What’s stopping developers from lazily porting Wii and last-generation games to the 3DS and calling it a day? Their integrity, hopefully.
Nintendo’s 3DS made quite a splash upon its debut at E3 last month, with many impressed by its glasses-free 3D technology and high-power graphics – not to mention an impressive lineup of games in development. But while gamers licked their chops over ports of some legendary classics, others expressed concern that the handheld would become naught but a breeding ground for lazy 3D “remakes.”
Speaking with Nintendo’s legendary Shigeru Miyamoto, IGN UK asked exactly that: Is Nintendo worried that developers might “take the lazy way out” and just port their library of Wii and PS2 games to the system?
Miyamoto said that the idea of ports in general wasn’t a bad one – that there were “certain titles from the past that when accompanied with 3D visuals it really can change the feel of the gameplay,” – but acknowledged that a faithful in-depth port that used the 3D to full effect was different from a quick rush job.
“I think we just have to rely on the integrity of the developers and the products that they’re making,” said Miyamoto. “[We] do think that there will be new ideas [too] … [from] people like Mr. Kojima from Konami and Mr. Inafune from Capcom. These are individuals who are themselves very excited about developing for the system and are talking about leading development with their main teams, so I do expect that there’s going to be a lot of new content and new ideas coming out of them.”
Having developers like Kojima and Inafune on your side is all well and good, Miyamoto-san – nobody’s complaining about that. And while I think it speaks to Nintendo’s faith that it’s willing to gamble on the integrity of developers, I also find myself doubtful that said integrity is worth gambling on.
(IGN UK)
