Wii U eShop Interviews
February2014
Interview Rainy Frog Talks About eShop Publishing in Japan
"The Wii U in Japan is more family orientated"
Earlier this year we told you about Rainy Frog, a publisher with ambitions to bring a number of Western download games to the Japanese eShop stores and, in the future, vice versa. Its one of a group of companies that establish offices in Japan — in order to be eligible as publishers in the region —...
January2014
Interview Wales Interactive on its Upcoming Wii U eShop Games and Working With Nintendo
"We love the GamePad concept and being able to connect to another display"
It seems fair to say that, though some quality releases have graced the Wii U eShop, we're still awaiting — due to various delays — a consistent flow of tempting download-only content on the store. With each passing week the list of promising and confirmed titles creep...
Interview Codemasters - F1 Race Stars: Powered Up Edition
Vroom vroom
Codemasters’ F1 Race Stars: Powered Up Edition finally zoomed on to the Wii U eShop this week in Europe and North America; its marketing promises fast and fun arcade racing on the Wii U, with four-player split-screen racing. Formula One fans may get a kick out of seeing stars such as Lewis Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel make an appearance...
Interview RCMADIAX on BLOK DROP U and Working On the Nintendo Web Framework
"At $1.99, that's about the cost of a pack of gum!"
Throughout 2013 Nintendo went to a good deal of effort to spread the work that its platforms, particularly the Wii U, were supportive of small, download-only developers. Much focus and, by extension, confirmed releases fell into the Unity engine camp, with Nintendo offering free tools and usage of...
News BLOK DROP U Developer Shares Perspective on HTML5 Web Framework Development for Wii U
Also outlines level release plans
BLOK DROP U is approaching release on the Wii U eShop, and is an early representation of a range of games we may see on the platform courtesy of the Nintendo Web Framework. It's a setup that Nintendo began to promote with greater visibility throughout 2013, as it enables game makers utilising code such as HTML5 (as...
November2013
"Child of Light has many unique and distinctive features"
Upcoming Wii U eShop releases that catch the eye are often from small, independent developers, with a sense that it's these small teams that have freedom to express new ideas or conventionally niche approaches. For multi-national, multi-million dollar publishers the focus can be different,...
Developer Session We Chat to Nifflas About His Knytt Underground Vision
"I would say it’s a beautiful, slow-paced experience, very ambient."
We've emphasized in recent times that there are a good number of intriguing download-only titles coming to the Wii U eShop, bringing a variety of experiences to the fore. One that could be particularly involving and complex for players to tackle may be Knytt Underground, a title...
Interview Dakko Dakko on Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails, Clever Cats and Utilising the Wii U
"We’re making an interesting hybrid of some of our favourite games"
While the Wii U eShop has a fair number of download-only projects on the way, it's a relatively modest number that are exclusive to the platform. That's unsurprising, as development tool such as Unity — combined with supportive low cost-of-entry platforms — allow smaller...
Working on Nintendo hardware "makes you feel legit"
While we're yet to quite see the promised influx of games onto the Wii U eShop, the lengthy list of projects in development is certainly exciting for download gamers. Small and independent developers could play an integral role in how attractive Nintendo's platform is to its adopters, and one...
October2013
"Think of Spelunky mixed with Zelda"
There are a number of intriguing projects on the way to the Wii U eShop, though not all have featured at expos or in Nintendo Direct sizzle reels. Imagine Me by KinifiGames is one such game, a title that was Kickstarted over two years ago for PC, Mac and Linux, and has now emerged as another experience bound for...
The game where co-op is the way to play
Earlier this year Nintendo of Europe released a Wii U eShop sizzle reel of upcoming games, some of which were seen for the first time in that Nintendo Direct broadcast. One of the many games given a few seconds to shine was FORCED from BetaDwarf (a studio based in Copenhagen, Denmark), an arena brawler with a...
Interview Image & Form CEO Brjann Sigurgeirsson Talks SteamWorld Dig And Working On The eShop
Critical reaction, the Wii U eShop and picking 3DS over smartphones
At this year's Eurogamer Expo we were lucky enough to get the opportunity to speak to Image & Form's Brjann Sigurgeirsson about the company's 3DS eShop title, SteamWorld Dig. In the interview, Sigurgeirsson speaks about the development of the game and its lore, its critical...
