Nintendo Backtracks on "Garage Developers" Comment

[Greg Tito]

Nintendo Backtracks on "Garage Developers" Comment

A Nintendo representative said he cares about the quality of content, not the office space of the developer.

On March 18th [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/108581-Nintendo-Praises-Independents-Devalues-Garage-Developers], Fils-Aime said he wasn't interested in selling a game for $1. Clarifying some of the comments made in his boss Satoru Iwata's keynote speech at GDC, Fils-Aime said he was worried that the flood of low-priced and low-value games that he sees on competitor's marketplaces like Xbox Live Arcade and Apple's App Store might undermine the gaming industry. Fils-Aime wants to work with true independent studios and not "hobbyists." Nintendo's director of PR, Marc Franklin, attempted to distance the company from Fils-Aime's statements by underlining that Nintendo cares about quality of games, not just how big the developer's offices are.

"Nintendo always appreciates good quality content regardless of whether that's coming from an indie developer or a more established publisher," Franklin said.

"For example, we've worked with 2D Boy, the people behind World of Goo for WiiWare," said Franklin. "This is a group of guys who don't even have an office. So we embrace that kind of independent spirit and it's ultimately the most innovative content that will rise to the top."

Nintendo has been the king of the traditional handheld market with the DS line, but it is seeing competition from the extremely low prices of cellphone and tablet games. All Nintendo has been saying is that it doesn't want to get into a price war with small and mostly crappy games. For every $1 Angry Birds, there are 100 piles of dreck that aren't worth 1 cent.

"The value of video game software does not matter to [small game-makers]. The fact is, what we produce has value, and we should protect that value," Iwata said during his keynote speech [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90452-GDC-2009-Liveblogging-the-Satoru-Iwata-Keynote]. From Nintendo's point of view, it's not worth it to compete directly with small games. The Japanese company has been known for quality games, and that's what they want to deliver going forward.

I'm just waiting for someone to ask Iwata or Fils-Aime about the shovelware that's available on the Wii. Where's the value there?

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/33733/Nintendo_We_Embrace_The_Independent_Spirit.php]

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[Mrsoupcup]

I'm just waiting for someone to ask Iwata or Fils-Aime about the shovelware that's available on the Wii. Where's the value there?

A renewable source of fuel?

OT: If games are art then that means an artist, or the artwork itself can come from anywhere. Just look at Notch, or even the guy who invented Pokemon.

 

[Mr. Omega]

I get what they're saying, and the guy has a good point. For every Minecraft and Angry Birds, there are hundreds of "Get to da Choppa!!1!"s and "Bible Trivia"s.

But you just can't take it seriously when you go to a Gamestop and see most of the shelf contains nothing but shovelware. Sure, it's the other devs who MAKE the games, and there are other publishers besides Nintendo who publish for the Wii, but at some point in the corporate chain, Nintendo has to agree to let it be on the system.

 

[viranimus]

LOL... I remember the good ole days and the "nintendo seal of approval" Its funny how nintendo likes to hide behind their level of "quality" and yet produces such plainly bad offerings. Complaining about the level of quality of games from indie developers. I cant help but to think this complaint came from concerns about the fact that it hurts their profits because with the low prices of indie games makes it a market that is somewhat idea for kids who usually dont have their own disposable income. Perhaps, maybe not.

 

[Kahuna42]

The only "value" I think they're trying to protect is the ability to charge $50+ for a new Wii game. All the other platforms have realized that there's immense value in an online store, despite the crapware it entails.

 

[MB202]

Oh my GOD, what freaking hypocrites, talking about "garbage games" for the Xbox Live Arcade and Apple's App store, while their consoles are the ones who's best know for having the most shovelware out of all of them!

 

[Klumpfot]

"it's ultimately the most innovative content that will rise to the top" - a Nintendo employee.

HAHAHAHA!

Edit: I should probably write something more substantial. Ahem.

I find it hilarious that a company like Nintendo makes a statement like that, when their primary strategy the past decade appears to have been to essentially remake and/or re-release everything they did before said decade.

