At the tail end of Satoru Iwata’s GDC keynote, the Nintendo prez took an unlikely turn asking if “maintaining high value games” was a top priority. After comparing the Wii and DS software libraries to those of the Xbox 360 and PS3 (Nintendo has more games!), Iwata inexplicably suggested that “the big app sites” had too many games.
For Nintendo, it’s about managing consumers’ pricing expectations; in a world of $3 Super Monkey Balls, it’s hard to sell a $40 copy of Super Monkey Ball 3DS. “We want consumers to see value in the software, whatever that appropriate value is,” Nintendo of America prez Reggie Fils-Aime told Gamasutra. “And we want to see that value maintained over time.”
When asked if the Big N was reaching out to app store devs to bring their $1 games to the presumably more lucrative plains of the Nintendo portable savanna, Fils-Aime said that Nintendo is “absolutely reaching out to the independent developer,” but he made a distinction. “Where we’ve drawn the line is we are not looking to do business today with the garage developer,” Fils-Aime said. “In our view, that’s not a business we want to pursue.” Fils-Aime suggested that these so-called “hobbyist” developers are akin to amateur musicians in the music industry and …
Wait, is that really the example you want to go with, Nintendo? The same music industry pummeled by its unwillingness to embrace alternative methods of pricing and distribution? That one?
Reggie: Nintendo not interested in ‘the garage developer,’ still likes indies (just don’t mention the garage) originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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