September2013
News Xander Davis Explains Sources of Inspiration for Project CIDER
Nintendo also "deserves a lot of credit" for pushing forward Indie support
A few months ago Xander Davis, an independent developer and the man behind studio Astrogun, published a blog entry where he did a u-turn and became a Wii U believer; his hands-on experience after buying the system changed his opinion, after he'd harshly dismissed its...
Developer Interview WayForward on Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, Going to HD and Expanding the Franchise
Moving onto bigger screens
WayForward is a company that seems to have two very different representations of itself. There's the contracting company that takes on projects for third-parties, some of which are excellent, crowd-pleasing projects and other movie spin-offs that perhaps aren't, and then there's WayForward the developer of its own popular,...
News WayForward Initially Planned a Shantae HD Title for the Wii U Launch
"Half-Genie Hero could become our Symphony of the Night"
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is a new HD entry in the series currently undergoing a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter; at the time of writing over $260,000 of the $400,000 target has been pledged with 21 days to go. It's an ambitious release from WayForward, which is set for a significant...
Interview Designer Luc Bernard Talks Wii U And Crowdfunding His Vision
The man behind Eternity's Child is back
Remember Luc Bernard? He's the guy behind Eternity's Child — the WiiWare title that never was — and has since produced a string of titles such as Mecho Wars and SteamPirates on iOS and Android. A long-time fan of Nintendo, Bernard has been watching the recent developments on the Wii U and 3DS with...
August2013
News Beatbuddy Brings the Rhythm to the Wii U eShop
Dev tells us they're "excited to develop for Wii U"
The Wii U eShop is on a bit of a roll right now, with some high profile download-only releases in the last couple of weeks and another on the way this week, and beyond that there are a host of intriguing titles confirmed for later in 2013 and early 2014. Nintendo's also currently on the networking...
Interview Denis Dyack on Shadow of the Eternals, Community Engagement and Eternal Darkness
Precursor's chief creative hopes to give players the power of development
Silicon Knights' Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was hands-down one of the Gamecube's most memorable gems. Its tale of unimaginable death and woe through the ages was all well and good for a horror game in the style of author HP Lovecraft, but the title really carved a name...
Interview Ripstone on Pure Chess, Knytt Underground and Joining the eShop
Pushing cross-platform play and planning for the future
After a spell of silence and mystery beyond games confirmed earlier in the year, we're now getting a better idea of the range of titles coming to the Wii U eShop in the rest of 2013 and into 2014. More from North American developers is likely to emerge in the coming weeks and months, while...
News Denis Dyack - "Actions Will Speak Volumes" as Precursor Games Seeks to Build Trust
Dyack tells us about the role of the community in Shadow of the Eternals
On paper Shadow of the Eternals has a lot going for it — it's a spiritual successor to iconic GameCube title Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, and key figures from developer Silicon Knights are part of Precursor Games, which is developing the new game. As with anything in...
Exclusive Pure Chess eShop Releases To Feature Cross-Platform Multiplayer
Wii U and 3DS playable with each other and smartphone / tablet players
Earlier this week Ripstone confirmed details of both Knytt Underground and Pure Chess coming to the Wii U eShop, with the latter also on its way to the 3DS eShop. Ripstone works with various small developers to bring their titles to multiple systems, and is one of a solid number...
Interview Capcom on Remastering DuckTales, The Perils of GamePad Maps and Reaching a New Audience
Aiming for big bucks
The release of DuckTales: Remastered is certainly a notable event for some retro gamers, for whom the 8-bit original is likely to be regarded as an all-time classic. A tough challenge, fun action and an awesome soundtrack are some of the features often cited, so this HD re-release — with some other modern touches applied —...
News DuckTales: Remastered Soundtrack "Deserves a Release Outside of the Game"
Capcom Producer shares his hopes with us
DuckTales: Remastered arrived on the Wii U eShop in North America on 13th August, with the European release set for 15th August, so gamers young and old have a chance to revisit one of the most iconic games to grace the NES. It created a lot of buzz when in was announced earlier in the year, of course, with...
