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37 Comments

So, WiiWare Demos Are Back...

All 50 of WiiWare's "temporary" demos have appeared back on the service.

There were plenty of great games on WiiWare, it just turned out that almost no one played them.
There were plenty of great games on WiiWare, it just turned out that almost no one played them.

People, the revolution is here: WiiWare demos are back.

Why? Hey, maybe a prominent WiiWare developers knows!

“In a bold yet puzzling move,” said Bit.Trip developers Gaijin Games on its website. “Nintendo brought back all the WiiWare demos in the Wii Shop Channel!”

There are all sorts of reasons to question Nintendo’s logic when it comes to online, but for whatever reason, the company’s approach to game demos bothered me than anything else.

When Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that demos were coming to WiiWare, it came with the puzzling caveat that the demos would not be available indefinitely. Eventually, the demos did actually disappear, so if you missed the demos when they were available, there was no way to try out the games without paying.

The suite of 50 demos that went through the service are now available, but it’s unclear if they’ll be there forever.

Patrick Klepek on Google+

37 Comments

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RatsoAlbion

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Edited By RatsoAlbion

This situation makes absolutely no sense to me.

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cstrang

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Edited By cstrang

Nintendo continuing to operate business behind the curve.

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ozone

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Edited By ozone

Choo Choo Motherfucker?

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KamikazeCaterpillar

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Fucking Nintendo.

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Nintendude

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Edited By Nintendude

I've decided not to buy anything on Nintendo console or handheld after someone stole my 3DS. I still have all of my physical 3DS games but lost every digital game I had purchased by then >_< Thanks to Nintendo and their lacking online features...

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Branthog

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Edited By Branthog

Are wiiware demos still not re-downloadable? That is, if your device is stolen or lost or broken, you are fucked with regard to all of your purchases? Or has that changed? (Not that I have any clue where in the house my Wii is... I think it's still in a box in the garage from when I bought my house and moved in two years ago).

That is pretty much what has kept me from ever buying anything on it. Especially since I've already gone through having every single one of my consoles stolen in a home invasion before.

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MeatSim

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Edited By MeatSim

This just makes me miss the NDX.

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htiawe

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Edited By htiawe

About time. My girlfriends little brothers got a Wii for christmas and i spent alot of time trying to find the demos i promised them would be there..

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RobertOrri

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Edited By RobertOrri

Someone probably just flicked the switch by accident at Nintendo's HQ.

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jeanluc

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Edited By jeanluc  Staff

The Wiiware demos disappeared? Actually back one step. Wiiware has demos?!

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Zaxex

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Edited By Zaxex

I just bought a 3DS today and their "pay exact price" option is fucking awesome. Otherwise it'd have been £10 for one £5.40 game or £20 for two (£10.80) and from then on I'd always have a useless sum of points on the 3DS.

Nintendo still might not get the internet in ways other companies have, but they do make a few smart decisions.

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jred250

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Edited By jred250

I wish the titles were listed here.

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evanbower

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Edited By evanbower

Hopefully this, like the credit card information save on 3DS, is a sign that Nintendo had a discussion about fixing the direction of their downloadable approach.

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KaneRobot

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Edited By KaneRobot

@notdavid said:

So demos are the McRib of WiiWare?

Yeah. They have not quite reached Chili Cheese Burrito status yet, though.

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MormonWarrior

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Edited By MormonWarrior

There were not "plenty" of great games on WiiWare. There were like two or three, and even then they were better experienced elsewhere. Like World of Goo or Cave Story.

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Blubba

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Edited By Blubba

From the people that brought you the Wii Speak!

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Hector

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Edited By Hector

Innovative!

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Thor_Molecules

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Edited By Thor_Molecules

Bring back the WiiWare/DSiWare section on the Bombcast, and we'll talk.

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beforet

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Edited By beforet

Totally expected this to be written by Jeff.

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Ravenlight

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Edited By Ravenlight

@Grimluck343 said:

BRING BACK THE TRAIN!

@DrJota said:

I'm just going to leave this here.....

Back on Track
Back on Track

MAKE IT HAPPEN, JEFF!

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drjota

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Edited By drjota

I'm just going to leave this here.....

Back on Track
Back on Track
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Video_Game_King

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Edited By Video_Game_King

@SMGB25 said:

Typo man!

I dont liket hat guy>

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TheHumanDove

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Edited By TheHumanDove

Demossssssss!

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rjayb89

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Edited By rjayb89

Yay, Internet! Me know how use it!

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Vexxan

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Edited By Vexxan

Demos!

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JoeyRavn

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Edited By JoeyRavn

That's Nintendo for you. Totally unexpected. That's how their magic works and shit.

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Grimluck343

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Edited By Grimluck343

BRING BACK THE TRAIN!

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MetalBaofu

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Edited By MetalBaofu

One of the main things I've always liked about XBL is that they have trials for ALL of the XBLA games. Seems like a small thing really, but it's probably the thing I appreciate the most about the service.

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sparky_buzzsaw

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Edited By sparky_buzzsaw

All my prayers have come true!

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Phatmac

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Edited By Phatmac

OH FUCK YES DEMOS!

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RE_Player1

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Edited By RE_Player1

This is what I've been waiting for. Time to take out my Wii and play some demos! Come to think of it I think I have like 200 Wii points on my system that I'll probably never use.

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notdavid

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Edited By notdavid

So demos are the McRib of WiiWare?

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Thoseposers

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Edited By Thoseposers

TYPO ALERT weewoo weewoo

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NekuCTR

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Edited By NekuCTR

I was totally clamoring for this.

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SMGB25

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Edited By SMGB25

Typo man!

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patrickklepek

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Edited By patrickklepek
There were plenty of great games on WiiWare, it just turned out that almost no one played them.
There were plenty of great games on WiiWare, it just turned out that almost no one played them.

People, the revolution is here: WiiWare demos are back.

Why? Hey, maybe a prominent WiiWare developers knows!

“In a bold yet puzzling move,” said Bit.Trip developers Gaijin Games on its website. “Nintendo brought back all the WiiWare demos in the Wii Shop Channel!”

There are all sorts of reasons to question Nintendo’s logic when it comes to online, but for whatever reason, the company’s approach to game demos bothered me than anything else.

When Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced that demos were coming to WiiWare, it came with the puzzling caveat that the demos would not be available indefinitely. Eventually, the demos did actually disappear, so if you missed the demos when they were available, there was no way to try out the games without paying.

The suite of 50 demos that went through the service are now available, but it’s unclear if they’ll be there forever.