Posted Nov 29, 2007 at 04:08AM by Enrico S. Listed in: News, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Tags: George Harrison, Nintendo of America
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Nintendo George Harrison Wii DS - Image 1The Nintendo Wii and DS both have a solid fanbase in the U.S. In spite of this success, it doesn't seem that Nintendo has any plans of increasing video game development in the country.

Nintendo senior vice president George Harrison said that, "I'm not aware of any plans to push for more software development here in the U.S." He added that,  "the actual decision about producing more software and who should do it is driven by Satoru Iwata and the management team, including Mr. Miyamoto, in Japan."

While some would argue that the Wii had a hit game developed in the U.S. with Metroid Prime: Corruption 3, it seems that most of the more prolific games on the console were developed in other countries. Harrison pointed out that Nintendo is looking for third-party software developers to create games suited for western audiences:

They're doing a great job both on DS and on Wii. They tend to provide product in categories that we aren't particularly good at doing, like sports or other genres. And since they're Western publishers, they tend to be more in tune with Western tastes.


It looks like Nintendo is planning on placing the development of more Westernized games (and potentially the future success of the Wii in the West) in the hands of third-party developers. This isn't really surprising considering the company has been doing this ever since the original NES. If this pays off, Nintendo might actually have a pretty strong stable of developers for their console with no investment on their part.


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4 Comments


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   by Mister Common Sense - 2007-11-29
 » No suprise

Wow lazy Nintendo never ceases to amaze me!

Why make games when you can sell systems and make huge profits without them?

The biggest Wii game was Wii sports, a series of TECH DEMOS for christ sake! Metroid was a gamecube game ported to the Wii. Mario Galaxy is it for quality Wii games for the entire year, maybe the Wii's lifespan!

"I'm not aware of any plans to push for more software development here in the U.S.," Harrison told Wired News, when asked if Nintendo wanted to develop more games for a North American audience.

"The actual decision about producing more software and who should do it is driven by Satoru Iwata and the management team, including Mr. Miyamoto, in Japan," he said.

One of Nintendo's top-selling Wii titles in North America, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, was developed by Austin, Texas-based Retro Studios, overseen by producers from Nintendo's Kyoto headquarters. As a first-person shooter, it was designed specifically with Western gamers in mind.

But as for finding other U.S.-developed Wii games from Nintendo? Good luck. At E3 2006, Nintendo showed Project HAMMER, an action game developed by Nintendo Software Technology, an offshoot of the company located near its Redmond, WA offices. But the official word from Nintendo is that development is "on hold."

And that's the only other Western-developed first-party game that's ever been announced for Wii. (UPDATE: As many have pointed out, Mario Strikers Charged was developed in Vancouver.)

It's a bit confusing, considering that Wii is doing the best in the U.S. They were moving about half a million units every month here, well above and beyond what Nintendo is currently selling in Japan. So what gives?
So, for the time being, the critical and commercial success of the Metroid Prime series doesn't seem to be something Nintendo is hoping to repeat. Then again, with Japanese games like Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy enjoying a bit of a renaissance in the US, does Nintendo really need to?

I've been saying it ALL ALONG, but you refused to believe me! NINTENDO REFUSES TO MAKE ENOUGH CONSOLES!!! NINTENDO REFUSES TO MAKE HARDLY ANY DECENT WII GAMES!! THEY ARE LITERALLY F*CKING YOU OVER AND LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK. THEY HAVE YOUR MONEY, NOW ENJOY YOUR 3 HALF ASSED GAMES FOR THE NEXT YEAR BECAUSE THAT'S ALL YOU'RE GETTING AND HERE'S THE PROOF.

Do yourself a favor and buy a real game system that actually delivers quality games.


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   Re: demondirk - 2007-11-29
 » you amuse me

Mister Common Sense you must have zero common sense you don't get the big picture everytime i see your name on a nintendo post it reinforces the idea that you have no common sense what so ever just dumb logic come flagged a nintendo post when you have actul information instead of this nonsense

   Re: The Obsidian - 2007-11-29
 » yep

Your long comment just echoed.

   Re: Billie - 2007-11-29
 » MCS is a *****

It's actually better that Nintendo doesn't up the game development, now 3rd parties have no fu*kin excuse when their crappy games don't sell. It will be their time to shine....


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