In a chat with GamesIndustry.biz, veteran games developer Dave Perry (responsible for the likes of Earthworm Jim, MDK and Enter the Matrix) has explained that third parties should be wary about gunning for Nintendo platforms, particularly given the firm’s dominance with its own software on the Nintendo Wii and DS. However, he is very pleased to see the company’s resurgance in the industry

GamesIndustry: What do you think about the development situation on the Wii, in that a lot of publishers are jumping in late to the party and they’ve also got to compete with Nintendo’s first-party titles?

Dave Perry: That’s the bottom line. Do your homework. You have to allow for that. You can’t assume it is going to be like the other platforms, because you are going to have Nintendo taking most of the sales. And if Nintendo really sees you as a threat, they will take the moves to wipe you out. They are not going to let you win.

Meaning, if you sell your game and you are charging USD 60 or 50, or whatever price you choose, they will sell their games at USD 39.99 and they will kick your ass. So, the bottom line is, whatever you thought your business plan was, they can shake your world at a moment’s notice and they have a track record of doing that. So I would be very concerned with wanting to bet the farm on a Nintendo platform.

Perry reckons Nintendo is well equipped to deal with future challenges.

Perry goes on to explain how Nintendo’s approach to producing simple gaming experiences for everyone has been important for the firm, comparing the Wii to the simplicity of Apple’s iPod:

But I think it’s wonderful that they’re back. They deserve absolutely everything. They were so innovative. It was such a strange way to go. Everyone’s in the arms race, and they just completely come out of left field. ‘We don’t do anything of the stuff you expect…we don’t play movies, we don’t play music, we don’t really have a great online service…’

Comparing their online at launch to Xbox LIVE is night and day. For a gamer to compare the two, even today, there’s still no comparison. They still haven’t quite caught up.

That doesn’t matter, though. What matters is the fact that things are easy to play. Hopefully, everyone heeded the Nintendo message. Easy to play is very important in this industry. Does anyone get that yet? You can go back to Apple, who taught us the same thing. Time after time after time they put out a new iPod with the same controls. Why? Because adding ten more buttons, which would have been very tempting and very easy to do, would have made it more complex. Keeping that system, that round dial that does everything magically, is part of the proof that making things easier sells.

At conferences for a while, before the Wii, I talked about the fact that, if one of the companies took away all the buttons and left us back with the A and B buttons and a d-pad, would the industry die? The answer is no. I believe we would find a way. Every game would still work.

I’m now very interested to see the response next time around from Microsoft and Sony. Do they just do an arms race move, or do they work on controls too? [The Wii] was very disruptive to our industry, and we need that. That’s what keeps us all very healthy.

Are you in agreement with Mr. Perry? Are third parties right to be fearful about lumping their wares onto the Nintendo Wii or Nintendo DS given Nintendo’s track record for nicking much of the market share? A lack of third party support was, ultimately, the cause of the GameCube and Nintendo 64’s downfall, so hopefully the same won’t happen this generation. Given that Ubisoft, amongst others, has experienced very pleasing sales on Nintendo’s little white box, the future looks bright.

Head over to GamesIndustry.biz for the full interview.