Rumour: Nintendo Sending Out Free Wii Dev Kits

[Zeus]

Here's a crazy and most likely false rumour, but a leading blog is reporting on supposed good authority that Nintendo is giving free Wii dev kits to 'smaller' studios.


Just got word of an interesting (and totally unconfirmed) rumor from one of our insiders. It seems that Nintendo is giving Wii development kits to smaller studios. A developer in a big coastal American city apparently received a mysterious package from Nintendo. Office staff, programmers, and even the president weren't aware what was inside. The box was opened, and viola, Wii dev kit. This could be a ploy on Nintendo's part to get as many companies working on Wii games as possible. If this is true, it certainly shows Nintendo has improved its stance towards third party studios, as opposed to the iron-fisted days of yore. As I mentioned, this is totally unconfirmed, could've been some mix-up or miscommunication on the developer's end, but it does come from a good source. Do what you will with this tidbit.


News Source: <A href="http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/nintendo-sending-out-free-wii-dev-kits-190706.php" target="_blank">Kotaku.com</a>

[daps83777]

see nintendo is just a cool company in general. dev costs are higher on these high def consoles. you never know when one of those small companies can make a sweet game to get themselves on the map, sony and microsoft are starting to push technology so much that it hurts the small guys. nintendo wouldn't be taking to big of hits either by giving away kits because rumor has it they are only around $1,600.

i think if nintendo is giving them to smaller companies, that it is something that could really pay off in the future, especially if one of the small companies turns into a 2k games or a Square-Enix.

[dreary79]

Its not like giving out a 360 or PS3 dev kit, those dev kits would lose companies millions for doing that. The Wii dev kits can't cost that much for them to give away.

[daps83777]

nintendo needs third party support in order to compete with the likes of sony, its the main reason they started going downwards after the super nintendo.and now Business week of all places thinks the Wii could beat PS3, Wii news is getting better and better, here is that link http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=10246

oh another rumor came out about the Wii specs as well, supposedly even was on the nintendo forums and was promptly deleted possibly giving it merit, but who knows. sounds like nintendo has really been trying out a bunch of different speed cpu's and gpu's here is a link to that http://www.cubed3.com/news/5587

so maybe the Wii will be a little better than people think, that article is just a rumor though. i wish they would reveal the price and release date, guess we will just have to keep talking about all these rumors.

even if you don't like nintendo you have to give them credit for getting people to talk about there console. all these rumors are like free publicity on all these gaming sites. would you think it was pretty cool if you owned a small gaming company and a Wii dev kit was setting at your door step free of charge? sony wouldn't ever even consider such a thing, and they like wasting money. just my 2 cents. you should check out those 2 articles i posted though, pretty interesting reads.

[chukz]

Agreed if in fact they are giving them away, it would be a smart move to allow smaller dev houses to get in on the Wii action. Like daps83777 said, one of these small companies can turn out a gem and put themselves on the map. All it takes is a small step.

[Azariel Z]

Small and creative step, like the brain games. :D Sure msut put effort on the cause also

[Feark]

The Wii is so different from other gaming console. Ofcourse companies has to establish and get to know this new gaming system, and that is what Nintendo are doing, give them a hand.:rolleyes:

[Azariel Z]

The Wii development kit is already an upgrade over teh GC, what many companeis can afford, jsut the Kit over the 3D control system makes things a little more $$, but still very friendly to small and big companies. Better than wait the same crap over and over , from EA, Rockstar, and on some ways..Square-Enix.