Joining the ranks of the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Marketplace and the PS3’s PlayStation Network, the Nintendo Wii will now be home to an original game-creation and distribution service known as WiiWare. With WiiWare, both independent and established publishers will now be able to create and release small, low-budget, creative downloadable titles via the Wii Shop Channel, which users will then use Wii Points to purchase.
“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 first WiiWare content is scheduled to launch sometime in early 2008 and pricing will be determined on a game by game basis. With E3 approaching I’m sure we’ll begin to see the first WiiWare game announcements soon, so stay tuned.