Cozmo

IGN

The challenges facing Nintendo's Wii U are many, to the extent that the publisher must start to prioritize its efforts to revive the stalled momentum of the system. One result of this prioritization is how Nintendo thinks about third party development. The publisher knows it needs the diversity and strength that aggressive third party support can bring, but also understands that it can't force business partners to a system that isn't selling. First it needs to do its own part.

"What we need to do is regain the momentum of the Wii U in the marketplace and establish successful examples of third-party Wii U software," Nintendo global president Satoru Iwata told me. "Our focus is, first of all, to regain the momentum of the Wii U towards the end of this year, and then we’ll try to establish successful third-party Wii U software titles. I believe in the importance of third-party support for Nintendo platforms. I’m very willing to change the current situation."

Nintendo of America (NOA) president Reggie Fils-Aime echoes the views of his boss, noting that similar views were held just ahead of launch. What radically shifted third party support then was various publishers seeing reactions to Nintendo's own software, and realizing they might have opportunities of their own. "I’ve had conversations with a number of the publishers," Fils-Aime said. "As they see what we’re doing and the commitment we have with Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda… As we have behind-the-scenes conversations about what’s further in development and what’s coming down, the decisions around the next lineup of development and where they’re going to put their development dollars are starting to shift."

 

Fils-Aime wouldn't get into many specifics regarding major third party publishers, though he did attempt to clarify EA's level of support, saying "they do have projects in development... just nothing coming out this fall." Still, the NOA executive did stress that he understands why third parties are waiting, and why support has been anemic thus far.

"Looking at this through the prism of a business decision, if I’m a third-party publisher, what I want is that I want a large, diverse installed base to invest in my development and be able to monetize against that large installed base," Fils-Aime said. "That’s why, from a Nintendo first-party perspective, we have to drive the installed base. We need a diverse group of consumers. Not just core, not just casual, but a broad, diverse group of consumers within that installed base, so that whether you’re Ubi with Assassin’s Creed or with Just Dance, you’re feeling confident that your game is going to find a home. You’ll be able to monetize your development."

It's clear that Nintendo's two lead businessmen clearly understand the situation before them. Their internal teams have not delivered software to push Wii U systems. Though third party support could loosely be defined as a circular chicken-and-egg situation (software sells systems which in term sell software), that premise doesn't exist unless Nintendo itself defines what makes its console, particularly one that attempts to stay outside traditional industry boundaries, worthwhile. And that hasn't happened yet.

Despite the fact that Nintendo knows that it is more or less on its own when it comes to reviving Wii U's momentum, the publisher doesn't view finding third party support as a futile effort. Iwata described a scenario to me which clearly illustrates the necessary role of third party support. Essentially it comes down to this - Nintendo doesn't know how to do everything, and it simply can't do everything.

 

"If we had an infinite amount of resources, development resources, we might be able to satisfy any and all needs of game players and non-game players all over the world. But our resources are always limited," Iwata said. "The fact of the matter is that there are some areas of game creation that Nintendo is very good at, but there are other things that Nintendo is not very good at. There are huge numbers of fans of Nintendo software, but at the same time, those types of players still sometimes want to play something else on our platform. Because of that, we always need third parties to support us, in order to make our platform complete."

Iwata's description went on to note that third parties can also provide valuable software when Nintendo's own teams need more development time. That certainly would have been welcome in Wii U's initial six months on the market, a half year more defined by a lack of new software than anything else.

One common reaction from Nintendo fans, especially in the face of third party support disappearing or being delayed, is questioning why Nintendo doesn't do more to push third party support. Why let Rayman Legends slip away? Why not financially support EA development? According to Fils-Aime, those conversations are happening constantly. "We have ongoing conversations with publishers about how to support them, how to support their development, how as best as we can to assure that their games are going to do well on our platform," Fils-Aime said. "In the end, independent publishers need to decide what’s going to be best for their companies." In the case of Wii U, with a low install base and a few months before sales will likely receive a much-needed boost, it's clear that Nintendo has its work cut out. Fils-Aime noted that third parties supporting Wii and DS did "exceptionally well financially."

 

Has Nintendo ever worked this hard to get devs on board before?

