Wiiware

Nintendo have just released the list of the Wiiware games due for the release of the service on 20 May (just one week away).

The list is surprisingly different to the launch list in Japan and America and is as follow:

• Dr. Mario & Germ Buster (Nintendo, Puzzle, 1–4 players, 3+ PEGI)
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (Square Enix, Simulation, 1 player, 7+)
• LostWinds (Frontier, Platform Adventure, 1–2 players, 7+)
• Pirates: The Key of Dreams (Oxygen Interactive, Action, 1-4 players, 3+)
• Pop (Nnooo, Puzzle/Shooter, 1-4 players, 3+)
• Star Soldier R (Hudson Soft, Shooter, 1 player, 7+)
• Toki Tori (Two Tribes, Puzzle / Platform, 1–2 players, 3+)
• TV Show King (Gameloft, Trivia, TV Quiz, 1–4 players, 3+)

I will likely be getting LostWinds from the above and at some stage Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (although not initially as I do not have enough time to play it at present).

There are also a couple of other games due out on Wiiware that I am interested in, namely Eternity’s Child and World of Goo, neither of which are on the launch list, but are hopefully due in the future. In addition to this there is also the Sam and Max game due later this year which is a must buy.

My only concern, which looking online is also shared, is that that the 512mb flash memory of the Wii will fill up at an alarming rate. I know that you can swap games back and forth between a SD card, but this is cumbersome way to manage your games. I’m betting that come E3 nintendo are going to announce a hard drive for the Wii, or maybe more likely a USB flash memory drive from which you can play Wiiware games.

Anyway, it’s good to see some original downloadable games coming to the Wii…