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Nintendo on Wii U/3DS eShop advantages for devs, no plans for store unification

by rawmeatcowboy
23 December 2012
GN Version 4.0
A portion of a Nintendo Life interview with Nintendo's Dan Adelman...

NL: Expectations for digital downloads now are entirely different from when WiiWare launched. What's the advantage for developers to come to Nintendo download platforms today, versus competing consoles or mobile devices?

Adelman: One way we’re different is that I think we give developers a lot of flexibility and freedom. We don’t make developers pitch us their game concept in advance, and we don’t tie them down with exclusivity requirements. We really try to make the process as smooth and easy as possible.

In addition to that, for developers who choose to take advantage of it, our platforms offer a lot of functionality in a package that can’t be found anywhere else. For Nintendo 3DS that’s things like StreetPass, glasses-free 3D, and augmented reality capabilities. For Wii U, it’s things like asymmetric gameplay, Miiverse, off-screen gameplay, and the dual screen experience. Developers can take advantage of these features if it makes sense for their game, but don’t have to if they don’t think it makes sense. It’s great when people are inspired by the potential that some of our hardware features enable and design their game around that.

NL: Are there plans for the Wii U and 3DS stores to integrate, share themes, or become one eShop brand?

Adelman: Well we’re calling them both eShop. It’s just that one is the 3DS eShop, and the other is the Wii U eShop. Wii U users can see info in the Wii U eShop about 3DS games, but right now we don’t have any immediate plans to sell 3DS games via the Wii U eShop – or vice versa.

Full interview here