oday officially marks the launch of Nintendo’s newest downloadable game application – WiiWare. First available in Japan in March of this year, WiiWare promises to bring about a new way to develop and in turn play games. While the new feature is somewhat comparable to the Xbox Live Arcade or the PlayStation Store in that it reduces the cost and risk of developing titles for retail, WiiWare boasts its individuality as “an open playground for creativity” beyond that of what its competitors offer. We put together a short guide to get you through your initial introduction to the new service. Read on to find out a bit more about WiiWare, how to use the new game application and a bit about the games released at launch.
About WiiWare
Don’t confuse Nintendo’s Virtual Console with what WiiWare has to offer. While the Virtual Console emulates games originally created for other systems, WiiWare encourages brand new ideas and game concepts to be crafted specifically for the new service.
As mentioned above, WiiWare is not only intended to provide Wii owners with a new way to purchase and interact with games, it removes financial limitations that keep small or independent developers from showcasing their products. In this sense, WiiWare positions itself as a platform to help encourage diversity and creativity in the gaming world. Developers can test their ideas, experiment and take risks – and as a result the WiiWare downloadable library content will reflect the practice. The benefit is intended to be mutual, both gamers and developers will ideally see a boost in ingenuity.
Nintendo feels confident about their new product. "WiiWare is to the video game industry what independent films are to Hollywood," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "WiiWare lets developers experiment with new ideas and experiences. Combined with our collection of classic Virtual Console games, Wii provides one-stop shopping for the greatest games of the past - and the future."
Using WiiWare
So how do you go about using the new Nintendo tool? In tradition with the Wii’s simple and intuitive user interfaces, accessing WiiWare is not tricky. Through the Wii channel menu, anyone wishing to purchase a new WiiWare title must simply click on the Wii Shop icon. The user will then be presented with a small menu featuring select games on the top half of the screen and a miniature feed of Wii Shop news and announcements on the bottom half. Simply clicking the “Start Shopping” icon will get things started. From the following menu, selecting the WiiWare option moves along to the main WiiWare interface. Continuing on, users can search for a download by popular titles, newest additions, and even search by publisher and genre. It is also possible to search specifically by game title if the user knows what they are looking for.
Once a game is selected, clicking on the title’s icon provides the user with additional information. Rating details, price points and the games description are all available here. The titles operation guide – essentially the instruction manual for the digital download – is also on hand in this point in time. The icon to purchase the game is clearly marked, and points needed to purchase the game are available both online and at retail locations for optimum convenience.
You can also access information about upcoming WiiWare titles through the Nintendo Channel via the Wii’s main menu. The Nintendo channel currently features announcements, instructional videos and trailers for several of the existing WiiWare titles. At present, trailers for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, LostWinds and Defend Your Castle can be found on the Nintendo Channel homepage.