Aiming for quality over quantity

After the limited appearance of Wii U at EA's Summer Showcase, it was another indication that developer support for the system, in some quarters, is still relatively limited. With the console arriving in a matter of months, it seems that a number of companies are adopting a "wait and see" approach, though there is still time for Nintendo and partners to unveil big titles for the system.

One developer currently holding off is 2K Games, but studio boss Christoph Hartmann spoke positively about Wii U, and Nintendo as a whole, in an interview with gamesindustry.biz.

In general, we at 2K are always going to be positive about new hardware out there, but we are also cautious about things we aren't experienced with. We don't want to flood the market; we'd rather pick our opportunity and work well on our projects. About the Wii U itself, Nintendo is such an impressive company, they have over and over again put handheld and consoles out that are impressive. They have so much experience that I am sure they are going to do it again. With any new console, especially where something original is added, it will take time for consumers to understand it and see the beauty of it. I know that they have such clever people at Nintendo that people will see the beauty of the console, though it may take some time.

Hartmann's talk of patience and allowing for time extends to his own studio's approach to potential development for Wii U, insisting that his team never rushes into a project on any system.

It is not different from what we have always done. We are very careful and very selective here. When you look at the Wii, we didn't do many titles, but we put out Carnival Games, which did very well. It was probably one of the best titles. While you can't plan for it all the time, we don't throw 10 things against the wall and assume that two stick. I throw two at the wall and hope two stick, perhaps one. We have a very different approach, which has a lot to do with the size of the organization and the mindset of the organization. We always focus on one thing, and we are a very different organization than a lot of the other publishers out there.

Carnival Games may not have been one of the best critically received games, but it did sell an awful lot of copies. We're hopeful that 2K Games will do more for Wii U than an average mini-game collection, but considering the quality of some of the developer's other titles it may be worth watching in the coming months.

[source gamesindustry.biz]