One of the most prolific publishers for iPhone, Chillingo is now spreading its wings with releases on Sony's PSP Minis, as well as Nintendo's DSiWare and WiiWare channels.

We caught up with Johnny Coghlan (pictured), Chillingo's head of publishing to find how the company viewed the changes in the market.

He roped in Ralph Egas, the founder and MD of Dutch developer Abstraction Games, which is helping Chillingo in terms of porting and development.

Pocket Gamer: How has Chillingo found branching out from iPhone to PSP Minis, WiiWare and DSiWare?

Johnny Coghlan: Up to this point, the iPhone and iPod touch platforms have been hugely successful for Chillingo. With each game we release, that situation is improving. Now however we're beginning to experience successes on PSP minis, DSiWare, WiiWare, and are moving onto other digital distribution platforms such as XBLA too.

Handling each platform and firstparty company is different though. Each has numerous requirements, processes and intricacies. The expertise required to work with any of these platforms could be time-consuming and frustrating.

I have over 10 years of games marketing and production experience in North America working for companies such as Ubisoft and Sega though. So using the process and development experience I've gained, combined with talented developers, means the transition to new platforms has been a lot easier than others may have found it.

There's always more to learn, of course, but we never stop trying to improve and are continually seeking success on every platform we release on.

Is Chillingo still primarily an iPhone publisher?

JC: Our main development and publishing focuses currently are iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. However we see the other platforms we're currently publishing on (and the platforms we are working on for future launches) as key factors to getting our triple-A games to as many consumers as possible.

The combination of installed base and quality game software will determine which platforms are important at any time.

What's it been like working in a much more controlled development environment?

Ralph Egas: We come from a console development environment, so we're already used to the one-chance-only policy on consoles. Of course, porting a game from an original iPhone title to consoles is different compared to creating a console game from scratch. Basically we use our experience to tailor the material for specific hardware and demographic and use our knowledge to nail the port to our best effort.

Because of the closed model, QA at console holders is much more strict as well. For instance every syllable in the accompanying digital manuals is checked to be in line with platform small talk or terminology. Of course this is important as the user base expects a certain standard and we are well aware of this.

How much work has it been to get games ported from iPhone code?

RE: Talking specifically about iPhone, the main difference is moving from Objective-C, which is the native language for Mac and iPhone developers, to C++. There are also iPhone specific intricacies such as polling the GSM hardware and accepting calls to get your head around, but generally it's pretty straight forward to get a decent performance on consoles; at least if you know your hardware.

An exception to the rule is the Nintendo DS because it's less capable. Also on the DS, you have two screens which means, most of the time, you will have to provide unique content to cater the system, although I have seen examples of games that just leave one screen black.

For DS, we do more than just port and tweak the material but try to create a new, improved experience. You might consider this an issue, but in reality it's quite fun. A great example is Dracula - Undead Awakening for DSiWare where we added run-time statistics. It enriches the overall experience and that is what gaming is all about.

Is Chillingo offering its developers the ability to publish on all platforms?

JC: Development doesn't happen overnight, and there's a lot of expertise, organisation and insight required for development on multiple platforms but we are ready to handle that. This means that we are able to publish games on the platforms that make sense regarding quality and timing.

What about support for other mobile platforms?

JC: Chillingo's background is in mobile gaming, and we will continue to support platforms that allow us to innovate and provide high-quality games to consumers.

Thanks to Johnny and Ralph for their time.

You can keep up-to-date with Chillingo via its website and Twitter.