Japan is being the first country to benefit from the launch of Nintendo's WiiWare service. As of today, all Japanese Wii users will be able to buy and download games designed specifically for the Nintendo Wii gaming consoles using the new application.

WiiWare is part of the WiiShop Nintendo initiative, created to provide a source of content for the owners of the Wii. Until now, the only games available as part of WiiShop were those from the Virtual Console. As the name implies, the VC is a sophisticated software emulation package that allows a whole host of games for defunct gaming consoles to be played using the Wii. Emulated consoles include the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Nintendo 64, as well as Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis and Master System, NEC's TurboGrafx-16 and TurboGrafx-CD, and SNK's Neo Geo AES. Commodore 64 support will be added in Europe soon.

The WiiWare currently has 9 titles available, with prices ranging from just below 5 dollars to about 15 dollars. Angels Solitaire is priced 500 Wii points, Okiraku Ping Pong also at 500 Wii points, Hudson's 2D shoot 'em-up Star Soldier R is available at 800 Wii points, while Saku Saku Animal Panic is 1,000 Wii points.

The Nintendo franchise titles Pokemon Ranch Channel and Dr Mario & Saikin Bokumetsu cost the equivalent of 10 dollars. Square Enix's Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles - My Life as King is the most expensive game on WiiWare and the most expensive download available on the entire WiiShop at 1,500 Wii points. Points needed to buy the games can be obtained by buying points cards from various retailers or by using your credit card details directly in the WiiShop.

The Japanese pricing is no indication of the prices WiiWare games will have in North America, where the service is slated for launch on May 12. The game line-up is also rumored to be entirely different for the North American service.