Late last year we reported that Wales Interactive is bringing two games to the Wii U eShop; these are Gravity Badgers and Master Reboot. The studio has been prolific in its short existence to date, publishing a number of smartphone titles, but is increasingly moving onto PC and home console platforms.
In an interview to be published later today we learn a lot more about both of these titles, in which the company's Managing Director, David Banner, confirms that neither is far away — Gravity Badgers has a target release window (not yet final) of February, while the equivalent for Master Reboot is March. They'll bring entirely different experiences to the system's eShop, and look promising.
Part of our conversation with Banner focused on broader concerns with the eShop platform, the Wii U hardware and the experience of working with Nintendo. In these areas the message from Wales Interactive is overwhelmingly positive; Banner told us that the Wii U is "deceptively powerful and it’s run everything we've thrown at it so far", while describing the Wii U eShop as potentially "vital for our continued growth as a indie video games developer". As a studio stepping onto Nintendo hardware for the first time, meanwhile, it's received important support from the big N.
I can honestly say that Nintendo have been brilliant all across the board for us. Since we approached them to potentially make games for the Wii U they have been very supportive and really open to working with indie companies. Once we’d identified the titles they were interested in they helped us with the registration process and getting development kits. Their submission system is very well documented and there is always someone on hand, just an email away, to answer your questions and troubleshoot problems. The whole experience has been very positive for us and it definitely encourages us to want to make more games for the Wii U.
The company is planning more games for the Wii U, too, with Banner indicating that the team hopes to bring two additional upcoming projects to the Wii U later this year — a "3D Sci-fi game called Infinity Runner" and a Master Reboot sequel.
Check back later today for the full interview, in which we learn much more about the games and Wales Interactive's experiences porting both Unity and Unreal3 titles to the Wii U.
Comments 18
I'm really hoping some of these indie devs that Nintendo is working with will become huge and have the loyalty to stick with them. The game sounds fun, Tom!
Master Reboot looks very interesting! Seems to me that studio has great potential.
Interesting. It's a sign of high creativity and talent to make two radically different games as an indie developer, and in this case both seem to be very well-made. I'll stay on the lookout for these!
nice to see
A lot of Indies seem to love the Wii U so it looks like the system has something going on right now....
@Artwark Alot more than boring 3rd Parties it seems. Things are looking up.
Sales will be the thing that keeps indies around. Aslong as they make a profit they will sick with wii u. Since they don't have massive budgets, overheads or marketing cost that shouldn't be too hard.
The indie scene on pc has become an early access fest and shovalware cash cow of late, so I hope the Eshop maintains the current quality level we have seen so far.
While not getting support from 3rd parties. The support of the indie studios is great. Strange when you here Developer I wont name myself saying the opposite of this interview
I really hope people are doing their part and supporting these Indie games. Go without MacDonalds for a couple of weeks, people!
Wii U gets a little bit of a Doctor Who vibe (the series is also produced in Wales).
Great to hear another indie coming with its games to the eShop and having only praise about working with Nintendo. Seems like the "DarkWare" era is finally over ^_^
@Yorumi That's what I thought about Ninjabread Man!
I've been very interested in Master Reboot for quite a while now, a Wii U version would be a no-brainer instant buy for me. I love this whole indie game scene for many reasons, BUT (!) I 'd really want to see more physical releases, even if it's several of these games bundled, per genre/producers/... Like, REALLY really. As a collector.
i hope that one of these smaller games becomes great hits. would do a lot for wii u sales
@Emblem Gravity Badgers is a port from the PC anyway. The PC has loads of stuff that is garbage I agree (That used to be free on Newsgrounds etc) but the Wii U gets mostly ones that are a bit better than that but not the best ones. (Or the ones that the gamepad might make significantly more enjoyable).
I think there's a typo somewhere in this article. A company praising the Wiiu .... impossible!!!!
Both games sound interesting, as a huge supporter for WiiU Indies both games will be day 1 purchases from me. Just out of curiosity; which game is from the Article Image? That screen shot alone sells the game for me
Im definitely interested ~
I'm waiting for like, a trailer or something to hit Nintendo Life, so's I can determine whether these interestingly named titles are going on my download list.
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