Iwata Talks WiConnect24, Virtual Console

By Rob Galbreath / Thursday, 01 June 2006

Gaming site Tech-On recently scored an interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata regarding the plans for new games on the Virtual Console service, and the possibilities of WiiConnect24. "Let's say your Wii is connected to the Internet in a mode that allows activation on a 24-hour basis," said Iwata. "This would allow Nintendo to send monthly promotional demos for the DS, during the night, to the Wii consoles in each household. Users would wake up each morning, find the LED lamp on their Wii flashing, and know that Nintendo has sent them something. They would then be able to download the promotional demo from their Wii's to their Nintendo DS's. "This will, of course, be possible in gaming stores too," continued Iwata, "but I think users will enjoy being able to do this within their homes. The key merit here is having promotional material delivered to your home, instead of having to go collect it yourself." In regards to Virtual Console, Iwata said the problem with creating a packaged game to be priced at 5,000 yen, about $45 USD, is that developers tend to feel the need to create a rich game. "Yet it is possible to create a reasonably entertaining game in two months with a team of three. Offering such games for 500 yen [about $5 USD] over a network could lead to a reasonable number of people purchasing it. By offering an environment that allows this, we hope to encourage more developers to pursue basic yet enjoyable gameplay. "Eating French cuisine or a full dinner each day would quickly lead to boredom, wouldn't it? You'll want a simple bowl of rice and soup every now and then. Our intention with the Wii is to propose an alternate approach to gaming business, as the gaming industry is currently far too single-minded." The full article can be found here. Stay on The Wiire for more information regarding Nintendo's next-generation console.