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Why does anyone find it surprising?

If you register for a developer program

It's surprising because traditionally, not everybody is even allowed to register for the developer program for a major video game console. Console makers have tended to want only established businesses composed of experienced developers, which means a new studio must start by making games for Windows or (since about 2009) Android. Prior to about 2012, Nintendo also rejected home-based family businesses for lack of a dedicated office. It wasn't quite as surprising when the iPhone introduced third-party applications in iOS 2 because Windows Mobile 6 phones had already let end users develop Windows CE applications.

Nintendo isn't any better. Pricing for a development kit starts at approximately $2500; they state that "[they] look for companies that are established game developers, or individuals with game industry experience. Authorization will be based upon your relevant game industry experience." as http://warioworld.com/apply/ states. Even self-publishing on the eShop http://www.warioworld.com/lice... is quite an arduous process.

Nintendo isn't any better. Pricing for a development kit starts at approximately $2500; they state that "[they] look for companies that are established game developers, or individuals with game industry experience. Authorization will be based upon your relevant game industry experience." as http://warioworld.com/apply/ states. Even self-publishing on the eShop http://www.warioworld.com/lice... is quite an arduous process.

Even with a Kickstarter campaign, how would such people come up with the "relevant game industry experience", "stable business organization", and "list of published game titles" that Nintendo expects?

They don't provide Unity for free, they provide it for no additional cost. You still have to pay them $2500 and run an actual business. I could save $1000 by just buying Unity Pro directly and publish games on PSN, Xbox Live or PC without any developer setup cost.

Bob was an idiot for thinking that working on hacked systems for a few years would somehow get past Nintendo.

So what should he have done instead to demonstrate "game industry experience" for Pelloni Entertainment? Would having prototyped the game fully on a PC count?

They have even started to loosen some of the restrictions, such as office security.

Thanks for pointing out the change to the Apply page, which no longer mentions "home office" or "residence", just that it is "lockable".

But the Xbox 360 and PS3 have indie and arcade sections for just these people!

I looked at Sony's Developer License Request Form found here, and the requirements for "mandatory [bold and underlined]" information about "Financial documentation" and "Prior development experience" reminded me of Nintendo's. But you're right that Apple's App Store business model is essentially a copy of Xbox 360's Xbox Live Indie Games business model, provided that all your customers live in one of the ten countries where Indie Games are offered.

Also, the whole indie gaming scene is on the PC, and only the PC

World of Goo got ported to Wii. But 2D Boy cheated by using a restaurant as an "office", and Nintendo has since amended its qualifications to require that "The office space is not shared with any other company".

and it's the indie games that are most fun these days not the big budget games.

Some people use the word "indie" in a confusing manner. It can refer to one of two things: people who have never worked for the establishment, or industry veterans who started their own company that happens not to have a long-term contract with a major publisher. A company with several industry veterans can score its own console license.

Not cheap. At all.

Starting with a requirement to have "a stable business organization with secure office facilities separate from a personal residence ( Home offices do not meet this requirement ), sufficient resources to insure the security of Nintendo confidential information and in order to ensure an effective environment for working with Nintendo and/or its Publishers".

an indie game market

All the things you mentioned you can do for free on the wii or ps3.

Unless you're talking about Homebrew Channel on Wii, Wii and PlayStation 3 don't really have an indie game market comparable to Xbox Live Indie Games or the iOS App Store that copied XBLIG. Nintendo still insists on WiiWare developers having a dedicated office and "relevant game industry experience" (a previous commercial game on another platform), and indie developers operating out of home offices can't necessarily afford those.

FYI, here's a page describing what it takes to become a WiiWare developer. It isn't even close to as easy as it is for iOS devices.

I'm not sure why working from home is such a "big deal". Our farming ancestors (or tailers, bakers, storeowners, etc) did it for 5000+ years.

Were trade secrets licensed from a supplier as big a deal then as they were now? One well-known license agreement specifically excludes home offices due to lack of security.

R. O. T. F. L.

I spent too much time in big business to believe that one. In the first place, an employee pretty much already has to sign a confidentiality agreement just in order to get hired, not matter where their desk is located. Ditto for contractors.

