Revolution Third-Party Support
In contrast to prior generations, Nintendo has foregone its "Dream Team" of second-party developers for Revolution in favor of creating relationships with proven third-party studios. Nintendo has realized that third-party developers are the peanut butter that bind the bread together.
This wasn't an overnight snap of the fingers - although it has definitely been an amusing makeover event. Rather, this has been an ever-ongoing process that only truly began to pick up some momentum this generation with the GameCube and more specifically, with Satoru Iwata being named Hiroshi Yamauchi's replacement as president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Beginning in 2002, Iwata has set out to heal many of the scars that existed from Nintendo's prior reign; with that healing, he has since created an atmosphere of respect.
On an ever growing scale, Nintendo has been funding, aiding, and conceiving new gaming experiences through the talent and ingenuity of third-party developers and publishers. Each alliance that is formed helps to provide a mosaic of the Nintendo we know today.
Over the past few years Nintendo has supported these companies with its assets and ideas, allowing the industry as a whole to prosper and constantly evolve. These are the developers of the future - Nintendo's friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. They're all here and they're prepared to take the reins of this next-generation of video games.
Activision
Revolution
Status: Likely
Activision is known for its Tony Hawk and Spider-Man licensed games. The studio has put heavy support behind all of Nintendo's consoles in the past and so there's no reason to think differently in regards to its Revolution support. The studio is very platform agnostic and instead tends to develop its titles for multiplatform release. This strategy can be expected to continue in the future. The publisher has several appealing franchises including the GTA-like True Crime and war-hero series Call of Duty. "What we're seeing from this controller is the same thing we saw with Nintendo DS," said Chuck Huebner, Head of Worldwide Studios, Activision in response to the Revolution controller's unveiling. "It's a system that's designed with an eye on enticing new players to the video game industry, and that's something we firmly support."
Bandai
Revolution
Status: Confirmed
On September 5, 2002 Bandai announced a partnership with Nintendo that would see the company developing GameCube software. Until then Bandai was only making games for its WonderSwan portable console and Playstation 2. Bandai is famous for its Mobile Suit Gundam and Digimon games. Bandai is currently the third largest toy company in the world, comprising 53 subsidiaries in 18 countries. Bandai is an exceptional partner for Nintendo to have on its side. Nintendo realizes this and has heavily invested in the company, causing many rumors in the industry to say that Nintendo would try to obtain a majority stake in the company. This has not, at least yet, been the case.
Capcom
Revolution
Status: Likely
A press conference held in Japan on September 11, 2002, set the stage for the news, in which respected game designers Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Capcom's Shinji Mikami shook hands on an announcement that floored the gaming community. As a result of the partnership, remakes of Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 1, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil: Code Veronica and Resident Evil 4 were all released exclusively on the GameCube. In addition, several other projects including Product Number 03, Viewtiful Joe and Killer 7 were lined up for a GameCube release. Nintendo and Capcom clearly have a very close relationship as the companies also worked together on the Zelda Game Boy titles and even the most recent Kirby title for GBA, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror. Capcom has several high-profiles series under its belt, with the most well-known being Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Mega Man and Street Fighter.
Electronic Arts
Revolution
Status: Confirmed
On March 6, 2003 Nintendo and Electronic Arts announced a collaboration on multiple games that would include exclusive features for connected play between the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance. Games including titles such as Madden NFL 2004 and The Sims were developed by EA, with Nintendo game producer, Shigeru Miyamoto, providing input on technical game play elements. Nintendo has built a close relationship with Electronic Arts and while Sega pulled its sports titles from the GameCube, EA continues to support the console. Being one of the world's largest publishers, it's very likely EA will have several Revolution titles cooking. "Game control is essential - it's the area where perhaps the most game-play improvement can be made," said John Schappert, Sr. Vice President and General Manager of Electronic Arts Canada in response to the Revolution controller's unveiling. "While our portfolio represents a full array of titles across all genres, I think our sports titles might be the first to immediately take advantage of what this novel 'freehand' type of control has to offer."
