Wideload, the company responsible for Hail to the Chimp and Stubbs the Zombie, is creating a new studio geared specifically towards the casual market. The division is called Shorts, and their titles will be digitally distributed. Most intriguingly, the company has expressed particular interest in Nintendo’s WiiWare service.

You want proof? Okay, how about this interview from GameSpot where Scott Corley, the newly appointed head of the studio, practically falls out of his chair with excitement?

“GS: Wideload is already supporting the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with Hail to the Chimp. Does Wideload Shorts have plans to work on Nintendo’s WiiWare service, or even mobile phones?

SC: We absolutely are in love with the idea of WiiWare because it’s yet another one of these electronic download services that goes through a real, dedicated game console that has real game controllers. And so we looked at all of the console download channels–Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network and WiiWare–as great matches for the business model that we’re trying to do.”

No details have been announced yet about their first projects, but we’re hoping for a Stubbs the Zombie party game. Using the Wiimote to (virtually) bludgeon human beings and (virtually) feast on their brains is something we could never grow tired of. Ever.

Related Posts: EA pacts with Hasbro to monopolise casual gaming

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Nintendo’s Club Mario needs a little more va-va-voom in Europe, but it looks like the Japanese are still getting some really cool stuff. Games maverick Cabel Sasser is one lucky guy, having just received a promo item from a friend in Japan. It’s a laser etched Wii-mote battery cover!

But it isn’t just laser etched with his name - it’s also got his actual Mii on it! That’s awesome. It’s just a little painful that we’ll probably never be able to get one of our own.

According to Cabel, “As far as I know, this was a one-time only Nintendo Japan promotion — one that was free of charge, no less, as an end-of-year bonus for any Club Nintendo member who bought a certain amount of stuff. It’s true: Nintendo of America can go suck a grapefruit.”

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The first game-based WiiWare content arrived on Nintendo’s irregularly shaped box last week in the shape of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption footage in order to get us even more excited about its scheduled August 27th release. Bad news, both for fans of Metroid and Wii Channel updates: it’s only for America so far.

WiiWare is Nintendo’s answer to how to get original content onto the Wii; small-scale games, map packs and the useless pictures and trinkets that clog up Xbox Live will reportedly be available via the Wii Shop. As for now, some advertisement media isn’t the most auspicious of starts, we reckon, but Nintendo are being markedly quiet about what we can officially expect in the future. All we know about so far is the mysterious Plattchen: Twist and Paint (possibly involving twisting and painting), a few PlayFirst games and maybe Impossible Mission. As long as they’re not charging us for Flash games we can play for free, we’re willing to wait until “early 2008″ for some big announcements.

Source: C&VG

Related posts:
WiiWare: Original downloadable games on Wii
Plattchen: The first WiiWare title?
WiiWare take five from Hudson and PlayFirst
WiiWare watch: Impossible Mission to make downloadable debut?

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