According to Nintendo, a relationship with these developers will be crucial on the next generation of gaming.
Nintendo needs to create stronger bonds with overseas developers in order to present a diverse selection of games, company president Satoru Iwata noted during the recent Financial Results Briefing.
Iwata was asked about Nintendo's relationship with western developers and how it will affect the launch of the Wii's successor, apparently being developed under the moniker Project Cafe. Iwata explained that due to cultural barriers, there are games that tend to perform better in certain areas. He cited Activision's Call of Duty series as an example of a game that performs well in western markets.
Iwata also explained that cultural differences tend to play a big role in a game's acceptance. "In addition, because the expressions in games are becoming more and more photo-realistic, I imagine that the cultural differences in acceptance have started to be reflected more clearly. I think this is the reason why western users tend to prefer software created overseas than software from Japanese software developers."