Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 25, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
According to pressetext, software group Microsoft and game-console manufacturer Nintendo have announced that they are opening their Xbox 360 and Wii products to external programmers.
Nintendo intends to offer games for download through the new WiiWare Internet platform. Software companies are to be granted access to the online system so that they can distribute their own offerings through the site. Microsoft is now also making the XNA software development kit available to hobby programmers. Until now, developers could use only the Arcade system through a cooperation agreement with Microsoft. In addition, Microsoft intends to offer new community features on the Xbox Live platform.
“Until now, the community games have not been presented to a broad public, but could only be exchanged among members within the community,” Xbox Marketing Manager Thomas Kritsch explains in an interview with pressetext. “There are currently seven games by hobby programmers available for free download. Further community games will be released during the year. What the future pricing for these games will look like has not yet been decided,” Kritsch says. Microsoft subjects new developments by Xbox Live members to quality control in order to avoid obscene content, for example.
Although original Wii games will also be distributed through the new Nintendo distribution channel, the platform is to be open to external developers entirely without intervention by the group. “Alongside the well-known, larger publishers, less well-known developers and smaller teams are also to be able to offer their games,” a company announcement states. It currently remains unclear how access to the system will be allocated to programmers and what the distribution terms or pricing for “third-party software” will look like. The opening is intended to expand the breadth of the offering and address new target groups.
Microsoft does not see WiiWare as additional competition resulting from a possible overlap in the offering. “We have already been offering the service Nintendo wants to introduce with WiiWare very successfully through Xbox Arcade since the product launch. There is a relatively clear distinction between Xbox Arcade products and community games,” the manager says. “In addition, the customer already owns the respective console before using our platform or WiiWare,” Kritsch emphasises to pressetext. The range of games is now being expanded further with community games from hobby programmers.
Further information:
- Wii
Xbox
