At this year's CIGA Developer Conference, Yusuke Fukushima and Kai-Jun Yang, members of the Independent Game Group of the Nintendo Corporation Business Division's Strategy Group, presented a "Developing a Game on NintendoSwitch: Let the World Know You!" Video sharing! The current state of NintendoSwitch and notes about its development. Hopefully, developers who are interested in developing on Switch but haven't started yet can help resolve their doubts. Here's what we've seen:
Hello everyone, I am Nintendo Vice Island Estimator, we belong to the business department of Nintendo Corporation, mainly responsible for negotiating and promoting cooperation with domestic and foreign game manufacturers, we are mainly responsible for independent game developers and publishers and the necessary resources for game publishing and promotion with them.
The things I want to convey to you today are mainly divided into three parts, the first point is about the worldwide release of the games you have developed on Nintendo Switch, and the second is that developing the game is not a very difficult thing, if you need any help, please contact us.
Do you know what kind of nintendo is a business? Let's start with the history of the company, do you know when Nintendo was founded? I think you are vaguely impressed by the arcade game of Donkey Kong released by Nintendo, was Nintendo founded around 1980? Not really, but much longer.
Founded in 1889 and now 131 years old, as you can see, Nintendo's main product was the Flower Brand when it opened, and since then, Nintendo has been a company that provides entertainment. In addition, a variety of other entertainment products are sold, including Go and mahjong of Chinese origin, which are still sold by Nintendo today.
Today, Nintendo is well known as a video game manufacturer, Super Mario, Animal Morikai and other Nintendo has created a variety of characters and series, among which I am afraid that the most famous should be Super Mario, this year ushered in the 35th anniversary of Super Mario, Vice Island estimated the same age as Mario, and Vice Island estimated the first game in his life is also Super Mario.
Nintendo is not only known for its game software that creates a variety of characters, but also for making a wide variety of game hardware, starting in 1980 and now Switch, which is a company that focuses on the challenge of combining hardware and software to pass on the concept of play to players.
Since the summer of this year, we have finally released a fitness ring adventure in Chinese mainland, please pay more attention to it.
Since the Nintendo Switch was released in March 2017, it has been loved by customers, and Vice Island remembered the scene when it was released at the entrance of the store. As one of the characteristics of The Switch, it is possible to choose different ways according to the needs of the situation, such as the large-screen mode of the host base connected to the TV, the table play mode using the Bracket that comes with the Switch, and the portable mode of carry-on play.
What about the Nintendo Switch, the console currently released by Nintendo? First of all, the situation of the Switch's host body, customer love, it can be said that it is quite smooth in popularity, around March 2020 compared with the same period of the whole year increased by 24%, the cumulative world has sold more than 60 million hosts, in terms of the personal feeling of the vice island, my child just went to kindergarten, most of the children in the same class hold Switch, compared to software sales, the sales of the body are slightly inferior, the sales volume of software increased by 42% compared with the same period.
In fact, in the sales of software, the sales of digital versions of the game actually increased by 71.8% in the same period of the whole year. Just by looking at the current data, we can see that the trend of the digital version is becoming more and more obvious, and the sales of the digital version have reached 101 billion yen from April to June this year, of which the sales of the digital version have reached 55.6%, more than half.
The reasons behind this increase are as follows: the number of software released simultaneously with the physical and digital versions of the animal friends association that is very good with the digital version has increased significantly, in addition to the addition of DLC and Switch ONLINE to various games, including the digital version of the indie game, which is gradually welcomed by customers, and the independent games and unique and interesting content produced by the development team of the small ear membrane attract more and more players.
Fujijima and I are both people who are attracted to indie games, and we are also responsible for promoting and introducing independent games for the Japanese market, making direct introductions and making selections together with people who play independent groups, and indie world and group members.
We introduce the game in video, occasionally introduce our own experience of playing the game, and we also post on Twitter, sometimes interview developers and make articles, like the creators who implanted the love of crabs into the game, we are very fortunate to be able to introduce and promote these games to more people.
Nowadays, even if there are independent games developed by small teams, there are game software that is not at all inferior to the world's famous game software that is not lost to large enterprises, and there are many elements to achieve, time-consuming and laborious action games, a game developed by three people, and "Huddy Kitchen", which is popular for the family level in Switch, is developed by two people, giving full play to the characteristics that Switch can carry around, and "Stardew Cereal Language" was actually developed by a developer.
In addition, there are many games that have been well received on Switch, and it is not a very difficult thing to release games worldwide in Switch, and games that can only be released on computers have also begun to be released and sold on Switch. As a major factor in the success of a Switch indie game, being able to take it with you and share it with friends and family anytime, anywhere is essential.
In fact, the market is also quietly changing, according to the proportion of game console body sales in various regions of the world, in recent years, compared with Europe, the overall proportion of Asia is actually higher. Games from Chinese developers are also gradually increasing, and it's really great to see them release on Switch. I hope that the next blockbuster will come from the Hands of the Chinese Development Group.
Next will enter the instructions in the Switch from development to sale process link, first of all, please visit NDP to register the intelligence and information of your own development group to open an account, whether it is independent or cooperative distribution, you need to have a development account, if it is a new user, please click on the registration button on this page in order to go to the next page to operate.