In the second place, there's plenty of leakage already in most companies. I could tell tales of horror, but that would be a violation of confidentiality agreements.

Or you you really have a problem where ninjas regularly break into your house and lift trade secrets? Wow.

As far as an office with a door to keep the family out, nah. That's what cattle prods are for.

I'm not sure why working from home is such a "big deal". Our farming ancestors (or tailers, bakers, storeowners, etc) did it for 5000+ years.

Were trade secrets licensed from a supplier as big a deal then as they were now? One well-known license agreement specifically excludes home offices due to lack of security.

one of your company's major suppliers requires [...] secure facilities

That's already rather unusual.

Only as "unusual" as, say, the video game industry. I'm led to believe it's a common requirement in console development licenses.

but why not flex hours?

For one thing, "team cohesion" (whatever that means). For another, I'm not sure how any employer can be flexible enough for an employee who happens not to drive a car not to show up for weeks at a time.

I'd like to see Nintendo thrive, because IMO they're the most ethical of the console manufacturers

Ethical including discriminating against startups and home-based family businesses? (source) How is a new video game development company supposed to become established in the video game industry in the first place? At least Microsoft has Xbox Live Indie Games, whose barrier to entry isn't any higher than, say, iOS development.

The only console environment whose development is roughly as open as iOS or Android, the platforms most commonly associated with the term "apps", is Xbox Live Indie Games. This environment is far more restrictive than the native environment in which Netflix runs, and console makers are very selective of who is allowed to develop applications for this native environment. Only established companies that have already built a reputation within the industry on another platform can develop for the consoles. This other platform is usually Windows or more recently iOS or Android, where startups compete on a much more even playing field with incumbents. So if you are an indie video game developer, and your first video game is one in a genre that would be best experienced on a television, tough droppings.

PC gaming is the Porsche level experience of gaming. The consoles are Chevy Malibus and Ford Fusions.

To continue your analogy, Chevy Malibus and Ford Fusions can travel only to big-box hypermarkets, not to local grocery stores, and definitely not to a local farmer's market, according to restrictions published by the automaker. What's the entry-level configuration that still allows playing indie games?

However, the blame for this rests entirely on the shoulders of the console manufacturer in question.

And if a major video game developer wants to sell its games, it'll have to work around any anticompetitive practices of the makers of the consoles that are in the homes of the intended customers. Given that consoles are a far bigger market than Mac and Linux, especially for "party" genres that use multiple gamepads, major video game developers will choose to put forth the effort for the greatest reward. Mac and Linux appear to be the domain of indie developers that can't afford the organizational overhead (e.g. "The office space is not shared with any other company. [...] The office space is not located within a personal residence.") of console development.

Don't include Xbox 360 / Windows Phone 7 in your mobile application plans?

I mean... you're missing out on, what, two users?

If not for Xbox 360, then for which set-top device should one develop? Nintendo blanket refuses all home-based businesses, and Sony's signup page has been down for two and a half months straight.

Nintendo and Sony won't let you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiiWare

http://warioworld.com/apply/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob's_Game

Nintendo won't let just anyone develop for its platforms. One has to have a dedicated secure office and a track record on someone else's platform before qualifying to buy a Nintendo devkit. This pretty much rules out releasing one's first completed game on a Nintendo platform.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Live_Arcade

Did you mean Xbox Live Indie Games or Xbox Live Arcade? These are separate programs. As far as I can tell, the organizational qualifications for Xbox Live Arcade are identical to those for Xbox 360 disc games. And due to XNA framework limitations, Xbox Live Indie Games appears to require in practice that games be exclusive to Microsoft platforms.

They did introduce region locking on the DSi download games

DSi game cards are region-locked too.

Nintendo hasn't really ever been that hard on the homebrew scene.

Other than lawsuits against companies like Lik Sang and the companies making R4-style cards? What about system updates specifically to uninstall The Homebrew Channel on Wii? And given the phrasing in Nintendo's developer qualifications, I don't see Nintendo making anything like Microsoft's App Hub or the iPhone developer program any time soon.

In fact the guy doing the no$gb emulator has even been selling his tools for gameboy development to anyone and Nintendo hasn't bothered him. He now even supports the DS.

