Pocket Gamer: Nintendo looking to revamp DSiWare, compete against PSP Minis

by Ben Gilbert on Aug 22nd 2009 7:00PM

According to the UK's Pocket Gamer, Nintendo is launching a new initiative to reinvigorate the DSi's digital distribution platform, DSiWare. Though prices will stick to the current model ($2, $5, $9), the piece reports that developers will have a lower barrier to entry for publishing their games on the DSiWare store. Nintendo apparently still has some say over developer pricing, as it will charge developers different rates based on a game's file size -- the example given being a $5 game must be under 200MBs, otherwise Nintendo charges a higher royalty rate.

After Sony announced the upcoming Minis for the PSP this week, it appears as though Nintendo has responded. Considering the fairly light support that the company has offered in the way of DSiWare -- that is, if you're not into themed clocks and, um, more clocks -- we're hoping that this effort will revitalize the downloadable game catalog on Nintendo's newest handheld.

Source

Tags: digital-distribution, dlc, DS, dsi, dsiware, minis, Nintendo

Reader Comments (72)

Nintendo's DSi-ware has been nothing short of disappointing, even ten months after its introduction here in Japan.

Funny...I barely here anything about this DSiWare. Nothing.

Doesn't 'reinvigorate' imply that it was, erm, 'invigorated' at some point to begin with?

I could have told you guys it was going to be disappointing when it was announced (well...I probably did), seeing as they allow all of their services and system lineups to be filled with crap.

Don't expect much to change.

you probably did... but if we didn't read it within a few seconds it would have become pale, insubstantial and unreadable.

However if we had been able to read it, i'm sure we'd have all been in agreement with your well thought out, experience-based, deeply fair analysis of their as-yet unreleased service.

The smart ones would have been in agreement so later on...like now for instance, they wouldn't be commenting on how disappointed they are with dsiware, cause they would have seen it coming.

@t_m

LMAO yeah that pretty much sums up the public opinion of tmac here at Joystiq, hence your 3 hearted rating. God that was priceless.

@tmac

is there ever a post you write that doesn't boast some notion of you "foreseeing" something, or "telling us all how it is going to be" or some other inconsequential bullshit?

all i know is that i got mighty flip champs, flipnote studio and mario vs. donkey kong 3 out of it... and so far, thats all i need.

Change name from DSiWare to Virtual Portable and of course put NES/SNES/anything short of 32 bits.

Wii gamers who already own game can transfer to SD card.

AND I'm done dreaming...

what's the point? you could just buy a flash card. they need original games, not remakes, clocks, or ports.

Have you ever played an good NES or SNES game? Oh wait, no.

Are you kidding me? The SNES was the pinnacle of JRPG and 2D platformer achievement. You had great adventure games like Secret of Evermore/Mana, the Megaman X series, Mario World and A Link to the Past, Final Fight, DK Country, FFIV and FFVI, Illusion of Gaia, Ogre Battle, etc.
The NES is old now, sure, but it paved the way with SMB 1-3, both Zeldas, the original Megaman, Battletoads, Double Dragon, Contra, Ninja Gaiden, Star Tropics, etc.
They may be difficult by today's standards of unlimited continues and infinite lives, but that doesn't mean they weren't/aren't fun.

You forgot Gameboy/Gameboy Colour, Link's Awakening DX was my favorite zelda ever.

"The SNES was the pinnacle of JRPG and 2D platformer achievement."
And it had higher resolution than the DSi. Sorry, not gonna happen. :(

The SNES resolution is 256x224, and the DSi is 256x192. It makes it more unlikely, but it's still possible. They ported ALttP to the GBA very nicely.

Dreaming is good!

Does it have to be human?

you can do it

what nintendo needs to do is buy some developers so they can make more games!!! also, i don't think nintendo can compete with psp minis and iphone. why? because they don't have any developers that support them(besides ea)!!!

I wonder if those clocks and calculators sell...

Me too. I'd love to know if Nintendo is actually making money on that stuff.

The PSP has a much larger install base for this since it's available to all PSP owners and not just the latest hardware release.

And that's not accounting for the fact that PSP and the DS have hugely different audiences in terms of game consumption. On the other hand, small, cheap apps, if done right, might well be what soccer moms and grandparents are looking for out of the DS.

Nintendo playing to updating they play to remain competitively? Aurrrgheeg.

wat

exactly.

That made lawl. =)

Nice pic. Now if you'll excuse me, I must purge "Suddenly Seymour" from my brain...