Factor 5
Revolution
Status: No Current Plans
Originally located in Cologne, Germany, Factor 5 was offered in 1995, due to close collaboration with LucasArts, a move to Northern California. In May 1996 the staff, consisting of 19 people (Among them developers, programmers, graphic artists and musicians), moved to San Rafael, CA (Marin County). Factor 5 first started developing titles for Lucas Arts on the PlayStation. However, it moved on and started toying with the Nintendo 64. Its first major endeavor would turn out to be a development necessity rather than a game; it decided to rewrite the Nintendo 64's sound tools and use its own proprietary sound tools titled MusyX and MORT. Nintendo has been very close with Factor 5. Factor 5 also created the sound tools for Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and the Nintendo GameCube. The company was one of the first developers to receive development kits for the GameCube, showing off its first GameCube title, Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II at Nintendo's 2000 Spaceworld show. Most recently Factor 5, in collaboration with Lucas Arts, released Star Wars Rogue Squadron III during the 2003 holiday. At the 2003 E3 Expo, it was also all but confirmed that Factor 5 was working on a Pilotwings sequel for GameCube. It's rumored however that the companies had a sort of falling out after the release of Rogue Squadron III and that Pilotwings is no longer in development. Recently the company pledged full support for the PlayStation 3.
Gearbox
Revolution
Status: Confirmed
Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox, responded to a question from GamerCC noting that he finds the Revolution console interesting and looks forward to creating games for it. He said the company already has ideas that would be ideal for the interface possibilities of the Revolution. Gearbox is known for its first-person shooter Brothers In Arms series.
Koei
Revolution
Status: Confirmed
In September 2005, after the unveiling of the Revolution controller, Koei's chairman Keiko Erikawa announced that the company would support the Nintendo Revolution platform. Koei is known for its Dynasty Warrior series of titles.
Konami
Revolution
Status: Confirmed
On February 28, 2003, Konami Entertainment announced it was in development with a Metal Gear Solid title for the Nintendo GameCube. The title came via Nintendo's then funded developer Silicon Knights. Konami has since collaborated on a Dance Dance Mario Revolution title for the Nintendo GameCube. Konami has several important franchises under its belt including the Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, and Castlevania series. Konami is an important ally for Nintendo to have on its side -- especially for the titles that appeal to an older gamer. Konami has said that it has an original title in development for the Revolution. When Hideo Kojima, mastermind behind the Metal Gear Solid series saw the Revolution controller for the first time he said, ""You've done it! Even though it was a surprise to me at first, I quickly understood how it should be used. This is exactly what I was looking for."
Kuju Entertainment,
Ltd.
Revolution Status: Likely
Kuju Entertainment collaborated with Nintendo Japan on Advance Wars: Under Fire for GameCube. The company has developed several games in the past including Lotus Challenge for Xbox and Fire Warrior for PlayStation 2. Kuju has also been developing PlayStation 2 technology since September 1999 and Xbox specific code since April 2000. Post-Rare, Kuju is Nintendo's starting point at building stronger relationships with European developers.
"Nintendo historically is not so active enough in building up the working relationships with the European developers. But I can say that things are improving right now, however I am not satisfied in the current condition and I believe we need to make efforts to improve our relationship with European developers even further."
Apr. 19, 2004
Majesco
Revolution
Status: Likely
Majesco is most recently known for its BloodRayne franchise. The company has built a good relationship with Nintendo thanks to its successful Game Boy Advance Video line of cartoons. Although the company's current video game franchises have been low-key, the company recently partnered with Starbreeze, developer of the acclaimed Xbox title The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher's Bay, in order to provide titles for next-generation consoles.
n-Space, Inc.
Revolution
Status: Likely
Here's a studio that sort of came out of nowhere. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Orlando, Florida, n-Space has developed a large portfolio of game titles in its lifetime for PC, Sony's PlayStation and PS2, and until recently Nintendo's GameCube. The supernatural GameCube first-person shooter known as Geist will likely be many gamer's first experience with the company. Depending on the success of Geist, Nintendo may request a sequel or even another original title from the studio.
Namco
Revolution
Status: Likely
Namco has gone from being anti-Nintendo during Yamauchi's reign, to pro-Nintendo and one of the company's largest GameCube supporters. The company's relationship has grown so strong in fact over just the past few years that the two companies have already collaboratively developed four titles - Starfox, Mario Baseball Pac-Man vs. and Donkey Konga for the Nintendo GameCube. Nintendo even recently allowed Namco to include its cherished Legend of Zelda character "Link" in Soul Calibur II. Namco has released several RPGs for the GameCube including Tales of Symphonia and Baten Kaitos. Beyond those titles, Namco has many other recognizable series including Tekken, Ridge Racer, Klonoa and Time Crisis. Namco is an exceptional ally with an ever-deepening relationship with Nintendo.
