I don't really care, but that's a pretty good feature.

That's pretty cool. Of course, I don't see it leaving Japan, so— lucky them.

It's a good idea but it probably won't get a europe release! You should be able to play your own music while watching and reading!

Yeah, not a comic book guy, but if the reason is to save some trees, I'm all for it. Good idea, but could care less if it comes here.

Aren't comic books dead? (Or at least in a coma)

What western comics? Well actualy I dont like western comics much. Sure they have color but they're boring and almost all superhero repeats. the 2 series I did like are over (ElfQuest and Runaways) If they released manga downloads over here, I'd be pretty happy. Of course, a fair price would be 100 points per issue (20 pages) or less (buy in bulk!) Anyway, I hope this spreads.

Again the same old issue raises its ugly head... SPACE!
Digital comics is a nice idea but once again where are they going to be stored?
Surely you would be able to save them to an SD card and read them from there, it isnt as if transfer speed would be much of an issue if your only talking about reading digital comics.

I would be interested in a couple of western releases such as the Walking Dead series. I already read than in a digital format as I no longer live within a close proximity to any decent comic shops anymore. Also I agree that 100 points per issue or even bulk packages such as a set of six issues for 500 sounds fair to me.

I don't think that space would be a problem here. I read a comic a week ro so and then I read it again after some time or if I want to look something up what was mentioned in a newer one. So I would read it once and then store it on the SD Card or delete it

I'd suggest to release them in packages. In Germany a Manga Volume costs 5€ and has arund 240 pages (5,20€ in Austria due to taxes )

@XCWarrior: Interesting point, what is worse? Destroyal of environment through making books or through offering something for download (electricity, for using, downloading and letting it stay on the Wii Shop)

Sucks cuz its not in America

that's a good idea

hmm, this seems interesting, japan have keep it though, i'd rather just buy comics from the local comic shop, i can get like 20 for 5 dollars from this place called Mad Cats, and they're good comics.

have = can
lol

I hate reading scans of books on the computer as it is at a resolution of 1280x1024. The wii's limited 480p is going to make this unbearable. You'll probably have to zoom in, zoom out, and scroll amongst other things and it is just too much effort to enjoy the content. Some printed material was never meant to leave the realm of the paper world.

I hate that japan's always getting A. Better things. or B.getting it before america does.

@ Tim:
Yeah. This has the potential to be awesome, or at least damn neat, if the comics are developed/edited for their format, but to be really disappointing if they just slap some scans up on the Wii.

I'm glad Japan is always the test market for this kind of stuff. I would hate to spend money on something and then find out it's so flawed as to be worthless. As far as I'm concerned, it's very nice of them to beta test games & services for us all the time.

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but doesn't the petroleum needed to produce the hardware associated with the Wii offset any trees saved by digital distribution over comic books? After all, trees are a renewable resource; oil isn't.

@Damian G.
The petroleum was already wasted for the purpose of video games. They are simply extending the function of the machine and making further use of something that already exists. If Wiis were specifically created and limited to digital comic books then yeah it would be a waste.

Nice. I can see it getting a EU release and, of course, a JP release, but no way in the world would it get a US release. Asterix is still popular, Hello Kitty, check... Batman? Superman? Iron Man? Hulk? Only in the movies. Their books are all but dead.

@Tim

Ah, I gotcha. It's a matter of primary versus secondary functionality.

That comic "galaxy express" kinda reminds me of Cowboy Bebop. Anyone agree?

Nintendo Power and so many other magazines have become useless with the advent of the Internet.

i thought this was a place to buy games, and it should stay that way. i don't think they should put comics that you can buy.

Well, I for one will remain a Nintendo Power subscriber even if the internet has made it "useless." Addressing the topic, the comic idea doesn't sound bad, especially if extra content was added and the price was small, but like strade32 sort of mentioned, the Wii Shop Channel is meant for games (Everybody Votes Channel and the like excluded). I don't want an iTunes Shop on my Wii instead of a Wii Shop Channel.

Save some trees? Hah, funny, I don't see it helping much.

Maybe I read too quickly or something,but I saw nothing stating that this was for WiiWare. Perhaps they have no relation and would just go in a new category of their own. There are three others.

zss_shadow- "This is an interesting titbit of news for the WiiWare service in Japan". first sentence.

Intreasting & good idea .
Im all for it & hopefully it be wourldwide thing .
i have my fingers crossed

@25
That was stated, but by Dazza. Not really the article itself. Sounds like an assumption to me rather than confirmation.

Scott Pilgrim Wiiware!

Leiji Matsumoto!? Wow, i LOVE his Captain Harlock manga. Hope we can get that.

@zss_shadow

from their own site it states
"Sunsoft, "Wii Ware TM" for the digital distribution business to start Comics! ～ “Wiiウェア”用オリジナルコミックビュアーを開発 ～ ~ "Wii Ware" to develop for ORIJINARUKOMIKKUBYUA "
this is the actual translated headline from their own page, so its pretty much confirmed as wiiware on their own admitance.

Also on another note, on the press release It sound like the comics are to be optimised for viewing on a TV screen so hopefully this doesnt mean that they are just crappy scans but instead that the magazines are developed from the ground up with the wii in mind which would be ideal because as Tim mentioned earlier that the quality would be terrible and you would have to zoom in and zoom out just to be able to read the comic in the first place. It would be interesting if the site could provide samples on how the comics would be layed out to give us a better understanding of how it would work and look.

I'm definately for this if reading comics on TV doesn't turn out to be an eyesore and an effort. We have no comics shops left around where I live, to my knowledge.

This is likely not gonna happen, but I sure wouldn't mind seeing some retro comics popping up on the service. Comics like the Super Mario comics, or Disney comics like Scrooge...

Actually, scratch that. If Disney puts as much effort into retro comics as they do their Disney Afternoon DVD sets, I don't want them.

I don't know why everyone hates western comics so much. Not that I buy individual comics myself. But sometimes when they release compilations I'll buy one of those (I hate all the ads, and waiting a month to read the next 5 minutes of a story). The Batman: Hush series, for example, was quite enjoyable, and it had great artwork. It was definitely better than a lot of super hero movies. I've certainly read some duds as well, and I don't think any series can stay sharp constantly for 50 years, so I can see why people complain.

Of course, being a Western Comic type super hero myself, I'm biased.

as long as there is waggle control for turning the pages, these will be must buys rofl