jesta
Moderator
Nintendo's Wii console unveiled its own slate of original, downloadable games this month, and the service promises to broaden this unique machine's appeal still further. With low distribution costs and little barrier to entry, it's a hit among smaller, risk-averse developers.
But after being bewildered by bizarre interfaces, confused by storage limits and inexplicably accosted by orange Marios, we're left wondering: could this be the Wii's first blunder?
Packing a launch portfolio containing some surprisingly compelling titles, WiiWare, as the new service is called, certainly has all the right ideas behind it. It's intended to support smaller developers in much the same way as competing services on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Distributing games directly to consumers via digital download services cuts out both publisher and retailer, meaning developers can afford to take more risks, and -- in theory -- give consumers like us a better deal.
Try it out, though, and you'll find some big problems. The interface is average at best, and the limited storage of the Wii console means trouble for heavy users of the machine's Virtual Console service (which lets you download classic games), who are suddenly going to have to make some tough choices about which games to keep. With only 512 MB of on-board storage, players are running out of room, and although you can store games on an SD card, you have to copy them back before you can play them. If keen players are already reaching the limit, what's it going to be like in a few years?
Link
We NEED to be able to use these...
But after being bewildered by bizarre interfaces, confused by storage limits and inexplicably accosted by orange Marios, we're left wondering: could this be the Wii's first blunder?
Packing a launch portfolio containing some surprisingly compelling titles, WiiWare, as the new service is called, certainly has all the right ideas behind it. It's intended to support smaller developers in much the same way as competing services on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Distributing games directly to consumers via digital download services cuts out both publisher and retailer, meaning developers can afford to take more risks, and -- in theory -- give consumers like us a better deal.
Try it out, though, and you'll find some big problems. The interface is average at best, and the limited storage of the Wii console means trouble for heavy users of the machine's Virtual Console service (which lets you download classic games), who are suddenly going to have to make some tough choices about which games to keep. With only 512 MB of on-board storage, players are running out of room, and although you can store games on an SD card, you have to copy them back before you can play them. If keen players are already reaching the limit, what's it going to be like in a few years?
Link
We NEED to be able to use these...
