Q&A: 100-plus WiiWare titles in development

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So you're only looking for games? How about nongame applications for the Wii?
Prata: The content should be entertaining and add value to consumers. Whether it's defined as a game or an application, I'm not so sure.

Will content be region-specific on WiiWare?
Prata: Yes. The content creators themselves will be responsible for making the game. And then let's say it's a European developer and they want to localize for the North American market. They basically will need to work with Nintendo of America as it relates to that, and then go through the quality-checking process to make it available on the market. And vice versa with American developers wanting to go into Europe.

Do you think WiiWare will appeal more to large publishers or indie developers?
Prata: Eighty percent of the games we're seeing are coming from entities which haven't published on Nintendo platforms before. That said, there are still major publishers that are participating. As you can see from the press announcement, Square Enix is bringing Final Fantasy, so it's really open to any development community. The bulk of the content in the early stages will probably come from more independent-type companies.

There won't be one price--there will be a variety of pricing. And it's not based on the number of game play hours or the volume of game play.

OK, so what's the process for a developer to start using WiiWare?
Prata: So if you have an idea, you can build it. The key component is you'll want to notify our development support group and fill out a simple project sheet to make us aware of the game. It's a very special thing, with just basic information about the content itself, and then you're free to go off and make the game. We do a quick check of the content to make sure there are no red flags, but once again we're not judging the content--that's really for the consumer to decide.

So you go off and make it as you would any other type of Wii application. We use that project sheet for scheduling purposes. Then the developer delivers a candidate to Nintendo for the (quality control) process. Once it passes our lot check or QC process, then we will work with the developer to determine when it will be made available on the Wii channel.

So basically Nintendo will have final say on what gets on the WiiWare channel?
Prata: To some extent yes. But we're not in a position that we're judging the idea. We want the developer to come up with the idea. So we have only made a few restrictions--not content restrictions, but we're not supporting an in-game advertising model, and we're not supporting the developer retrieval of consumer data.

What about content that's violent or overtly sexual?
Prata: Again we're not putting those types of restrictions on. The developer will be required to secure the appropriate rating from the (Entertainment Software Rating Board), and we will abide by the ESRB's rating policy.

Who owns the (intellectual property)?
Prata: The content creator.

How is the pricing decided?
Prata: We haven't gone into details as it relates to pricing. The only thing we've discussed is there won't be one price--there will be a variety of pricing. And it's not based on the number of gameplay hours or the volume of gameplay--we don't like to think about content and value as relating to price.

Will you set any limitations on size of the final game download?
Prata: We really want people to be focusing on the game content itself and not concerned with filling up some massive storage device. The issue is that the more requirements we put on developers, the more difficult it is for them. We really want this space to be about the game, and not about other types of products.

With that said, Virtual Console has more than 200 games available, and some of the most loved games are fairly compact in data size. So there's a tremendous number of things people can do in terms of gameplay and entertainment and not be so concerned about making large experiences.

Randolph Ramsay of GameSpot Australia reported from San Francisco.