Indie devs open up on Wii U
Some of the Wii U’s earliest indie developers have weighed in on the console. Staffers from Gaijin Games (Runner 2), Broken Rules (Chasing Aurora), Two Tribes (Toki Tori 2), and Pwnee (Cloudberry Kingdom) recently commented on what’s it’s like working with Nintendo, thoughts about the company’s approach to digital offerings and online, how their own games came to be on the new system, and more.
Head past the break for the full roundup of remarks.
Alex Neuse, of Gaijin Games (Runner 2)
“If we didn’t have faith that Nintendo is going to fix their digital games store, we wouldn’t be releasing Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien on the Wii U.”
“We were able to approach our totally awesome inside man and trick him into getting us on the list for devkits relatively early. Of course, we had to re-apply for Wii U development status, since the Wii developer status doesn’t automatically carry over; so there was some paperwork involved. But basically, we told them very early on that we thought we could hit the launch window with Runner2 for whatever their downloadable service is going to be, and they seemed to like that idea. We’ll see if we can actually pull it off.”
“Since Runner2 is going to be multi-platform, we’re not relying on any Nintendo-specific tech, which all of the previous games in the Bit.Trip series had done. Because we’re using tech developed internally, the project has been much easier. Using tech that you didn’t have a part in developing is always a challenge on a certain level, and we’ve tried to avoid doing that with Runner2 as much as possible.”
“So, other than the Wii U being bigger, better, faster, stronger, it’s hard for us to speak specifically to what Nintendo has done to make the job easier.”
Felix Bohatsch of Broken Rules (Chasing Aurora)
“It is challenging, but also very exciting, to work with new hardware. We’ve been in close contact with Nintendo since the release of And Yet It Moves on WiiWare. When we presented early prototypes of Chasing Aurora to publishers and first parties, we always included Nintendo as well. They liked what they saw and we liked the opportunity to release Chasing Aurora during the launch period of a new console. It was great working with them last time, so we are looking forward to another partnership.”
“The 3DS eShop is already so much better in comparison. I’m sure the shop on the Wii U will be a big improvement as well. Nintendo’s overall strategy is way more focused on connectivity. This should help overcome the biggest problem of the Wii shop, which is that many Wii consoles are not even connected to the internet.”
“I really like the asynchronous connectivity of the Miiverse. Especially the messaging system that can be built into the games — it reminds me a lot of Demon’s Souls. These kinds of social interaction turn games into living spaces, where other human beings can leave their marks and help each other out. I think Nintendo is on the right track, so let’s see how their games will use that.”
Collin van Ginkel of Two Tribes (Toki Tori 2)
“As a general rule, I think it helps to keep Nintendo in the loop on what your plans are, even if they can’t help you out straight away.”
“The old Wii used a type of graphics hardware that basically became extinct a couple of years after the GameCube was released, so you had to make quite a few changes to get your PC/Xbox/PS3 engine to run on the Wii. For Wii U this is no longer the case, which is why you see Unreal Engine 3 games such as Mass Effect 3 being announced. This should make it much easier for most people to develop their graphical engines for Wii U.”
“One of the reasons why we’re so excited about Wii U is because of the recent changes at Nintendo regarding their online strategy. Recent developments such as the 3DS eShop and the announcement of full priced titles getting day-one downloads give us confidence Nintendo won’t stick to their WiiWare policies.”
“I do hope they’ll keep working on it after launch, since that was one of the gripes we had with WiiWare, the lack of updates to fix the issues it had.”
Frozenbyte’s Joel Kinnunen (Trine 2)
“We were a little cautious at first before spending time with the dev kits, but when we got them and got the game running, that gave us confidence to go forward properly. Nintendo has supported us very well throughout.”
“As always in game development, there’s a million things you’d like to change in any released game. Trine 2 was quite good but we still had a lot of things that sort of just lurked in the back of our minds, and we had been thinking about some new multiplayer modes as well. So we had the desire to make the game better and with Wii U we also had the perfect platform to do so. That’s how Trine 2: Director’s Cut was born. We were also working on the expansion campaign, so that is a great addition for Wii U, too.”
“We are confident that the Wii U online store will be a very different experience [to the online store of the Wii]. We’re going in with the expectation that Nintendo will be able to match or even surpass the other platforms this time around. Miiverse seems very intriguing and some of the features are a very good fit for Trine 2: Director’s Cut. Our goal is to provide one of the best online multiplayer experiences for Wii U users.”
Pwnee president Jordan Fisher (Cloudberry Kingdom)
“We initially got excited when we saw that Nintendo was serious about revamping their digital marketplace. Nintendo is also the father of the platformer genre, so we really wanted to pay respect to that and bring Cloudberry back to its roots. In terms of the new peripherals, we didn’t seek out Nintendo with ideas in mind. We planned on doing a pretty vanilla port. It wasn’t until E3 that we got inspired by the new hardware, and are now pushing to innovate with it.”
“Ultimately though, how friendly the Wii U is to indies depends on how well the new digital marketplace performs. Talking to Nintendo we’re excited about the changes they’re bringing, but only time will tell how deeply Nintendo fans embrace the new marketplace.”
“The Miiverse is ambitious beyond that, though, and must successfully pivot around a more casual audience. I don’t think anyone is in a position to comment on how successful that will be, but I’m confident that at least core gamers will get what they want.”
Other notes
– Bohatsch was “a bit surprised” that the Wii U’s own eShop wasn’t mentioned at all during E3
– Having seen the social connectivity and online game services that the Wii U will provide, Bohatsch is confident that Nintendo is heading in the right direction.
– van Ginkel says that expressing early interest in developing for the console helped the company to secure a dev kit and potential release for the Wii U launch window
– Nintendo initiated conversations with Frozenbyte about the possibility of a title for Wii U
– Pwnee Studios planned to bring Cloudberry Kingdom to Wii, but Nintendo suggested bringing it to Wii U instead
– Fisher believes Nintendo is taking notes from the likes of Steam and other downloadable marketplaces, and making the obvious necessary changes to ensure the Wii U can hold its own online
