Blok Drop U - Edited

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 well as Javascript and CSS3) to bring their games to the console, potentially opening the doors further to small developers and 'Indie' projects.

As an initial title to emerge from this framework we were keen to know more, so we caught up with BLOK DROP U's creator, Michael Aschenbrenner. He's told us that this title — unsurprisingly given the name — will be a Wii U exclusive, and in an interview to be published in full tomorrow explains how he got started in game development. In terms of using HTML5 itself within this Nintendo Web Framework on Wii U, the following is an excerpt of Aschenbrenner's explanation.

Basically it (HTML5) is a web-based programming language. The same type of code that generates websites can now be used for interactive entertainment.

...Of course none of this would be possible without tools and documentation from Nintendo. Most of the code is natural HTML5, but there are situations when hardware or services must be called into your project that require specific Nintendo API's (application programming interface).

Aschenbrenner also describes his experience of working on Wii U as "easier than I anticipated", and explains his plans for a budget price and free updates to drastically increase the amount of content on offer.

Plan is to release in Q1 of 2014 for the North American markets at $1.99. The project has been submitted to NoA for review as of this writing. I am also working on a release for Europe and Australia, but that may not hit the Q1 timeframe and instead slip into Q2. No plans to launch in Japan, unless there is a publisher that would like to bring it to that market! I do have plans to add in 20 FREE new stages in Q2/Q3 2014, with a final batch of 30 FREE additional stages in Q4 2014. Bringing the total number of stages in the game to 80 with no increase in price.

The full interview — including more details on the game, Nintendo Web Framework and Aschenbrenner's route to development on Wii U — will be published tomorrow. In the meantime let us know what you think of this project in the comments section; the latest trailer is below.