Indie game developers are getting some support via Nintendo! The company has begun showcasing a variety of indie video games developed using Unity Pro for its Wii U console. The games, made by talented and experienced developers, will be shown at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next week. Nintendo is also showing GDC attendees how its Nintendo Web Framework (NWF) development tool was used to create a new game demo with characters and elements from the Mario vs. Donkey Kong franchise. The game demo shows how developers can create great experiences using NWF, and that the user-friendly, full-featured tool expands access to developing Wii U games to as many people as possible.
Nintendo also helps developers through Unity by utilizing their ongoing relationship between the two. Unity supports many major platforms, but the platform license fees can sometimes be a hurdle for small indie operations. Nintendo has an arrangement with Unity so that authorized Wii U developers can get a license to develop with Unity Pro for Wii U for free and not have to worry about any end-user licensing fees for the platform.
Steve Singer, vice president of Licensing at Nintendo of America said,
“We want to demonstrate to developers how easy it is for them to bring their creative ideas to Nintendo systems. Nintendo offers wide-ranging support for indie developers, whether they want to use NWF, Unity or their own proprietary code.”
Nintendo’s support of indie developers continues in the Unity booth, No. 1402, during GDC week. On Thursday, March 20, from 10:45 to 11:15 a.m., Dan Adelman, manager of Business Development at Nintendo of America, will explain the step-by-step process of how to release games in the Nintendo eShop.
Visitors to the Nintendo booth at GDC will be able to get their hands on the following Wii U games, all developed using Unity:
- Armillo by Fuzzy Wuzzy Games: This rolling platforming game stars a space armadillo and includes spherical worlds, moon stages, a parallel universe and hidden 2D levels. His little blue critter friends and his brother help him fight the invasion of the robotic Darkbots.
- Ballpoint Universe: Infinite by Arachnid Games: This adventure seems taken right out of a student’s notebook. The entire game uses ballpoint pen drawings to create an imaginative world to explore.
- Cubemen 2 by Nnooo: This fast-paced, action-packed, original 3D strategy game blends tower defense and real-time strategy genres into a fresh and exciting new experience that includes challenging strategy modes and customizable game settings.
- Ittle Dew by Ludosity AB: Adventuress Ittle Dew and her sidekick, Tippsie, crash onto a strange island filled with loot and mysterious inhabitants. The game is loaded with adventure and features beautiful hand-drawn HD graphics.
- Monkey Pirates by Henchmen Studio: Players control the boat of one of four captains and fight in multiple arenas based on four seaworthy environments. In those arenas players can find multiples bonuses to improve their weaponry or improve their ships while dealing with elements like icebergs, volcanoes, teleports, maelstroms and turrets.
- Nihilumbra by BeautiFun Games: Born was created from the absolute nothingness: The Void. But somehow he separates himself from the black emptiness and appears in the world, where his long odyssey begins. He must learn how to use the colors around him to gain powerful abilities and transform the world.
- Stick It to the Man by Zoink & Ripstone: Ray lives in a world where everything is made out of paper and stickers. An accident gives him awesome powers that let him read people’s minds and change the world around him by folding it, tearing it, pulling stickers off and sticking them elsewhere.
- Teslagrad by Rain Games: This 2D game about exploration features a hand drawn art style, an open, steampunk-inspired world to explore and a wordless, story-driven plot. Magnetic forces are a central theme of the game, which includes 20 unique tracks of music.
- Wooden Sen’SeY by Neko Entertainment: This 3D action-platformer is set in a unique “Japan Steam Rock” universe filled with humor. Players follow Goro, a village chief, as he seeks revenge through a variety of levels. Using old-school game play, he will defeat his enemies using his axes to slice, dice, squash and grapple.
About Nintendo Web Framework (NWF): Nintendo Web Framework is a development environment for creating Wii U applications with Web technologies such as HTML5, JavaScript and CSS. NWF makes it easier to create exciting games and sell them in the Nintendo eShop. NWF also provides a way for network service providers to easily bring their content to Wii U. With a special set of JavaScript extensions (NWF API), developers of all kinds can easily leverage the unique features of Wii U.