Today Nintendo launched Wiiware in North America; allowing users to purchase games on-line for their consoles, and allowing smaller developers the ability to sell to users without having to produce retail boxed products, reducing the cost of development, thus also reducing the risk of development.

As usual, we are behind Japan - Nintendo launched WiiWare there back on March 25th, and WiiWare will only be launched in Europe next week. Games will cost between 500-1500 Wii Points ($5-$15) and new games will usually be added Mondays.

The North American WiiWare launch titles are:

• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King - a Sim-City like game where you take the role of a king and build up your castle and kingdom. From Square Enix, 1500 points
• LostWinds - an adventure game using wind power to move your character and objects. From Frontier Development, 1-2 players, 1000 Wii points.
• Defend Your Castle - a simple game where you - obviously - defend your castle. From XGen Studios, 1-4 players, 500 points
• Pop - a baloon popping game. 1-4 players, 700 points
• V.I.P. Casino Blackjack - single player game, mini tournaments. From High Voltage Software, 1-4 players, 700 points
• TV Show King - quiz show game with over 3000 questions in six categories, 1-4 players, 1000 points