WiiCade: Wii's User-Designed Game Community Arises?
Source http://www.nintendogal.com/
While by now we've all heard about the various options for gaming on the Wii including GameCube games, Virtual Console games, or Wii games themselves, a fourth method for play on Nintendo's brand new console is gaining some attention.
WiiCade, project of artist/designer David Stubbs, Aaron Worrall, and John Eysman, is a brand new website launching alongside the Wii itself on Sunday, November 19. The site will feature Flash games which have been designed specifically to be played on the Wii via the Opera web browser. Additionally, by accessing the site via PC, users can design and upload their own Flash applications to the site -- in a fashion similar to Newgrounds -- to be enjoyed by other Wii users worldwide.
The site will offer 15 games on launch day, two of which are exclusive titles that make unique use of the Wii remote. The games will be vector-based, so they will scale well on any television while providing smooth visuals.
No information is yet available on how much -- if any -- money the site will charge to play. It is also unclear how the site's plans will be affected if the Opera browser is unavailable on launch day, as some reports have recently suggested.
The site can be accessed at www.wiicade.com, although there is only a "coming soon" splash page up at the moment.
Nothing gets techies salivating over a console like homebrew, and WiiCade should help the Wii develop a community around user-designed software and win its way into more homes. It'll also encourage more use of the Opera browser. Seems a great idea, and I'll definitely be checking it out when I get my Wii set up.
