New Wii download service (not VC) coming, hints Impossible Mission dev
by Ross Miller 
{ May 22nd 2007 at 2:15PM }
System 3 CEO Mark Cale, whose company is updating the Commodore 64 title Impossible Mission, has told PAL Gaming Network that a new service for downloading content on Nintendo Wii is forthcoming and that Nintendo should be making an announcement within the next two months."I wouldn't say Virtual Console, because they're not actually calling it the Virtual Console," he said, while suggesting that Nintendo's service will be similar to how Microsoft has set up Xbox Live. A separate Wii "Game Channel" for original content has been mentioned before by Hudson Entertainment director of marketing John Lee.
Is Nintendo considering revamping its download service or simply augmenting what's there? We certainly wouldn't be opposed to a better way of organizing or VC titles. Nothing is official and such a download system, if true, might be nixed before public unveiling.
Cale went on to say that Microsoft are "years ahead" of Sony and Nintendo regarding their ability to provide downloadable content and later added that he expects the Nintendo to "roll out their strategy" within the next two months.
[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
JodyAnthony @ May 22nd 2007 2:21PM
awesome. I love downloadable games. As much as I like to have the actual packaging and a physical disc and everything, instant gratification is much more satisfying.
Jerk Face @ May 22nd 2007 2:23PM
This could be really good news if it pans out. One of the greatest thing about XBLA is the revamped classic titles and cheap, creative new games. This would make that Wii of mine seem a little less like a novelty item.
AJ Vaynerchuk @ May 22nd 2007 2:28PM
Maybe this is where the new Geometry Wars will fit in?
------------------------------------------
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Founder: WiiTube
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Jack of No Trades @ May 22nd 2007 2:29PM
Wow!
Nintendo is giving us everything we wanted. They are the best company in the world. This new made my day.
Heliophage @ May 22nd 2007 2:29PM
So... what's actually happening?
I'm more confused than excited. If it's an XBLA-esque deal, that's definitely good. If they're just reworking the VC, that's not all that exciting.
Original titles could offer more use out of the Wiimote. I definitely wouldn't mind that.
X_Arre @ May 22nd 2007 2:35PM
I can't tell if it's an imposter or is Jack of No Trades is just really, REALLY high...
Fernando Rocker @ May 22nd 2007 2:38PM
@Jack of No Trades
You are scaring me...
The new Jack of No Trades is creppy... I prefer the anti-nintendo Jack of No Trades
megaStryke @ May 22nd 2007 2:39PM
It's Jack, alright. He's just being inconspicuous. I can only imagine the big shit-eating grin he's wearing as he types that stuff. This is best day for blogging EVAR!
bombtrak @ May 22nd 2007 2:44PM
I'm sorry...I enjoy my Wii (and DS for that matter) as much as the next guy, but one thing about the Big N really bothers me: their lack of online strategy. Hell, last generation they claimed online wasn't what gamers wanted. Now they're playing catch-up.
As a system touted as a way to bring people together, wouldn't have made sense to "roll out their [online] strategy" before rolling out their product? So many games already released could've been must-haves for a larger gaming audience if they'd had online play out of the box. Ex. Wii Sports. I'd play that game every night if I could box or play tennis against my family that live 800 miles away.
Jack of No Trades @ May 22nd 2007 2:47PM
X_Arre
Im the real one.
Quote From C. Grant (The Holy One)
"Jack of No Trades, one more bias word from your mouth and you will face the wrath of Christopher Grant. I will push my all that is Nintendo Holy Delete Button. This button will slay the demons that talk through you fingertips. Bow down before me Jack. Bow down to the Holy One. From the Weblogs heavens I forsaken you!"
LongshotX @ May 22nd 2007 2:52PM
This is such great news. I can`t wait.
JodyAnthony @ May 22nd 2007 2:53PM
#10, hahahahaha
Almack64 @ May 22nd 2007 2:53PM
@10 Wow lol.
So you guys all need to watch out for the might hand P. Frant or you too might be emasculated like Jack. Be afraid be very afraid.
Vidikron @ May 22nd 2007 2:55PM
@5
That's what I'm hoping for. Some cheap small games that make use of the Wiimote. I'll finally have a reason to spend my Wii Points.
Almack64 @ May 22nd 2007 2:56PM
In anycase I'm happy that Nintendo is getting over its fame shock. (Oh Noes we never thought the Wii could be such a success) It finally seems they are getting their act togther. I really think next year is going to be a great year to be a Nintendo fan. It's been been a long time coming.
