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Iwata on third parties, hundreds of inquiries since GDC about Nintendo Web Framework

Hobby

Member
Coming from the investor Q&A session held the other day. A question was asked about what's going on with third parties on Wii U and the stigma concerning Wii U's "low power". Iwata responded by pointing to their initiative to "expand the range of software developers" (outlined here), noting that they've already received inquiries from several hundred new developers--both companies and individuals--following their presentation at GDC for Nintendo Web Framework. He believes new, captivating titles will be born from this initiative that'll help them achieve that goal. Another thing of note is that the teams working on this sort of software (he points to Wii Street U and their video-on-demand software on Wii U, both of which use Nintendo Web Framework) are quite small, which allows for quick updates in a short time-span.

He also talks up their Unity deal (which they've just recently have begun offering) stating that hundreds of thousands of developers for Unity exist, including developers in emerging nations, and they've made it really easy to get them on board to release software on Wii U.

Finally, Iwata is aware of the fact that many people hold the belief that Wii U is underpowered, and feels they need to work on remedying such misunderstandings. Not only that, but he knows that there are some third parties that are actively supporting Wii U, while others aren't even giving it a second glance. He wants to fix this by creating a situation in which third parties not currently actively supporting Wii U will regret that decision once third parties that did support it start to produce hits on the system. Of course, this isn't going to happen overnight, and it's hard for them at the moment to persuade third parties to get on board given Wii U's current state. However, Nintendo is working on producing such results following Wii U's "re-vitalization" on and after this summer.

All info comes from question/answer 7.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/events/130425qa/03.html
 
He wants to fix this by creating a situation in which third parties not currently actively supporting Wii U will regret that decision once third parties that did support it start to produce hits on the system. Of course, this isn't going to happen overnight, and it's hard for them at the moment to persuade third parties to get on board given Wii U's current state. However, Nintendo is working on producing such results following Wii U's "re-vitalization" on and after this summer.

Cool, so the third parties currently shunning the platform will come on board when and if Nintendo gets the installed base to a high enough level. Worked great for Wii!
 

onipex

Member
Cool, so the third parties currently shunning the platform will come on board when and if Nintendo gets the installed base to a high enough level. Worked great for Wii!

Same thought I had. I think the system would still be shunned by many of those companies even if was selling like the Wii did.
 

MoeB

Member
web platform
HA_HA_HA,_OH_WOW.jpg
 
I mean, that's more or less what I expected Iwata to say about third-party support (Reggie said something very similar at E3 last year), but it's further evidence that the man has no real understanding of the broader console development ecosystem.
 

krizzx

Junior Member
I say they should start supporting the smaller devs, as they tend to make better games.

All of these big devs have shown just how horrible and egosticial they are. Nintendo is better off without the likes of EA, DICE, Activision and their stale games. They have become cancer on the industry. Square and THQ are prime examples of what modern gaming results in.

They should help bring help bring up a new age of developers by contracting indie devs newer studios.
 
Cool, so the third parties currently shunning the platform will come on board when and if Nintendo gets the installed base to a high enough level. Worked great for Wii!
Weren't the only third parties who made a significant amount off the Wii Ubisoft and SEGA through all their cheap minigame compliations and Sonic games? That's not setting a particularly great standard for other 3rd parties with much higher-risk games to to rethink their position towards the Wii/Wii U.

Know it was an exclusive, but how did that Lego Wii U game sell? Same with SEGA Racing, I'm assuming it would've performed better on Nintendo systems due to being tangentially Sonic related.
 

Moonlight

Banned
I say they should start supporting the smaller devs, as they tend to make better games.

All of these big devs have shown just how horrible and egosticial they are. Nintendo is better off without the likes of EA, DICE, Activision and their stale games. They have become cancer on the industry. Square and THQ are prime examples of what modern gaming results in.

They should help bring help bring up a new age of developers by contracting indie devs newer studios.
This is an awful idea.
 
Finally, Iwata is aware of the fact that many people hold the belief that Wii U is underpowered, and feels they need to work on remedying such misunderstandings. Not only that, but he knows that there are some third parties that are actively supporting Wii U, while others aren't even giving it a second glance. He wants to fix this by creating a situation in which third parties not currently actively supporting Wii U will regret that decision once third parties that did support it start to produce hits on the system. Of course, this isn't going to happen overnight, and it's hard for them at the moment to persuade third parties to get on board given Wii U's current state. However, Nintendo is working on producing such results following Wii U's "re-vitalization" on and after this summer.

Revenge Iwata out in full force.
 

PBY

Banned
I say they should start supporting the smaller devs, as they tend to make better games.

All of these big devs have shown just how horrible and egosticial they are. Nintendo is better off without the likes of EA, DICE, Activision and their stale games. They have become cancer on the industry. Square and THQ are prime examples of what modern gaming results in.

They should help bring help bring up a new age of developers by contracting indie devs newer studios.
Without EA and Activision Nintendo would basically die- they'd have to rely solely on their 1st party output. Smaller devs are great, but they won't move systems IMHO.
 
Considering most of the larger companies can barely support themselves anymore, targeting the smaller developers isn't a bad plan in conjunction with a larger plan. Not that I care really since indie games are not my thing.
 

Jamix012

Member
Without EA and Activision Nintendo would basically die- they'd have to rely solely on their 1st party output. Smaller devs are great, but they won't move systems IMHO.

Not that the Wii U is going to do well either way but has a Nintendo console ever really been propped up by EA/Activision? Nintendo has sold on it's own software (since the snes days) alongside some occasional 3rd party support.
 
