Wiiware confirmed for May 20

Nintendo has confirmed that Wiiware is being launched in Europe on May 20, which should prompt a surge in creative software.

Wiiware ‘channels’ are games or applications developed for Nintendo’s Wii, and the Japanese company has long touted it as a route for developers with low budgets to get their wares onto the console.

"We are excited by the positive response we have received from third party developers to the announcement of WiiWare," says Laurent Fischer, Managing Director of Marketing & PR of Nintendo of Europe.

"We hope that this opportunity and the inspiration to produce original and exciting games will allow developers of all sizes to bring new concepts, genres and game play experiences to Wii.

"Opening this creative door will also provide Wii users access to a huge choice of games that they can easily download and enjoy."

The first WiiWare software will come from a mixture of major developers and smaller companies, with the following titles confirmed

· Dr. Mario & Germ Buster from Nintendo

· Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King from SQUARE ENIX

· Lost Winds from UK developer Frontier

· Pirates: The Key of Dreams from Dutch developer Oxygen Interactive Ltd

· Pop from Australian developer Nnooo

· Star Soldier R from Japanese developer HUDSON SOFT

· Toki Tori from Dutch developer Two Tribes B.V.

· TV Show King from French developer Gameloft

The games and applications will cost 500 Wii points, or between £3.50 and £4.00 depending on where you buy your points from and works on a very similar principle to Microsoft's popular Xbox Live Arcade.