Wow looks pretty weird!
Fun though and will they make it to the other games or just goo?

I guess this is good if it means not having to deal with stupid point denominations

Not bad idea for those who don't like the other ways of payment.

This looks useless why not use your credit card on the Wii.

I wish all games were like this. I hate having leftover points... like the 100 points that has been on my Wii for.. a long time.

I kinda like the idea because you don't have to buy 1000 points and have leftover points, you can just buy the game and not have to deal with extra points.

The potentially great ramification of this is that many consumers who don't really know where to look on the web for this kind of thing can browse and read ratings for WiiWare games on Amazon and make more informed purchases.

It would be even better if Nintendo would somehow link the Amazon ratings over to the Shop Channel and complete the loop.

This looks like a good way for devs to promote their games and is more intuitive to people who already use Amazon and don't feel like entering their bloody credit card number every single time they want to buy anything on the shop.

But I buy so much WiiWare/VC content that leftover points aren't much of a concern to me (though I have to say I've been buying less than 3000 points a go on the Japanese shop recently...of course now that I've seen the new Game Center CX there's more VC stuff I think would be good to check out soooooooooooooo.....).

More options for the consumer is never a bad thing although its something i probably wouldn't use myself. Spare points do not bother me, im happy enough to save them for future purchases.

You know, this is also a great way for those who don't have a Wii to gift a specific game to someone instead of just giving them a generic points card. I imagine you'd just write the download number in a card and give it to them, with no technical expertise or even knowledge of how the Shop Channel works required for the purchaser.

I guess this could be useful if you have an Amazon gift card and you want to use it to buy World of Goo. I mean, you could just use the Amazon card to buy Wii points instead, but then you'd have to wait for the card to ship.

I don't see a downside to this. The great thing is that Amazon always has sales and specials. I am sure we will soon see a WiiWare special that includes free points or bonus dollars applied to Amazon account for future downloads. Also, if you happen to use the trade-in games feature on Amazon, you can now apply that balance to WiiWare games (assuming they add more than just World of Goo to the catalog).

That's... different. If the system was implemented in the UK as well, then that would be awesome.
And also, think about how easy it will be for WiiWare game competitions and whatnot - there will be no need to register other Wii's to gain friend codes. Basically, I really like this idea. Yay.

Haha, I like that one Amazon review that guesses that World of Goo is probably another great Wii game that is 'overlooked'. If they only knew.

I wonder if this could have the positive side effect of raising awareness? How many "casual" Wii owners are out there that don't realize that the Wii can connect to the internet, or that they can purchase games from the Wii shop, etc? Yet these same people are more likely to be familiar with purchasing things from Amazon.

This is no wonder due to the popularity of the game.

More marketing for WiiWare is win/win for everyone.

#Scratches head#.....Are the advantages of this THAT great overall? Good to have choice but....

Seeing as several Xbox Live Arcade games were recently on sale through Amazon, I imagine the same may happen with WiiWare. That's a cool thought, eh?

I also agree that this sales method will probably raise Shop Channel awareness, which can only be a good thing.

On the bright side, you don't end up with 500 points remaining this way, so if there's nothing else you want to buy on the Wii Shop, you will effectively be saving yourself $5 here.

Also, the guys at 2D Boy don't even sound like they were informed that this was due to happen in their latest blog post.

It's probably a way to increase exposure for the game and WiiWare in general so more people with online-connected Wiis will bother with the WiiWare service. I wouldn't be surprised to see game cards pop up on retail shelves.

@KDR_11k

I noticed in Tesco the other day that there are now different denominations of Wii (Nintendo) Points Cards, not just 2000 pts.

Looks like Nintendo are extending the options for buying stuff from the Shop Channel, which can only be a good thing.

how pointless

I bet you enter the code in to the Wii Download Ticket area.

For me this would make no sense, but for others who do not have their Wii online maybe it will encourage them to check out the Wii Shop channel for the first time.

does this mean i don't have to pay tax on wiiware games(when i first purchase the points)? and like someone else said, does this mean there could be sales on wiiware games? i already see a benefit to not having to buy 2000 points when you want games that total fewer points than that.

The reviewers who were dumb enough to call the most popular WiiWare game "underrated" made me lol.

@pie4prez

I agree--this seems like the exact reason the Wii Download Ticket service was launched (not for amazon, but for redeeming of these types of digital downloads w/o use of points)

...still waiting for some incentive-download tickets as pre-order bonuses or something...Nintendo hasn't done much on the pre-order front in forever, whereas Atlus seems more than willing to box half their office up with each game I buy. Why not a Punch Out!! for NES download ticket for Pre-ordering the new one? It seems like the only money lost is if the person intended to buy the game for money anyway, but now doesn't have to....if they already have it, no loss, and you can't tell me the bandwidth to DL NES Punchout!! costs much more than a fraction of a penny

@ Swerd_Murd

Solid marketing idea. They really ought to pack a download ticket for the NES Punch Out with every purchase of the retail game, not just preorders, in order to likely help encourage countless less-informed Wii owners to get online and learn how to use the Shop Channel.

It's a nice idea if you want to give the game as a gift.

I don't really see the point in this .
What i rather doo is get a couple of cards & have them there ready for any games that could come out .

It would be awesome to get 800 point games without wasting $2 (I've ran out of DLC to buy to use it up ). If they do that, I'll try this out.

At first I thought...wha???? but people are right, it gets rid of the '200 points left problem'
ergo, good news

it could work but it needs to be in shops not on internet why wouldnt people just credit cards on wii
shop

How can this solve the few-points-left problem? Most people have probably already 100 oder 200 points left on their system and the download ticket does not change it. Unless you are Newcomer to the Wii and buy WiiWare only at Amazon. But how likely is that?

@Corbie(#19): Ha ha. I hope so. I always have problems scratching off the silver paint from the back of the Wii-Points Card. Recently, I have cut myself because I slipped off the scratch area with a knife. This is all so complicated. Please help, Amazon!

That's a good idea. Hope to see more titles on the list (and mine of course )

As someone who is just about to purchase WoG on Amazon (I wanted to reread the reviews first as its for my 4 yr. old who loves the PC demo) I have a few things to add - some said previously.
This is a good thing as in options are good.
I am buying this with $11.32 leftover from trading in 4 games to get an extra $20 towards Mario Power Tennis (for the aformentioned 4 yr. old) so it's only costing me an extra $5.
Yes, as always there is tax. $1.30 but I live in NY state so others may not pay it.
Buying a code for immediate use is better than waiting for a card to arrive in the mail.
Yes, Amazon does sometimes have sales and such. Wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo forbids it though. (This annoys me greatly, even moreso after buying R&CF;ToD a few weeks ago for $9.99 - now back to $14.99. Had a Wii over 2 years and don't recall ANY sales.)
I'll write later with the actual purchasing experience details.

"Features & Settings"? Really?
Buying on Amazon went smoothly. They gave me a 16 digit code in about 10 seconds with the offer to email it, which I accepted.
Unfortunately the Wii end wasn't so easy. I've only purchased about 5 or 6 games on there previously, 2 point card purchases for a couple and the others via credit card, but having to go under "Features & Settings" to input the code is not intuitive. It really should be an option on the buy points page where you enter either a code (which I tried first) or credit card info. Maybe the next update. Of course I didn't have enough blocks (first time) so had to deal with that. Moved some old stuff and downloaded to the Wii as I know the boys will be playing it a lot. Had to reboot the Wii as there was an error message abut faulty system memory but it seemed ok after.
In closing, though most of these problems were my own, Nintendo needs a more obvious way to enter these codes.