Dan Adelman discusses Nintendo’s indie policies

Most Nintendo interviews usually come down to either a Japanese developer, a member of America's localization team, or one of the top execs. Dan Adelman stands out as their head of Business Development, having first earned a reputation under the launch of Xbox Live Arcade, before moving to Nintendo to help develop WiiWare, and now, bringing indies to Nintendo's platforms, particularly the Wii U.

In his interview with Joystiq, Adelman outlines how he's been working to change the public perception of Nintendo, as well as enacting changes within Nintendo itself to make the company more accomodating to indie developers.

Adelman compares the company to Willy Wonka, making products wildly different from those of their erstwhile competitors, and toiling in secret away from prying eyes. This comparison extends to how hard it seems to approach the company, alienating new developers from even thinking about working with them.

Under his watch, Adelman has broken down many of Nintendo's decade old requirements for developers, the most obnoxious of which was the demand that said developer have a physical office location. Today, what seems to be the hardest requirement to fulfill to get authorized as an official Nintendo developer is filling out an application form.

Nowadays, Nintendo's primary consideration for any aspiring developer is that they are able to make games on Nintendo systems. They no longer look for devs to have prior relevant work experience, or ask about what companies they have worked with before. Being in the middle of making a game is enough.

Adelman points indies to this page, which highlights Unity support and the Nintendo Web Framework for Wii U, and points them to a sign up sheet, that his staff is still not done sifting through. He has also been proactive in bringing a presence to developer conferences around the world, often coming himself. 

Although the Wii U noteworthily launched with a few indies, few have appeared since then. Adelman explains the process of changing Nintendo policies was ongoing within this time, and so the fruits of his labor won't be felt under later this year. 

If development goes on as planned, Adelman promises between 20 to 30 indie titles to come to Wii U around holiday time, which they hope will help increase the system's install base. Finally, when asked about PS4 and Xbox One, Adelman toes the company line that Nintendo has found its greatest success doing things its own way.

Source: Joystiq