Masayaki Uemura
Image: Nintendo Life

In a game industry that's increasingly becoming larger and more monetized, Nintendo arguably stands as an oasis. While it may be that the company plays it safe a fair amount, it's nonetheless notable for its implementation of creative or innovative ideas. After all, how many other AAA developers would put out something as risky as Splatoon? Costs for making large scale games have never been higher, it's no wonder companies are hesitant to take as many risks anymore.

At any rate, Masayaki Uemura – the Chief Designer for the NES – believes that company has always been just like Indie studios, in how it frequently endeavors to find new ways of play. Speaking with Gamesindustry.biz, the Nintendo veteran had this to say:

From my perspective, the game industry has always been [steered by] indies because the idea of the individual has been quite crucial in making great games. When you try to fully utilize all the computing power, and graphics processing and sound effects, then you have to add more people and more staff to create games compatible with all the technology. But the one thing you could [leverage] is the individual powerful resource. Nintendo has always been like that, we are like indies.

Every time we try to create some sort of paradigm shift where all the rules change, where the status quo changes, by coming up with new ideas. Wii is a prime example of that. It became popular beyond our expectations. That was a quite symbolic product for us, we felt like indies.

What do you think? Is Nintendo really like an Indie studio? How do you think they've innovated in the industry? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks to Benson for the tip

[source gamesindustry.biz]