Nintendo seems to have cracked the code that has eluded them for so long in getting third parties to make games for them.
In the Q&A for the latest Nintendo quarterly financials meeting, Nintendo’s Senior Executive Office Ko Shiota fielded a question from a shareholder about the way the company makes game consoles. Nintendo is known for making unique hardware. But sometimes, to paraphrase the shareholder, the hardware can be ‘too unique,’ to the point that it creates challenges for developers making games.
As I’m quite certain, many of you reading this are already thinking of the Wii U in this scenario. Indeed, most third-party developers were not interested or found no good application for the second screen on the Wii U Gamepad. While some developers created true gems with it, such as Affordable Space Adventures and The Wonderful 101, some developers privately and openly expressed their distaste in having to come up with ideas for it.
But if you remember far back, you will know that dealing with third parties has been a dilemma for Nintendo for much longer than this. In fact, this speaks to an issue fundamental for game console makers. The companies make consoles, so they can make games for them and sell both to consumers. They want other companies to make games for them too, but they don’t want that to happen at the expense of their own games, since they may then not make enough money.
Nintendo paid dearly for their mistakes as early as the Nintendo 64, which had hardware so different that it was harder for developers to learn and make games for. Similar situations dogged Nintendo’s other platforms through the years, and while there were consoles and situations when they got third parties interested, that support visibly collapsed in the Wii U era.
The Switch is visibly different, in a way unique for Nintendo. Some developers, such as CD Projekt RED, started working with Nintendo for the first time. We also received a slate of technically impossible and impressive ports of newer games, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
So, this is what Shiota has to say about this issue today:
“The unique features and characteristics of our hardware are not created by the hardware developers alone. We work in close collaboration with the software development teams to consider how to deliver a unique entertainment experience.
Of course, we also consider the gameplay of other software publishers during this process as well. Throughout the development process, we create various prototypes and test how they feel, and then we refine the ones that we think are good. This iterative process is crucial.
However, in recent years, not only are the hardware and software important, but the system software responsible for running both is growing in importance as well, making hardware development a collaborative effort involving the three groups of developers.
Nintendo has always placed emphasis on introducing unique products to the global market, so we will continue to carefully balance uniqueness with the ease of software development as we strive to create uniquely Nintendo products.”
Nintendo will continue to make their ‘unique’ hardware, with gimmicks, as some pejoratively call them, in the future. It certainly seems common sense that Nintendo should have been making it easier for third parties to make games for them, but it is certainly something Nintendo has to invest a lot of money and resources in.
And Nintendo’s investments working with Nvidia have certainly paid off. AMD may be the PC gamers’ favored choice of processors for sheer power, but it was Nvidia who matched Nintendo’s energy in making technical miracles. The maker of the first gaming capable mobile chip, also gave Nintendo an SOC that could work with modern PC gaming tech, and the rumors going around is that the Switch 2’s hardware could exceed what they already achieved there.
As it turns out, making it easier to make those games is enough to get the developers back in. And that’s why, what seemed to be unreasonable expectations of 3rd party support for the Switch 2, are now entirely credible.