J @ May 22nd 2007 3:04PM
I love nintendo, I really do, but their online strategy is broken. One thing that really bothers me is that each game is its own channel. Why not have a SNES, NES, Genesis, and TG16 channel? It would make the 'dashboard' look less cluttered, and (assuming we eventually get sd/hard drive save space) it would hold more games.
Anyway, more on topic: I do hope nintendo opens up the VC to original titles, I just hope they incorporate it into the shopping channel rather than toss in yet another channel. Also, unless we get some kind of external storage means, the file size limit on original games will have to be incredibly small.
X_Arre @ May 22nd 2007 3:02PM
@ 15 Almack64
What about this year? MP3, SSBB.....?
When the hell is Galaxy coming out?
Kye @ May 22nd 2007 3:04PM
*he slaps Jack ONT*
Enough of that happy sh*t, lets go back to bashing please.
JodyAnthony @ May 22nd 2007 3:06PM
Im sure they could have like a 50mb limit like xbla used to have with no problem.
Jack of No Trades @ May 22nd 2007 3:09PM
Nintendo could care less about the consumer. They might get their online service working ok but it won't be anything to jump for. My friend code is 57673524652456573563523462456457 the second half is 23436453. Hit me up sometime.
verdigris @ May 22nd 2007 3:11PM
I'm sure if they can put out SMB64 with no problem they can work some original titles in tehre just fine. Looking forward to it!
verdigris @ May 22nd 2007 3:12PM
And I'm pretty sure those are bias comments Jack is posting. Grant, do the world a favor and bannorize him. For the good of Joystiq.
megaStryke @ May 22nd 2007 3:12PM
Aaaaaaand Jack broke down. I didn't think he'd be able to put up the façade for the rest of the day.
Vidikron @ May 22nd 2007 3:14PM
@19
That's kind of a quandry. Trust me, you really don't want a limit like that in place. It caused issues with delays, shortcuts, and games like Lumines being broken up into pieces on XBLA. MS finally had to raise the limit.
But on the other hand you have the Wii's relatively tiny storage compared to the 360 and PS3. One solution could be to allow games to run off the SD cards.
Hopefully Nintendo has a plan in place for this... one that doesn't involving ripping off consumers like they did with their tiny and overpriced GC memory cards that they incrementally increased in size to squeeze the most out of their fanbase >:(
samfish @ May 22nd 2007 3:15PM
"Enough of that happy sh*t, lets go back to bashing please."
Yeah, Jack. Here, let me give you some incentive...
Oblivion sucks on the PS3 and it's even worse on the 360. If they REALLY wanted to make Oblivion not suck, they would have made it exclusive to the Wii.
It's not like you're really getting any new experiences in Oblivion, gameplay-wise. Blah blah blah, been there, done that. Same game, different pile.
It might have been an OK game, however, if they put it on a GOOD console and implemented motion controls. At least then it'd feel fresh.
Almack64 @ May 22nd 2007 3:16PM
X-Arre,
Those individual games will be awesome (and there already are great games) but I still see this year as a year of prepearation. Everything is slowly coming together; online, new channels, 3rd Party support, etc. By the beginning of next year all that will be in order and things can progress as a united force. I feel about the wii the same way I feel about the Dreamcast (RIP). Only difference is Nintendo has the money to support the system thanks to the previous sucess of the DS.
JodyAnthony @ May 22nd 2007 3:19PM
Vidikron, reasons I think a 50 mb limit would work for nintendo:
-Games are in SD, not HD. Less storage space for graphics
-They would probably be very simple games. I dont think the simpler games for xbla had any problem with storage, just the more expansive games. I may be wrong about this, not positive
-The Wii target market. Even though many of us 'real gamers' might not want nothing but simple games, many people do. This download service would be great for party games and the like
-The storage space (or lack thereof) on Wii. The main reason that something like a 50 mb limit would be necessary.
Granted of course it would be better if there was no limit in place, but I'd take the limit if it meant more fun, cheap games to play.
Jack of No Trades @ May 22nd 2007 3:21PM
samfish
SYSTEM OVERLOAD!
WHAAAAAAAT!
You can't diss that! The Wii would explode trying to render the forest found in Oblivion.
Al Goldstein @ May 22nd 2007 3:25PM
Nintendo should just release a hard drive already. I know there not, but they should.
megaStryke @ May 22nd 2007 3:32PM
@Al
Or at least allow us to use those USB ports in the back. It's not just for decoration, Nintendo!
verdigris @ May 22nd 2007 3:35PM
I dunno about that Jack. Zelda:TP had some impressive forested areas... and that was for GC!