 

[Xanthious]

Well maybe if the titles on the Wii and DS weren't divided between shameless pieces of shovelware garbage and regurgitated franchises that got old on N64 I could take what Nintendo has to say about this matter seriously. Sadly that is not the case. Now the software library for Nintendo's consoles is largely a massive pile of feces with the occasional cubic zirconium buried here and there.

 

[Sabrestar]

A thought that recently occurred to me. The Wii ShovelWare may actually be helping Nintendo's cause.

--- Wild Speculation Follows ---

I think, perhaps, that Nintendo wants to be like the Atari of old, and do to third parties what Atari couldn't do to Activision. Nintendo wants control of its system within its own hands - I bet it makes more money off first-party Nintendo-developed games than third-party ones, even allowing for development costs. Third-party shovelware reinforces buyer's belief that the only games they can trust come from Nintendo. (WiiWare downloads appear to come from Nintendo in the way they're downloaded, thus still helping the cause, and they're bought with Nintendo Points which are already bought and paid for through Nintendo itself before any games are even downloaded.) Perhaps Nintendo's ultimate goal is "If we can't have a world where all the games are ours, let's make sure only the good ones are."

This is total speculation based off a five-minute brainstorm, I have nothing to back it up, and I may be more off-base than a lost starship, but what the hey. Baseless conspiracy theories are one of the backbones of the internet, right? (At least that's what *they* want us to think...)

 

[B-rad747]

I might have to save this article for whenever I need to show someone a perfect case of irony.

 

[googleback]

I think it'll undermine the industry in the same way that TV movies undermine big budget films. ie not very much.

 

[Ayjona]

Nintendo has been the king of the traditional handheld market with the DS line, but it is seeing competition from the extremely low prices of cellphone and tablet games.

While that comparison puts Nintendo in precisely the light I suspect they prefer, that's not all they are competing with. Their handheld line is also challenged by extreme mobility, persistent Internet connections (and related online gameplay advantages), and new, less traditional gaming experiences, for both good and bad. Low price points are not all Android/iOS/Windows Mobile are offering gamers.

 

[BrownGaijin]

Not to go off topic, but I can think of at lest one "garage" developer that Nintendo shouldn't look over:

Spoiler

And this was almost eight years ago.

 

[LogicNProportion]

What I got from this:

"We done goofed. Sorry." -Nintendo

 

[Proteus214]

I understand what they are trying to say now, I'm just not thrilled about how they said it.

 

[TheSkaAssassin]

They block "hobbyists", yet they'll put truckloads of shovelware onto the DS.

I love pokemon, but I don't know how much longer I can support this.

 

[Woodsey]

"The Japanese company has been known for quality games, and that's what they want to deliver going forward."

Ha! I owned a Wii you know, the shit I took this morning has more meaning then that Nintendo proof of quality seal.

 

[mjc0961]

For every $1 Angry Birds, there are 100 piles of dreck that aren't worth 1 cent.

I'd actually count Angry Birds among that pile of nonsense that isn't worth 1 cent. It's not a terribly new or fun idea, and even if it was fun, it's available for free in different forms on so many flash game sites that it literally isn't worth paying 1 cent for.

Furthermore, I still have trouble seeing cellphone/tablet games as real competition for an actual gaming platform like the DS or 3DS. Who buys a phone or tablet thinking "I can't wait to play some Angry Birds and Cut the Rope!" Nobody. They buy a phone or tablet for other stuff, and then when they're out and they're bored somewhere, they think "I'm bored, maybe I'll buy this Angry Birds thing to kill some time."

But then when they want a dedicated gaming platform that can deliver some substance instead of just flash games you pay for (I wouldn't be surprised if this is really why they won't put Flash support on their iDevices instead of that rant Steve Jobs said: nobody would buy any games from their App Store if they could play them for free on the device's web browser) and is portable, they're going to start looking at the DS, 3DS, PSP, and NGP. And they're going to be getting games that you can't find for free on Newgrounds or Kongregate.

So really, I don't know why any serious game company would be worried about the cheap diversions found on phones and tablets. Even the "best" ones like Angry Birds are just throwaway little flash games that are only good at killing time until you need something else so you don't go insane playing something so unoriginal and boring.

 

[Jodah]

Granted they have a couple valid points but they seem to be saying "We only like Indi developers that already have a hit game!" Maybe I am just too cynical.