Just a thought, maybe a future development. Having downloaded a game recently I didn't really like, I wondered wouldn't be good if you could trade WiiWare games (or any games downloaded) in an open online market if you don't like them or no longer want them...future idea for Nintendo maybe....

Not gonna happen

This. We'd be lucky to have some type of system like that on the Wii U's online service, let alone on WiiWare.

So basically you'd end up getting games for half price (as you'd be able to trade one for another after completion) not happening!

I think you have to remember to look at this from the perspective of the people who create wiiware titles and not just the consumer angle. While it might seem like a good thing for people buying wiiware games it's a definite negative for the developers. There needs to be a balance and this idea is heavily skewed which is why it's never going to happen.

Glad this has prompted some debate, and I certainly don't have a win all solution!

How much developers like trading the physical disc I do not know (my guess is mainly 3rd parties benefit) and maybe yes developers like the control from the purely digital.

I would say I was thinking more of trading one game for another, as opposed to selling. Naturally they would have to be the same number of points. Perhaps Nintendo could "charge" a small points transaction fee as a "matching" agent, which it re-invests with up and coming developers (a sort of gaming social fund). And of course the user would no longer be able to return to download the traded game in the future (as you can at present if you delete it). Surely there is an opportunity here to move with the times...

As a sideline, would love to know whether users will be able to port their profile, including downloaded games, over to the WiiU when it arrives...

Solution: Demos.

Unlike trading in physical discs, this could be abused due to unlimited supply and the fact that downloadable purchases are always "new" copies with fixed prices. If you know something you want to buy, you could simply hold off for a while and try out a different game that costs the same amount of points, all along planning on trading it in for the game you actually want to keep when you're done with the first game. This results in unlimited time with free rentals of the full versions (as if Blockbuster didn't have enough problems), a problem that doesn't exist with physical discs, since you can't guarentee the supply of the games and since you get less for selling used games than you pay for even buying used let alone new games.

Wow, Bulbasaurus Rex that is quite a cunning approach and would certainly foil any digital trading! Perhaps users could only trade at half (or similar) value of the original purchase...or am I now just clutching at straws?!!

The availability of "used" digital games wouldn't be guaranteed. It would depend on consumers purchasing the games as "new," and then wanting to trade them for a different game. I imagine that the really good games (which people would prefer to keep), would be rare on the used market, and they would be worth more.

The "free rental" issue does exist with physical discs. People can purchase a game, then trade that game for another, then repeat. If you know enough people, you can do that for a very long time without spending anything.

I highly doubt that we'll see any type of trading system for digital games, though.