Miyamoto Talking To Devs, Encouraging Them To Work On The Wii U

14 responses to “Miyamoto Talking To Devs, Encouraging Them To Work On The Wii U”

1. 

   leigh

   November 6, 2012 at 12:00 pm

   bit.ly/fMAXsR – I was just reading this article recently. With Nintendo these days conjuring up more rhetoric than a political party and Lance Armstrong combined, I’ll believe it when I see it.

   BUT – how many times have there been people from third parties spruik the Nintendo consoles but nothing comes of it?

   Reply
   1. 

      chestbrah

      November 6, 2012 at 12:15 pm

      No one is going to click a bit.ly link, bro.

      Reply
2. 

   stu

   November 6, 2012 at 12:49 pm

   It seems that Ubisoft are really the only third-party publisher that are really embracing the WiiU, and given the success of Just Dance on the Wii, that’s not really surprising. There’s no-one better to hawk the possibilities of WiiU than Miyamoto, but the fact remains that Nintendo have once again created a product which is truly independant of what the competition are going for with their next-gen consoles. How well the system is supported by third-party companies is yet to be seen, and I think it’ll take a significant install base before companies like EA and Activision will really get behind it. Stories about how Miyamoto is personally visiting these people in an attempt to garner interest and investment is disheartening.
   I believe in the possibilities of the console and I know Nintendo will, as always, deliver with their own games. It’s just a question of whether we’ll see long-term support or if it’ll have one or two quality games from Nintendo per year, and the rest being awful shovelware with GamePad features – pretty much all the Wii was after three or so years on the market..

   Reply
   1. 

      davedrastic

      November 6, 2012 at 12:59 pm

      Yeah Nintendo will deliver on first party games, but remember that they will deliver exactly what they’ve delivered before. Let’s not pretend that they’ve stopped churning out 2d platformers. Sure, the best 2d platformers out there, and with arguably the cutest characters- but nonetheless, it is the same thing they’ve been doing for the last 20+ years. Won’t they please enter the 21st century.

      Reply
      1. 

         stu

         November 6, 2012 at 1:53 pm

         I agree in principle; however, not necessarily in the specifics. Yes, they have the 2D Marios rehashed over and over again, but against that you also have Mario Galaxy. It takes the core mechanics and puts a spin on them so the experience feels fresh. Likewise with the Metroid Prime series – the games were completely different to the 2D shooters they were, but they were absolutely Metroid games.
         While they may not come up with new IP’s very often, and they don’t really push the envelope when it comes to experimentation – that’s what they do with their hardware. They make their core franchises and gameplay fit the hardware. So, while the core experience remains familiar, I’d argue the mechanics which make the game work do enough to keep the experience fresh.
         Unless we’re talking about the 2D Marios, which I’m very sick of. But put Mario in a new 3D game which properly utilizes the GamePad, and I’m there.

         Reply
         1. 

            davedrastic

            November 6, 2012 at 3:15 pm

            I’m not a platform gamer, I never have been. Oh, apart from Chuckie Egg, Rick Dangerous, Clicky and a couple of other primarily 8 bit games. So I’m not really qualified to comment, but personally I didn’t have a lot of fun with Galaxy. Just another platformer to me.

            Metroid could be the best FPS ever, which it isn’t, but even it it were it still wouldn’t be enough. Playstation and XBox, all their iterations, have excelled because they have a variety of games of all genres. Nintendo doesn’t. And hasn’t. Maybe it will in the future, but how likely is that when they don’t garner the level of third developer support that Sony and Microsoft do. I could even extend that notion to Apple and Android.

            Reply
            1. 

               stu

               November 6, 2012 at 3:25 pm

               I think it’s possible that you may have outgrown their core values – as I have. Fun, accessible, and family friendly games are what Nintendo excel at, and they’ll make money off the Wii-U purely because of their own ability to create games which do that perfectly.
               So I agree with you, fundamentally. My initial reaction to the article was one of disappointment, as if Nintendo have finally twigged that third-party support is crucial, and that this is a last-ditch effort to drum some up. I hope the WiiU is spectacular, but outside of key first-party Nintendo franchises, I somehow doubt it will be. My tastes, and what I want from a console, have changed, and it’s unfortunate that I can already say with authority that the WiiU is likely not to be my primary gaming console of “the next gen”.
               In fact, after I’ve finished with ZombiU and NSMB WiiU, I’ll probably go straight back to my PS3.