Not with Nintendo hardware.

See the GPU thread to see all the answers that aren't there.
Not technically-minded, but the thing with the Wii U is that while it has a bit more RAM than the other current-gen consoles, it's applied in a really, dumb weird way that's hard for 3rd party dev's to take proper advantage, at least this early in the system's lifespan. Right?
 

Darryl

Banned
How is underpowered a misunderstanding? Isnt power something quantifiable?

we don't know much about the Wii U power yet everyone thinks they know everything about it. "2006" tech accusations and whatnot. the guy from chipworks said he didn't think it was low tech and estimated a manufacturing cost of like $100 (for the GPU). that's pretty expensive.
 

Chindogg

Member
All the answers we need are in the games. And they have 360/PS3 graphics.

Launch generation 360 and PS3 games in retrospect didn't look so amazing either. Especially if Wii U's 3rd party games are just straight ports.

NFS MW U looks super nice though.

Wii U's obviously not as strong as PS4/Nextbox, but lets not just say that its the same as 360/PS3 when they're still in their launch generation of games.
 

cyberheater

PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 PS4 Xbone PS4 PS4
So the fact that Iwata couldn't give a better answer then this is very troubling for WiiU owners.
 

Burai

shitonmychest57
I say they should start supporting the smaller devs, as they tend to make better games.

All of these big devs have shown just how horrible and egosticial they are. Nintendo is better off without the likes of EA, DICE, Activision and their stale games. They have become cancer on the industry. Square and THQ are prime examples of what modern gaming results in.

They should help bring help bring up a new age of developers by contracting indie devs newer studios.

So EA, Activision etc. make stale games, but Nintendo can just keep motoring with their never-ending torrent of sequels? Do they even have anything besides W101 that isn't a sequel this year?
 

AOC83

Banned
Launch generation 360 and PS3 games in retrospect didn't look so amazing either. Especially if Wii U's 3rd party games are just straight ports.

NFS MW U looks super nice though.

That´s because developers had to deal with completely new hadware/architecture and had to create new engines and tools. This isn´t the case with the WiiU.
 
So EA, Activision etc. make stale games, but Nintendo can just keep motoring with their never-ending torrent of sequels? Do they even have anything besides W101 that isn't a sequel this year?

Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem

One collaboration of, supposedly, a few others.
 

JordanN

Banned
Not gonna trust Iwata on third parties.

What kind of CEO puts off a misunderstanding that's very important in regards to third party support for so long?

Wii U specs are poorly designed for 2013 and they're going to feel the heat for it.
 

AOC83

Banned
You still are in denial over the Need for Speed shots, aren't you???

Wow a few better textures and slightly better framerate in a game that was 6 month longer in development than the other versions.
I have yet to see a WiiU game that is on the graphical level of Uncharted, God of War, Killzone, Halo 4 and others though.
 

Chindogg

Member
That´s because developers had to deal with completely new hadware/architecture and had to create new engines and tools. This isn´t the case with the WiiU.

And you know that how?

Considering all the processing load goes to the GPU on the Wii U, unlike 360/PS3 on the CPU I'm calling bullshit on your assumption.
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
Wow a few better textures and slightly better framerate in a game that was 6 month longer in development than the other versions.
I have yet to see a WiiU game that is on the graphical level of Uncharted, God of War, Killzone, Halo 4 and others though.

So... y'know... first party games. Yeah. We know we haven't seen those yet.
 

-COOLIO-

The Everyman
if there's a misunderstanding about the wiis power, then he could always release the exact specs. just sayin.
 
Wow a few better textures and slightly better framerate in a game that was 6 month longer in development than the other versions.
I have yet to see a WiiU game that is on the graphical level of Uncharted, God of War, Killzone, Halo 4 and others though.

Because judging a consoles graphical capacity on first round games through six months of a console's launch year is the best plumb line.
 

AOC83

Banned
And you know that how?

Considering all the processing load goes to the GPU on the Wii U, unlike 360/PS3 on the CPU I'm calling bullshit on your assumption.

Common sense.
Development is much more advanced today while the WiiU isn´t.
 
He wants to fix this by creating a situation in which third parties not currently actively supporting Wii U will regret that decision once third parties that did support it start to produce hits on the system. Of course, this isn't going to happen overnight, and it's hard for them at the moment to persuade third parties to get on board given Wii U's current state. However, Nintendo is working on producing such results following Wii U's "re-vitalization" on and after this summer.
Dudes saw Ubisoft making bank on the Wii and didn't care. I don't see how doing the same thing again will work this time around...
 

B-Dubs

No Scrubs
So EA, Activision etc. make stale games, but Nintendo can just keep motoring with their never-ending torrent of sequels? Do they even have anything besides W101 that isn't a sequel this year?

Nintendo isn't exactly putting out a new console zelda every year.
 

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
So the fact that Iwata couldn't give a better answer then this is very troubling for WiiU owners.

Yup. Confirms they were caught completely flat-footed by major third parties completely shunning the Wii U. This is scramble mode, and things are not going to get any better anytime soon. Best case scenario would be a few of the small indie titles catching fire, but other than that... Gamecube install base is looking optimistic.
 

AOC83

Banned
So you have no evidence and you're just going by "common sense" while tossing the word "development" around like its some sort of buzzword.

As i said, the evidence is in the games, if the WiiU was clearly more powerful than PS3/360 we would see it.
 
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