Nintendo Taps U.S. Talent in Search of WiiWare Hits
- added May 11, 2008
- 2 responses
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- kushan
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Nintendo videogame guru Shigeru Miyamoto says the future of indie games looks brightest outside his native Japan.
"I think America has always been better at creating unique products," says Miyamoto, the head of Nintendo's game-development division and creator of Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo has traditionally led its product launches with standout titles from its Japanese studios. But the most intriguing games scheduled for its WiiWare games-on-demand download service, which launches Monday, are created by independent U.S. developers. Nintendo says it wants to foster an open environment in which indie games can flourish.
"In Japan, the technology required to create videogames tends to be concentrated in the bigger corporations," says Miyamoto. Game publishers tend to make conservative games that will always be profitable, rather than taking risks on experimental games, he says.
With WiiWare, Nintendo is attempting to flip the equation. By opening the service to even the smallest indie designers, the company hopes to tap the talents of the world's brightest gamemakers and snag brilliant new ideas for its popular Wii console. If the company finds the next little thing that blows up big -- like 2007's sleeper hit Portal, which got its start as an undergraduate project -- Nintendo will benefit from both the sales and the critical buzz. And it will do so with a minimal investment.
"I think America has always been better at creating unique products," says Miyamoto, the head of Nintendo's game-development division and creator of Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo has traditionally led its product launches with standout titles from its Japanese studios. But the most intriguing games scheduled for its WiiWare games-on-demand download service, which launches Monday, are created by independent U.S. developers. Nintendo says it wants to foster an open environment in which indie games can flourish.
"In Japan, the technology required to create videogames tends to be concentrated in the bigger corporations," says Miyamoto. Game publishers tend to make conservative games that will always be profitable, rather than taking risks on experimental games, he says.
With WiiWare, Nintendo is attempting to flip the equation. By opening the service to even the smallest indie designers, the company hopes to tap the talents of the world's brightest gamemakers and snag brilliant new ideas for its popular Wii console. If the company finds the next little thing that blows up big -- like 2007's sleeper hit Portal, which got its start as an undergraduate project -- Nintendo will benefit from both the sales and the critical buzz. And it will do so with a minimal investment.
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I definitely like what I'm seeing with WiiWare. I'm a big fan of Shiggy's, and I'm proud to see that he supports developers in North America. :)
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- Konstantino
- 2 months ago
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I'm really excited about WiiWare, the games are pretty cheap, but HD space might be a pain. Although you can redownload things for free at least.
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