The State of WiiWare, Xbox Alternatives

CVG is running a piece discussing the current state of WiiWare, and where they expect it to go in the future. They point to the success of Mega Man 9 on WiiWare and other platforms, but worry that the perception will arise that certain games are "too good" to be featured on WiiWare. GameSetWatch has a related interview with independent developer Ninjabee discussing their recent games and comparing WiiWare with Xbox Live Arcade. Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced that the new Xbox Experience coming in November will included their Community Games initiative, which will allow amateur game developers to create and share games using the XNA development tools.

Comments

Re:The DRM issue needs to be sorted out.

[dunezone]

I bet they will allow it but be prepared for a hassle. I mean look at the friend code system they have for playing games with your friends.

The best bet to see how Nintendo will do this is to find the instructions they have right now for transferring your account from a dead Wii to a replacement unit. That will give you a general idea of how some future transfer of accounts will work.

Also this is the same company that wanted me to pay $5 for Super Mario Brothers (AGAIN). Nintendo should have made this a free download when the Wii launched. So expect anything from them.

Re:The DRM issue needs to be sorted out.

[philspear]

Nintendo doesn't have any DRM issue that can't also be said of the 360 or PS3.

Of course there's the real issue. DRM is such an anathema around here that it doesn't even have to have real problems to be denounced. I get the impression that anything more than a note (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/9/24/) would automatically get a "brokenbydesign" tag and halfhearted calls to boycott it until they learn.

Re:Amateurs are the key

[tepples]

But the mass market does not want 2d games, they want 3d

Then why did Capcom make Mega Man 9 and not just release its N64 port of Mega Man Legends on Virtual Console?

Re:The DRM issue needs to be sorted out.

[elrous0]

The REAL problem with DRM is something common to WiiWware, 360 arcade, the PSN store, and virtually everything else DRM touches, namely:

What happens when the parent company gets tired of supporting it? What happens when they no longer answer the phone when you call them to transfer your account to a new console (or, alternatively, they answer and tell you "Sorry, we're no longer supporting that console model/DRM scheme")? What happens when they shutdown their old DRM servers (like Walmart threatened to do recently).

I'll tell you what happens. You kiss your "owned" music/games/movies goodbye. THAT'S the problem with DRM. Unlike with physical media, you never really OWN your media. All you've bought is an extended rental, whose rental period could end at any time.