Nintendo is really getting on my nerves lately. Why? Because I don't even remember the last time I bought a Wii game. I still need to get Wii Sports Resort, but other than that, I don't see anything at all. I miss titles like Super Mario Galaxy, which is one of the most amazing games I've ever played. But this year, there's nothing very compelling for me coming out this year, other than Red Steel 2 and Wii Sports Resort, where as Microsoft and Sony have tons of good stuff coming out this year. I've said this so many times and I'll say it again: Nintendo, you're awesome, but let's cut the crap.

No little kings story? If I had a wii right now I probably would have gotten that, but I'll definitely get it after x-mas.

not even new super mario bros wii???

sure, it has craptastic graphics, but it's just as fun as the ds version (unless you play with friends. you know what i mean :P)

Dang it, I feel like an idiot. How could I forget NSMBWii? Sorry, I'm feel stupid. Yeah, that should be a wonderful game.

But, downvote me if you want, but I've never heard of Little King's Story. Was it at E3? Maybe I forgot about it.

I dunno if it was at E3 but I'm pretty sure it came out later that month. Check metacritic or something, think it was averaging in the 80s last I saw it.

80s = high 90s for wii games. so yeah, it's good.

yay, i get downvoted for complimenting and insulting a mario game! i mean seriously, all i said was the graphics weren't that good(you know it's true)

They need to stop with this linking file size to price thing and have more price points avilable.

Nintendo is "revamping" DSiWare? Don't they need to "vamp" it before they can "re"vamp it?

I mean, the prefix implies that it was somewhat ok before...

+1 fine sir.

Hmm, that picture makes me hungry...Anyone wanna feed me upvotes? Anyone? Anyone? No? Yes? No? Jerkoffs.

(Kidding by the way.)

Yea, I didn't think you were hungry....

What about the FIVE ArtStyle games Nintendo published?

Aquia, Code, Picopict, Nemrem, Boxlife, and Kubos.

Also! Dr. Mario Express, Mario vs. DK: MMA, Game & Watch series (though that is more for novelty and nostalgia ... and it is not out yet), and Planet Puzzle League DSi.

Sadly, yet not surprisingly, Japan has more quality stuff than the West.

Electroplankton, Dragon Quest Wars, Phantasy Star Zero Mini, etc.

I am not trying to say that the service is in fantastic shape. However, it is not absolutely abysmal, and I am glad that Sony is putting pressure on Nintendo to beef things up. Competition is king.

The only thing stopping me from buying a DSi is the lack of a Virtual Console for Game Boy games. The Wii VC deserves Game Boy games too, but I'd be more than happy if it's a DSi exclusive. Nintendo have a history of playing full screen Game Boy games on TVs anyway...

true, i remember the Super Game Boy for the SNES and the GBA Player for Gamecube. As well as the transfer pack for Pokemon for the N64

yeah not sure why they can't see that rereleasing nes/snes games and gb/gba games wouldn't be the answer. they'd sell tons. and not sure why they release a cell phone ff game on the wii and not the DS? it's like they really don't have much faith in dsware at all. i love my ds (and dsi), but gamewise it seems to be working its way towards the end of its lifecycle.

That'll be the only way they'll convince me to splurge on a DSi (at least until they start making DSi exclusive games, which i think was an empty promise). I didn't budge from my Phat when they announced Lite, and i'm not budging now.

But how could a DSi game be 200 MBs? The thing has 256 MB of internal memory, and a chunk of that has to go to firmware (just like the Wii)

to answer your question about how it can store 200MB+ games, it has SD card support.

also, the DSi is really appealing to me. it does have bigger screens, and more RAM, and a bunch of other improvements over the DS lite. and the absence of the GBA slot doesn't affect me since i have all my favorite GBA games on my hacked PSP.

The article meant 20MB, not 200.

Khan,

The DSi is actually a pretty sweet upgrade if you are still rocking the Phat. Keep the Phat for nostalgia's sake, and you'll be amazed at the screens on the DSi and also the brightness settings.

The new OS (if you will) or interface or whatever you want to call it is pretty slick too. It just feels more in line with the Wii.

I agree with other peoples comments on here that there needs to be a Virtual Portable option available on the store. It would REALLY make up for ditching of the GBA port.

How about they allow that Intellivision Lives collection to come out?

"hurr hurr hurr u guize a gud DSiWare gaem evri oter weeek int gud enuf 4 mi"

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Pocket Gamer: Nintendo looking to revamp DSiWare, compete against PSP Minis

Reader Comments (72)

Posted: Aug 22nd 2009 7:10PM JRMG said

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