Wii U on Indie Games: A 'Slow Start,' But Company Aims for 'Quality Over Quantity'
Nintendo is now trying to draw the interest of indie game developers to work on the projects for the Wii U.
"They don't shout very loudly about it, but they are working hard behind the scenes to make their platforms as welcoming as possible," said Rhodri Broadbent, Studio Director of Dakko Dakko, to Joystiq. The company's upcoming project, Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails, will be an exclusive Wii U title.
"Quality over quantity ... I think Nintendo are actively seeking indies, but they're looking for quality, experienced developers that they can maybe form a longer term relationship with," said Phil Tossell, Rare developer and co-founder of Nyamyam to Joystiq. "Despite the slow start, I do believe that both the 3DS and the Wii U have a healthy and exciting indie future ahead of them, and we'd love to be a part of that."
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Wii U launched with a number of indie games such as Runner 2 and Toki Tori 2 in the Wii U eShop.
According to Kotaku, an online gaming site, Nintendo will not be excepting indie submissions from Japanese companies.
"[T]he policy in question is the decision of Nintendo's department responsible for licensing activities in each region, and the licensing department of Nintendo is currently not accepting subject applications from individuals in Japan," said Nintendo in a release.
It is puzzling as to why Nintendo, a Japanese company, will not be supporting games from its own country.
PS4 and Xbox One are also looking at the indie market, but in entirely different ways.
Microsoft is infuriating developers of Indie games because they can't publish on the Xbox Live network and instead have to find a publisher and sign a deal of exclusivity if signing on with Xbox, According to Techland.time.com.
Essentially, that would take away the entire notion of being an Indie game. In addition, if the developer would like to make changes to a game, they would have to pay to do so.
Sony had a strong showing and support for Indie games at the E3 conference, in contrast.
"We absolutely love scouring the earth for the most creative and innovative developers," said Adam Boyles, vice president of third party relations at SCEA according to ComputerandVideoGames.com.
Unlike the Xbox, PS4 is affording Indie developers the ability to self-publish games in hopes that premium content will reign triumphant on the console.
