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Nintendo boss: "It's crazy" how few indies are aware of 3DS, Wii U eShop

Brenna Hillier avatar
News by Brenna Hillier Contributor
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Nintendo business development manager and indie liaison Dan Adelman seems a little frustrated with how few independent develoeprs know how to get their games on the Wii U and 3DS eShop.

"It's crazy that there are so many developers who don't realize this, but yes, it is not only possible for an indie to get a game onto the eShop service, we've tried to make it as frictionless as possible," Adelman told Gamasutra in a feature interview about the approvals process.

"Developers have always been able to make their content available on our systems since the WiiWare days, without the need for an intermediary publisher between the developer and Nintendo. Nor do they need to mount a big PR campaign just to be allowed onto the service. Our philosophy is that if you believe enough in your game to build it, we want to do what we can to support you."

The executive said all an indie needs to get on board is to have registered as a Nintendo developer; even the famous "no home offices" requirement has been given the heave-ho.

"I'm glad that I can officially confirm that the office requirement is a thing of the past," Adelman said.

Adelman said developers now receive revenues right from the first unit sold, and don't need an international postal address to publish in other territories, and are in complete control of pricing.

"I like to think we've built up a relationship of trust with a lot of the developers on our system, so they know they can say whatever's on their mind," he added.

"And not just when they have an issue that needs to be resolved, either. We try to take a proactive stance with developers and solicit feedback from time to time. How can our development tools be better? What kind of functionality do you want to see in the eShop? How can we improve our processes to make life easier? I kind of see a big part of my role as representing the indie community inside Nintendo to make sure that we can make our systems as friendly as possible."

Thanks, GameInformer.

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