            2. 

               davedrastic

               November 6, 2012 at 3:57 pm

               Hi Stu,

               Yes I think I’ve outgrown their core values, but I get frustrated because I feel that pretty much all of us have. Those that haven’t are the young, that you’ve mentioned, and the die hard Nintendo fans that are being obstinately blind.

               You might well be right that Nintendo have, and will continue to go after the youth (and family and casual) market(s) – but for some reason that strikes me as absurd, and angers me.

               Why do they think that the youth market will relish old platform based genres when there are so many other genres that have been created and developed, largely without Nintendos input, that will offer gamers of all ages a lot of fun.

               Sure, perhaps platformers are ideally suited for the under 10s. But what about tweens, teens, young adults, adults. We don’t make up a small amount of the market. We need to be serviced.

               I’m not a game developer, but if I were to become a game developer I’d be thinking that one of the easiest genres of games to make would be platform games. It seems that most iOS and Android developers agree with me.

               I’d also be thinking that the easiest market to please and satisfy would be the casual gamer and youth markets.

               In some ways, I think it’s fair to congratulate Nintendo on their success within those markets but I fear that those markets will be very easy to lose, given the wealth of iOS and Android games that are already able to offer games that are very much of the same or similar standard as Nintendo games.

               Further, Sony and Microsoft are also very capable (and increasingly so) of offering their own games that cater to those markets.

               In the meantime Nintendo is dabbling in the hardcore market. With Zombi U and. Well, with Zombi U.

               Nintendo have this pretense that they cater to the hardcore, long term, established gamer, WHEN THEY DON’T.

               It’s deceptive.

               Why do I get angered by it, because I invested in the Wii and all it’s peripherals – and for what? To be entertained by Wii Sports for a few weeks and then to be continually disapointed by all subsequent releases (and non-releases).

               Gees, can’t Nintendo make up their mind. Do they want to be known as a kiddy game maker, or as a leading console and gaming platform developer. They can’t have it both ways unless they invest in both areas properly.

               Good luck to you buying the Wii U. I can’t write it off 100%, perhaps because Nintendo do produce great kiddy games, and also because it appears the 720 and PS4 may not be much more technically advanced afterall (we shall see). But personally I couldn’t invest in a new console on the basis of just 1 or 2 games and the hope that more will come. I did that with the Wii and got burned.

            3. 

               stu

               November 6, 2012 at 4:47 pm

               All true. They definitely represent themselves a little deceptively in regards to the hardcore market – I’ve read some of Reggie’s statements over the last few months talking about how they’re catering for the core adult market “with titles such as ZombiU”, and they definitely strike me as untrue.
               This direction for Nintendo – the “kiddie”, “family” market – does make sense from a differentiation point of view, though. Many parents who grew up with Nintendo and now play Playstations and Xboxes would choose Nintendo for their kids. Things like straightforward interfaces and immediately accessible control schemes don’t necessarily make for good core games; however, they’re the obvious choice for kids. Nintendo know how trusted and relatable their brand is, and I think that’s pretty much what’s making them follow this road.
               If I was a parent of, say, children aged between five and twelve, the WiiU would be my first choice. I wouldn’t want them having easy access to online, for example, or adult-content games – and the price point, and focus on concurrent multiplayer, means families will play together. Most likely, with leftover Wii controllers. I think there’s enough of a market there for Nintendo to target it, and given their strategy over the last couple of years, I’m not surprised to see they’re on course to continue the tradition. I doubt Ios and Android will make a huge dent in their potential market, as they’re more for on-the-go. Their 3DS division is the one which will cop the brunt of that. Home console gaming amongst young families is alive and well, and Nintendo’s promise of how they’ll add to that experience with titles such as NintendoLand makes perfect sense to me.
               The lack (thus far) of core games is annoying, to be sure, and to be left as an afterthought by Nintendo – a “fringe” market – sucks. I’d prefer more adult games but they’re probably not coming. Ah well.
               I have Sony and Nintendo for that.