I tried to buy a copy of the NO$GBA debugger, but "This recipient is currently unable to receive money."

How important are XBox Live Indie Games really? XBox is basically the second most popular gaming console, and is behind by a large margin.

Xbox Live Indie Games is the only console platform available to micro-ISVs. Wii is the market leader, but Nintendo platforms are not for a company's first title, nor are they for home-based businesses. Nintendo requires "relevant game industry experience" and "that companies are working from a secure business location [...] not located within a personal residence."

[Sony Computer Entertainment] have in fact been more open with their console then Nintendo or MS has.

How? It'd be one thing if Sony had a direct counterpart to Xbox Live Indie Games, allowing anybody to make games, run them on the console, and submit them to the console's official market. But I haven't even been able to Google up the developer qualifications for the PlayStation family platforms (this press release mentions two sites that are down at the moment), and I see no reason to believe they're materially different from Nintendo's: you have to have a corp or LLC with a dedicated office, and it has to have released a commercial title on another platform.

I'm pretty well convinced [the third-party Wii and DS development] scene has turned to liquid shit as [Nintendo has] taken to abusing the devs harder than MS and Sony combined.

You're right that Microsoft's policy is comparable to Apple's: $99 per year to run your own programs on your own hardware, plus a 30% cut of sales. But have you a citation for Sony's organizational requirements to join the PlayStation developer program? I haven't been able to dig up anything on Sony's site, but here's Nintendo's: your business needs a dedicated office and experience on some other platform.

but unfortunately you'll be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Nintendo manages to print money despite its stated policy of "throwing the baby out with the bathwater".

In other words, the desktop of anybody who's a content creator instead of a mere content consumer.

Devil's advocate: The general public appear happy to be "content consumers" (let's call them "audience" instead for now). If "content creators" (I prefer "authors") want to create, then they can seek venture capital, establish a business, and lease an office in order to qualify to buy a computer capable of doing so. At least this is what video game console makers such as Nintendo think.

Modern DSLRs with HDR take pictures that are individually bigger

The general public who have graduated from smartphone cameras appear happy with subcompact cameras. "DSLR? What's that? Those stupid Oreo cookie commercials I've seen?"

All consoles are just computers.

The retail units are appliances: special-purpose computers without an "Unknown sources" checkbox and without USB debugging.

Android Computers exist (Phones, Netbooks, Pads, Notebooks, etc.)

Google doesn't allow these to get onto the Market because they lack cellular data capability. Archos 43 has to make do with AppsLib, which has a far smaller selection and apparently even worse search than Android Market. End users are less likely to buy one device just to run major-label products purchased from the walled garden and a second device just to run micro-ISV products. Just look at the poor^W extremely niche sales of the GP32, GP2X, GP2X Wiz, and Archos 43 in North America. (I'm ignoring the Pandora because it's still out of stock years after its initial announced release date.)

New TVs have integrated computers, many with USB, Ethernet, WIFI, etc.

But to what extent do these new TVs have functionality comparable to the "Unknown sources" checkbox on a non-AT&T Android device?

Google TV exists.

With all major TV networks blocking Google TV by both its HTTP user agent (user changeable) and its Flash Player user agent (not user changeable), I don't see it as likely to take off in the marketplace. End users are less likely to buy one device just to watch major-label channels and a second device just to run micro-ISV products. Otherwise, the home theater PC would have taken off sooner.

There isn't a set-top Android box to compete with Microsoft's Xbox 360.

I guess what you're saying is that in the very different markets (Consoles vs Smartphones / Pads / Portable Computers) Android isn't competing with MS?

That's exactly what I'm saying. There is an Android counterpart to Windows Phone 7, but there is no Android counterpart to Xbox 360.

many indie games I've played on the 360 could easily be created on Android as well.

Not if they need a directional pad. Most Android tablets and phones that I've seen don't have a dedicated directional pad. Heck, some don't even have a capacitive multitouch screen, used by emulators' half-assed simulation of a directional pad where you can't even feel which button your thumb is currently over; instead, the screen on (say) an Archos 43 is the same sort of resistive screen seen on Pocket PC and Nintendo DS.

360 isn't the only console in town -- Wii Homebrew comes to mind.

