This week the annual Game Developer’s Conference kicks off in San Francisco. In the spirit of game making, we’re running some of our recent interviews with various Nintendo developers this week.

After more than 10 years of collaborating with Nintendo, Retro Studios President Michael Kelbaugh can identify why the Japanese publisher’s games differ from most of its competitors. Kelbaugh’s answer isn’t something you hear often when other companies talk about making video games, but his message is commonly associated with Nintendo. “For a lot of western developers, when an idea comes up that pushes you beyond the scope of the schedule, you automatically say no, whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea,” he said. “That’s not the Nintendo way. If it’s a good idea, we’ll find time to make it.” And the end result is better for it. Kelbaugh believes when people play a Retro Studios game 10 years from now, people will remember a great game and not as a product that shipped on time.

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Retro Studios started making Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze for Wii U shortly after it finished Donkey Kong Country Returns on Wii. Even a sequel, the studio still had to consider a lot of unknown factors. The first big one: What would the Wii U be like?Kelbaugh believes there’s a lot of technology in Nintendo’s current home console. “The Wii U is a powerhouse of technology that we had to transition to. We had brand new tools, brand new engine, brand new everything. There was a lot of unknowns [for us],” he said. “From a technology standpoint we’re trying to develop that technology while we’re developing a new game at the same time. That was really challenging.”Nintendo Producer Kensuke Tanabe has worked with Retro Studios for more than five collaborations, but he still remembers when the two companies started their working relationship. Today, Retro is well versed in how Nintendo makes video games, but Tanabe told IGN this wasn’t always the case.Early on, Tanabe observed that Retro would focus on finishing design documents as a top priority, and then make a game based on that documentation -- a process that a lot of western studios follow, but differs from Nintendo’s prototype-focused approach. “At Nintendo we focus on that main gameplay element and until that is created and determined we don’t move past that step. Until we have that finalized we just repeat that trial and error process over and over again, “ he said.Once this trial and error process was complete, Nintendo designers start creating the game. But at any point, even midway through a project, if the team decided to change direction, then they would do so regardless of the impact on the schedule. If the change pushes a project over the development period, the mindset would be, ‘Well, we’re going to do it anyway.’“I believe that it took time for Retro to really get a good understanding of the way that we create games. That mindset that we have going in took them a while to grasp. And of course if you’re a game developer you want to create the game that you want to create, “ Tanabe said. “But one thing I can say, at Nintendo what we focus on is what is going to make the customers happy.”Tanabe thinks there was some resistance in the beginning, but it’s a major part of the studio’s DNA today. And the relationship between Retro and Nintendo is a two-way street, and Tanabe admits that the western studio has offered insight into what the American gamer wants or likes. “They have really helped close that culture gap for us, “ he said.

Jose Otero is an Associate Editor at IGN and host o f Nintendo Voice Chat . He really enjoyed DK Tropical Freeze more than most. You can follow him on twitter