Wii Speak – Why The Lack Of Support Nintendo?

I have always read with fascination IGN’s ‘Nintendo Minute’ where Matt Casamassina gets to ask a Nintendo executive (currently Denise Kaigler, VP of Corporate Affairs) a pressing question about anything Nintendo related.

Though the question itself is usually regarding a topic that many Nintendo fans would like an answer to, the answer does not always satisfy. Actually the answer hardly ever satisfies. This is largely due to the ‘politics’ style of answering that these executives are so good at. In other words they dance around the question, talk a load of babble and confuse you into thinking they have answered it when in fact they haven’t!

This week Denise’s answer wasn’t too bad in this respect. She was confronted as to why Wii Speak has seen such little support since its release and why Nintendo don’t lead by example for other developers to push the peripheral, especially after Excitebots has just released with online features but not supporting the device.

Denise’s answer after the jump.

“Nintendo has a variety of optional peripherals that can be used with its software. You probably know them by heart: the Wii Wheel, the Wii Balance Board, the Wii Speak microphone and so on. When Nintendo introduces a new peripheral, we like to launch it with a game that really demonstrates its versatility. So with the Wii Wheel, you get Mario Kart Wii. The Wii Balance Board arrived with Wii Fit. And with Wii Speak, there’s Animal Crossing: City Folk. Pretty soon we’ll also have Wii Sports Resort, which is designed to show off all the fun ways to use the new Wii MotionPlus accessory for the Wii Remote.

What do all these items have to do with Excitebots: Trick Racing? I mention them to help make my point that Nintendo does lead by example. But, with that said, it’s up to the members of the development community, then, to pick and choose which peripherals they want to use for the games they develop. Nintendo can offer developers a full toolbox, but it’s up to those individuals to decide which ones they want to make use of when they make their games. That goes for internal teams at Nintendo, second-party development teams and outside, independent developers.

You suggest that Nintendo “enforce” the use of its peripherals. But we think it’s best to let the creative teams make up their own minds. Every game is different. Can you imagine the alternative – if we mandated that every Wii game use the Wii Balance Board or that every Nintendo DS game use the touch screen or voice recognition? Developers – and gamers – would revolt. Letting developers decide what’s best for their games lets creativity flourish. Every hour spent programming for mandatory peripherals takes time and resources away from other creative areas – you might lose the wild features like bowling balls, clown faces and sandwiches that have helped Excitebots: Trick Racing grab everyone’s attention.”

(Note to Matt Casamassina – I don’t think you made her sweat enough this time round!)

Source: IGN