Nintendo has announced that it has formed a development partnership with Korean studio Nexon for a forthcoming but as yet unspecified Wii title.

According to Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata in a recent statement made to the Korean press “We plan to actively support Korean game software developers who have great expertise in developing online games and support their advances into foreign markets...”

Iwata-san also went on to talk about the impending Korean Wii and DS Lite launches, but the big news, at least as far as we’re concerned, is the mention of online expertise and that bit about ‘advances into foreign markets’. And let's not overlook the fact that Nexon is the outfit responsible for the online racer Crazyracing Kartrider (no, us neither) and the 2D cutesy-pie but insanely popular MMORPG Maple Story – a game that’s been sapping the spare time and bank accounts of our Far Eastern gaming cousins since 2002.
Does this partnership mean that either (or both) of these titles will be converted for European Wii?

Alas, Iwata doesn’t go into specifics but with both games supporting huge online communities that are happy to spend real cash on in-game items we reckon hard economics will ensure it happens. Either way Iwata’s wording suggests that we’re in for some kind of Korean-flavoured online Wii japery in the not too distant future. We’ll be sure to keep you posted.