Never underestimate Nintendo, says Firebrand

Developers and consumers should never underestimate Nintendo despite the mixed reaction the Wii U has received, says the creative director of Firebrand Games.

Speaking to The Guardian, the Glasgow developer’s Peter Shea, whose studio is working on an unannounced title for Wii U, said Nintendo had been written off many times before when it launched systems such as the DS and Wii, which went on to be huge successes for the company.

He also highlighted the fact that Nintendo was one of the best games developers in the world, meaning its exclusives were still a big pull for consumers to buy their consoles.

Shea said too many people in the media had focused on the Wii U’s graphical capabilities rather than its tablet-style gamepad, although he admitted there was still confusion surrounding just how developers could harness the controller.

“There is still a degree of uncertainty about exactly what you can, should and must do with the Wii U, almost as if Nintendo is still working this out for itself, or not quite ready to show all its cards,” said Shea.

“Even though we have the hardware in house, we won’t really know what it’s all about until we see the first wave of first Party Titles, and see and play what Nintendo have been working on.”

She also admitted that the Wii U was not as revolutionary as the Wii Remote was when it brought motion control to home consoles, but felt it was intriguing none the less.

“It definitely has a lot of scope for experimentation,” he said.

“The combination of a second viewport on handheld screen, very accurate gyroscopes and accelerometers, and front and back cameras seems to offer a lot of possibilities – and you’re seeing some of the more obvious ideas already in titles like ZombiU.

“The Controller itself is light, nice to hold and has a great display on it – it feels impressive and natural in the hand; once you hold it and play with it, it does make sense – perhaps not in the revolutionary way Wii Remote made sense, but it is intriguing nonetheless.”

Scotland-based developer Firebrand Games has previously worked on titles such as Need for Speed and Trackmania, and is currently developing a yet-to-be-announced multi-platform title, also expected to release on the Wii U.