Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata was frank at a recent earnings briefing, in which he told investors that demos for WiiWare products could help to increase sales. Via IGN we learned that Iwata and Nintendo intend to start testing a new WiiWare demo service sometime this month, starting with only a handful of titles.
The ultimate goal for the project is to persuade Nintendo users to surf the WiiWare service and try out more products on the Wii Shopping Channel. Currently, Iwata believes most consumers instead navigate directly to products they intend to purchase. Iwata also confessed that the market for WiiWare and DSi Ware titles is small, so this could help to improve sales.
Iwata believes that the addition of demos isn’t the solution to the problem, but giving consumers increased choice can't hurt.
Iwata’s quote is the only confirmation we have of the new trial program, so no details on the time frame of the trial run have yet been announced.
While we would never expect to see demo program for retail titles such as found on competitor consoles because of size constraints, WiiWare and DSi Ware trials seem to be a good fit. We will keep you informed as more official word breaks.