Indie Developer’s Kits Like Microsoft Needed? Opinion

Another editorial mentions the readiness of a cheaper development kit for indie developers via Virtual Console. 

By now, most of you have heard how Microsoft has created new software for novice game developers. This is an interesting development, and one that Nintendo should take into consideration.

Imagine a game system driven by user-created content. Or even partially sustained by it. Wouldn’t that be revolutionary? Maybe a little. Knowing Nintendo, there would have to be all sorts of restrictions on content and a mind-numbingly long approval process, but this could work to the player’s favor.

Nintendo’s quality-testing procedures are thorough, to say the least. This would ensure that any independently-developed software would be able to work on Wii to the fullest extent possible, and hopefully, eliminate any major bugs that might occur. Hopefully, not too much censorship of ideas would occur, although fortunately, any projects that might handle mature content in a juvenile way (pardon the oxymoron) would probably be scrapped fairly early on in the verification process.

What about downloads? Well, since we don’t even know how Nintendo’s going to handle regular Virtual Console downloads with any degree of certainty, this is a hard one to predict. It’s seems easy to assume a game-by-game pricing structure will be in effect, which means Nintendo would likely take a cut of each sale, but something else could just as easily happen. For instance, a monthly subscription fee which would cover all downloads, something which has already been discussed by Nintendo representatives in the past.

It’s fun to talk about how we might be playing original indie software on Wii within the next few years, but if this is going to happen, the most crucial step is for Nintendo to make the development software readily available. Wii development kits are already fairly inexpensive when compared to their 360 or PS3 counterparts, but a few thousand dollars is still a much larger chunk of change than the average citizen can hope to front on a hobby. At least all at once.

I mean, how would we afford all the other stuff we need? If it came between developing a game for Wii and owning a Wii… well, that’s no choice at all. This software would have to be free, or, if not, very inexpensive. I’m talking TurboTax cheap, something that the everyday PC user (or Mac user, ahem) could afford.

It’d have to be easy to use, too. Nintendo has often touted Wii as a “developer’s system,” although the DS has also been named as such, but lay people are going to need something even easier to work with. One thing that leaps to mind is having the software interface directly with the Wii operating system itself, rather than having a program run on a computer, then have the game software transfer to the console.

This would be better for two reasons. One, it would lend the point-and-click simplicity of the freehand remote to the interface, and two, it would enable direct testing of motion-sensitive functions. A keyboard could even be attached, via one of Wii’s two USB ports.

Obviously, most games developed by outsiders would have to be fairly simple, perhaps not Pac-Man simple, but certainly not at the level of games like Elebits or Zelda. Still, this is an interesting concept. Obviously, Nintendo has announced nothing of this nature for Wii, but it could be a step in the right direction and it would be wonderful if something like this little theoretical exercise happened in real life. But I’ll just be happy if the danged system comes out before Halloween.

Oh, yeah, and in case you didn’t get enough of it this week, PS3 sucks, Nintendo is always right, and so am I, blah, blah, etc. Hear about Sony’s little battery problems? That should leave you in stitches until at least next week. I’ll leave you with this thought:

Don’t Fall Into The Trap — Sony Hardware Is Made Of Crap

http://www.nintendojo.com/editorials/view_item.php?1156455425

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