WiiWare: A new Frontier?

WiiWare is the perfect opportunity for Frontier to explore uncharted territory says the studio's managing director David Walsh.

"The opportunity to be a launch title on the service was too good to pass up," he told GamesIndustry.biz. "It doesn't take a commercial genius to work out that it is a good idea with the number of Wii's that there are in the world."

Walsh didn't seem concern by the Wii's demographics, which may not be as accustomed to digital download as Xbox 360 and PS3 owners are.

"We have obviously heard some of the estimates from Nintendo about how many Wii's have actually been online and it is actually quite significant," he said, although he was unable to divulge any specific numbers.

Walsh pointed to the recent announcement that Nintendo had signed a deal with the BBC to get the iPlayer on the Wii - an indication that the Wii could become more of a living room internet access point.

LostWinds, the company's first WiiWare title - indeed, its first title to be digitally distributed on any platform - could possibly have been released on a disc instead, but the company is instead choosing to chart new territory.

"We've clearly always known that it was an opportunity, but we see that download services are only going to become more prevalent in the future," he said.

"Therefore, as a developer, it will be very interesting for us to try and be part of that early and get experience at it."

With a staff of some 160 people, Frontier isn't desperate for a publishing deal and can afford to take the risk.

"It is much more about the opportunity in terms of the distribution mechanism with an eye to the future rather than just trying to get a publishing deal."

The complete interview with Frontier's David Walsh is now online.