Square Enix's newfound love of Western developers bears new fruit as European developer Frontier Developments announces that the Japanese publisher will be publishing their critically-acclaimed WiiWare title LostWinds in Japan and Asia.

"Square Enix is a very successful, development-led organisation with a total commitment to quality," said David Braben, Frontier's Chairman and founder. "Frontier shares those same core ideals and we are very pleased to be doing business together. Square Enix's strength in Japan will give LostWinds the chance to shine there, as it has done elsewhere."

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Wow. That. Was. Fast. It's been out for, oh, a day, and already a LostWinds sequel is on the way. If you pop on over to Frontier Development's website, and scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll be greeted by the following message:

Click here to REGISTER FOR ADVANCE INFORMATION on Frontier's forthcoming LostWinds sequel containing amazing new gameplay as Toku and Enril's incredible adventure to save Mistralis continues.

Yes, OK, the "sequel" has obviously already been made (or is at least a good ways along), but good news is still good news, regardless of how surprising or unsurprising it may be.

Frontier Developments [via Go Nintendo]

WiiWare is here, and being the new, more financially responsible Mike Fahey I decided to limit myself to one of the launch titles. Since the Final Fantasy game had the words "Crystal Chronicles" after it, I opted for the charming little platform adventure LostWinds. Please note that a general lack of sleep is responsible for any random singing that might be heard in this video.

You want advance notice for your WiiWare games? You're not getting any. The service is now up and ready for download (today being May 12 and all), and we've only just been sent the official list of launch titles from Nintendo. Interestingly, it differs slightly from the supposed list from late last week - which was based off Nintendo's own promo video for the service - which showed Dr Mario as one of the launch titles. It's not. There's actually six games launching today, not five, and those six range in price from 500 Wii Points (Defend Your Castle) to 1500 Wii Points (Final Fantasy CC).

The six titles are:

Final Fantasy: 1500 Wii Points
LostWinds: 1000 Wii Points
Defend Your Castle: 500 Wii Points
Pop: 700 Wii Points
VIP Casino Blackjack: 700 Wii Points
TV Show King: 1000 Wii Points

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The newly launched in North America Nintendo Channel shows off the first batch of WiiWare titles to hit Western shores, revealing potential pricing on at least one of the debut games. The initial quintet of potential WiiWare releases—revealed by way of the "What Is WiiWare?" video—includes the following.

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Frontier's WiiWare effort LostWinds may not be grabbing headlines, especially in the midst of releases like Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4 on the horizon, but it may be the WiiWare title with the most potential. Arguably the prettiest of the digitally delivered offerings from Nintendo's answer to Xbox Live Arcade, LostWinds lets players take control of two characters at once, big-headed boy adventurer Taku and, well, a gust of wind.

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With WiiWare sharing Nintendo's GDC focus along with WiiFit and Smash Bros., I'd expect to see plenty of WiiWare game announcements in the next couple of days, like this one, for Frontier Developments' LostWinds. The game puts you in control of the wind via Enril the wind spirit, who is guiding a young boy named Toku on a quest to lift a curse placed on the world of Mistralis by someone named Balasar. Use the wind to create anything from tornados to gentle breezes, powering Toku's jumps, letting him glide, and helping him smash enemies. The game looks rather pretty, and if the mechanics work out it could be a huge hit, or it could blow as hard as Kya: Dark Lineage for the PS2, that other wind game.

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