NINTENDO'S
WIIWARE
PAVES THE
WAY FOR
FRESH GAMES,
COOL
CONSUMER
EXPERIENCES
Nintendo
Sets a New
Paradigm:
One Game Can
Still Make a
Difference
SANTA
MONICA,
Calif., June
27, 2007 –
The search
for the next
ingeniously
ground-breaking
video game
has begun.
At a private
developers
conference
this week,
Nintendo
announced
the
introduction
of WiiWare™,
a
game-creation
service that
will allow
developers
large and
small to
create new
downloadable
video game
content for
sale by
Nintendo
through the
Wii Shop
Channel of
the hot Wii™
home video
game system.
WiiWare
paves the
way for
smaller,
more
creative
games to
make their
way to the
public at
lower
prices,
without any
inventory
risk to
developers.
The first
WiiWare
content will
launch in
early 2008.
"Independent
developers
armed with
small
budgets and
big ideas
will be able
to get their
original
games into
the
marketplace
to see if we
can find the
next smash
hit," says
Nintendo of
America
President
Reggie
Fils-Aime. "WiiWare
brings new
levels of
creativity
and value to
the
ever-growing
population
of Wii
owners."
The
possibilities
for WiiWare
are limited
only by the
imaginations
of
developers.
WiiWare
provides
game
creators a
simple
method by
which they
can get
their games
to the
public. This
approach,
combined
with the
remarkable
motion
controls of
the Wii
Remote™ and
Nunchuk™,
will give
birth to
fresh takes
on
established
genres, as
well as
original
ideas that
currently
exist only
in
developers'
minds. The
reduced
barriers to
development
provide
developers
the freedom
to create
and an
inexpensive,
clearly
defined path
to reach
consumers
who will
ultimately
determine
which game
will become
the Next Big
Thing.
WiiWare will
be posted on
the Wii Shop
Channel. As
with current
Wii Shop
Channel
offerings,
users will
redeem Wii
Points™ to
download
content. It
will support
a variety of
pricing
options.
Details
about that
and upcoming
projects
will be
announced at
a later
date. For
more
information
about Wii,
visit
Wii.com.
The
worldwide
innovator in
the creation
of
interactive
entertainment,
Nintendo
Co., Ltd.,
of Kyoto,
Japan,
manufactures
and markets
hardware and
software for
its Wii™,
Nintendo
DS™, Game
Boy® Advance
and Nintendo
GameCube™
systems.
Since 1983,
Nintendo has
sold nearly
2.4 billion
video games
and more
than 409
million
hardware
units
globally,
and has
created
industry
icons like
Mario™,
Donkey
Kong®,
Metroid®,
Zelda™ and
Pokémon®. A
wholly owned
subsidiary,
Nintendo of
America
Inc., based
in Redmond,
Wash.,
serves as
headquarters
for
Nintendo's
operations
in the
Western
Hemisphere.
For more
information
about
Nintendo,
visit the
company's
Web site at
www.Nintendo.com.