It has been revealed that Unity Technologies, provider of the Unity multi-platform engine and development tools, has entered into a worldwide license agreement with Nintendo to provide a version of Unity which supports deployment to the Wii U.
Unity is popular game creation engine highly-regarded in the mobile sector, and whilst it has only powered a handful of minor Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 games it has been used extensively on iPhone and Android for mobile and also PC games.
Recently Unity was ranked #1 for mobile Gamasutra's game developer technology survey, topping the list with 53.1% of developers reporting using Unity.
"The rapid growth of incredible games coming from the experienced and talented developers in our community makes Unity the new development platform of choice for AAA console developers," said David Helgason, CEO, Unity Technologies. "Nintendo's unfettered access to Unity will produce a wealth of insanely good games from knowledgeable Nintendo developers and the Wii U deployment add-on will create an amazing opportunity for our massive community of developers to showcase their incredible creativity on one of the most anticipated and innovative gaming platforms to date."
The extensive licence deal will see the tools becoming available to Nintendo and third-party developers as well as Unity's 1.2 million registered developers.
WiiWare
This could provide a massive boost for Nintendo's faltering WiiWare platform and attract a mass of successful mobile developers to step up into living room style game development. It also gives Nintendo new options to quickly create games with a tool set that is well known by a wide pool of developers.
We've heard little details around what Nintendo has in mind for its online store on Wii U, presumably called simply "eShop". Having spoken to many WiiWare/DSiWare developers over the past few years it's clear that Nintendo need to make some drastic changes to their approach to get anywhere near the success seen by Apple's app store, hopefully this is the first step in that direction.
Have you played any games recently on your mobile that you feel could make the jump to Wii U?
[source unity3d.com]
Comments 23
Sounds like a good thing especially if it allows mobile developers who are successful on other platforms to branch out to Wii U development!
This is great news.
This opens up the door for loads of smaller devs to put- and develop games on the WiiU's eShop.
We're getting a lot of phone games?
Greaaaaaaaaat.....
Unity isnt just for phone games...a lot on PC.
Check out this list...
http://unity3d.com/gallery/made-with-unity/game-list
@Punky that's a fair point, it is also popular on PC - I've added a slight amendment.
I have seen computer games before that have used Unity, all were free flash games and not worth noting though, seeing that list doesn't make me feel make me feel better about it really...
It is a risk for shovelware as well as an opportunity for INCREDIBLE games, due to better results with similar budgets being made possible.
Unity also has some excellent networking capabilities, which is something I suspect nintendo really liked.
In all, a quality artist and developer using unity means stellar games, a cheap developer with few artistic vision means shovel ware. Both will have a better business case though.
@erv I agree...I think its great news. More diverse game from more developers that wont cost a fortune to develop is a good thing. And because of the link between unity and mobile I can see a lot of developers seeing it as an opportunity to get games into both WiiU and IOS/Android markets. Ubisoft talked about this already.
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-06-04-ubisoft-to-port-wii-u-titles-to-tablets-smartphones
Cartoon Network's Fusion Fall on WiiU!?
@R-L-A-George: You beat me to the chase. That'd actually be something I'd be happy to see happen. It's a brilliant game, and I think it'd fit very well on the Wii U.
Aside from that, I'm happy to see Unity Engine partnering with Nintendo on the Wii U. It opens a whole terrace of doors for existing mobile/PC devs to expand their horizons to console gaming - it's an easily accessible portal for them, so this should hopefully mean great things for the Wii U eShop.
Well there you go no need to purchase a rubbish OUYA now Ninty has covered all bases and is getting ready for the home run
I don't want to see the amount of crappy mobile games that are out there. I sincerely hope Nintendo stick to their 'seal of quality' that they continue to provide on all their games to date. I don't play enough of these games to have an opinion but as long as you can filter them out when it comes to your searches (as well as search for these only) then it will work wonders!
All aboard the second.
i expect nothing from unity : it is only suitable for phones or browsers games(if you are not too much regarding on the accurateness of the controls), they're not even able to release a linux port
The real question for me is does Nintendo price them correctly. I'm still not going to pay $10 for $1 games. The PSN has $10 games but they also have $3 games, some of which are pretty good. And I hope Nintendo sticks with eShop real $ values and gets away from the Wiiware points. I still have 200 points on there for about 3 years now that I know I'll never use.
I'm hoping that this isnt a part of Wii U Ware but in a seperate app specifically for Unity Games
@Pikminsi: What on earth do you mean? It's a game engine that the Wii U now supports - meaning Unity-familiar devs can now develop games for the system through that engine, most likely to come on to the Wii U eShop. It's not an app or anything of the sort.
The thing about this news that gets me most excited is that Dylan Cuthbert of Q-games (and Star Fox fame) retweeted the NintendoLife article... wonder if his team will be using the engine for something down the road? Yes please x 1000.
I'm happy to shift my development towards WiiU it's mechanics suit the project I'm working on better anyway
to bad the engine doesn't include reasonable price points locked into it. get ready for 10$ mobile ports from nintendo!
@Gamelord I may have worded that a bit weird. I meant that community-made games should be in a seperate area of the Wii U than the ones made by professional game developers but my whole opinion wouldnt make sense at all because I read the article too quickly an misinterpreted
It's not THAT big of a deal. Having used the unity engine before, there has been an export-to-dev Wii add-on for some time now. . . .Press Play used it for Max & the Magic Marker back in 2010.
sounds pretty cool i have some experience with unity
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