Following Nintendo of America's trumpeting of its WiiWare service as being "the most democratic environment in industry history" for developers to showcase their works, it's good to know that Nintendo in Europe takes a more measured approach to its version.
WiiWare is due to hit Europe on May 20th (as initially reported here) - and its official announcement is somewhat less triumphalist. We Europeans are, after all, dead stylish and media savvy, which is why we have Eurovision. Moving on...
"The opportunity to create the next groundbreaking video game for Wii has well and truly arrived for developers as WiiWare hits Europe. Launching on 20th May 2008, developers, no matter how big or small, will be able to create exciting new downloadable game’s to be sold through the Wii Shop Channel."
Of course, there has to be some hype, so we are informed, among other things, that, "With WiiWare games the possibilities are endless. Only limited by the imaginations of the developers, expect to see a raft of new, fresh and original games head to Wii from an entire range of genres.
"Utilising the Wii’s unique control methods from the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to potentially the Wii Board and Wii Wheel, developers have the freedom to create the game of their dreams in an affordable way..."
This is fleshed out somewhat from the obvious hyperbole of 'endless possibilities', and dream games as follows, "...with low entry barriers and flexible criteria in front of them." We have, of course, asked what the barriers and criteria actually are.
Using WiiWare in Europe is described thusly, "...WiiWare games will be available to download directly onto Wii from the Wii Shop Channel from 500 Wii Points...
"Players themselves will also become central to the creative process as their download choices and genre selection will become instrumental in helping developers determine future projects."
So, what we have here is a conduit for developers to take a few chances without busting budgets (a good thing) in a format that can be compared to running a pilot TV show or even a vastly expanded online focus group. All good stuff...
Full details of the initial tranche of games can be found right here.
WiiWare is due to hit Europe on May 20th (as initially reported here) - and its official announcement is somewhat less triumphalist. We Europeans are, after all, dead stylish and media savvy, which is why we have Eurovision. Moving on...
"The opportunity to create the next groundbreaking video game for Wii has well and truly arrived for developers as WiiWare hits Europe. Launching on 20th May 2008, developers, no matter how big or small, will be able to create exciting new downloadable game’s to be sold through the Wii Shop Channel."
Of course, there has to be some hype, so we are informed, among other things, that, "With WiiWare games the possibilities are endless. Only limited by the imaginations of the developers, expect to see a raft of new, fresh and original games head to Wii from an entire range of genres.
"Utilising the Wii’s unique control methods from the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to potentially the Wii Board and Wii Wheel, developers have the freedom to create the game of their dreams in an affordable way..."
This is fleshed out somewhat from the obvious hyperbole of 'endless possibilities', and dream games as follows, "...with low entry barriers and flexible criteria in front of them." We have, of course, asked what the barriers and criteria actually are.
Using WiiWare in Europe is described thusly, "...WiiWare games will be available to download directly onto Wii from the Wii Shop Channel from 500 Wii Points...
"Players themselves will also become central to the creative process as their download choices and genre selection will become instrumental in helping developers determine future projects."
So, what we have here is a conduit for developers to take a few chances without busting budgets (a good thing) in a format that can be compared to running a pilot TV show or even a vastly expanded online focus group. All good stuff...
Full details of the initial tranche of games can be found right here.
Companies:
Nintendo
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Comments
Joji 13 May 2008 10:50
1/2
So here's my question for Nintendo, Spong? I've never been involved in the games industry, but myself and a close friend want to create a Wii Ware game, where do we start and how will you help us? We don't have huge wads of money, but are keen.
With MS's XNA, its £100 for an XNA account and development software, how much will Wii Ware's tools set us back, considering our circumstances?
So far, some of the Wii Ware games look cool, but we already know who made most of them?
With MS's XNA, its £100 for an XNA account and development software, how much will Wii Ware's tools set us back, considering our circumstances?
So far, some of the Wii Ware games look cool, but we already know who made most of them?
irritant 13 May 2008 20:16
2/2
Joji wrote:
So here's my question for Nintendo, Spong? I've never been involved in the games industry, but myself and a close friend want to create a Wii Ware game, where do we start and how will you help us? We don't have huge wads of money, but are keen.
It will cost you big Joji. First of all, you need to set up a company. A proper company, with premises, cash flow etc. Then you need a detailed game design. Then you can apply for developer status from Nintendo. You will either need a signed project contract with a publisher to show that the game is funded, or you will need to show that you can fund the development yourself.
Next, you will need to buy the develoment hardware from Nintendo. I'm probably not allowed to tell you how much it costs, but it's not too cheap and it's not too expensive. It's a lot less than the PSP/PS3 hardware, which costs about as much as a reasonably good UK car. Or two very small cars. You could get away with just the dev-kit, but - particularly if you are making a multi-player game - you may need a test kit or two. These cost more than a normal shop bought Wii.
Quote from the story:"the possibilities are endless. Only limited by the imaginations of the developers" *cough* and the 40MB file limit *cough*