StreetsAhead said: Miyamoto said: We are also working more and more with many different 3rd party companies to produce our titles [note: this seems to refer to outsourcing stuff like asset creation, cut-scenes, etc] and from this year we have begun to work with some software developers for the very first time. We are in the process of creating a system where we are actively seeking outside assistance to help us create an abundance of major titles. I feel that next year's Wii U titles are plentiful. We will continue working hard. Click to expand... ...They also spoke of their continued plans for a unified architecture for future game devices, but just said they were continuing down that path without giving details. , but just said they were continuing down that path without giving details. Click to expand...

Nice to see that Nintendo is actively working to address the issues of droughts on their consoles. The Namco-Nintendo partnership on Smash seems to have been very successful, and outsourcing game finalization to other teams looks like it'll be a good symbiotic relationship for Nintendo and (relatively) smaller developers whose designers may be idle at some point. This way, Nintendo avoids the problem of having huge numbers of developers on permanent staff (a notorious problem with HD game development), while the struggling Japanese developers find work by contracting with Nintedno and polishing off their major titles. Seems like a good arrangement.Hardware architecture unification also bodes well for the future (although I think the future of a stand alone portable console is seriously in doubt, unless the console functions as a better gamepad for a future Wii U type arrangement). This should seriously speed up Nintendo's game development process, and we may be facing a future in which every Nintendo game will be playable both on the console and the portable system. 1080p capable portable hardware is almost normal now, so super-sizing that to make it at functional parity (though not at graphical parity) with a console is not at all out of the question.Also, Nintendo going back to its playing card roots is very intriguing. I would appreciate Amiibo that either weren't so overpriced, or were priced at a premium and featured extremely high production values. The current medium state between these two doesn't really interest me. I'll buy into Amiibo if I can buy a decent stack of cards for 15-25 bucks like I used to with Pokemon cards. Moreover, cards are more functional for gaming outside of the digital world that figurines are. Figurines just sit there.