Wii 3rd Party Support on its Way
Nintendo struggles with bringing in third party support, and has done so for several console generations in a row, dating back to the Nintendo 64. After years of hard standards on outside developers, and making consoles that did not always embrace future technology, Nintendo found themselves abandoned by once loyal developers and looking for anyone to be willing to develop on their platforms.
With the success of the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo has attracted a lot of their support back, but the launch of any console always brings new questions of support. The Nintendo 3DS launch was a disaster, and the company knew it, leading them to drastically cut the price of their unit. Looking to avoid this problem on the Nintendo Wii U, they are wanting games at launch, and a lot of games.
Mass Effect 3 and Tekken have already been announced to join the system from third party developers, but more are on their way as well. President Iwata stated that games that have yet to be revealed to investors and consumers will be making the news in the fall. Many games are apparently in the works, as Nintendo has been proactive at luring in developers, and autumn marks a period where a wave of titles are expected to be revealed as launch and soon after launch titles.
One of the features that had held Nintendo down in the past was the lack of the embracing of HD graphics. Iwata elaborated in his statements by stating that the competition on graphics has reached a certain high point, where it will no longer be viable to continue down this front – of course explaining Nintendo’s innovative approach. As developers realize this too, they will be on board, as new variables will be the variable that is competed upon.
What are your thoughts on this news? Will Nintendo bring in 3rd party developers? Will innovation trump graphics?
