Indies have become a prominent force in the gaming industry, especially over the past few months. On Nintendo’s end, the company is recognizing smaller developers more than ever on Wii U and 3DS.

Speaking with IGN, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime discussed how working with indies is a big priority for Nintendo:

“The independent developer, especially those developers who have experience, who’ve shown real capabilities, we love those independent developers. And what we’re doing is creating even more of an infrastructure for a brand-new independent developer, someone who’s never created content before, to be effective on our platform. So it’s an area that we’re spending a lot more time and a lot more energy to create the infrastructure to help these developers publish their content and be effective. It’s something that we have had to learn how to do. Because our systems aren’t straightforward for a developer who hasn’t had a lot of experience.”

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Masahiro Sakurai has got his hands on Oculus Rift, the new virtual reality head-mounted display – and he’s a fan. Sakurai is positive “it’ll be a hit in the near future.”

“I experienced the ‘Oculus Rift’ VR goggles. You’d have to experience it for yourself to understand, so I won’t say much here, but I’m certain it’ll be a hit in the near future. This, too, is a difference in [the nature of] media.”

Sakurai’s Oculus Rift comments come from the latest issue of Famitsu. In the magazine, Sakurai also mentioned that he likes seeing differences in consoles:

“Having a difference between consoles based on unique features is more fun. Rather than having technology converge as it becomes more advanced, I’d rather have things broaden and spread out for a market with many stimulating choices.”

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Witch Beam’s Assault Android Cactus has been confirmed for Wii U. The studio’s bullet hell shooter will be available on Wii U in Q1 2014 in addition to the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita.

Assault Android Cactus will include boss fights, dynamic music and stages, four different characters with unique play styles, and four-player local co-op.

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The 3DS and PlayStation Vita are executing “fundamentally different strategies,” Nintendo marketing executive Scott Moffitt has said.

Moffitt explained to GameSpot that Sony is trying to extend the console experience into the portable space. When it comes to Nintendo though, Moffitt said the company is mainly tasked with creating unique content for gamers who may only have a limited time to play.

He said:

“Certainly, on the handheld side, we’re heading in a very different direction than PlayStation with Vita. It really comes back to, in my opinion, the core strategy. I believe their view on the market is that the handheld gaming occasion and the home gaming occasion are one in the same, that people just have the desire to keep continue playing their home console game when they leave the house.”

“And our philosophy, our belief, our strategy, is that we believe it’s kind of a different occasion. The moment of time you’re willing to play, the amount of time you have able to play when you’re away from home is different and your gaming behavior is different.”

“You’re not going to grab the whole bag of Doritos chips and sit on the couch for three hours; you have 25 minutes until the bus comes or whatever it might be. So the nature of the game ought to be a little different and the nature of the experience ought to be a little different. So I do believe on that, we have fundamentally different strategies.”

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