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[FoxSpirit]

Update:

Reggie has clarified his comment to Joystiq.

As Nintendo did with WiiWare standouts 2D Boy and Gaijin Games, Reggie also hopes to court "independent developers who understand this business" for the 3DS. After his quotes on the matter last week, though, I asked Fils-Aime to explain where his company draws the line -- what separates an "indie" studio from a "garage" one? "We've been clear that we want to work with independent developers who understand this business, who have experience in this business," Fils-Aime said, citing the two aforementioned indies. "These are people who spent time working with larger publishers and larger developers, but had that idea in the back of their head that they needed to bring to life ... and so that's the type of entity that we want to work with."

He further distinguished between the two groups, saying, "These are talented developers. That's different from the person who envisions themselves as a developer, but actually hasn't necessarily created anything, who doesn't necessarily understand what it takes in this business to create compelling content. That's where we draw the line." According to Nintendo, that experience is just as vital as a good concept and a burning desire to make a game.

"I'll tell you, if someone calls us tomorrow who has no experience in the gaming industry, but has a passion and has a great idea, our perspective would be, 'Great, but get some experience. Understand your craft, and then come back to us,'" Fils-Aime said.

Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/28/reggie-fils-aime-on-the-competition-and-what-it-means-to-be-a-g/

Original:

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/03/nintendo-garage-developers/#more-33623

Choice quote

“In our view, that’s not a business we want to pursue,” said Fils-Aime, who likened “hobbyist developers” to American Idol contestants.

“There are certainly highly talented people who work other jobs and have a passion to be in the music industry,” he said. “I love it when there’s a game that’s found that captures people’s imagination, just like that … singer toiling in a factory,” he told the game-development news site .

Stay classy, Reggie. >:-(

EDIT:
Aparently, it was a bit out of context, read the full transcript here:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/..._On_Garage_Devs_And_The_Value_Of_Software.php

"I would separate out the true independent developer vs. the hobbyist," says Fils-Aime. "We are absolutely reaching out to the independent developer."

Wth Chris, don't quote stuff in a way that really twists the message around, makes me feel stupid :-\

 

[farnham]

too bad steel diver and pilot wings resort seem to be way worse then 90% of those garage developer games

 

[erpg]

Yeah, I can really see why they were attracted to Team Meat and wanted those two guys to develop on their platform now.

Wait, what? Seriously?

I've had more fun with Indie games these past two years than most big releases, Nintendo's included (what little there was).

 

[Yoboman]

I get the feeling Nintendo's attitude to developers will once again become their weakness

 

[Why would you do that?]

Considering that they decided to let the World of Goo people make the game for the Wii, I don't think they're completely discounting them.

 

[Tobor]

too bad steel diver and pilot wings resort seem to be way worse then 90% of those garage developer games

And cost 10 times more.

 

[freddy]

Considering that they decided to let the World of Goo people make the game for the Wii, I don't think they're completely discounting them.

Those guys were both from EA originally or at least one of them was

 

[Electivirus]

Well, this thread is gonna get ugly.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Misinterpretation FTW.
They are supporting indie devs like team meat or 2dboy, but wont supply every 16 year old wanne-be dev with dev-kits and a license to develop. This is nothing new...but i guess someone needed a new story.

If everyone expected nintendo to open the gates, AppStore like - no that wont happen....

 

[DaBuddaDa]

Misinterpretation FTW.
They are supporting indie devs like team meat or 2dboy, but wont supply every 16 year old wanne-be dev with dev-kits and a license to develop.

http://www.retrocityrampage.com/

 

[Plasma]

Their loss really.

 

[wwm0nkey]

See now if he was just looking at the Xbox Live indie games I would agree (like 80% of the stuff there is just dumb) but Nintendo really should have an indie marketplace, just have higher quality checks.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

Nothing new there. They require all developers be a registered business with an office that meets minimum requirements.

Non news that is being spun for hits.

 

[farnham]

Misinterpretation FTW.
They are supporting indie devs like team meat or 2dboy, but wont supply every 16 year old wanne-be dev with dev-kits and a license to develop. This is nothing new...but i guess someone needed a new story.

If everyone expected nintendo to open the gates, AppStore like - no that wont happen....

the problem is that a 16 year old wannabe dev with devkits is going to do a better job then miyamoto did with steel diver. and they will sell the game for 1 dollar on itunes not 40 on retail.

 

[DeadRockstar]

Nice headline, Wired. They're clearly just trying to avoid an app store situation where anybody can publish anything.

