We <3 Wii-Ware

Yesterday i downloaded my first wii-ware game. i decided to download 'lost winds' and i'm glad i did. first of all, wii-ware is relatively new concept (for nintendo that is, microsoft has the market place for the 360, and sony has some sort of online purchasing systems for the ps3.) brought out on mothers day with a system update from nintendo. the whole idea is to bring games, good games, from small time developers to the masses without the large price tag. your not gonna find a wii-ware game that is gonna cost you anymore then 1500 (15 bucks) but you're gonna find fresh new ideas that in my opinion are better then some of the software available on cd for 50+ dollars. in the days of underground gaming the best places to look were new grounds and ebaums world. the small, flash games were beautifully executed because they were made by the gaming public itself, not a board of graphic designers. i was a little skeptical at first, when i heard that they were embracing small time developers and bringing them to the masses, i suspected that it was just a ploy from nintendo to pump out a few games and try and get some credibility with the flash gaming community. however, on the launch day i was surprised to see the title 'protect your castle' which was a huge internet phenomenon that was released in the summer of 2003. i spent many an hour tossing stick men to their demise and watching them explode at the foot of my mighty castle. i was also really happy to see that it was made by by xgen studios which was the group of people who made the original, of course it has a few upgrades, more stick men, better graphics and what not, HOWEVER, the violence and blood has been pretty much taken out of the game so it fits more into nintendo's catalog and gets an E rating. what a shame; watching those little stick men splat in a puddle of red was quite satisfying. i however do understand why they decided to take the blood and gore out, seeing it is a download, it is available to everyone; there is no sales clerk asking you if you your 18 years of age as you buy your bright shiny new game disc. come to think of it, nintendo has embraced the little guy in the past. back in 2002 dan paladin and tom fulp released another online game, 'alien hominid' which was probably one of the best online flash games i ever played. nintnedo gave this game a chance, and a few years later offered dan and tom a spot on the nintendo game cube for a launching of 'alien hominid' to the commercial video game population. since then, at the beginning of 2007, 'alien hominid' was turned into a high definition 1080i game for download on the xbox live market place. like i said, i have only downloaded one game, 'lost winds' and am really happy with my 5 bucks spent, the game play is fresh with innovative controls, not to mention, its a side scroller. ever since the adoption of the joystick onto ALL console controllers we never ever ever see side scrollers anymore, but this game really delivers. i hope nintendo keeps this up, and it becomes more excepted to download larger and larger games instead of buying everything on software. it probably wont, seeing nintendo would be shooting itself in the foot by lowering sales in in software... hopefully it works itself out. i'm think i'm gonna go home after class and download 'pop'. cheers!

just a quick side note: i just went over the release titles for wii-ware and there are some really promising looking games in the works, especially next months, homestar runner game, which will be released in five episodes, all of them point and click adventure games, i can't even wait.