Tomorrow, Nintendo will reveal its plans for original downloadable games ... that won't be available until next year.
N'Gai Croal and his Level Up news blog has got the scoop on Nintendo's new downloadable gaming service. As of right now, WiiWare only has non-game software available, but soon it will be the launchpad for the original games Nintendo has promised are coming. Nintendo will announce its future WiiWare gaming plans to the general public tomorrow (or today, if you're reading this on Wednesday).
During a Nintendo developers conference held earlier this week, it was reported that Nintendo not only wants the big-name publishers on board (and they surely will be), but also smaller, independent developers. Nintendo had stated from the beginning that the Wii was a platform that anyone could develop for, and now it looks like smaller development houses are finally going to get their chance to show what they can do on the Wii.
As part of the Newsweek scoop, Croal got a chance to speak with Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's president, about the upcoming WiiWare announcement. He said that Nintendo would set "appropriate pricing" for each game on the service, as well as check for bugs and compatibility (likely what it would normally do when certifying any Wii game, downloadable or otherwise). It would be up to the individual game companies to handle the creation of the game and ESRB ratings process.
The one sticking point to this development is that, according to Croal, the first WiiWare games from Nintendo or third party developers won't be available for purchase until next year. This being the case, the timing of this announcement is curious indeed, especially with E3 coming up. Even though games are six months away, at the minimum, why not wait until the big show to make such a big announcement?
Nintendo World Report will have all the details on this exciting development as soon as Nintendo officially announces WiiWare gaming.