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Developing: iPhone vs. Nintendo DSi

Reggie Fils-Aime sez that the iPhone platform isn’t a serious competitor to Nintendo’s handhelds. As far as depth of games goes, I’d be inclined to agree with him. Nintendo does have 20 years of handheld console experience, and even the most basic Game Boy game usually has a lot more depth than the average iPhone OS title.

However, I think there’s a reason why gaming has exploded on iPhone: it allows casual game makers to easily develop and publish games on a handheld pseudo-console. Nintendo has DSiWare, which is a digital content distribution system similar to the App Store, but the speed bumps to publishing on each platform are remarkably different.

To develop for the DSi, you have to fill out an application which states why your company has the experience necessary to develop DS titles (a side note: your company has to have actual offices… can’t be a home office). Once you get approved, you can purchase your DS development kit (no idea how much it costs, but probably a substantial amount). Then you can actually make your game. After that, you have to get your game approved to be distributed as DSiWare.

To develop for iPhone OS, all you need is a Macintosh computer and an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad. All the programming tools are free. To test your game on your actual hardware and distribute via the App Store, you pay $100/year to be an official developer.

The difference is astounding. I will probably never make a game on a Nintendo platform (although I’d love to some day), but publishing for iPhone OS is easily within my reach. All I’m saying, Nintendo, is that you might want to take a page from Apple’s playbook here.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 8:33 am · apple, iphone, nintendo, nintendo ds