LongshotX @ May 22nd 2007 3:38PM
i can`t wait to play with these new features with my new friends jodyanthony and crono. we having a wii party 2nite. bff
Konny @ May 22nd 2007 3:40PM
Well if Cooking Mama and WarioWare qualify as freakin $50 games.. can you imagine the crap that will be available on the download service?
BIG Reub @ May 22nd 2007 3:45PM
Chris,
It pains me to write this letter. I have long been a fan of this site, you, and your contributing staff; however, I do not believe that I will continue to patronize your site going forward.
I understand the issue of attempting to maintain decency and decorum within the public forums on your site but I feel that your attempts to do so have taken a turn towards their own form of indecency.
No mater if we like what some one says or how they say it, any public forum in which speech is squelched grieves me greatly. We exist in a precarious time and the behaviors of each of us will shape the future. So, why you may believe that your blog about video games carries no weight in the world, I assure you it does.
You%u2019re response may be that this is a commercial endeavor and you can do as you see fit. You sir, would be correct in that assumption. But, as personal culpability is concerned, where do you and you staff stand, if you stand at all? If members of this community are banished because you don%u2019t like what they say, what%u2019s next? Should I be banished from my local coffee shop for discussing politics with another patron? Should I not be allowed to read a controversial book in my neighborhood park? Should I be arrested for speaking out against what I feel is a dangerous course?
And lastly dear Christopher, believe it or not this is a community. While I can this of only a few occasion where Jody, Jack, and Sheepy haven%u2019t said something that I categorically disagree with I find myself searching out their comments to see how they have contributed to my day. They never disappoint. I am not alone in this sentiment (the comments speak for themselves). So by continuing down this path not only have you set aside the rights of others but you have said loudly and with out hesitation that either you don%u2019t respect your customers or you simply do not care weather or not they are happy with your product.
So, I%u2019ve said my piece and I%u2019ll hang around a few days to see how this whole thing turns out and you can decide weather or not my voice will be heard hear again.
Sincerely,
Reuben %u201CBIG Reub%u201D Lewis
JodyAnthony @ May 22nd 2007 3:43PM
what i would like to know is why the wii version of twilight princess wasn't twice as large as the gamecube version? or did they just use the power of the second gamecube to mirror the world?
whosmav @ May 22nd 2007 4:02PM
When will people stop ripping on the friend code? Its not a bad idea. I'd keep my Animal Crossing away from all the random scrubs I punish on Tetris. Whatever I guess i'm the minority but seriously, what about the friend code is stopping you from playing with your friends?
Rubang B @ May 22nd 2007 4:02PM
From what I understand, Nintendo's going to keep the Virtual Console for unaltered games that originated on consoles, and have the new channel for original IPs and some revamped classics. Impossible Mission makes more sense on the new channel than launching a whole Commodore 64 section on the VC for just one game. Geometry Wars could end up on this new channel, and the Sam & Max season definitely will.
And 512MB seems to be enough memory for now. SD cards are getting bigger and cheaper every day, so by the time Wii owners actually need more memory it'll be growing on trees. For example: Puzzle Quest is the best game in the universe and it's only 16 MB. 16 MB of heaven.
@#17, I agree. I expect that to be an option after a firmware update as soon as the number of VC games gets ridiculous. Maybe at 200 VC games Nintendo will remember to clean up the channels like that.
verdigris @ May 22nd 2007 4:09PM
@BIG Reub
This site is run by AOL. You have to free spech on the internet on someone else's site. Get over it.
I, for one, got really tired of hearing Jack say the same thing, followed by Jody saying the same thing in response. And now Jack is just more annoying than ever.
Kudos Joystiq, run YOUR site the way YOU want to.
verdigris @ May 22nd 2007 4:11PM
You have no free spech, not to free spech... which makes no sense
JodyAnthony @ May 22nd 2007 4:13PM
"free spech" doesn't make sense either.
Jack of No Trades @ May 22nd 2007 4:14PM
verdigris
Kudos to joystiq?
This is the same site to almost ban me for saying bias shit against Nintendo yet post some bias news against sony a couple hours later? Screw that.
JodyAnthony @ May 22nd 2007 4:17PM
also what is the problem people have with me? im probably the only person on here daily that doesnt trash ANY of the consoles.
