GDC08: Some WiiWare details from the Wii Menu talk

Nintendo's Takashi Aoyama took the stage this morning in front of an enormous crowd to talk about the development of the Wii Menu interface, and the concurrent development of the system's features. The major news at this presentation is branding and confirmation of some pay content online (including, possibly, fee-based online play), video of a WiiWare game, and confirmation that the Everybody's Nintendo Channel (which offers videos, screenshots, and also DS demo downloads) is still planned for release in the U.S. and Europe for an unspecified time. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed, so here's a screen of the highlighted WiiWare game from developer Frontier's homepage.

The WiiWare game is called LostWinds and is a side-scroller controlled by the Nunchuk. The Wiimote pointer controls gusts of wind that can affect the character, enemies, and onscreen items. The visual style is very green and sort of Crystal-Chronicles-like. No information about release date or cost was given, but a video was shown.

The Everybody's Nintendo Channel "assists in finding software suited to the user's unique taste and/or play style" by allowing people who have played games for at least an hour to vote, and also providing information, screens, and videos about new games. This information will also be available with WiiWare. Aoyama said that the service is indeed planned for the U.S. and Europe, but didn't say when. He demonstrated the channel with a video showing a Wii Fit trailer.

The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection "Pay&Play" content will include games that are not free to play online. The icon is the same, but orange and surrounded with a rectangle with a "Pay&Play" label. This content would use Wii Points and would include both WiiWare and disc games. No specifics (of course!) but Guitar Hero III DLC seems like a possibility.

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gd...wii-menu-talk/