Nintendo teases more info about Wii game downloads

Tokyo (Japan) - Nintendo has announced more details about its upcoming "Wii Ware" service, including more ambitious support than previously expected.

At a press conference in Japan, Nintendo talked briefly about the upcoming service, which it hopes will rival the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Store.

IGN reports that Nintendo teased a couple titles slated for the service in Japan, including a new Doctor Mario, Star Soldier R, and a Pokemon game whose name translates to "Pokemon Farm".

While the initial announcement seemed more geared towards low-budget, independent developers, major publishers are interested as well. Square Enix will reportedly upload the entire Final Fantasy : Crystal Chronicles game to the service.

Currently on the Wii, Nintendo offers downloads of classic console games from the last two decades. However, the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 have allowed brand new games to be offered through their respective digital download platforms.

Nintendo told TG Daily earlier this year that Wii Ware titles would begin to show up in the US in 2008. Former corporate communications manager Beth Llewelyn told us that it is possible to have games download directly to an SD card, thereby eliminating the capacity constraints set by the console’s small internal hard drive.