LongshotX @ May 22nd 2007 5:01PM
JodyAnthony
There is nothing wrong with you buddy. You are so bright and cheerful. You always bring great information in your posts, and evidence to back it up! I think you are a shining example of what it means to be a good Joystiqer. I know we've had our problems in the past but I finally see everything you said in regards to the Wii. It is just a perfect system. Nintendo really out did themselves. There isn't any reason I shouldn't be dumping more money into their pockets. I mean who need HD! Who needs Online multiplayer. Or outlandish CPUS, GPUS, CELLS, AND BLURAYS, GUIDE BUTTONS, ETC? There is no need for these things. Its all about gameplay and the Wii is revolutionizing how we interact and play our games. I use to believe the Xbox 360 was the answer to satiate my thirst for good games but it is really the Wii. I enjoy Wii Sports, and slapping people in Godfather, and Cooking Mama with my Momma, and Wii Play (I even got a controller with it, What value!), and the plethora of new gen titles this console has to offer. So anyway, I am now a Wii Fanboy. No more Halo 3 for me. Its all about Nintendo.
Ex-360 Fanboy
Kenny @ May 22nd 2007 5:09PM
@BIG Reub
Joystiq is not a public forum. It's a private business. And if they don't want their site to turn into Gamefaqs with a bunch of 13-year olds cursing 'cuz they think its cool, they're going to have to lay down the law. Any site that has well administered forums usually has the best forums. Those that are more lenient, tend to be garbage.
And yes... you can be thrown out of a coffee shop today for causing a scene, cursing at people, verbally assaulting them, etc. There's no such thing as absolute free speech.
Crono @ May 22nd 2007 5:07PM
Don't you mean Ex-PS3 fanboy?
Jonathan Tran @ May 22nd 2007 5:13PM
What would help with channels is if
1. There was, as suggested, a N64 channel, a Genesis channel, etc
2. You could "zoom out" and see more channels at once, or zoom in if you only use 4 of them
3. You could run games off of SD (there is no reason the wii shouldn't be able to handle running Kirby Adventure off an SD card!)
Also, I noticed that Kirby has some slowdown on the VC. Is this for authenticity or is the Wii just 2 NES duct taped together?
Kye @ May 22nd 2007 5:16PM
LongshotX
don't do that, thats scary. First J.O.N.T gets soppy, now this? This day is too weird.
Im going to watch CSI Miami now, after Horatio kicks ass and takes names I expect you both to be back to normal.
sick of bitchy babies @ May 22nd 2007 5:43PM
You know, the brain level of some of the commentors on this site is a pretty sad fucking state of affairs.
Jack of no trades...prolly bang on...you never offer anything useful. You think you're funny...or phun-nay...I don't know what you think you are.
I do know you're a parasite on this site. Why don't you: get a fucking job, get a life, stop jerking off to fictional characters in video games, stop holding the proverbial balls of some multi-million dollar companies (hint: they don't care about you or your wasted life).....your pro-tendo comments are just the nail in the coffin for me.
I'm audi joystiq. Shoulda banned this kid and others like him long ago....the blogs here are nothing more than little kids quarreling amounst each other about who's dad could beat up who's dad.
Pretty fucking sad. Pretty FU-CK-ING sad. Letting a group of un-empolyed basement dwellers run the site.
Crono @ May 22nd 2007 5:59PM
Dude, you must be totally sick of yourself.
BIG Reub @ May 22nd 2007 6:05PM
Kenny,
Point one is that they are a publicly traded company in the business of providing a public forum. Just like it is illegal for a privatively held business to discriminate I question the legality of a private business to limit "certain inalienable rights". However, more than questioning the legality of the practice I question it prudence.
Secondly, Kenny, I do not believe the persons I spoke of ever created a disturbance on this forum similar to the examples you gave. I do agree that it is necessary to remove nuisances to ensure that this forum can be enjoyed by all I don't believe that these individuals fall into that category. And frankly, Kenny, I find your often pointed and argumentative tone to be much more disturbing to my other wise enjoyable web surfing than anything these guys have ever come up with. Correct me if I am mistaken but I once remember you hoping for some one to get "cancer and die". Hmmmmmm.
@Jody...I like you! I just don't always agree with you. Nuff said. (Do you need a hug?)
On Topic - No more redundant channels. I go to VC to buy games. That's it.
Ok, I'm supposed to be boycotting! Damn it Kenny, you poorly worded and ill conceived rant demand me to sprinkle a little intellect on it! Damn it!