WiiWare set for Euro launch!

Friday 25th April 2008 - 15:00

New download channel confirmed for Wii, Nintendo DS sells 70 million and Overlord Raising Hell PS3 screens

Things just keep getting better and better for Wii owners. Nintendo has confirmed a date for the launch of WiiWare in Europe - a new download channel where gamers can get the latest games from smaller development studios in addition to the big names. The service is set to starts on May 20.

Nintendo's upcoming WiiWare changes the way both developers create and consumers access video games. Through WiiWare, Nintendo hopes to offer developers a virtual laboratory that serves as a breeding ground for new games, which encourages great ideas that creators always wanted to develop.

Meanwhile Wii owners can download a multitude of cool new games from different genres, which can be purchased from home. Early WiiWare games will come from celebrated developers like Square Enix, which is creating Final Fantasy Chronicles: My Life as a King, a mainstream simulation game. Also watch for games from up-and-coming developers like Frontier with its platform adventure LostWinds and a new episodic game series from Telltale.

In other news Nintendo continues to reap the rich rewards of winning the handheld war by announcing that is has sold its 70 millionth Nintendo DS! 30.31 million units were sold during its fiscal year 2007-2008, which ended on March 31st. The platform holder also revealed that there are now 57 DS games with over 1 million sales, including Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, Brain Age 1 and 2, Nintendogs and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. We can only wonder how long it will be until the legendary games company breaks the magic 100 million sales barrier!

Moving to the PS3 we have some brand new Overlord: Raising Hell screens courtesy of Codemasters. The title is an action adventure that has players being ruthless, determined, and even a little despotic as they pillage lands and conquer kingdoms in order to be proclaimed the all-powerful Overlord. The real fun lies in controlling the little people, players will amass armies of up to 50 Minions as they explore and conquer the world's five domains. The Xbox 360 version was great fun, we have high hopes for the PS3 version, due for release in June.

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