The man behind Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda, Shigeru Miyamoto, recently discussed recruiting third party developers on the Wii U.
Third parties have been hit and miss on Nintendo's platforms for the last generation or two. It started with the Nintendo GameCube - it's became more and more niche, with third parties relucant to approach the console in its later years.The Wii has had a better haul, but again took a hit in newer releases due to an aging system and a lack of high definition.
Nintendo want to rectify the situation, and instead of sending mere minions to persuade studios to work on Wii U, they've sent out iconic industry figure Shigeru Miyamoto to do the talking.
Speaking to IGN, Miyamoto admitted that his aim is to try convince developers to be "enthused towards making brand new entertainment that I couldn't come up with myself."
He goes on to discuss the common misconception that Nintendo have a secretive insider-knowledge that prevent third parties to create "the exciting, unique gameplay on Nintendo hardware". Miyamoto goes onto state that it's not the case and that "providing special technologies, know how or skills" isn't the way forward as "most third-party developers already have those things".
Trying to show the studios what the GamePad and console can do would be more effective to "create brand new entertainment that they really wish to realise".
Miyamoto then admits that because of the multiplatform approach from a business perspective and Nintendo's unique hardware, it can possibly hinder a "developer's ability from making unique titles on Wii U hardware" because it may not be viable to have to reconsider games to fit the Wii U style.
With a solid hardware confirguation, a myriad of controller options, an already strong selection of third-party titles and Miyamoto talking the helm, it seems to be a far more prosperous platform for third parties on Wii U.
What do you think of the third party situation on Wii U? Is Nintendo going about it in the right way to rectify the situation?