 

[freddy]

the problem is that a 16 year old wannabe dev with devkits is going to do a better job then miyamoto did with steel diver. and they will sell the game for 1 dollar on itunes not 40 on retail.

Do you have Steel Diver yet or has your pessimism played it?

 

[JaseC]

the problem is that a 16 year old wannabe dev with devkits is going to do a better job then miyamoto did with steel diver. and they will sell the game for 1 dollar on itunes not 40 on retail.

That thunderous sound you hear is NintyGAF fast approaching.

 

[antonz]

Do you have Steel Diver yet or has your pessimism played it?

He saw IGNs review saying its a good game but short so is suddenly well versed.

Considering the majority of iOS development is 10 year old flash game rip offs I have no problem with Nintendo requiring people to actually have experience and prove they are worthy of developing

 

[Heavy's Sandvich]

too bad steel diver and pilot wings resort seem to be way worse then 90% of those garage developer games

Pilotwings is awesome mate.

 

[farnham]

Do you have Steel Diver yet or has your pessimism played it?

That thunderous sound you hear is NintyGAF fast approaching.

pilot wings and steeldiver are supposedly 2 to 3 hours long and dont offer a lot gameplaywise either


i see a lot of 1 dollar games on appstore that are probably better then that games

in fact i saw a lot of 5 to 10 dollar games on wiiware with devs that had no background that were more awesome then those games

Pilotwings is awesome mate.

yes 2 hours long awesome

 

[RurouniZel]

Nothing new there. They require all developers be a registered business with an office that meets minimum requirements.

Non news that is being spun for hits.

.

 

[ryan-ts]

Nothing new there. They require all developers be a registered business with an office that meets minimum requirements.

Non news that is being spun for hits.

.

 

[bon]

Why are you mad about that quote? He's saying it's cool when a good indie game comes out, but Nintendo doesn't want to do an iPod style app store. That's it.

 

[cw_sasuke]

the problem is that a 16 year old wannabe dev with devkits is going to do a better job then miyamoto did with steel diver. and they will sell the game for 1 dollar on itunes not 40 on retail.

No the problem is that for every one good game you will get 1000 crappy ones, whcih plays and look like shit...

 

[-PXG-]

Misinterpretation FTW.
They are supporting indie devs like team meat or 2dboy, but wont supply every 16 year old wanne-be dev with dev-kits and a license to develop. This is nothing new...but i guess someone needed a new story.

If everyone expected nintendo to open the gates, AppStore like - no that wont happen....

Yep.

Honestly, would you want just anyone to be able to make a game for a platform like iOS? Yeah....have fun sorting through 500 shitty Super Mario clones.

 

[Why would you do that?]

Those guys were both from EA originally or at least one of them was

I remember reading a long time ago that Nintendo allowed them to be Wii developers from home, which was an unusual move because Nintendo requires that you must have secure offices to do that. Then Nintendo also published the game. However, upon searching, I don't see any of that info on Wikipedia or anything, so I could just be crazy.

 

[farnham]

No the problem is that for every one good game you will get 1000 crappy ones, whcih plays and look like shit...

thats why you have the gaming press that picks out the good games

also its not like the wii or the 3ds has a stellar lineup right now

 

[Dabanton]

That thunderous sound you hear is NintyGAF fast approaching.

Looks like the 'calvary' arrived just after this post.

This threads going to be a hot one. Is that the distant sound of iOS fans on the horizon..

 

[FoxSpirit]

Why are you mad about that quote? He's saying it's cool when a good indie game comes out, but Nintendo doesn't want to do an iPod style app store. That's it.

Hmm, okay, maybe I misread it :-(

 

[StevePharma]

was Fluidity or something like that (that Nintendo-Wii game with fluid dynamics) a funded project or in-house?

Also stay classy Reggie. Nintendo Seal of Quality was already watereddown/cancelled. You know why? Because you let all that IDIOT SHOVELWARE on WiiWare/ DSi ! Hypocrisy rising....

You aren't mocked on GiantBomb for nothing.

 

[Balb]

thats why you have the gaming press that picks out the good games

also its not like the wii or the 3ds has a stellar lineup right now

?

3DS has a ton of games I'm interested in, or are you referring to the launch line-up?

 

[JaseC]

This threads going to be a hot one. Is that the distant sound of iOS fans on the horizon..

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

My computing lecturer was telling us about how the university tried to get access to Wii and 3DS dev kits but Nintendo refused to give them out for research.

