WiiChat spends some time to talk to Western developers on the topic of developing for Nintendo platforms. Developers in Japan and developers in the US or UK, for example, have different goals and intentions, and deal with different sides of Nintendo when it comes to developing for the GBA, the DS, or the Wii.
The difference in outlook between Nintendo and some of its Western third-parties is a bad situation that has shown signs of improving in recent years partially thanks to DS’ subsequent success, but also due to the substantial and influential changes in Nintendo’s staff (such as the rise of Reggie Fils-Aime to president & COO of Nintendo of America) and the noticeable -if very late- realisation that the West matters in terms of early launch dates and software priority. There’s still plenty of work to be done, however, as the insider suggests. “[Nintendo President Satoru] Iwata always talks about how he’s worked in the West, he has a much more global vision for the company etc. However, I haven’t seen Nintendo going out of its way to attract Western developers. All I’ve seen are the usual big name publishers churning out licensed dross.”
Is Nintendo making similar mistakes that eventually doomed the Nintendo 64 and GameCube? Possibly, but they’re showing an improvement. As long as Nintendo stays aware of this effort and doesn’t let it lose priority, the Wii should live a long life with a healthy supply of games from developers around the world.
Head over to WiiChat for the full article. It’s pretty much an open forum discussion with some developers and industry figureheads. Be sure to check it out for a good read.
