Wii Opened To The Public June 29, 2007
Read more Consoles , Gadgets , Games , Wii , Xbox
Nintendo’s not afraid of innovation, nor of taking big risks. After all, who would have thought that the clever and gimmicky Wii console would dominate the console sales charts month after month, ever since its launch last year?
Nintendo is raising the bar again by opening the Wii up to the public. It has announced a software development kit for the insanely popular console called WiiWare everywhere else, but boringly renamed at Wii Software in Europe. This will let Wii owners with some development skills to make their own games which, once they are bug-checked by Nintendo, will go for sale online at the Wii Shop Channel. And they'll be cheaper than retail games too.
Of course Microsoft’s XNA kit lets Xbox 360 owners do the same but it’s generally felt that WiiWare’s arrival will force Microsoft to be a bit more active on this front.
The first WiiWare games are due in early 2008 and, while Nintendo promised it will not censor content, it doesn’t want any Over 18 offerings. No Manhunt 2 rip-offs for the Wii then.-Martin Lynch
Editor | Martin Lynch
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Comments
I think this is a great idea from Nintendo. Personally I am surprised they topped the gaming sales charts, as I much prefer the XBOX 360. Don't get me wrong they have excellent gameplay but I love the graphics that can be had with the XBOX360. The Nintendo WII seriously lacks in this department. Just my opinion :-)
wii is the dominant player so far this generation because they understand what it takes to appeal to a non gamer. PS3 and 360 are both nice systems but games are fun because of the experience it delivers, graphics only contribute to that so much. Opening the dev kit is nintendo showing again that it is a more aware of it's audience and what makes a system good than sony or microsoft. Cheers for not being proprietary asshats.
PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE someone with some programming skills develop an app for the wii that would allow you to "3-dimensionalize" audio using the wiimote.
Currently you have to painstakingly program the coordinates you want the sound to go to, how long you want it to take to get there, stay there, volume level, etc. ugh.
It's like the old days of CGI when it would take months to render a few seconds since you had to build the tools to build the tools to get the job done.
With an easier and more intuitive user interface, we'd see lots more and lots more interesting 3-D audio very quickly.
Thanks!
you rock
you rock