Reggie talks third-party developers and the Wii
The head honcho says Nintendo has done all they can – its up to developers to overcome their reservations and create core content for the Wii
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime recently discussed third-party support for the Wii and Nintendos position in the third-party publishing world.
Countless times, when it comes to core games, weve seen publishers focus their efforts towards the PS3 and Xbox 360. Fils-Aime responded by citing the DS and the Wiis installed bases as major incentives for developers to create content on those platforms. "[The] global installed base is over 67 million for Wii and there are 120 million in the DS family… [we] provide them with the tools and the insight to help them create great games, and… have in place a profit model that motivates them to create the content and reap the rewards."
In addition, Fils-Aime mentioned how Nintendo challenges developers to come up with imaginative new content by attending conferences like GDC. "To have someone like Sakamoto-san [Metroid co-creator] talk about Tomodachi Collection and Samus and share his experiences really is a way that were trying to encourage developers to open their mind to do different things."
Fils-Aime also remained hesitant on the long-term sales curve of so-called core games, stating that although "developers love to create technically advanced games, and very visually stunning games… the fact of the matter is not all of that content is selling exceptionally well…" With this in mind, Fils-Aime pointed out BioShock 2s (X360, PS3) drop in sales last month. "Its a much bigger question than why arent developers creating core content for the Wii? Its a much broader question: How can the development community create content that will strike a chord with consumers and be financially attractive? "
On the other hand, from a business standpoint, why should Nintendo care about third-parties when they already make squillions from their own games, the majority of which are targeted at the casual consumer? Fils-Aime acknowledged that Nintendo definitely needs to continue encouraging third-party developers to create core content.
"Well, luckily we dont have that mentality. For us, it is important that third parties bring their very best content to our platform. You could say Why? Its because… weve got consumers from 5 to 95 playing on that platform [the Wii]… we know we create great content for younger consumers… [and] for more casual players, and we want fantastic content for that more active player who loves Metroid or Zelda but maybe also wants something like a BioShock 2to play as well. And we also recognize that we dont create that type of content ourselves. Were not good at it and its not a key focus area. So we want that content on our platform, so we have to court third-party developers and encourage them to make [those games], but it also has to be financially viable for them as well."
