WiiWare live in North America

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted May 12, 2008 11:17 am PT

Nintendo flips the switch on its new downloadable-game service; new Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles headlines initial slate of half a dozen games.

Nintendo announced the North American launch of its WiiWare downloadable-game service for the Wii months ago, but has played coy about specific details on games and prices. Today the service goes live, and Nintendo finally detailed a slate of six launch games that range in price from 500 Wii points ($5) to 1,500 Wii points ($15).

Bask in overwhelming gratitude in My Life as a King.

Nintendo has said that there are more than 100 WiiWare games in the works, and as with Virtual Console additions, new games will be added to the service on Mondays. Gamers can find video clips of the games on the Nintendo Channel, and download the actual games in the WiiWare section of the system's Wii Shop Channel.

The initial wave of games is headlined by Square Enix's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, a management-sim twist on the seminal role-playing game franchise. Unlike previous multiplayer-focused installments in the Crystal Chronicles spin-off series, the WiiWare entry is a single-player game. My Life as a King sells for 1,500 Wii points ($15). Downloadable content including new buildings, dungeons, and costumes is also available for Square's WiiWare debut, ranging in price from 100 to 800 Wii points ($1-$8).

That's the high end of the WiiWare price spectrum so far, with XGen Studios' Defend Your Castle (500 Wii points, or $5) currently residing at the low end. A remake of a free browser-based game, Defend Your Castle has players using the Wii Remote to exterminate onrushing enemies by grabbing them and tossing them to great heights. The game also includes four-player cooperative gameplay.

Defend Your Castle got a makeover for the Wii.

Defend Your Castle isn't the only WiiWare game to support up to four players. Nnooo's Pop lets up to four gamers do just that, popping a field full of bubbles to earn points and string together combos. Pop sells for 700 Wii points ($7). Two more four-player games include V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack, High Voltage Software's Vegas-themed card game (700 Wii points, or $7), and TV Show King, a Gameloft-developed quiz game featuring more than 3,000 questions across six categories (1,000 Wii points, or $10).

Finally, Frontier Development is offering LostWinds, a side-scrolling platform game that uses the Wii Remote's pointing abilities to control the direction of the wind, helping boost players over chasms or solve puzzles. Designed for one or two players, LostWinds sells for 1,000 Wii points ($10).

With the exception of the T-for-Teen-rated V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack, all of the WiiWare launch games are rated E for Everyone.

77 Comments

  • Jebril

    Posted May 13, 2008 11:29 pm PT

    What's this Lost Winds game I keep hearing about?

  • HappyBB

    Posted May 13, 2008 10:53 pm PT

    Wii does not have a hard drive, doesn't it? So where will the downloaded games be saved to? Memory cards?

  • rankoreAE

    Posted May 13, 2008 8:46 pm PT

    Look guys im going to put this as simply as i possibly can... Lost Winds... DOWNLOAD IT NOW! Stop wondering if its good because its not just good its damn amazing, so just go download it. The longer you wait the longer your missing out.

  • destrozz

    Posted May 13, 2008 8:34 pm PT

    I DL FFCC and Lost Winds both are very good games, LW is very original. As far as a Pilotwings go they need to make a new version using the Wiimote not a DL game, Ive been waiting for this since Wii was released.

  • DrewBlood08

    Posted May 13, 2008 5:52 pm PT

    I second the pilotwings motion, more so for a new installment in the series than the 64 version.

  • hawaiiinsomniac

    Posted May 13, 2008 5:34 pm PT

    I want to buy a Wii, but I am waiting for it to come with a larger hard drive. WOW, the Wii has a lot of downloadable games.

  • motang

    Posted May 13, 2008 3:20 pm PT

    Going to be getting LostWinds tonight. :-D

  • Neilo_

    Posted May 13, 2008 1:15 pm PT

    why the hell would i pay up to 15 bucks for a game i could play on my computer for free
    seriously

    5 bucks for Defend your Castle? What a joke
    7 for Balloon Pop? Its disgusting

    I know xbl is more expensive but peeweeshift is right the content is at least respectable

    Ive bought 4 games
    Bubble Bobble 5 bucks
    Blades of Steel 5 bucks
    Streets of Rage 2 8 bucks
    Star Fox 64 10 bucks

    I thought all of those games were well worth the money, and until now, i thought nintendo had the best pricing as well. So much for that opinion, because now i think they're bent on ripping off people who dont know better than to buy browser games for ridiculous prices

  • peeweeshift

    Posted May 13, 2008 1:04 pm PT

    sadly nintendo has the best pricing scheme even compared to xbl but the content isn't as good as xbl in most areas except maybe the classic games.

  • BrunoLucio

    Posted May 13, 2008 8:40 am PT

    OK, it's all very cool, but where's that Hard Disk?!?

  • Tylendal

    Posted May 13, 2008 7:58 am PT

    I can not even begin to describe how excited I am that flash game developers are making Wii-Ware games.

  • XXMadManVII

    Posted May 13, 2008 5:45 am PT

    Is Pilot Wings 64 downloadable yet????

  • kavadias1981

    Posted May 13, 2008 3:27 am PT

    @KoR_Wraith - I totally agree

  • KoR_Wraith

    Posted May 13, 2008 2:29 am PT

    IGN have reviews on a few of these launch titles:
    http://uk.wii.ign.com/

    Gamespot always give Wii the lowest priority so don't expect any WiiWare reviews from them for at least another week...

  • 2w-sephiroth

    Posted May 13, 2008 2:23 am PT

    "allmybase:
    *waits for the masses to demand that Castle Crashers come to WiiWare*"

    You have read my mind!!! I want that game so bad! But... I think we need a HD for that first... come on nintendo, you have USB drives and a 20Gb HD would cost peanuts! Even to design! hell!

  • ArfenZard15

    Posted May 13, 2008 2:04 am PT

    Soooo er yeah when's this gonna hit Europe!?

  • Merl57

    Posted May 13, 2008 12:20 am PT

    no achievements and Its a pain to play with friends so im only gonna buy classic stuff

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted May 12, 2008 11:52 pm PT

    Aww Defend your castle's blood got axed.

  • star77241

    Posted May 12, 2008 10:07 pm PT

    I'd like to get LostWinds but I need a review to read first. I also kind of want the quiz game but only if there's going to be free or really cheap sets of questions for download in the future.

  • StrawberryWiz

    Posted May 12, 2008 9:52 pm PT

    Nice. But when is it coming to Australia? I'm still eagerly waiting!!

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  • Rank:
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    WII Rank:
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  • Everyone Rating Description

    Titles rated E (Everyone) have content that may be suitable for ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and/or infrequent use of mild language. Learn more

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