Topic: Nintendo's Hideki Konno Explains the eShop's Delay

[NWR_pap64]

The head of the 3DS project explains why the downloadable game service will not launch with the new handheld.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/25815

The eShop will not launch with the 3DS because of the complexity of the eShop service and Nintendo's desire for it to be fully ready prior to going live.

In an interview with Gamasutra, Hideki Konno explained the delayed launch of the service and discussed his experiences in designing the 3DS. 

Konno, Manager/Producer at Nintendo EAD Software Development Department Group No. 1 and project lead for 3DS, explained that "We definitely want to make sure that it's ready before we bring it out. The iterations that we've had before -- for Wii and DS -- to be honest, we just haven't been as satisfied as we would like."

He further explains that, unlike the shop services on Wii and DSi, the eShop will not be browser based and will be a more comprehensive solution than either of its predecessors.

Konno pointed the Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo Channel as a place where Nintendo saw room for improvement. They found that having a separate place for promotion and purchasing didn't work as they expected. 

Using what was learned from that project, their goal in creating the eShop is to have a singe place where user can see a promotion for a game and buy it. "We really want to cover that all in one spot and cover it from all sides. And so we're really taking the right amount of time to make sure that it's right."

Nintendo has announced that the eShop will be available via system update in May.

[VelociraptorBill]

It certainly won't be hard to improve from the Wii's shop, and I've never owned a DSi but I've heard horror stories about that shop as well.  I'd love it if Nintendo had contracted Valve to design the store, but a Steam like service on a Nintendo platform is too good to be true.

[BlackNMild2k1]

i am really hoping that Nintendo closely follows what was done by Steam instead of trying to do it all internally from their own experiments as if these types of things haven't been done and done right before. I would hate to see Nintendo end up with what users will compare to a GFWL because Nintendo wants to pretend they are in a bubble and have no exposure to what others outside of the Japanese HQ are doing in the world of computing and gaming.

Steam has done it and has done it right, so they should follow that platform as closely as possible. It's a proven model that works, so there is no need to reinvent the wheel when it will already feel fresh and new just being on a handheld with a Nintendo skin on it.

[Ian Sane]

I would hate to see Nintendo end up with what users will compare to a GFWL because Nintendo wants to pretend they are in a bubble and have no exposure to what others outside of the Japanese HQ are doing in the world of computing and gaming.

"Pretend" they're in a bubble?  That would involve knowing what the rest of the world is doing and choosing to ignore it.  I think NCL legitimately doesn't know anything beyond their own sheltered world.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I would hate to see Nintendo end up with what users will compare to a GFWL because Nintendo wants to pretend they are in a bubble and have no exposure to what others outside of the Japanese HQ are doing in the world of computing and gaming.

"Pretend" they're in a bubble?  That would involve knowing what the rest of the world is doing and choosing to ignore it.  I think NCL legitimately doesn't know anything beyond their own sheltered world.

They know exactly what is happening out there and choose to pretend that they don't. That is why we got what Nintendo would refer to as the Wii Online Experience instead of aiming for a more Xbox LIVE like experience. Iwata has an iPhone, so he knows that there is a world of tech out there and it would be silly to pretend that they don't know either. We've all (you especially) have pointed out how Nintendo feels the need to reinvent the wheel, even though it's already been done correctly, just so that they can 100% patent the idea and call it all their own. Nintendo needs to realize that it's ok to use other peoples efforts as inspiration and learn from their mistakes.

I've never used LIVE but that seems to be the model of interconnected online console that everyone would want Nintendo to be more like. That doesn't mean they have to make a carbon copy, but atleast check it out and see what they did right vs what they did wrong and use that to make Nintendo's own offering that much better from the start. Pretending it doesn't exist and spending the next 8-9 years playing catch-up only to end up with something inferior to what has been done better 7-8 years ago is just sad and a waste of everyones time and money.