Hollenshead mulls over Nintendo-related development

Following on from last week’s worrying report that third party development on the Wii is a risky business, id Software head man Todd Hollenshead has added his own two cents to the debate.

Speaking to Gamespot, Hollenshead had this to say:

If you look at the data, the Wii is Nintendo—and then everybody else. And then among everybody else, it's licensed properties - and then stuff that people lose money on. So, for a really original, game-centric IP, if you're a third-party developer, I would say, "Show me what makes such a compelling case for the Wii.” Even if we make an awesome game, there's still a question as to whether we're going to justify our investment. And also, I mean, if you look at the market, the type of games we traditionally make, those games are selling record numbers on non-Wii platforms.

However, it should be noted that the id chief isn’t necessarily hating on the Wii; to clarify his statement he adds:

Sometimes people lose sight of the fact that almost every company doesn't try to be all things to all people. Nintendo isn't trying to be all things to all people either.

Still, the fact that one of the most talented development studios in the world is not currently looking to produce software for the Wii is something that all Nintendo fans should feel slightly sad about; imagine playing one of id’s unique brand of FPS titles using the tried-and-tested ‘Wii Remote and Nunchuk’ control method…

[source kotaku.com]