Nintendo No Longer Supports WiiWare Demos

[Greg Tito]

Nintendo No Longer Supports WiiWare Demos

As of January 31st, you can no longer download demos of WiiWare games and Nintendo gave no indication that demos will be returning.

WiiWare developers and fans clamored for years for Nintendo to implement the ability to download demos of the games available on the service. Nintendo capitulated and as of November 16th, 2009, you could download demos of Pokemon Rumble, World of Goo [http://www.amazon.com/World-Goo-Pc/dp/B001ENOVP2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1279574793&sr=1-1], Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Dark Lord, Bit.Trip Beat and NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits. By all accounts, the service was a success for both gamers and developers. But Nintendo intended the demo download service to be only an experiment and pulled them down on January 31st, and didn't really explain why.

"The WiiWare demo experiment ended on Jan. 31, 2010," a Nintendo representative said. "From the start the demo program was always planned to be available for a limited time on a trial basis."

Whether that means a more robust system will arrive in its place or if Nintendo is permanently discontinuing it remains to be seen.

If it is gone forever, then gamers will lose the ability to test games out before they buy them, and developers might see a drop in sales because of the barrier for entry.

"I can say that interest definitely spiked for Bit.Trip Beat (I mean who doesn't like free?) when the demo hit and that sales certainly picked up because of it," said Gail Salamanca of Aksys Games.

Compared to Xbox Live and the PSN, Nintendo's online marketplace is definitely feature-poor. Sure there are some good games there, and releasing their back catalog is great, but not having the ability to try out games seems counter-intuitive to a successful business model.

Source: G4TV []


Permalink

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

That's a damn shame, sales will indeed suffer due to that, hopefully it will return in the future. I mean it wouldn't make sense to omit such a feature at all.

Hell they had a demo system on Smash Bros. Brawl. I'm sure VC sales spiked after that.

 

[MetaKnight19]

That's kind of stupid on Nintendo's part. But hopefully they will return.

 

[Swaki]

...I'm sorry but where is the news here, apparently this all happened back in January, was the statement the news or is it a typo?

 

[Aura Guardian]

That's kind of stupid on Nintendo's part.

Very stupid. That's why I rarely buy WiiWare titles.

 

[TheNumber1Zero]

I don't really download demos, so this won't affect me too much, crying shame for others though.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

...I'm sorry but where is the news here, apparently this all happened back in January, was the statement the news or is it a typo?

Oddly enough, if you hadn't heard about it until you read this, it's news.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

...I'm sorry but where is the news here, apparently this all happened back in January, was the statement the news or is it a typo?

I never heard about it, and it was less than two weeks ago... it's not like it's something from months ago.

 

[SantoUno]

So they are expecting people to just take the risk and spend their cash (points) on games they are not sure if they will like?

Ah, the greed, they want to take advantage of buyer's remorse, screw you cheapskates.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

So, they're already gone, eh?

 

[Alone Disciple]

That blows big time. Now it's even going to be tougher to know what is shovel-ware for the Wii.

 

[thenoblitt]

Thats a wee bit of a gyp right there

 

[Katana314]

Nintendo needs to put away the Cane-Sword.

Gumshoe: "A sword-cane, huh? It's a good thing it wasn't a cane-sword, or the victim would have stabbed her own foot!"
Phoenix: "(...I officially give up on trying to figure out how Detective Gumshoe's mind works.)"

OK, maybe if I have to explain it, the joke is less funny.

 

[Mr. Gency]

The Wii had demos!? Damn it! It's like Hulu on PS3 all over again!

 

[Jared]

That's kind of stupid on Nintendo's part. But hopefully they will return.

I hope the same too, it was fun whilst it lasted

 

[hansari]

not having the ability to try out games seems counter-intuitive to a successful business model.

Last time I checked, Nintendo is doing just fine.

All other developers be damned, Nintendo just raking in the cash...

 

[thepopeofatheism]

not having the ability to try out games seems counter-intuitive to a successful business model.

Last time I checked, Nintendo is doing just fine.

All other developers be damned, Nintendo just raking in the cash...

They're like McDonald's. Everyone knows how bad for you it is, but sales never decrease...

 

[Brad Shepard]

So Wii thinks they need to fuck over there fans like some other companys? and would this make them evil sence most of there "fans" are between the ages of 5 to 15?

 

[AceDiamond]

So Wii thinks they need to fuck over there fans like some other companys? and would this make them evil sence most of there "fans" are between the ages of 5 to 15?

Yes because stereotyping is totally the way to get people to listen to you.

Anyway I personally feel this is both a confusing and stupid move on their part, especially since I believe demos are still an important part of getting the consumer to decide what to spend money on.

not having the ability to try out games seems counter-intuitive to a successful business model.

Last time I checked, Nintendo is doing just fine.

All other developers be damned, Nintendo just raking in the cash...

They're like McDonald's. Everyone knows how bad for you it is, but sales never decrease...

Only your more liable to burn calories than gain calories so I don't think your comparison works very well.

In fact it doesn't work at all.

 

[KeyMaster45]

I think its ridiculous when game developers don't (or can't in this case) release demos for their games, especially in this day and age. Granted sometimes the production time is just not there to produce one but even a mock arena where you send hordes of baddies at me so I can try out the combat system is enough to give me the feel of your game.

This especially applies to new IP's. Why should I waste money on your new IP game and risk it being not to my liking and then find myself out $60 and valuable time? This is definitely a deal breaker when I'm browsing through the Steam store just looking to pick something up in between major releases.