Nintendo lets companies apply for new developer program

After WSJ posted an article about the upcoming Nintendo NX console becoming a console/portable hybrid with industry-leading chips to compete against rivals Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo opened today a new Developer Portal page for game developers and tool developers to apply for enrollment in a new developer program.

“Are you ready to see your vision come to life on Nintendo’s awesome hardware? Are you ready to create amazing things and want to get all the tools to do it? Let us help you make the next great thing,” is what Nintendo shows on the main page of the Developer Portal, inviting various companies to return to develop and publish games on Nintendo’s consoles. The Big N currently has fewer support from big third-party developers and publishers than other console competitors, but its enormous library of characters and games (especially Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U) and the addition of indie games have kept the console alive.

Once companies register and enroll into the Dev Program, developers will have access to the Nintendo Dev Interface (NDI). What was missing in the Dev page was specific information about the NX, which Nintendo may not published it until next year.

And about the NX mentioned in the WSJ article this morning, it shares two interesting pieces of info: 1) the upcoming console will include “both a console and at least one mobile unit that could either be used in conjunction with the console or taken on the road for separate use,” 2) some third-party have already received dev kits for the NX, likely to be released in 2016. So far, Square Enix is the only third-party company that has announced it is bringing a game (in this case Dragon Quest XI) to the NX (and other consoles).

[Sources]: WSJ: Nintendo Begins Distributing Software Kit for New NX Platform; Nintendo: Welcome to the Nintendo Developer Portal.