WiiWare to launch in UK with eight titles

Following yesterday's launch of WiiWare in the US, Nintendo has confirmed the UK launch will arrive with a total of eight titles.

The service, which launched in March in Japan with nine games, went live in the US with six downloadable WiiWare titles.

In the UK, WiiWare will arrive on May 20 with eight games, including Mario title Dr. Mario & Germ Buster.

WiiWare is being hailed as a way for developers with smaller budgets to release titles that would not normally be released commercially.

Speaking of the service, Laurent Fischer, managing director of marketing at Nintendo, said: ‘We are excited by the positive response we have received from third party developers to the announcement of WiiWare.

"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 gameplay 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 full UK WiiWare lineup:

• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (Publisher: Square Enix, Simulation)
• Dr. Mario & Germ Buster (Publisher: Nintendo, Puzzle)
• TV Show King (Publisher: Gameloft)
• Toki Tori (Two Tribes, Puzzle/Platform)
• LostWinds (Publisher: Frontier Developments, Platform Adventure)
• Pop (Publisher: Nnooo, Puzzle/Shooter)
• Star Solider R (Publisher: Hudson Soft, Shooter)
• Pirates: The Key of Dreams (Publisher: Oxygen, Action)