DSiWare hype has already begun!

According to Gameloft, they're supposed to receive their DSiWare development kits sometime in December, at which time they'll begin to put together their first DSiWare titles for release next year. They go on to state that while no official North American release date for the new DSi system and DSiWare service has been set as of yet, they've been hearing that Nintendo is shooting for a spring-summer 2009 release, possibly even late third quarter of the year. That's somewhat understandable given the extremely brisk sales Nintendo's DS Lite system continues to enjoy in the US.

Gameloft go on to say that they are also hearing speculation that Nintendo is considering lifting the one title a month limit they currently impose on publishers, which would open the door for companies like Gameloft to have their games released at a more frequent pace.

Below is a portion of the interview that relates to Nintendo's DSiWare and WiiWare services and you can check out the full interview for more details on Gameloft's plans for both of Nintendo's download services, not to mention other digital download services for the competing consoles.

GameDaily BIZ: What are your plans for the Nintendo DSi?

Gonzague de Vallois: We're preparing for the North American launch. There's nothing official on when this will be. We've heard spring-summer. We've heard Q3. I believe from Nintendo's perspective there's no hurry to release the device in North America because DS is still selling extremely well. If the DSi and DS are close in price, the DSi will kill DS sales.

BIZ: How has Nintendo's WiiWare been working for Gameloft?

GdV: WiiWare is pretty open. We have eight games on WiiWare, including Brain Challenge, TV Show King and games like bowling and pool. Downloads depend on the title on WiiWare. We're experimenting a little. Party games do really well. Simple mono-player titles like bowling or pool aren't doing as well. The target is family or Nintendo fans only looking for Nintendo games. We're learning on the platform.

BIZ: How has working with Nintendo been?

GdV: Nintendo still limits publishers to one title a month. They're talking about removing this limit. Nintendo seems to be more open to more titles.

Read the full interview

We'll have more information on the upcoming DSi system and DSiWare service as it becomes available. As popular as the DS Lite system has been, it's pretty much a no-brainer that the anticipation level for the new DSi system will be sky high over the coming months. And if the DSiWare service turns out to be as successful as WiiWare has been, it should make for an interesting addition to WiiWare-World.

SOURCE: GameDaily BIZ