I would love a Platinum Metroid game espesially after retro let us down.

 

I see many saying Retro let "us" down but the truth is, those people let themselves down by getting hyped up thinking it was going to be Metroid. Retro never said it was going to be Metroid and either title fit in line with what was rumored. IE: it's something people have been wanting us to do for a long time.

 

Donkey Kong probably has a bigger audience, just because of the character's appeal to all ages. I would love to see Metroid, and I think we will down the road in a couple years.

what the hell are they wearing cat gloves for?... it's creeping me out

I think they're am-mew-zing, and purrfect.

 

The Wii U should have been as powerful as the Xbox one.

 

 

 

Why?

 

Should the 3DS of been as powerful as the Vita?

 

As Reggie said "it's all about the games" A solid library will ensure a strong generation for the console. RAM or GPU doesn't ensure that. Innovation, unique game play, and fun experiences do.

 

I made this point before on these forums, and I will do it again.

 

Think of the Wii U as the 3DS compared to the Vita. Yes, there is a power gap, but heck there are some great looking games on the 3DS but when it comes down to it, it isn't all about how great things look, it's about how GREAT the GAME PLAYS.

 

The 3DS will surprise you just as the Wii U will surprise you with what it can do, being the smallest and most efficient console this gen.

So i have just bought super metroid on E shop since its on sale for around 0.3EURO.

If i delete it afterwards, will i be able to get it again?

 

http://mynintendonew...e-better-games/

 

 

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has concluded that the best way to make sure gamers don’t trade in your video games is to make them so good that they simply don’t want to trade them in. Fils-Aime also reiterated that it was vitally important to support used games. Here’s what Reggie had to say on the matter.

“We have been very clear, we understand that used games are a way for some consumers to monetize their games. They will buy a game, play it, bring it back to their retailer to get credit for their next purchase. Certainly, that impacts games that are annualized and candidly also impacts games that are maybe undifferentiated much more than [it] impacts Nintendo content. Why is that? Because the replayability of our content is super strong.”

“The consumer wants to keep playing Mario Kart. The consumer want to keep playing New Super Mario Bros. They want to keep playing Pikmin. So we see that the trade-in frequency on Nintendo content is much less than the industry average – much, much less. So for us, we have been able to step back and say that we are not taking any technological means to impact trade-in and we are confident that if we build great content, then the consumer will not want to trade in our games.”

“I don’t see [Nintendo stopping the sale of game discs] in the future, certainly not the near-term future. For us, retail is a key part of our overall business. Retailers play a huge role in driving awareness. Their stores play a large role in consumers having an experience with their interactives. We couldn’t do a program like what we are doing with Best Buy without the power of retail and letting consumers play four games that haven’t been released yet. The only place you can see these games is either here at E3 or at a 100 best buy locations in the U.S. and in Canada. So we see a very strong role for physical product in the near-term.”

 

 

 

He's right, instead of making a 4 hour long campaign with no bonus content you have to make sure your customer is happy keeping it instead of trading it in. Which is why you see so many delays on Wii U games.

There's a report button, use it if you seriously think someone is bashing a console for no reason.  You do not need to make PSAs.

there also should be a rule against making 10 threads about the same topic.

Thats not much of a tactic, more of a backfire for EA and trying to recover, whatever there tactic is for the wii u, it doesn't seem to be working.

Maybe they will make a version of that old online flash game where Sonic and Mario beat the living crap out of each other lmao.

OMG How about Super Smash Bros. Nintendo VS. Sega Edition?

Am I allowed to post this?

Didn't they patent voice commands in games for the ds?

 

Filed: June 3, 2005

Looks like it.

Nintendo has been written off ever since the Genesis hit the market: "The Genesis has 8 more bits! Mortal Kombat was censored! The N64 uses cartridges! The GameCube looks like a lunch box! The DS is a gimmick! The Wii doesn't have HD! The 3DS hurts your eyes! The Wii U had a bad launch! Mario can't carry Nintendo forever!  Nintendo is D00MED!" We've heard it all before and they constantly keep getting proved wrong, because when Nintendo gets their back against a wall, they blow people's minds.

Spectrum of Colors. Sonic Colors with Blast Processing.