Reggie talks about third-parties on Wii, believes Nintendo has done its job
First, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime responded to the fact that publishers have been allocating resources toward the PS3/360 and how Nintendo may assist third-parties…
“Let me answer the question two different ways. First, as a platform holder our responsibility is to create a large installed base for developers to create content, to provide them with the tools and the insight to help them create great games, and to have in place a profit model that motivates them to create the content and reap the rewards. We’ve done that; global installed base is over 67 million for Wii and there are 120 million in the DS family. So there’s a large installed base, an easy platform to develop for and a strong set of tools out there. In addition to that, part of the reason why we come to a conference like this, and bring some of our key development talent is also to challenge the mindset of what content can be. To have someone like Sakamoto-san talk about Tomodachi Collection and [Metroid’s protagonist] Samus and share his experiences really is a way that we’re trying to encourage developers to open their mind to do different things.”
Next, Reggie discussed the long-tail sales curve of hardcore titles…
“On the other hand, the interesting thing about this business is that developers love to create technically advanced games, and very visually stunning games, but the fact of the matter is not all of that content is selling exceptionally well either. Look at the most recent NPD results. I’m not sure how much was infested into a game like Dante’s Inferno, or how much is invested into a game like BioShock 2, but if that sales level is the best that they will do in a particular month, and it’ll fall off rapidly from there, then those games aren’t going to pay off their investment. So to me, it’s a much bigger question than ‘why aren’t developers creating core content for the Wii?’ It’s a much broader question: ‘How can the development community create content that will strike a chord with consumers and be financially attractive?'”
Finally, when asked why Nintendo should care about third-parties, Reggie said…
“Well, luckily we don’t have that mentality. For us, it is important that third parties bring their very best content to our platform. You could say ‘Why?’ It’s because… well, let me focus in on the West. There are 28 million Wiis out there in the marketplace. We know, based on our data, that we’ve got consumers from 5 to 95 playing on that platform. The fact of the matter is we know we create great content for younger consumers, we know we’ve got great content for more casual players, and we want fantastic content for that more active player who loves Metroid or Zelda but maybe also wants something like a BioShock 2 to play as well. And we also recognize that we don’t create that type of content ourselves. We’re not good at it and it’s not a key focus area. So we want that content on our platform, so we have to court third-party developers and encourage them to make [those games], but it also has to be financially viable for them as well.”