Interview Retromade Games On Developing Desert Strike Tribute Hell IX For Wii U
"Our basic philosophy is to return to classic gameplay"
Retromade Games has just launched its Kickstarter campaign for helicopter shooter Hell IX, and has confirmed that the game will be headed to the Wii U eShop if its funding target of $22,000 is met. An action title which calls to mind the old-school gameplay of Desert Strike and Tiger Heli, Hell...
June2013
News Kickstarter J-RPG Soul Saga: Episode I Heading to the Wii U, if Funded
We catch up with the developer for more details
The one-man-band behind Indie development studio, Disastercake, is hoping to bring its J-RPG style Kickstarter project to the Wii U eShop in Q4 2014. Described as a "love letter to J-RPG classics from the Playstation era like Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, Suikoden, and Persona", Soul Saga: Episode I...
Exclusive Conker's Bad Fur Day Creator Chris Seavor Is Bringing Rusty Pup To Wii U
Fellow ex-Rare developer Shawn Pile also involved
A short time ago, we posted a news piece regarding Chris Seavor's plans for the Wii U. He hinted on Twitter that Nintendo's console could figure in his plans, and we can now exclusively reveal that he wasn't kidding — Gory Detail's next game — following the iOS title Parashoot Stan — will be...
News It's "Safe to Assume" That Mutant Mudds 2 Will Be On The Wii U eShop
It'll be on the 3DS eShop too, of course
At the start of January this year, Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham confirmed that a sequel to Mutant Mudds is in the works, titled Mutant Mudds 2. In a recent interview with Cubed3, Watsham was asked if the game would appear on both the 3DS and Wii U eShop, and responded positively: Yes, I think it...
May2013
Developer Interview Dark Tonic Games On The "Awesome Potential" Of The Wii U
"Nintendo has been making it easier and easier for smaller studios"
Dark Tonic Games may be a young studio, but it's made up of seasoned developers with plenty of experience under their belts. We can exclusively reveal that Dark Tonic has been approved as a Wii U eShop developer, and we've secured an interview with Creative Director Eric Boosman...
April2013
News DuckTales: Remastered Focus Testing Reveals That Kids Don't Know Jack These Days
Capcom speaks on the challenges of selling old titles to new audiences
The original DuckTales NES title is over twenty years old now, and the cartoon which inspired it just as ancient. While the announcement of DuckTales: Remastered clearly put a lot of smiles on the faces of 30-something players who recall when they first experienced the 8-bit...
Developer Interview Neko Entertainment on Kung Fu Rabbit's Wii U Debut
Bunny basher
Last week we were able to exclusively reveal Neko Entertainment's second Wii U eShop title, 2D platformer Kung Fu Rabbit. It's a big-screen conversion of an iOS / Android game that was released in 2012, and features the martial arts-trained bunny battling against Universal Evil in an attempt to rescue his colony of kidnapped disciples...
March2013
Developer Interview Yacht Club Games On Shovel Knight And Loving Nintendo
"We grew up playing Nintendo games on the NES and SNES"
Yesterday we reported that Yacht Club Games' Kickstarter campaign for Shovel Knight had hit its funding target with two weeks to spare. Fresh from this success, studio founder Sean Velasco kindly took some time out of his busy schedule to speak to us about the split from WayForward...
Developer Interview Scientifically Proven Is Bringing "Brutal, White Knuckle" Platforming To Wii U
Former Call of Duty dev announces Blood of the Werewolf for the Wii U eShop
Scientifically Proven Entertainment is a studio which has its fingers in many pies. It produces award-winning apps, content for TV and — possibly most importantly — video games. Speaking of which, it gives us great pleasure to exclusively confirm that the company's next...
Developer Interview Uncade's David Byers Talks Another Castle And His Love Of Nintendo
"I think the Wii U is going to be a really indie-friendly platform"
As we exclusively reported a short time ago, Uncade's Another Castle is coming to the Wii U eShop in 2014. An old-school platform epic designed to test your reflexes and tickle your nostalgia-bone, the game is the work of just one man: David Byers. Fresh from announcing that Another...
