Miyamoto knows how important developer support is for a console, and has drawn the attention of Nintendo and third-party studios alike.
IGN's interview with Shigeru Miyamoto revealed how sincere he is about making the Wii U an attractive platform for developers, and has even met with several himself.
I am trying to meet with the game developers individually for this matter. The real subject is whether I'll be able to – we'll be able to – convince developers inside of the licensing publishers to be excited about the new features of the Wii U, so much so that they'll be enthused towards making brand new entertainment that I couldn't come up with myself.
He then shared why it's been challenging to acquire support.
…because Nintendo has been trying to create very unique hardware, oftentimes it was not considered the first choice for them to work on multi-platform software. So it's the entire company decision-making process that is hindering developer's ability from making unique titles on Wii U hardware.
The first step to making the Wii U a desireable option is ensuring that its online fuctionality doesn't pose a challenge for developers. Things like making patch releases simple and having a stable network infrastructure are extremely important. Unfortunately, the Wii failed in this regard and Nintendo has been quiet about its upcoming Miiverse solution for the Wii U—at least with consumers, anyway.
The second step is to make sure the hardware isn't an obstacle. The PlayStation 3's cell processor added unnecessary challenge to the early years of the PlayStation 3 lifespan. Meanwhile, the Wii has lived in isolation its entire life due to its unique structure that is wildly different from other platforms. Similarly, the Wii U's gamepad can be considered a barrier of entry for developers interested in porting a game over, but the added hardware potential of the Wii U will at least guarantee that its specs won't be a bottleneck… for the time being.
Ubisoft has been a huge supporter of the Wii U and will be bringing Assassin's Creed III, ZombiU (an exclusive), and several other titles to the platform within its initial launch window. Platinum Games has also shown some love by announcing Bayonetta 2 and The Wonderful 101, two games that could be smash hit exclusives for the platform. However, more studios will need to be added as time goes on, and the earlier the better. Might I suggest going after Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V, as bold as that may be?
