Comments on: WiiWare is a lie

By: WiiWare Not So Developer Friendly? « Team Wi-Fi Galaxy News

WiiWare Not So Developer Friendly? « Team Wi-Fi Galaxy News — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:40:44 +0000

[...] Source: XiotexStudios.com [...]

By: admin

admin — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:41:02 +0000

No worries - as an employee you don’t get much choice as to what you work on. As for the enquiry - I could do but it would be pointless as they state in the email that they won’t consider the application for 6 months and you wouldn’t believe how long it took just to get to this stage. WiiWare in my mind is not a viable route to take the company down anymore.

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:34:26 +0000

Thanks for clearing that up. While the list of games you’ve worked on is, in my opinion, fairly unremarkable (no offense) it at least demonstrates that you are capable. Have you tried contacting Nintendo and making an inquiry as to why, SPECIFICALLY, you were denied ability to be a Wiiware dev?

By: admin

admin — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:32:51 +0000

I believe that PS3 devkits still cost a large amount of money which means we get back into the funding problem. WiiWare would have been lower risk since they don’t cost anywhere near as much.

I would have considered the XBLA route but XBLA is flooded with games at the moment without any real form of filtering such as WiiWare where games are rated and you can do searches.

By: Axe99

Axe99 — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:16:45 +0000

Sounds to me like Nintendo is requiring office space before approving developers - given games like Everyday Shooter on the PSN (a good and wonderfully and surprisingly innovative shooter) were put together by one person, that seems a mistake - particularly as with the Wii’s limited storage capacity, it’s not as if WiiWare is going to be for more than pretty small games. Still, Nintendo being behind the times (motion control was so not innovative (indeed, it had been done before (albeit very badly!) by Nintendo), just well-marketed to the non-gaming audience) is nothing new - IMHO, they’re the most conservative of the three console makers - less new ideas, less games (except shovelware). Have you thought about XBLA or PSN? Its likely that while the Wii has a large installed base, many Wii users aren’t so likely to be the type to get into something like WiiWare, and that you may effectively get more customers on those platforms.

By: starcade64

starcade64 — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:26:46 +0000

thats politics for you.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:52:03 +0000

Hey, I’m work as a designer for a company making WiiWare games. They’re based in Latin America. They got a dev kit via a deal with a 3rd party, the product is one of the games in the current library.

Now, on one hand, they probably wouldn’t have gotten the kit if the 3rd party wasn’t involved. On the other hand, they definetly wouldn’t have gotten the kit if they didn’t have an office downtown, which is commercially zoned space.

Develop your game in Unity, raise five-figures, in six months apply again when you’ve got an office lease and maybe a playable. With Unity you should be able to get it up with the kit in rapid accord.

However, note that there are some minimum costs, Certification, the ESRB rating, the engine license and the kit are going to cost around 20-25k, and then there’s your burn rate. You’ll need to raise about 50k, maybe a bit more or less depending one where you are.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:16:26 +0000

Indeed but then again Nintendo also claim that you don’t need massive budgets in order to make WiiWare games and it is perfect for the small developer. I have everything I need to make a WiiWare game. I have a Wii engine that was given to me by my last employer for use in making WiiWare games. The only cost I would have to bear is for the actual DevKits and they don’t cost a lot.

The whole point of this was that Nintendo gave the impression that with WiiWare they would be relaxing the rules and regulations for who can and can’t be a developer on the platform. That doesn’t actually seem to be the case. I could understand if they looked at my game design and thought it was bad but they never asked anything about it.

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:57:35 +0000

I don’t think the problem is you credentials and experience. I think the primary issue is explained in the second paragraph:
“Nintendo looks for secure business facilities, sufficient equipment and staffing, financial stability and other attributes that would distinguish the developer.”
For example, I believe you need an address in a business zone. So a single developer working alone in their house will unlikely be given a license.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 19:52:53 +0000

Games I’ve worked on (Before I formed Xiotex Studios):

Mutant Storm Empire for PomPom
Bliss Island for PomPom
Miami Vice for Rebellion (admittedly on a small part)
Console version of ‘The Movies’ for Lionhead Studios (canned)

While Developer relations at EA Canada I worked on NHL 2005 and helped out on:
NBA 2005, FIFA 2005 and a few other titles.

I also worked on a bunch of Games for Kuju that never made it to market such as a sequel to Microsoft Train Simulator and ‘Skystorm’

I also worked on the Playstation 1 and Nintendo 64 SDK for SN Systems and wrote small demo games while I was there to test the SDK’s.

As Xiotex Studios I have worked on one Wii title to be published later this year.

Thing is that my game idea could have been the best in the world or the biggest flop ever - Nintendo never asked any questions about the game - they didn’t seem to care about that. Honestly, all they wanted to know was if I was working out of an office or out of my home. Never a question about the game.