Downloadable versions of Bomberman, Tetris, Alien Crush, karaoke, and others are in the pipeline, bringing Hudson's WiiWare count to ten games. http://nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=15650 Hudson has announced that it has a slate new WiiWare games in development. Tetris, Bomberman, Alien Crush, Blue Oasis, and Joysound were revealed during a press event in Japan yesterday.
Hudson explained that 40% of the 20 million Wii consoles in the world are connected to the Internet. That means eight million consoles are capable of accessing WiiWare content. The company is looking to capitalize on this fact but concentrating on what it does best: making family-friendly games that are multiplayer focused.
Tetris: Japan Online is another version of the puzzle classic. It includes six-player online multiplayer, online leaderboards, Mii support, and a two-player cooperative mode that features two players sharing a double-wide playfield. Tetris for WiiWare is currently scheduled to release in Japan this June.
Wi-Fi 8-Man Battle Bomberman is the classic multiplayer Bomberman game that features, as you might have guessed, eight-player games over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Mii support is also planned, allowing you to put the head of your Mii on the body of a Bomberman. Hudson is also working on a full retail version of Bomberman, and the two games will share the same engine. It is not known if this means WiiWare players can play against owners of the full version of Bomberman. The WiiWare Bomberman title will be released in Japan this July.
Alien Crush is a true sequel to the TurboGrafx16/Virtual Console pinball game of the same name. The boards will be rendered in 3D and the game, like Hudson's others WiiWare titles, will take advantage of the Wii's Internet functionality to offer online leaderboards. Alien Crush is set for an August Japanese release.
Blue Oasis: Sakana no Iyashi Kuuken is a virtual aquarium wherein players need to tend to their fish. There appears to be a way to send fish back and forth between friends. The Wii Forecast Channel will also be integrated with the game in some way. This game does not have a solid release date, but it will be out in Japan some time this year.
Finally, Joysound is a different kind of WiiWare application. It's not a game, but rather, a karaoke hub. Hudson is teaming up with X-sing, an established professional Japanese karaoke company, to deliver the joy of karaoke singing to the homes of Wii owners connected to the Internet. With Joysound, Hudson hopes to succeed where other console-based karaoke platforms have failed.
Through a monthly subscription service, Joysound users will be able to select from over 20,000 songs on X-sing servers, with a thousand new songs added every week. Joysound users must purchase subscription cards and USB microphones from a regular retail store before using Joysound. Joysound will be available in Japan sometime this summer.
Including the recently-released Star Soldier R, these new game announcements bring Hudson's known WiiWare game count to ten games, the most of any developer by far.
James Charlton contributed to this story.
Topic: Hudson Confirms New WiiWare Games in Development (Read 6711 times)