February2013
News Side-Scrolling Fighter Dusty Raging Fist Is Punching Its Way To The Wii U eShop This Year
Inspired by Double Dragon, Streets of Rage and Devil May Cry
There was once a time when titles like Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe and Double Dragon were the biggest draws in gaming, but the side-scrolling fighting genre has been unfairly sidelined of late. Thankfully, Singapore-based PD Design Studio is doing its best to turn things arou
Developer Interview Ambient Studios On The Possibility Of Bringing Death Inc. To Wii U
"Vote with your wallets!"
Last week, we reported that Ambient Studios — the team behind Kickstarter title Death Inc. — were considering bringing the game to the Wii U eShop. Soon after the story went live, Ambient director and co-founder Jonny Hopper got in touch with us to explain a bit more about his company and the long-term aspirat
News Renegade Kid "Certain The Wii U Will Have an Excellent Future"
Mutant Mudds 2 looks like it "will be a 2014 release"
Renegade Kid may be a developer best known for Mutant Mudds on the 3DS eShop, but it's a studio with a lot of experience in the industry, with team members working in game development long before the company was formed. As its increasing output on Nintendo's download platforms is also showing —...
Developer Interview Why The 90's Arcade Racer Is The Ultimate Love Letter To Sega's Daytona USA
Antonis Pelekanos talks exclusively about the hottest racer on the Wii U eShop
The news that The 90's Arcade Racer is coming to the Wii U eShop courtesy of Nicalis has pretty much made our week — this colourful love letter to Sega's arcade racers is shaping up to be one of our most eagerly-awaited download releases of 2013. We spoke to the game's...
Developer Interview WaterMelon On Kickstarter, Nintendo And Bringing Pier Solar To The Wii U
"Working with Nintendo is much easier than one would think"
We reported last year that WaterMelon's 16-bit RPG Pier Solar would be gracing the Wii U in the near future, having secured funding for a HD remake via Kickstarter. The team is busy working on the HD version as we speak, so we thought it would be a good time to get in touch and talk about...
Interview Two Tribes on the Toki Tori 2 Delay and Improvements
"The game is much better on all fronts"
Late last week developer Two Tribes published a blog post with some explanation for the delayed release of Toki Tori 2 on the Wii U eShop. We've followed up with one of the studio's key figures and the blog's author, Collin van Ginkel, to get a few more details. In the mini-interview below he reveals a little...
January2013
News Broken Rules "Had Higher Hopes" For Chasing Aurora
Next game should be coming to Wii U eShop, however
The dust has now settled on the Wii U launch, and it's the ideal time to take stock of what's happened and how software has performed in terms of sales. With this in mind, Chasing Aurora developer Broken Rules has admitted in an interview with Wii U Daily that the performance of the game didn't...
News Neko Entertainment Discusses The Possibility Of Further Wii U Support
Games for 3DS not ruled out, either
Neko Entertainment released Puddle on the Wii U eShop in time for the launch of the the next generation console across Europe, and since then has been making quite a splash with gamers. It's only been over a month since its release, but that hasn't stopped Neko's QA Manager Sébastien Chipot-Delys discussing...
Developer Interview Fuzzy Wuzzy Games Talks Armillo And Developing For The Wii U eShop
Rolling ever onwards
Yesterday we exclusively broke the news that Fuzzy Wuzzy Games' Armillo is coming to the Wii U eShop. Keen to know more about the development and history of this interesting title, we sat down with James Saito and Yanni Fyssas for a little chat. Nintendo Life: Can you give us a bit of information on your respective backgrounds...
News Zen Studios: Wii U eShop is an "Amazing Development for Nintendo"
"The doors are wide open for other small studios"
Best known for its pinball titles — though it has dabbled in other genres — Zen Studios earned a starring role in the final Nintendo Direct broadcasts of last year when Zen Pinball 2 was announced for the Wii U eShop. Initially expected in December, it's been pushed back from that original target...
