wave of the future; they have announced their own platform to allow Wii users to download fresh, pipin' hot games designed and built for the Wii. It's called WiiWare.
What does that have to do with Xbox Live Arcade? Well, a lot.
We all know that Nintendo has a huge advantage over XBLA in the retro space due to the sheer quantity of titles they are propping (All Nintendo consoles, TurboGrafx-16, *and* Genesis games). Yes, XBLA can argue quantity over quality since XBLA has enhanced versions of many of the same games. However, the retro ports of XBLA have been very hit or miss.
Up until now, the true advantage of XBLA over the Wii Shop Channel was the presence of compelling new content (whether indie or not) such as Small Arms, Geometry Wars: R.E., Cloning Clyde, Wik: Fable of Souls, or Boom Boom Rocket. With the announcement of WiiWare, Nintendo is attacking the core of XBLA, and that is big news.
Games will not arrive on the service before early 2008, so XBLA still has a bit of breathing room. But since the Wii is a major hit amongst casual gamers, a downloadable casual games service on the Wii sounds like a no-brainer. And based on the current wave of adoration for the system it sounds like a huge money maker.
How will Microsoft respond? Will they do anything differently? How does this competition push Microsoft to a higher standard? Is this good for all gamers? Ready. Fight.
[via Kotaku]
Press Release after the break.
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.
I think this is good news to
I think this is good news to us gamers. Of course, it remains to be seen how indie-friendly Nintendo turns out to be (I've heard from colleagues that they can be quite arrogant and a real pain in the butt to work with, especially for European devs, but that was a couple of years ago now).
As for retro content, they have a big advantage simply because most of their retro games were console games to begin with, and designed to be played in the living room, not the arcade. So they were designed for longer and more involved play-sessions, not just to vacuum people's pockets.
How will microsoft
How will microsoft repsond?
Is Wiiware not just Nintendo's response to XNA?
I think of WiiWare more as a
I think of WiiWare more as a platform like XBLA and not just a coding environment like XNA. Maybe I'm wrong to assume that.
Obviously MS will have to respond in *some* way in order to create consumer value on XBLA when compared to PSN's eDI and now WiiWare. If Nintendo can overpower them on the retro front *and* get a solid new downloadable games service going, it will be harder and harder for the 360 to attract casual fans.
I actually think that WiiWare is a perfect place for devs to really experiment with motion control in a low risk environment (read: small budget). This could actually reshape the way Wii games are made and also the way games are played in general. Should be interesting to watch.
LunarDuality -- "Indie is where it's at!"
While I have no doubt that
While I have no doubt that good things will come from this, it remains to be seen what Nintendo will do as the "Gatekeeper" of this service.
They have already proven that it's all about quantity in terms of VC (No I'm not saying that there isn't quality there, but rather they like to through whatever is available onto the service) and the question is will they do the same for WiiWare.
Hmm... you would have
Hmm... you would have thought that devs could have experimented with motion control on a small budget back when MS released a bunch of motion controllers for the PC back in the alte 90's.... but you know... people back then realized motion controls were corny. But that goes back to my overall problems with the Wii (despite being a dieahard Nintendo fan my entire life)
It's good though, for the Wii to support original downloadable titles instead of just a few emulators and countless ROMs. Competition is always good, and we can always hope for a price war on downloadable games.
Only question is with MS and Sony both supporting indie downloadable games, why is Nintendo so late to the table.
lol, I still have one of
lol, I still have one of those sidewinders from back in the day, man that thing sucked!
To be fair though the difference between it and the Wiimote is night and day.
Personally, I think this is
Personally, I think this is great for everyone.
Gamertags still > Friend Codes
One thing XBLA still has over Nintendo is the Gamertag and universal Friends List, while I think N is still using their stupid Friend Codes system for online play. As long as that's the case, I don't see them being able to realistically compete in the "online gaming" arena.
But will they still make boatloads of money? Heck yeah!
And yes, competition is still good for the consumer. It may be a pain in MS's butt, but we should benefit. The competition should breed better quality and quantity of games. Heck, it might even facilitate an earlier price-drop for the 360. Again, conumers benefit!
Oh, and hey Klutch! Told ya I'd post here! Let's see if we can't get some discussions going!