Indie developers still waiting for Wii

Well, the past few weeks have been a bit of the 'ol "one step forward, two steps back" for the big guys (and gals) at Nintendo. I can't remember where the positive news came from (probably the release of another study saying people can lose weight using the Wii), but I don't have to think too hard about the negative news.

For starters, I thought Reggie's recent interview with MTV did more harm than good. Not only did Nintendo's main man share some head-scratching information about Metroid Prime 3 (no idea when it's coming out, and maybe not online enabled), but he kind of side-stepped the issue of the Wii's current "game drought" altogether. (Not to be nasty, but I thought those days (game droughts) were over for the big N?)

Anyhoo, today's finger-wagging moment comes from the fine folks at Gamasutra, who have posted an article in which serious games designer Ian Bogost (head of Persuasive Games) let it be known that the much-anticipated Wii independent developer program is on hold at least until the end of the month.

According to the article, Bogost said he "received an update from Nintendo of America indicating that those without a publisher contract will have to wait longer than previously thought for development hardware."

In a post made on his WaterCoolerGames site, Bogost added that an unnamed contact told him “the Wii publishers are taking all of the available inventory [of development kits], and more.”

I guess we can put those rumors to rest, then, that Nintendo's indie download channel won't be announced at the upcoming GDC. Drat.