            4. 

               davedrastic

               November 6, 2012 at 5:58 pm

               Yes, well you’re being more philosophical about the situation than me. I’m viewing the situation as being that Nintendo are focusing on the Casual / Family / Young gamer market but are not being honest about it. And I feel that they’re at very high risk of losing their existing client base.

               I do think they’re at risk from iOS and Android. Real Racing 3 is apparently graphically similar to an XBOX 360 game. I don’t know how true that is, but the Android games that I play are certainly as good as a PSN or PS2 game. Scratch that, far superior to PS2 games – they actually include PS2 games (GTA III).

               Sure, the controls are still an issue, but there are solutions breaking through – not least of which would be Ouya.

               Wether or not Ouya succeeds, I’m confident that at least one iOS or Android solution will – be that Apple or Google TV, Steam Big Box, or perhaps some device that allows us to play our tablets or smart phones directly through our big screen TVs.

               I think it’s going to be hard for a $60 Mario game to compete with a $2.99 Android / iOS game.

3. 

   davedrastic

   November 6, 2012 at 12:56 pm

   A bit confusing this.

   If Nintendo are that desperate that they have to resort to pimping out Miyamoto, then why are they doing so so late. Couldn’t they have done that 18 months ago?

   Also, Miyamoto acknowledges that third parties have steered away from Nintendo due to business decisions based on Nintendos unique direction. So what have Nintendo done? Gone in a unique direction again.

   Further, why would developers reverse their business decisions on the base of a meet and greet with Miyamoto?

   Okey doke, we will invest $50 million into an unknown quantity afterall, now that Miyamotos given me a cute little Mario hat.

   Nintendo seem so sleepy nowadays. Do they realise that they’re about to launch a new console? Do they realise how many billions they will lose if it doesn’t sell well.

   Oh no worries, Miyamoto can hand out flyers on the street. Everyone loves Miyamoto.

   Reply
4. 

   merus

   November 6, 2012 at 1:03 pm

   Have developers been telling Miyamoto that they don’t want to develop for Nintendo consoles because the other consoles have middleware that cuts their development time in half? No-one’s going to make a game just for Wii U except Nintendo. Indies will prefer to release on Steam, AAA developers will want to release on everything. If the tools they’re used to using aren’t on the Wii U, they won’t release on that platform.

   Nintendo make good hardware, from what I hear, nowhere near the architectural clusterfuck of the PlayStation series, but that means dick if it’s still twice as time-consuming to make anything on it because you have to write everything from scratch.

   This sounds like desperation.

   Reply
5. 

   terrak

   November 6, 2012 at 9:34 pm

   Wow really? People are bitching because Nintendo are trying hard to court third party developers to the Wii U? Or is it because the Wii survived well with out third party support and 360/ps3 had it all and now the Wii U is coming out and not only does it have no known competitors (for atleast 2 years), brand recognition, new unique feature (gamepad), most importantly it has strong third party support at the beginning (thats the only thing that stopped the Wii from getting to ps2 sales levels). So long as it sells well games and thirdparties will come. To me it sounds like 360 and ps3 fans are scared – scared of a Nintendo console with strong third party support will mean to their consoles that have thrived with all the third party support to themselves.

   If the Wii U has third parties then the next playstation or xbox better watch out. Because unless they come out with something ‘Wii’ like then i dont see what either console will have to offer that will make them the no.1 console of the next generation.

   Reply
   1. 

      Major Beauner

      November 6, 2012 at 9:48 pm

      Agreed!

      Nintendo has the potential to fully dominate this gen. Too many are disheartended, crying about their “bad Wii” experiences – but seriously – the Wii U actually looks set to be fantastic for Nintendo and also for gamers! And “Hardcore”? LOL – what does that even mean. New Super Mario Bros U is a Hardcore game! It isnt a casual game like Angry Birds. Just because there isnt photo realistic violence or some other supposed “Hardcore” aspect to it, that too many jaded gamers have become acustomed too.

      And thats the problem – the problem isnt that Nintendo has lost touch with gaming – the problem is that many gamers have lost touch with what it means to BE a gamer.

      Bring on Launch day….preordered and paid for!!

      Reply