After coming to this page, please click the button to open a new account, click on the NDID, the initial registration is not a very difficult thing, please submit your company group information intelligence, representative name, email the most basic information.
Next, we will introduce two methods of development in Switch, the first is to apply directly through the application form on NDP, and the second is to cooperate with a publisher with publishing experience in Switch, through which the publisher applies to Nintendo, wants to distribute independently, and has not yet decided on a good publisher but wants to start developing, please apply through this method (the first method).
Let me briefly introduce the development application process required for switch development, first use the NDID applied to log in to NDP, in fact, at this point in time has been in the process of being able to read information about the 3DS and other development environments, on the left side of this page, click Nintendo Switch access request to enter the next page, through the NDP direct application can appear Nintendo Switch access request interface, And through this interface to apply, in this interface please fill in your group intelligence and project details, the computer will review the corresponding content, if there is no problem will be given NDP internal interface access, but fill out the application form, more or less will have some questions, if you encounter problems, please contact us, we will help.
By the way, what exactly do I need to fill in when applying? For example, if you want to register the details of your development plan in the past game development experience, the details of the release and release of the game that you want to develop on the Nintendo Switch, the introductory animation and animation connection of the game, how to use the unique features of the Nintendo Switch, etc., if you have any questions, you can contact us through the previous email, we are more than happy to help.
After obtaining the license to develop on the Switch, NDP can do the following points, first of all, buy development equipment, the price is still relatively reasonable, you can buy directly from the NDP website, followed by you can read about the SDK, development guidance, codes and various game engines related information, in addition to the various game engine Q&A windows, can be operated on the NDP page.
Regarding the development support provided by other NDP, there is a development question board that can be consulted for free, and the NDP website can only be changed in Japanese and English, but the question board can be communicated with Chinese Simplified, such as questions about pictures and sounds, and can be answered using Chinese on Switch. NDP also has the resources to obtain IARC ratings, and when the digital version is released globally, it can use the system to deal with various regions, and when the digital version is released in the Japan region, it can also conduct data review through IARC.
Next, the process to the release will be explained, the information on the NDP will be developed, and then the game data registration after the development is uploaded to the NDP, and then Nintendo will review according to the code, it should be noted here that the review usually takes a certain degree of time, after passing the review, the eshop interface will be set, and if there are no problems, the game can be released in the selected region.
Finally, we have come to the last link, and we will partially answer questions based on the questions collected in advance, because the principle of confidentiality of intelligence will only be able to answer some questions.
Regarding the setting of eshop, for the release area, the game must have the official language support of the region, such as Japan needs Japanese, South Korea needs Korean, the reform can be set freely, in principle, the release date will be set to every Thursday at midnight.
Regarding the physical version of the sale, unlike the digital version, additional contracts are required and individual negotiations will be required, so please contact us by email.
The answer to the question about whether it can be self-published is yes, and publishers with experience in distributing on Switch can also do their own sales with their own team, if you have any questions, please contact us by email.
Next, a brief introduction to the several channels that Nintendo can provide publicity support, mainly divided into video introductions, Twitter introductions, article form introductions, and event exhibitions, etc., and then briefly introduce various channels.
First of all, the introduction of the video form, as the most well-known way of the channel, I think everyone here knows something, that is, the Nintendo Direct Encounter, the mini Nintendo Direct Interview third-party partner city meeting that was broadcast in Japan not long ago, and the "Hardcore Mecha" developed by the Chinese development team in Japan in September 2020 was also included in the display video and introduced to the Japanese audience, so please watch this short video.
The next thing to explain is another way of video introduction, indie world, this channel is a video dedicated to indie games, which was also mentioned before, the game of planting rice that will be planted to the harvest process completely online, and the game that insists on making the crab action completely online are introduced to the Japanese audience in this form, as Nintendo is also actively supporting independent games, hoping that more excellent and interesting games can be introduced to people around the world. Watch this short video next.
Regarding Twitter, each region has an official Nintendo Twitter account, and each region has its own promotional activities, sometimes promoting games released worldwide, and then corresponding to the Twitter account indie world, which is specially opened to promote independent games, and on this account, the game is released publicly, pre-sold, introduced, and retweeted.
We want to make a simple explanation of how to promote in the form of articles, in Japan's indie world, we will make the content of the game and the interview on the development into an article, and the indie world of Nintendo in North America will let the developers make their own development narratives into articles in the form of developer stories, serialize them on their respective main businesses, and the content released on these main businesses will also be pushed on the game console in the form of game news, so that players have the opportunity to understand the developers. We actively introduce the work of independent game developers to visitors not only at large exhibitions, but also at event fairs for independent games.
For information on how to promote your game to Nintendo and how to get in touch with Nintendo, please contact the person in charge or click on this email address, we will try to help you as much as possible.
To summarize today's content, it can be summarized as follows: The first point is that the digital version of the Nintendo Switch is growing, and it is a great time to release the game worldwide.
Second, the Nintendo Switch is very active in supporting a variety of games, including indie games.
The third is to start by registering an NDP account, of course, we must not forget that Vice Island and Super Mario are the same age.
Finally, I hope you can all come to Nintendo Switch to develop the game, and then let the world know you great developers, I hope today's statement can be helpful to you, starting to develop a game on Switch is not a very difficult thing, if you have any problems, please contact us, we will try our best to help you.