Iwata: Keeping devs interested in hardware imperative, third-party Wii U games and overseas 3DS titles at E3

There is some concern out there that publishers and developers will lose interest in making projects for dedicated gaming devices due to the rise of social games. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata believes this is true in some ways, but also feels “not all the internal developers have lost their passion to create consumer game software.” He explained that the company’s “new hardware offers new proposals and potentially new play experiences so that developers will be interested in this hardware and be motivated to make attractive software.”

Last week, Iwata told investors at Nintendo’s financial results briefing Q&A that third-parties are preparing to show software at E3 which will show support for dedicated gaming hardware. Moreover, he teased overseas 3DS announcements for the expo. Western studios haven’t provided a ton of support for the handheld.

Read on for Iwata’s full rundown of quotes. It includes an explanation as to why U.S./European publishers haven’t revealed as much 3DS content compared to Japanese companies.

As for your opinion that the software publishers are devoting comparatively less software development resources to the so-called consumer games than before, I share that idea with you. Because Nintendo has been devoting all of its resources to the software creations of the so-called consumer game systems, and as we have even expanded the software development efforts in that arena more than before, our ability has increased in comparison to that of five years ago. When we take into consideration these changes, it may be true that software publishers are devoting relatively fewer internal resources to the development of consumer games than before. Having said that, however, as a matter of course, not all the internal developers (of the publishers) have lost their passion to create consumer game software. It is imperative for Nintendo that our new hardware offers new proposals and potentially new play experiences so that developers will be interested in this hardware and be motivated to make attractive software. At the E3 show this June, you will be able to experience not only Nintendo’s Wii U software but also the titles being prepared by the third-party publishers. As a result, I think you will be able to notice that a number of developers are creating software (for the Wii U) even today. As for the Nintendo 3DS, there may appear to be fewer commitments from the U.S. and the European software publishers than those of their Japanese counterparts. This is due to the different timing (between Japan and overseas) when they noticed that the Nintendo 3DS would surely expand widely into their markets and, thus, the different timing when they started the actual development of the Nintendo 3DS software. You will also notice a change in this situation when a richer Nintendo 3DS software lineup in the overseas markets is announced around the time of the E3 show. In Japan, we have this solid feeling that the Japanese publishers will continuously support the Nintendo 3DS. Accordingly, I have no pessimistic view on the Nintendo 3DS software lineup.