3DS eShop, Wii U store appeal to independent developers

Despite the poor reputation of existing services, developers seem genuinely enthusiastic about the 3DS eShop and the Wii U's unrevealed digital storefront service.

Speaking to Gamasutra, a number of independent developers had plenty of praise and positivity for Nintendo's digital offerings.

"The eShop, I feel, has really turned things around for Nintendo on the digital side because the storefront is heavily feature-driven," Tyrone Rodriguez of Cave Story publisher Nicalis said.

"Much has been said about WiiWare and DSiWare, but basically what irks me the most is that [Nintendo] never updated WiiWare based on player and developer feedback," Collin van Ginkel of Toki Tori developer Two Tribes added.

"You can already see that the 3DS eShop is being developed much more actively, and I hope they will continue that for Wii U's online store as well."

Gaijin Games co-founder Alex Neuse said upcoming title Bit.Trip Runner 2 will launch the Wii U's digital store, and that Nintendo is a pleasure to work with.

"Dan Adelman at Nintendo is a champ. He's reaching out to a lot of indies," he said.

Renegade Kid boss Jools Watsham echoed this opinion; the developer has alread had 3DS eShop success with Mutant Mudds and Bomb Monkey.

"I think many people think Nintendo is very difficult to work with. My experience working with them has been great. If I have questions or need something, I contact them and get what I need. And, if they need something from me, they do the same," he said.

"If there are enough people actively purchasing games on the eShop, we might have a chance to rely solely on the eShop as a business model, enabling us to continue developing original content without the constraints typically brought upon us by the broken retail business model," he added.

In the first two pages of the feature article, linked above, various developers discuss both their frustrations and successes with the WiiWare and DsiWare services. It's quite interesting stuff, especially the comparisons to Apple's App Store.