Most people trying homebrew for the first time will come in with a fully updated console, but there have been entire months when the Homebrew Channel installer hasn't worked on a fully updated console. Besides, some video games are large enough in scope that developing the whole thing as a hobby project to be released as freeware is not viable, and there appears to be a stigma on wiibrew.org against charging for homebrew. What do you recommend for a video game developer too big to release an entire product as freeware but too small to qualify for the official Wii developer program?

So does PS2, PSP and PS3 homebrew.

Distributing instructions to run a PS3 homebrew program that you have developed will get you sued by Sony.

there's not much GPL code for indie game devs to use anyhow (in MS 360's C#).

Even if standard C++ can't be compiled to IL, Java can. There's a reason for this: C# is a direct descendant of J++.

So long as indie/casual gaming isn't done cheaply on devices OTHER than consoles

I had trouble parsing this part of your post.

And by "discourage" you mean "require between $2,000 and $10,000 for initial devkit costs and company approval" in the case of Nintendo.

That, plus your business has to be big enough to have an office, as opposed to a micro-ISV whose employees all telecommute from a home office.

Now, if you price your SDK and impose restrictions in such a way as to exclude or discourage casual, indie or hobbyist developers then don't be surprised when they turn to other platforms with lower barriers to entry...

And by "discourage" you mean "require between $2,000 and $10,000 for initial devkit costs and company approval" in the case of Nintendo.

You're telling me that my complaint about the game acting like it's on a console, even though it's on a computer... Is because it was designed to act like it's on a console, even though it's on a computer?

It's possible to plug a computer into a TV and have it replace a console. Dell even makes the Zino PC that looks like a cross between a Mac mini and a GameCube.

There are a very large number of PC gamers who do not have gamepads handy.

Any emulator fan will tell you there's nothing wrong with arrow keys, Z, and X, while you wait for your $15 Logitech gamepad to ship. Or plug in your Xbox 360 wired controller and it'll Just Work.

The whole complaint about "consoleitis" is that everything is now behaving like it's a console game ported to a PC.

Console makers dictate that one must be "at least this tall" to develop for consoles. A developer operating out of home offices has to develop its console-style games for PCs, especially home theater PCs.

I always wonder who these folks are that want to jailbreak for purposes other than unlocking. What is the point? oh sure there are a few convincing reasons for developers to do it. But ordinary people?

Ordinary people who want to play games made by developers who are too small to meet the console makers' minimum criteria might choose to jailbreak. See, for example, the story of Bob's Game. And in the case of iPhone and iPod touch, there are whole classes of applications that Apple will never accept into its App Store; to run those without jailbreaking, you have to buy a Mac and then pay $99 per year for a developer certificate.

It's not really "console-style". If it were "console-style", there wouldn't be a $99/yr developer program open to the public. Instead, each developer would have to be an established business with a dedicated secure office and relevant industry experience, as seen in Nintendo's criteria.

basic digital electronic skills, and soldering skills

I imagine that most end users who want to format-shift their lawfully purchased copies of films lack soldering skills.

I think you neglect the value of Open Source Hardware.

Unlike open source software, open source hardware isn't as easy to put together as ./configure && make && sudo make install.

All of the game consoles are jailbroken.

And the console makers have been successfully suing companies that sell jailbreak tools, even those marketed as "homebrew" tools for developers that don't meet the console makers' criteria for authorized developers. Two words: Lik Sang.

The future lies with indie-games and Nintendo

How? Nintendo isn't a big fan of the smallest indie developers if its developer qualifications are to be believed. 2D Boy had to cheat to get a devkit for the Wii version of World of Goo: one of them knew the manager of a Starbucks coffee shop.

Because their own games won't run without a jailbreak, and the console makers have managed to successfully sue sources of jailbreak tools out of existence.

Why is this a troll? If I want to create a Nintendo DS game right now, I can either:

a) Grab a DS, a flash loader, devkitPro / libnds, and code something up on my own time, for free.
b) Be a well-known game developer already that Nintendo approves of, sign an NDA with them, and pay Nintendo upwards of $50,000 for an official devkit.

If Nintendo (and other console manufacturers) were more open with development, they might not be seeing their platforms cracked so fully.

