Talking with HandyGames on why DS development makes sense
Nintendo's platform is 'similar to mobile' and 'the time is right' for porting franchises and work on new projects
Earlier on today, we reported on HandyGames' announcement that it's going to start developing games for the Nintendo DS. We wanted to find out more, so we pinged CEO Christopher Kassulke with a few questions.
We began by asking what opportunity does the company see on DS? "We received so many requests from international and national console publishers to develop DS titles, because we are coming already from a very limited platform, the mobile phone," he replied.
Kassulke said HandyGames' reputation for delivering games on time and on budget is a huge advantage for securing DS work. "As an independent publisher and developer, we can now produce titles not only for the mobile games space, but also for the DS."
It's not a spur-of-the-moment thing by any means. HandyGames has actually been registered for the official DS developer programme since April 2005.
"The platform is similar to mobile, and the best thing is that we don't have to port to millions of different partner styles and SKUs," he says. "We have checked out the platform for a long period already, and now we believe the time is right to develop for DS."
Just to clarify the announcement, HandyGames intends to both bring its existing mobile games to DS (we're starting the campaign for touchscreen Townsmen right now), and also work on projects for DS publishers.
"The demand from publishers and media companies are huge for good developer studios that have deep knowledge of games for limited platforms," reasons Kassulke.
"But another important move is of course bringing our very well-known brands from mobile to the DS. Currently we are discussing with several national and international publishers, and media houses. We will for sure announce some interesting news in the near future."