News Nano Assault Neo Developer Lavishes More Praise On Wii U
Shin'en clearly pleased with Nintendo's new hardware
We know that Shin'en Multimedia - the studio behind the Wii U eShop title Nano Assault Neo - is fond of Nintendo's latest console, because we spoke to the company recently about developing for it. However, Shin'en is clearly a very pro-Wii U firm, as the Manfred Linzner has recently spoken to UK...
December2012
Developer Interview Tomorrow Corporation on the First Days of the Wii U eShop
It's Little Inferno just for Wii (U, and PC)
So, Little Inferno, what can be said about it? Our own review stated that "it's as much a sandbox or digital toy as it is a game", with the simple fact that the experience can basically be summarised as burning stuff. There's money to earn and collect, as well as puzzle combos to figure out, but it's a...
Developer Interview WayForward Technologies on the First Days of the Wii U eShop
High and Mighty
Californian developer WayForward Technologies is a long-time supporter of Nintendo and its hardware. Often noted for its proficiency with 2D, the company has worked on all manner of titles on several Nintendo platforms, from licenced games to its own original properties such as Shantae and the Mighty series. For the launch of the Wii...
Developer Interview Broken Rules on the First Days of the Wii U eShop
Taking flight
While the launch line-up of download-only games on the Wii U eShop features some multi-platform releases or exclusives from studios well-known to Nintendo enthusiasts, Chasing Aurora is potentially in a category of its own. Broken Rules had previously released its highly regarded PC title And Yet It Moves on WiiWare, but may not...
Developer Interview Shin'en Multimedia on the First Days of the Wii U eShop
Neo beginnings
Shin'en Multimedia is a developer likely to be well-known to Nintendo download enthusiasts, with the company having made multiple appearances on Wii and 3DS, in particular. Some of its releases, such as Jett Rocket and Art of Balance TOUCH!, have been among the best titles on WiiWare and the 3DS eShop, respectively, while the small...
Developer Interview Neko Entertainment on the First Days of the Wii U eShop
The cat meows
Neko Entertainment has been ever-present on Nintendo consoles since it was formed in 1999. Based near Paris, France, the developer has created both retail and digital download games for most major systems of the last decade, from Nintendo 64 right through to Wii U. In something of a coup for the outfit, Neko secured a place in Wii U...
Developer Interview Frozenbyte on the First Days of the Wii U eShop
A not-so frosty reception
Over the last few months, Nintendo has displayed a significant shift in its attitude towards digital distribution and online in general. On 3DS we've seen the addition of downloadable retail games, a more regular stream of demos and downloadable content for first party titles. Wii U looks set to extend this approach...
News Little Inferno Developer Looking Into Enabling User-Created Content
Mods coming to your fireplace?
Little Inferno is one of the more unusual additions to the Wii U launch line-up; an eShop game which is essentially a virtual fireplace, it's the work of Kyle Gabler, Allan Blomquist and Kyle Gray - otherwise known as the Tomorrow Corporation. Gabler created the cult classic World of Goo for WiiWare, while Gray was the...
November2012
News Two Brothers Developer Speaks Of Nintendo In Glowing Terms
Nintendo "fighting against a stereotype", says indie dev
AckkStudios - the team behind Two Brothers - has given some more details about what it's like to work with Nintendo on the Wii U eShop. Speaking to Kotaku, brothers Brian and Andrew Allanson (spooky, eh?) spoke about how Nintendo had approached the development of the game,
"Wii U is a revolution of the social space of the play situation"
Spin The Bottle certainly isn't your average run-of-the-mill video game - but then the studio behind it is unique, as well. Spawned from the development hotbed of the Copenhagen Game Collective, KnapNok Games is all about creating unique experiences with modern technology, with a...
July2012
Interview Tomorrow Corporation - Little Inferno
Burning down the house
When some of the folks behind WiiWare wonder World of Goo and the creator of DS darling Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure team up for a project, well, you best sit down and pay attention. Tomorrow Corporation is hoping to light up Wii U when their debut title Little Inferno hits this winter. We caught up with the men...