I don't want my money going to the prop up companies that approve of DRM laden software and sue people for modding the hardware they sell. [...] [Nintendo is] the least bad of the three

Microsoft has XNA Creators Club and Xbox Live Indie Games, allegedly the inspiration for Apple's business model of iPhone Developer Drogram and App Store. Nintendo, on the other hand, has you must have an office and industry experience. So where should one get the industry experience and the money for an office? On PC?

In 2010, it's just stupid. We don't need extensions to C of any form, we need C and its satanic spawn to die.

Sounds like you have never actually shipped any games on modern consoles.

That's a reasonable assumption, given that you have to be an established company with an office just to get a devkit that doesn't use C#.

Bob's game... summary: Stupid whiny bitch throws a tantrum on the Internet.

So how do you recommend that even a non-whiny micro-ISV get its game published on a Nintendo platform? Nintendo sets a bar that micro-ISVs find it hard to reach.

if you want to innovate, start your own company

Publishers (and console makers for developers who choose to self-publish) prefer not to work with a sole proprietorship or partnership whose owners and employees telecommute from their bedrooms. They want an office. Nor do publishers and console makers appear to want a developer's first game, no matter how polished; they want "game industry experience" (source) which I guess translates to past releases on PC or mobile platforms. But not all genres are suited for PC or mobile. Can you recommend a step-by-step guide to starting a "proper" business, especially for someone none of whose family lives in the same state as the traditional centers of game development?

Inflation and eventual destruction of USD and US consumer, why start a business in US unless you are masochistic?

Because one has something to say, and the only viable medium in which to say it has gatekeepers, and the gatekeepers deal only with businesses, not individuals, and one happens to have been born on U.S. soil. Should I start my business here, where I speak the local language and hold citizenship, or should I somehow complete some Asian country's immigration process before starting my business?

So you agree there are significant limitations?

Some other Slashdot users appear convinced that a developer should just accept the limitations of XNA, design games around them exclusively for XNA on Windows and Xbox 360, and hopefully use those games to build "game industry experience", one of the two pieces that the console makers require before a developer becomes eligible to buy the real devkit. (The other piece is a dedicated office.) But with your "little toy games" comment, I thought you had some different limitations in mind that were even more severe than those described on my page, to the point where one couldn't even make games comparable to those on the Super NES.

There is an "android touch" samsung makes it.

I wasn't aware of Samsung Galaxy Player 50 until I just searched Google to find out what you're talking about. The anythingbutipod.com story is less than a week old. This article states that it appears to have Android Market and other Google apps ordinarily seen only on phones. But with "no word on a US release yet", how much will the customs duty for a gray-market import run? And will a unit built for the European Union be able to access the Market from an IPv4 address that geolocates to the United States?

I have two smartphones on a family plan with verizon, runs about $130month.

Your plan at $65 per handset per month is still not low enough to convince a mom to buy four smartphones instead of a land line and four Nintendo DSi systems.

the wii is easiest to hack

Unlike Dreamcast, Wii has "renewable security", tech-speak for updatable firmware that allows for a game of cat-and-mouse. During the month between 4.0 and Bannerbomb, there wasn't an exploit for the Wii. During the two months between 4.3 and Yu-Gi-Vah, there wasn't an exploit for the Japanese Wii because it didn't have LEGO Indy. Renewable security rules out making commercial releases using homebrew exploits, such as Feet of Fury (Dreamcast). Developers not yet big enough for a traditional business structure with an office get shut out of commercial releases on Wii entirely unless they happen to be friends with someone who manages a coffee shop (like 2D Boy).

I wonder if she's ever heard of the Nintendo DS

Nintendo DS software development is even more restrictive than iOS software development. For one thing, Nintendo doesn't want anyone working from home, so the smallest of shops are shut out entirely. See the case of Bob's Game.

or Archos

Google has made a decision not to open up Android Market to Archos devices yet. Only phones with a voice and data plan quality as of right now.

Besides being bulky and not holding much content on it's own, [an iPhone or 3G iPad] can also rack up absurd network roaming charges.

That's what airplane mode is for. Use it until you get back on one ;-)

iOS isn't a "semi-open" platform.

