This week in San Francisco, California, game developers are convening for the annual Game Developers Conference. This is a good time to check the pulse of the industry, and get a hint of the big stories to come.
I'm particularly interested in the news coming out of Nintendo about WiiWare, a digital distribution channel coming to the popular Wii system. While gamers can already download titles via the Wii's Virtual Console, WiiWare is releasing development tools aimed at expanding the market for small and indie experiences. This sort of stuff is already happening on Xbox Live and the PS3, of course. But Nintendo has been behind the most interesting "small" games of the last few years: Brain Age, Nintendogs, Electroplankton, and Cooking Mama.
A Gamespot interview with Nintendo of America project development senior officer Tom Prata reveals that more than 100 WiiWare titles are in the works. And my bet is we'll get some incredibly innovative games coming out of this initiative. Stay tuned.
