06-27-2007, 01:19 PM
As Nintendo announced earlier (and we reported this morning), Wii Software - known as WiiWare in the US - is a game-creation service that lets developers both large and small make downloadable games for the Wii Shop Channel for Wii Points, like the Virtual Console.
With any new announcement comes the usual list of questions and curiosities, so we got in touch with Nintendo UK for the answers.
How will the games be stored? Is that hard drive coming? How does it compare to Xbox Live Arcade? Nintendo UK fields our questions below.
There are concerns regarding Wii's relatively small internal memory being filled by all this content (as well as VC games). Is this a concern for Nintendo?
Nintendo: Games can be saved on the internal memory or on SD cards - Wii Software games will come in a variety of sizes, but Nintendo encourages smaller, compact games for the service.
Will the games be playable from SD card, or will they need to exist on the internal memory, like VC games?
Nintendo: WiiWare is stored in and started up from the Wii internal flash memory so they would need to be transferred from SD like VC games.
However like VC games you can delete a Wii Software game to make room for other content, then re-download it at no cost.
Is Nintendo considering releasing a hard drive to bolster the Wii's memory for all this new content?
Nintendo: No.
How is WiiWare going to be better than PSN and XBLA, and what would Nintendo say to people who might think you've just copied XBLA?
Nintendo: Wii Software offers unprecedented access for third-parties to create content with few restrictions. The innovative control of the Wii Remote plus open approach of Wii Software is a powerful combination for developers to create and bring their game to consumers.
Development for Wii is already an attractive option for developers and Wii Software will be no different.
Will we have to pay VC prices for games? Is there any current estimate price?
Nintendo: There will be a variety of price points, similar to classic VC games.
Will Nintendo develop first-party games for WiiWare?
Nintendo: Yes, but we're not ready to announce what those are.
Will the service go live worldwide simultaneously, or on a territory basis?
Nintendo: We've not decided yet. Developers can approach Wii Software as they would packaged software. Content can be created for one region or more. It will be up to the developer to do the localisation and testing.
A long shot, but is there any chance of an open-source, development tool being released for the service to allow for user-generated development (like the PS Net Yaroze) in the future?
Nintendo: There are no plans at present.
So what was all the fuss about? Wasn't some Japanese company selected to make a USB Mass Storage device for Wii?
This makes me wonder will we ever see a Mass Storage system on Wii, other than the minuscule 512MB they so happily gave us in the first place. It's strange to think that if Nintendo had just given us 1GB of memory on Wii (double the current volume) then we would probably be having no problems. 1GB would have certainly been enough for me, or most average Wii users.
It may also come about, if it was seen by popular demand, that Nintendo may choose to revise the current Wii System Memory volume to perhaps 1GB. We've already seen their desire to place a DVD player in Wii, and with Microsoft shoveling out 360 Elites like there's no tomorrow, it could well be on the cards.
CZMQFRG
With any new announcement comes the usual list of questions and curiosities, so we got in touch with Nintendo UK for the answers.
How will the games be stored? Is that hard drive coming? How does it compare to Xbox Live Arcade? Nintendo UK fields our questions below.
There are concerns regarding Wii's relatively small internal memory being filled by all this content (as well as VC games). Is this a concern for Nintendo?
Nintendo: Games can be saved on the internal memory or on SD cards - Wii Software games will come in a variety of sizes, but Nintendo encourages smaller, compact games for the service.
Will the games be playable from SD card, or will they need to exist on the internal memory, like VC games?
Nintendo: WiiWare is stored in and started up from the Wii internal flash memory so they would need to be transferred from SD like VC games.
However like VC games you can delete a Wii Software game to make room for other content, then re-download it at no cost.
Is Nintendo considering releasing a hard drive to bolster the Wii's memory for all this new content?
Nintendo: No.
How is WiiWare going to be better than PSN and XBLA, and what would Nintendo say to people who might think you've just copied XBLA?
Nintendo: Wii Software offers unprecedented access for third-parties to create content with few restrictions. The innovative control of the Wii Remote plus open approach of Wii Software is a powerful combination for developers to create and bring their game to consumers.
Development for Wii is already an attractive option for developers and Wii Software will be no different.
Will we have to pay VC prices for games? Is there any current estimate price?
Nintendo: There will be a variety of price points, similar to classic VC games.
Will Nintendo develop first-party games for WiiWare?
Nintendo: Yes, but we're not ready to announce what those are.
Will the service go live worldwide simultaneously, or on a territory basis?
Nintendo: We've not decided yet. Developers can approach Wii Software as they would packaged software. Content can be created for one region or more. It will be up to the developer to do the localisation and testing.
A long shot, but is there any chance of an open-source, development tool being released for the service to allow for user-generated development (like the PS Net Yaroze) in the future?
Nintendo: There are no plans at present.
So what was all the fuss about? Wasn't some Japanese company selected to make a USB Mass Storage device for Wii?
This makes me wonder will we ever see a Mass Storage system on Wii, other than the minuscule 512MB they so happily gave us in the first place. It's strange to think that if Nintendo had just given us 1GB of memory on Wii (double the current volume) then we would probably be having no problems. 1GB would have certainly been enough for me, or most average Wii users.
It may also come about, if it was seen by popular demand, that Nintendo may choose to revise the current Wii System Memory volume to perhaps 1GB. We've already seen their desire to place a DVD player in Wii, and with Microsoft shoveling out 360 Elites like there's no tomorrow, it could well be on the cards.
CZMQFRG