Though Nintendo’s eShop has been moving slowly compared to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, the service will soon see an influx of original digital games and indie-published titles, thanks to a new push from Nintendo.
“We’ve actually been very proactive in helping developers,” said Nintendo’s Dan Adelman, who previously worked with Xbox Live Arcade before moving in to help Nintendo’s digital business. “We probably don’t do as good a job of broadcasting that as we should.”
Indie developers are welcome with open arms on the Wii U and 3DS, according to Adelman. “We have a place where aspiring developers go – it’s wiiu-developers.nintendo.com – where they can sign up to be a licensed developer. We have an introductory program where we’re making it easier for them to get dev kits.”
Those who qualify can get Unity Pro tools for Wii U development, something that will save them $1500 in equipment down the road. Licensing fees are waived as well. The catch They’ll need to use Unity in order to develop their games.
“More and more studios are using Unity as their go-to engine, and the cost associated with supporting Wii U becomes dramatically lower,” says Adelman. “The break-even point is so low that you can afford to do something completely experimental, just a one-off, try it out, and still do well.”
Source: IGN
