Last week was an interesting one in Japan, with many companies releasing their Q2 reports to investors. Nintendo did well considering the last rocky two years, but perhaps the most interesting information came from Koei Tecmo’s investor meeting. Upon being asked whether or not Hyrule Warriors was considered a success, an executive for the company stated that despite not being allowed to release figures since Nintendo is the publisher, the game met and exceeded expectations in the West.
That seems to be the case on Nintendo’s part too, as Miyamoto has gone on record stating that the company is now working with several third parties and hopes to create more spin-off games that work similarly to Hyrule Warriors. Perhaps the biggest benefit to creating these titles, Miyamoto says, is that it allows for greater flow of software to the Wii U, so consumers don’t feel as though they aren’t receiving games as quickly as other platforms. This is especially important for Nintendo, since third-party publishers like EA and Ubisoft have all but abandoned the system.
On development time, we have already completed the step of learning new development techniques. So, we should experience less developmental delays stemming from learning new hardware. From now on, it becomes a matter of if we can use our experience efficiently and one part of our plan to do so is to use ‘spin off games’, which allow us to use our major title franchises, but create on a smaller scale and we are working hard on making these sort of derived products.
In this way, we are preparing to expand on our characters while also increasing the number of software we output and allowing our customers to have their next experiences in certain franchises without waiting three years.
Miyamoto also mentions working with third-parties to help create their games, as was the case with Mario Kart 8. This type of third-party outsourcing seems to refer to asset creation and cut-scene animation rather than direction, so ultimately Nintendo will still have the final say in anything that goes into the game. With Nintendo focusing so hard on providing an enjoyable software experience for their home console, what sort of cross-over games would you like to see from this?
