I ran across this article at 1up recently all about
the world of niche game publishing, and it was a really great read. Really inspiring too, the 'ol David versus Goliath story... and I almost cried when I read how American Technos was forced to declare bankruptcy. Ironically the Playstation era was rough on a lot of developers because while it meant cheap media and cheaper licensing, development costs skyrocketed in a way that many weren't able to adapt.
Of course, I personally believe that courting these developers should be a priority for Nintendo, and that these developers could benefit from the Wii's large user base, lack of hardcore competition, and cheap developer costs. Wiiware even more so!