Like Microsoft's XNA Creators Club, Apple's iPhone developer program is semi-open in that anyone can purchase a devkit for $1,027 plus tax (Mac mini + iPod touch + first year of developer certificate) and submit applications. Nintendo, on the other hand, officially requires a dedicated office and a previous published title on another platform.

If it's full of shovelware crap, blame the quality assurance process of the famous walled garden.

Yes, I blame Apple for not providing its App Store customers with an effective way to sort the wheat from the chaff. But with Nintendo, everything developed by a team working from home offices is presumed to be chaff.

Support game devs, buy independent.

That'd be fine if Nintendo didn't do things like rejecting every game developed in a home office, such as Bob's Game. Which independent handheld gaming device do you recommend that U.S. residents buy instead of Nintendo products? I'd prefer one with a working directional pad because not all genres have been shown to work well with only touch input.

Remember only Xbox uses DirectX, all the other uses OpenGL or a derivate from it.

Also, among consoles made by Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, only Xbox 360 has anything like XNA Creators Club. This means that only the console with DirectX is friendly to two- and three-man teams or to companies working on their first title. The others require a proper business with a dedicated office and a track record on some other platform (source). Or are you counting Apple's iPod touch as a handheld console?

Mind you [CodeWeavers' support period is] not as long as Microsoft's but each upgrade does not have to be paid for.

The claim that upgrades have to be paid for is a direct consequence of these facts: 1. people desire continued support after the 12-month support period, and 2. "it's not as long as Microsoft's". So assuming one upgrades Windows every three years and CrossOver every 12 months, CrossOver isn't noticeably cheaper.

True but many people who play games have a dedicated game console, like Xbox, Playstation, or Nintendo.

There are plenty of Windows-exclusive games. They haven't been ported to Nintendo or Sony platforms due to these companies' blanket barriers to micro-ISVs' entry, they haven't been ported to XNA on Xbox 360 due to the lack of automated tools to translate standard C++ into a verifiably type-safe .NET assembly, and they haven't been ported to Mac OS X or Linux due to lack of potential ROI estimated from lack of market share.

in December 1998 I bought a new PC with NT4. I ran Windows Update last in January 2000, just over 2 years later, but when I did it said updates were no longer available.

Microsoft appears to have changed its support policy over the past decade. During the Windows XP era, the expectation was five years of mainstream support, but controversies around the delay of Windows Vista to near the end of this period (citations for which Google is failing to turn up at the moment) led to Microsoft's formulation of its current policy of five years after this version's release or two years after the next, whichever is longer.

paying them chicken feed until they've proved themselves by getting their name on a published title

A lot of that is the fault of the console makers, who won't deal with an indie developer who starts his own studio until the developer has "relevant video game industry experience". Nintendo spells it out.

But what, praytell, is a genre popular amongst consoles that isn't amongst the PC?

Genres underrepresented on PC include anything designed for play with multiple controllers per system, such as fighting games, kart racing games, and party minigame collections. Prior to 2006 when HDTV sales took off, it was difficult to connect a PC to a large monitor. But even since then, PC game publishers still haven't caught up with the rise of HDTVs and home theater PCs. Also, cartoonish platformer franchises, such as Mario/Crash/Jak/Ratchet/Sly/Spyro, show up on Nintendo or Sony consoles far more often than on PCs for some reason.

Anything for the 360 or PS3 has just as strong a PC counterpart for it.

Bomberman: no PC versions since the Windows 95 era.

And should you wish to develop for consoles, all you need to pay for is the licensing fee

Nintendo specifically requires a dedicated, non-bedroom office and "relevant industry experience", which I take to mean a published commercial title on another platform. Not all startups can afford this, which is why small developers stick to Windows, with a possible port to Mac OS X to take advantage of the Mac market's less crowded supply of games.

Semi-closed platforms

Semi?

Yes, semi. Wii is an example of a fully closed platform: access to the devkit is by invitation only, and the rules state that you need a dedicated office and "experience" (that is, a prior commercial video game on another platform) even to be considered. But with Xbox 360 or iPod touch, anyone with $1000 for the hardware and the first year of a developer certificate can start coding.