 

[-PXG-]

thats why you have the gaming press that picks out the good games

also its not like the wii or the 3ds has a stellar lineup right now

First of all, the 3DS hasn't even been out a month, and isn't available worldwide. Second, saying the Wii doesn't have a stellar library games is vastly ignorant on your part. Sure, the lineup for 2011 is weak. However, it's not like, with every passing year, games disappear.

You know which games the press would choose? The games made by known developers or those indie/ "garage" devs who have experience (eg: Team Meat). Some kid or hobbyist isn't going to get recognized. And in most cases, that's a good thing.

 

[Momo]

No minecraft then?

 

[onipex]

thats why you have the gaming press that picks out the good games

That has to be the most brain dead statement I have seen in a long time.

Why are you mad about that quote? He's saying it's cool when a good indie game comes out, but Nintendo doesn't want to do an iPod style app store. That's it.

See this is what the gaming press should have pointed out and that kind of explains my response to farnham's post.

 

[antonz]

That has to be the most brain dead statement I have seen in a long time.





See this is what the gaming press should have pointed out and that kind of explains my response to farnham's post.

Its all about getting hits and sucking off Steve Jobs on tech sites these days. Those are the only 2 things that matter.Fairly certain we had a similar topic just a few weeks ago on the fact Nintendo doesnt let just anyone in on their devkits

 

[Balb]

The worst part about articles/threads like these is that people may actually believe the sensationalist title. Nintendo has fostered a lot of interesting and creative indie development on WiiWare. Of course, Nintendo doesn't give anyone a reason to give a crap about WiiWare but that's another issue.

 

[abstract alien]

So, he thinks most of them are terrible and only a chosen few seem to be of any real value?

True, for me at least. Guess that's my opinion though, but I think he is spot on.

 

[MYE]

nvm

 

[Orin GA]

thats why you have the gaming press that picks out the good games

LoL. Tag plz

 

[Heavy's Sandvich]

yes 2 hours long awesome

Still awesome though!

 

[Mithos]

No minecraft then?

I'm pretty sure Mojang AB would have no problem qualify for a Wii/DS/3DS devkit actually.

 

[subversus]

lol nintendo.

that statement correlates with Iwata's statement on GDC as I understand.

Nintendo execs fear little games because basically they have the same audience that Nintendo games have now, but they sell games cheap, while Nintendo wants to sell them for 50 bucks. GO NINTENDO1!!

 

[erpg]

I'm pretty sure Mojang AB would have no problem qualify for a Wii/DS/3DS devkit actually.

Yeah, now. Just like Team Meat would have no problem now. After successful releases on other platforms that would treat them better anyway.

But hey, if they don't want to foster creativity on their platform, that's their problem.

 

[Graphics Horse]

Yuu will be sorry.

 

[ElectricThunder]

Longstanding policy indeed, but still unfortunate. I actually had a dream earlier this week where Nintendo decided to say "To hell with it!" for their next console and went for a modern-day "AMIGA approach" to try and spur kids on up onto game programming not unlike how it shook out for many folk in the C64 and AMIGA camps back in the day.

 

[-PXG-]

lol nintendo.

that statement correlates with Iwata's statement on GDC as I understand.

Nintendo execs fear little games because basically they have the same audience that Nintendo games have now, but they sell games cheap, while Nintendo wants to sell them for 50 bucks. GO NINTENDO1!!

They sell cheap, yet make barely any money. Who cares if 10 million people downloaded your app. How much did you make from it?

 

[gofreak]

I'm pretty sure Mojang AB would have no problem qualify for a Wii/DS/3DS devkit actually.

They wouldn't have when they were originally making the game. IIRC, notch was working on this part time initially.

So that's the problem with this approach, I guess - you risk losing the opportunity to get in on the ground floor with potential gems, and losing them to other platforms, perhaps permanently.

OTOH, it reduces your developer support burden. Under Nintendo's model, every dev they sign up requires some investment on their part vs an iOS or Android approach for example. Nintendo probably doesn't think it worthwhile to open the gates to all developers just to potentially capture some gems. And they don't like an abundance of content because of what it does to competition and pricing.

I'm not a big subscriber to the 'Nintendo can make sure everything's quality this way' line - as a platform holder they're not at all averse to letting dross through from supposedly better qualified developers, and in totally open environments, quality stuff can and does emerge from the mass of content that's there via word of mouth and so on.

 

[erpg]

They sell cheap, yet make barely any money. Who cares if 10 million people downloaded your app. How much did you make from it?

7 million dollars?