Moon Studios CEO bemoans secrecy surrounding new Nintendo hardware

Thomas Mahler, CEO of Ori and the Blind Forest developer, Moon Studios, has expressed frustration at the level of secrecy surrounding new console hardware, pointing to Nintendo's NX as an example of privacy gone mad.

Mahler was posting on a NeoGAF thread discussing a comment made by Unravel creator Martin Sahlin, who recently told GamingBolt that he'd love to bring the puzzler to the NX, but that "it's kind of hard to pitch something when you don't even know what it is."

Agreeing with Sahlin, Mahler explained that the NX is just part of a wider problem, saying that hardware creators must start communicating with developers early on if they want to get quality third-party support. 

"This is actually the single most annoying thing for every dev out there. We talked to Nintendo and got absolutely nothing - I'll never understand that," said Sahlin on NeoGAF.

"It's not just Nintendo, every hardware manufacturer is treating their devkits and their unreleased consoles like they're the second coming.

"What's needed to sell hardware is goddamn good software. With Nintendo not having any devkits out there at this point and probably even wanting to sell it in 2016, I can already guarantee that they'll just not have any software support, since nobody can just jumble games together in less than a year."

Mahler said the problem also extends to engine support, suggesting manufacturers should get support info and system specs into the hands of developers at least two years ahead of launch, not the day before. 

"By the time the console launches, it should be easy for developers to develop games for these systems, things shouldn't just only start at this point," he added.

"I want the devkits or at least proper hardware specs ideally two years before release - keep all the developers updated, start a forum where devs can chat and figure out all the problems everyone's having.

"None of that's happening anywhere and it's just brain-damaged."