Nintendo willing to help Japanese third-parties release 3DS games overseas

Western third-party support of handheld development has dropped off, according to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. Studios aren’t making as many portable titles as compared to the time of the DS.

That being said, Japanese companies are more involved than ever with 3DS game-making. Nintendo plans “to more actively support the Japanese software developers in distributing their key titles overseas this year.” Iwata specifically pointed to Professor Layton as a series that Nintendo has published in the west and said the that company will “increase the number of such games for the U.S. market as well as in Europe.”

Finally, Iwata expressed openness in working with third-party developers in releasing their games overseas. Maybe they’ll give Square Enix a kick in the butt when it comes to Bravely Default?

Recently, third-party software developers overseas have been inclined to focus on mega-hit titles for home consoles and have had less of their development studios develop software for handheld devices. Some developers, which make game content suitable for children, work on titles for Nintendo 3DS, but they are not as active as the time of Nintendo DS.

On the other hand, as the handheld devices occupy a large share of the video game market and software for handheld devices is important in the video game business in Japan, Japanese software developers are eagerly assigning their top teams to develop key titles for Nintendo 3DS.

We therefore plan to more actively support the Japanese software developers in distributing their key titles overseas this year.

Among those third-party titles both developed and published in Japan, there have been some games which Nintendo published in Europe, including the Professor Layton series. We will increase the number of such games for the U.S. market as well as in Europe. We are also willing to flexibly assist third-party developers in distributing their valuable games overseas.