Nintendo Wii Indie Devs Waiting For Support
Published by William Fletcher February 22nd, 2007 in Nintendo, Wii.
Wii has been a dream come true for Nintendo; the launch was better than anybody could have dreamed. But one casualty of Nintendo Wii’s popularity is the lack of dev kits for indie developers. And to truly flourish long-term, these guys cannot be left out in the cold.
Here’s a brief summary how they’re being left out in the cold, courtesy of Water Cooler Games:
According to our contact, the Wii Independent Developer Program is “on hold” until the end of the month, because “the Wii publishers are taking all of the available inventory, and more.” In other words, Nintendo doesn’t have enough kits to cover the demand for all those crappy licensed games, let alone more original work. I’ve confirmed that others heard the same story at D.I.C.E. last week.
The dev kit situation mirrors the Wii itself. Last November I also lamented about the absurd fanboy commitment required to obtain a Wii, and I wondered how Nintendo could claim to appeal to ordinary people if nobody could get a device. Today, three months later, it’s still almost impossible to get a Wii — or a DS for that matter, the two game consoles most likely to appeal to the so-called “non-gamer.”
According to WCG, indie titles of any kind won’t be a possibility until 2008 at the earliest if something doesn’t change quickly.
“And to truly flourish long-term, these guys cannot be left out in the cold.”
LOL. Indie developers have been left out in the cold for every other console every made. It is a good sign that so many liscenced developers want to make games on the wii that nintendo doesn’t have anymore dev. kits.
Water Cooler Games sounding professional as usual.
“…and I wondered how Nintendo could claim to appeal to ordinary people if nobody could get a device. Today, three months later, it’s still almost impossible to get a Wii — or a DS for that matter, the two game consoles most likely to appeal to the so-called “non-gamer.”
Are you blaming nintendo for making their console popular?