Digital comics coming to Japanese Wiis

by Candace Savino { Jun 25th 2008 at 3:30PM }

Using WiiWare for digital comics ... why didn't we think of that?

Fortunately, someone did. Sun Denshi hopes to use the service to release manga as early as this summer in Japan. The comics will be viewable through an application made by the company, which interested parties can download to their Wiis.

Eventually, Sun also hopes to spread this initiative to other forms of media, such as anime, books, and pachinko. As for the comics, an original manga by Reiji Matsumoto will be first on the menu. You may have heard of Matsumoto from his space operas, such as Space Battleship Yamato.

We hope that Sun extends their services to other parts of the globe, or that another company copies the idea. We're not sure that some forms of media (like books) would work well on the Wii, but comics and cartoons could help add some flavor into the WiiWare service.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

sorensilk @ Jun 25th 2008 3:47PM

Those Japanese folks get all the cool stuff first...

Blue_Falcon @ Jun 25th 2008 3:59PM

Truthfully, I'd prefer digital comics on something like the DS.

Candace Savino @ Jun 25th 2008 4:16PM

I love the *idea* of portable digital comics. But after using the Comic Book DS homebrew for a bit, I think the screens are just to small to navigate comic book panels easily. Just my own opinion, though ;)

Blue_Falcon @ Jun 25th 2008 5:10PM

Good point. The panel in the main post alone (excellent choice might I add, Captain America is fantastic) I think a 'better yet' situation would be something of a hybrid of a DS (dual screens) PSP (screen size) and iPod (market appeal, download service, etc.)

Basically make something of those e-books that have been getting on the market in recent years, but with color and stuff.

But WiiWare could be good, but I see the issue of storage coming up again (like with all the other downloadable bits for the Wii)

Candace Savino @ Jun 25th 2008 5:18PM

Yeah, I'd definitely down for an ebook/comic book reader hybrid, or even a standalone comic book reader. Digital media seems to be taking over the world, so I'd assume something of the sort will be available in the future.

As for WiiWare -- yeah, storage is a problem. Especially when you movie beyond comics and start talking about cartoons or anime. We'll see if there's a fix in store come E3, or if we just have to keep on truckin' with SD cards.

And yes, Captain America is fantastic :).