Nintendo's WiiWare Demo Program Ends

February 10, 2010 5:30 PM

Back in November of last year, we reported that Nintendo had launched a pilot program to provide a small selection of free, playable demos for a handful of original WiiWare titles. Pokemon Rumble, Bit.Trip Beat, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord, NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits, and World of Goo all had playable demos during the test period.

On January 31, all five of the the demos were pulled from the Wii Shop Channel. Nintendo of America confirmed with Joystiq today that the WiiWare demo experiment had indeed come to an end.

When asked whether or not WiiWare demos would ever be available in the future, the Nintendo representative didn't confirm one way or the other. The representative replied that, "We're looking at our results and deciding our next steps."

Jeff Mattas

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CyCo_PL

 reply
February 10, 2010 5:40 PM

Downloadable games on Wii just doesn't make much sense to me. I have two or three wiiware games, and six or seven VC games, and my Wii is full. Can't put anything else on there.
- Serpico74
  
   reply
  February 10, 2010 5:55 PM
  
  Buy a cheap SD card for additional storage. I'm using a 2GB card that I had lying around, works great. I have several WiiWare games (Konami "Rebirth" series) and lots VC games now, and I still have way more space than I'll ever need.
- OmegaRed59
  
   reply
  February 10, 2010 9:30 PM
  
  I don't buy many because if I understand it correctly all downloads are tied to your specific console. So if you Wii breaks you lose all your stuff and can't download them again without re-buying. That makes me stick to XBLA and Steam.
  - exmx
    
     reply
    February 10, 2010 9:59 PM
    
    Wow.. that really sucks..
  - Shadsy
    
     reply
    February 10, 2010 10:23 PM
    
    If your Wii's still in warranty, they'll transfer all the rights over.
  - angelrubio
    
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    February 11, 2010 3:20 AM
    
    why steam though?
    - ReckHavoc
      
       reply
      February 11, 2010 10:02 AM
      
      Because Steam is awesome?
    - haysoos
      
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      February 11, 2010 4:25 PM
      
      Because it's tied to a logon. I've got CS loaded on 3 friends PCs if I'm ever over there and want to play. Yes, we're a nomadic bunch to the point that I play my games at friends houses sometimes.
  - hawke
    
     reply
    February 11, 2010 2:14 PM
    
    Don't you see, it's 'simpler' that way. None of this hassle with usernames or passwords.
    
    Yeah...it's a huge screwup. I'm hoping one of these days they'll release a Wii update that says, "Create an account and all your DLC will be associated with that account."
  - matrixneo42
    
     reply
    February 12, 2010 12:39 PM
    
    I had my wii replaced (it was getting weird pixels on screen) and if you ask them to, they will switch the game licenses to the new console. I imagine they can be flexible on this issue.
- nunami
  
   reply
  February 11, 2010 2:48 AM
  
  this really worries me, especially with (I hope) Wii HD coming out in the next few years. Hopefully Nintendo are thinking about a way for owners to transfer their purchases when the time comes.
  
  I don't like the idea of re-buying games for a third time