Sega Sammy
Revolution
Status: Likely
It's unknown how Sega will fare now that it has merged with Sammy. What we all hope however is that Sega will remain Sega. Sega has always been a company attracted to innovation and is someone who's filled with creators admired by Nintendo and vice versa. During this generation, Sega has been exceptionally successful on the GameCube platform with the release of Super Monkey Ball, Phantasy Star Online and Sonic Adventure (Sonic Adventure 2 for GameCube has been Sega's first and only platinum million-selling published title since it went third party). Nintendo also worked closely with Sega's Amuzement Vision studio to create F-Zero GX. It's very possible future collaborations are in store. Although Sega pulled its sports franchises from the GameCube, one hopes they will return with the coming generation and that Sega will make apt use of the Revolution's capabilities.
Silicon Knights
Revolution
Status: No Current Plans
Silicon Knights was once a Nintendo funded studio -- but quickly became the last of its second-party studios after Nintendo decided that its short-term relationship with third-parties was more beneficial. After developing Eternal Darkness and then collaboratively developing Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes with Konami, Nintendo ended its funding of the studio. SK president Denis Dyack said it's possible the two companies will still collaborate in the future on a title-by-title basis. The studio currently has no plans however as it is busy developing a title with Sega and a Too Human trilogy for Microsoft's next-generation console.
Square Enix
Revolution
Status: Confirmed
With the original Nintendo and Super Nintendo, Square and Enix were Nintendo's largest supporters. That is of course, until the less-costly and more freedom allowing disc-media of the PlayStation appeared. The two companies departed from Nintendo which led Yamauchi and Square in particular to have a distaste for each other. Fortunately, with the GameCube, the relationship with Square has been repaired. The two companies, courtesy of Yamauchi's personal Fund Q, have brought such titles as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Sword of Mana to the Game Boy Advance and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles to the GameCube. Square Enix is the ultimate RPG publisher in the world with such series as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Seiken Densetsu, and much more -- and its support is vital in the Japanese market. The studio has confirmed that they are in development with Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles for the Revolution.
THQ
Revolution
Status: Confirmed
"THQ" used to stand for Toy Head-Quarters, reflecting the Company's early focus as a toy manufacturer. However, since 1994 the Company has focused exclusively on the development and publishing of video games. THQ confirmed during a year-end press event in September 2005 that it would fully support Nintendo's next-generation console with software. THQ is known for its licensed software from Nickelodeon, Disney/Pixar, World Wrestling Entertainment, Scooby-Doo and original properties such as Full Spectrum Warrior and MX Unleashed. The company has been a reliable supporter of all recent Nintendo platforms. Nintendo's handhelds in particular are where a significant portion of the company's revenue is gained. "Nintendo has long been a trailblazer, and this controller design reinforces that reputation," said Brian Farrell, president and CEO of THQ in response to the Revolution controller's unveiling. "We enthusiastically support Nintendo's next console because we believe their approach of continual innovation is very much in line with our own strategy of creating unique and innovative games for the next generation of hardware."
Treasure
Revolution
Status: Likely
This venerated group of ex-Konami employees is well respected for producing titles with solid control, complex play mechanics, stunning graphics and a high degree of difficulty and replay value. The only Nintendo 64 game from Treasure that ever came to the United States was Mischief Makers; a quirky 2-D platformer released back in late 1997. Nevertheless, Nintendo and Treasure have had a close relationship for many years. The two companies collaborated on Sin and Punishment: Successor of Earth released only in Japan for the N64. Treasure most recently developed the Nintendo-published GameCube game Wario World.
Ubisoft
Revolution
Status: Confirmed
Ubisoft is known for its innovative gameplay and astounding graphics in its software. Michel Ancel is head of one of Ubisoft's most respected game studios having developed titles such as Rayman, Beyond Good & Evil, and King Kong. Other popular Ubisoft series include Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell. "We were among the first publishers to see the control design in action," said Serge Hascoet, Chief Creative Officer of Ubisoft in response to the unveiling of the Revolution controller. "We're excited about the new controller and are looking forward to taking advantage of its innovative aspects."
Zoonami
Revolution
Status: Unknown
Nintendo confirmed its partnership with UK development studio, Zoonami, to make a GameCube project. The title, with science-fiction elements, was tentatively dubbed Game Zero. Few details were revealed and nothing has been heard of the game since. Zoonami's president, Martin Hollis, former head of software at Rare, has led projects such as Perfect Dark and Goldeneye 007. Is it possible Game Zero will make an appearance on the Revolution? Anything is possible, but don't hold your breath.