Nintendo’s Damon Baker talks more about its indie initiatives and efforts
Polygon recently caught up with Nintendo’s Damon Baker for a chat about all things indie. Baker talked about how the company doesn’t tend to buy exclusives, its openness to multiplatform titles, and more.
You’ll find a summary of what was shared below. Head on over here for the full discussion.
On how Nintendo as a whole has responded well to the different Nindie initiatives…
“Fortunately, the company has been really receptive of it. They’ve embraced the opportunities that we’ve presented to them, and they see the justification.”
On how Nintendo has been supporting indies for a long time, even though the company doesn’t always get the headlines for it…
“I think the other platforms have come out there, and they’ve done a really good job of amplifying their independent support message, and they’ve gained a lot of traction and a lot of visibility for that.”
“I think we’ve stuck to our strategy for some time. We were the first console to promote self-publishing and to allow it on our platforms. And that was going back to the WiiWare and the DSiWare days.”
On how Nintendo doesn’t tend to buy exclusivity…
“I think that you might find that other companies are willing to dish out a lot of money in order to get exclusivity or to get windows of opportunity. We’re not the type of company that really hands out a lot of cash, so we have to be creative in how we give visibility to all of this great content.”
– Nintendo’s tactic is to focus on the unique capabilities of its hardware and the marketing power of the eShop rather than handing out money
– Baker says features like the Wii U’s GamePad and the 3DS’s dual-screen setup allow developers “to take more risks, to try out different things”
– For Kerbal Space Program on Wii U Nintendo is “positioning it as the definitive version of the game”
– It will be the only version of the game with exclusive features
– Nintendo is willing to put its eShop behind indie games
– There is a “very loyal fanbase” that regularly visits the eShop on both Wii U and 3DS
– Nintendo has seen “really good traction” by promoting indie games right next to major Nintendo first-party offerings such as Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart and Splatoon on the eShop
On Nintendo not forcing anyone to remain exclusive…
“I do think that we’re realistic about the environment as well. And we don’t hold it against anybody if they decide that they want to go multiplatform; we know that it’s a business decision.”
– Nintendo will encourage developers to build some kind of exclusive functionality
– Off-TV play on the GamePad alone is “a huge selling point” for Wii U games
“So I think there are a lot of advantages, and our development partners are embracing it, they understand it; I think they appreciate the perspective, and we’re still willing to do anything and everything we can to promote this content.”
