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Want To Make Games for the Nintendo Wii?

by Tim Stevens on June 27, 2007 at 11:02 AM

Nintendo Launching Indie Downloadable Game Service

Nintendo has announced the a new program called "WiiWare" that will encourage smaller, independent game developers to create downloadable games for the Wii. The program will act as a distribution channel for smaller games that, on their own, wouldn't drive enough gamer interest to make release on DVD worthwhile. Instead, these small games can be posted online and distributed directly to whoever wants them. This means that even niche or oddball titles will stand a chance of making some money on Nintendo's hot gaming console.

The service sounds an awful lot like similar programs from Microsoft and Sony, where they've given low-cost (or, in the case of Microsoft, no-cost) game development kits to small developers. Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade has been especially successful, both on the Xbox and Xbox 360, where games like 'Geometry Wars' have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. No word yet on how much Nintendo will charge for these simpler games, but expect them to fall in the same range as their current downloadable titles which usually go for $8 - $15.

We think this is a great idea, but given the complete lack of worthwhile Wii releases at the moment, we wish Nintendo had done this a little bit sooner.

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Tags: nintendo, wii, wiiware

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