One of Nintendo's promises regarding their upcoming system, the Wii U, is that it will be more open to third-party developers, something they were unable to deliver and was a major criticism of the Wii's library of games. So far, they have been following that promise, what with the large amount of third-party games already announced for the Wii successor at last year's E3. Now it appears Nintendo taking the idea even further, by allowing the same games onto their digital download service.
It was only about a week ago that it was revealed that Nintendo would be pushing the online features of the Wii U by releasing all of their IP titles on a digital download service, allowing players the option to buy in store or download games directly onto their consoles the day of release. Nintendo has since confirmed to IGN that this will extend to their third party titles for both the Wii U and the 3DS.
"We are currently preparing a program for third parties but have nothing specific to announce at this time."
They have nothing detailed or concrete to announce yet but this will be a part of Nitnendo's E3 2012 keynote presentation. As of now, we don't know what the exact plan is, or what games will be released for this service just yet.
The company said in the past that they plan to expand their digital business significantly, offering up not only items through their digital service, but also in retail stores as codes that can be used online. This certainly seems to be evidence of that, and it will be interesting to see what other items will be sold via their online shop.
It can safely be said that this is a smart move on Nintendo's part, one that other companies have begun to capitalize on and will continue to expand on as we edge close to the next generation of consoles. This, as well as other features such as Near Field Communication and a Wii U exclusive Street Pass, show that the company is taking some big steps in different directions than its competitors, and it seems unlikely that it will backfire on them. Now we await to see what they can do in supporting an online community and multiplayer services.
Source: IGN