Unity Technologies has announced a worldwide license agreement with Nintendo to provide a version of the Unity engine to Nintendo and third-party developers for the upcoming Wii U.
San Francisco, California-based Unity Technologies, makers of the Unity multi-platform engine, has entered into a worldwide license agreement with Nintendo to provide a version of its engine to the publisher and its third-party Wii U development partners.
The deal will provide Nintendo with the right to distribute the Unity development platform to its in-house, external, and third party licensee developers. Unity Technologies said that it will collaborate with the publisher to create a Wii U deployment add-on, which will provide Unity's 1.2 million registered developers, including mobile and social game studio, the opportunity to bring titles from Unity's existing catalogue to the Wii U.
"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," Unity Technologies CEO David Helgason said.
According to the company, Unity's Wii U deployment option will become widely available in 2013.
Currently, the Unity platform is able to create 2D and 3D content for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Web.
The Wii U will be launching November 18 in North America for $299 (8GB version) and $399 (32GB version).
Laura Parker is the Associate Editor of GameSpot Australia. She loves adventure games, sparkly stuff, Trivial Pursuit, cake, Master Chief, earthworms, and rhetorical questions. She once stole a sandwich from Peter Molyneux.
I doubt the new ps/xbox will be a huge concern for awile. I dont expect the system to be out till 2014 and a year or two after that for the hardware to be fully utilized and have enough of a base. Plus given the time scale ill have a wii u and a ps4 or xbox.
Nintendo owner's bought this console for games they want to play it not for Hardware specs they want to hear .
@onixevil which breaks down to 1 or 2 zeldas, a mario, a metroid, and year late ports of games from other systems.
Unity can do some pretty awesome stuff. Sure, it's no Source, CryEngine 3, or Unreal 3 or 4, but I've seen it do some really pretty stuff. :)
1 Like XD I had no idea Slender was made from the Unity Engine, Wii U port anyone? Play it only on the GamePad in the dark O_O
1 Like @abHS4L88 If the Wii U has a shop, it should sell Slender for a dollar or a hundred points or something XD. 'Hey seven year old brother, wanna see a really cool game?'
They have eShop, it's launching with several games right away and if you get the Deluxe bundle, you get 10% off your digital purchases for a year.
I'd get Slender just to mess with people XD
1 Like Wii U = Unity Engine
Xbox 720 and PS4 = Unreal Engine 4
I think we all know who the winner is in that matchup.
@saltbalsak Art thou dumb?
Do research before allowing your mind to create conclusive patterns. Art thou dumb?
No, but you are if you think quoting a 4 month old article is evidence of anything. Epic is working WITH MS and Sony to make sure their consoles WILL support UE4, and they will. Wii U has missed the boat and it is confirmed UE3 will be the main Engine for the Wii U OR a vastly scaled down UE4. Taking Moore's law into account MS and Sony should have no problem getting up to snuff in time. Though cost MAY be a factor. Also, Epic = GOW = MS Exclusive = Cash Cow = UE4 Will run on Xbox 720 (and PS4 as both will have similar specs by all accounts).
But thanks for keeping the conversation civilized.
I hope you don't ask your grandma if she's stupid when the two of you are playing Wii U Ninteno Land together in a few months.
That's true, especially with how easily one game and destroy a studio, Nintendo can't afford to take huge risks with games that aren't guaranteed success, and that's part of their staying power.
I for one support developers that dare to be different while providing something really fun and interesting (of course I have to actually be interested in it :P).
1 Like @abHS4L88 @saltbalsak No hate here, but Nintendo can't close any studios, since none are taking big risks, all nintendo ahs done is mil old IPs, sure great IPs, but all of them more than a decade old, many of the studios that have gone down are studios who took a gamble to create something different but since the common gamer is a 12 year old mentally challenged boy, and all they want is another CoD, no one will be amking LA Noire or something that's totally diferent, we as consumers have to make a stand against such crap quality, from any and all studios.
I guess we'll have to see how well developers make use of the engine, the capabilities of it are astounding.
Thanks for keeping it civil :D and yeah, I refuse to support EA anymore (just like how I don't support any of Capcom's fighters).
@abHS4L88 My last comment on this subject. Thank you both for your replies. UE4 is designed to be both extremely powerful, but also extremely simple to program with. It is SUPPOSED to cut developement time 10 fold. Whether that turns out to be true or not, who knows. AAA titles have killed "middle" studios about as much as Nintendo's (and their users) complete lack of support for 3rd party developers, so I think IMHO your argument is somewhat akin to the pot calling the kettle black. Also, all the big name publishers you mention all have their own internal proprietary engines. It IS the "middle" party developers who want this engine to compete with (and surpass) those behemoths.
P.S. EA is single-handedly destroying videogames as we know it so you have my vote there :-)
1 Like Yes and how many copies will each game need to sell just to break even? 5m this time?
I don't like how Epic is pretty much forcing Sony and Microsoft to utilize their engines, yes it's capable of some amazing things but at the same time, is it even necessary? How many more studios will need to close down before these companies realize that constantly reaching for more and more power will just end up crashing down on them, and I'm pretty sure NO ONE wants another videogame crash.
Sure huge companies like EA, Ubisoft, Activison can handle it and Indie developers are not too affected but what about the middle group? Before they could support themselves but now they're having to reach out to these bigger publishers and sometimes that ends screwing them over anyways.
What Nintendo is offering is a safety net for ALL developers. Tell me how many studios Nintendo has shut down in the past decade due to financial issues.
Oh really? And how much would those consoles cost? Epic even stated that they're unsure if the next gen Playstation and XBox will even be able to fully utilize UE4.
@saltbalsak Wii U = Unity Engine?
Cheaper to develop with, since the licensing it is not that expensive compared to the licensing with the UE ;).... might be way less powerful, but think about in terms of cost to the game studios, publishing companies, etc.
1 Like Honestly, I haven't a clue what Unity is. But if it means more games like Machinarium end up on the console, I am up for it! (I mentioned that game because I started it today and ended up playing for hours. Fantastic game)
$399? I thought u people said the other day $299.99 & $349.99. Laura Parker from Gamepot u mess that up really badly! U or who ever wrote this thing should be fire for messing up the news like that.
6 Like Embarrassing typo's aside , it seems to me Gamespot is doing a lot better job about reporting ALL wii-u news , not just the negative ones.
1 Like @moviequest14 Maybe I struck a nerve...
Eddie Makuch seems like a drama queen of some kind. Gaming websites can succeed without rumor or negative assumption, you know.
As long as it's not Eddie Makuch that is because all the negative ones seem to conveniently come from him.
1 Like The Wii U is surrounded by political BS in the industry. I sure as hell hope the next Xbox and PS stay away from this kind of stance.
@abHS4L88 What I mean is the stance they take towards some features that would make the Wii U infinitely better, for instance the whole issue surrounding the support for more than one tablet controller for the console. It would make for a very interesting and unique approach for multiple tablet controllers in multiplayer games, let alone the wealth of possibilites that would put SmartGlass and the PS Vita + PS3 functionality to shame. There's also the fact of the *very* different opinions from devs regarding the horsepower of the Wii U, which leaves the platform at a very subjective position of how "future-proof" it really is, and based on Nintendo's very own Wii, this aspect may be very limited. It's not about how powerful a platform really is, but how much Nintendo will do for it in the future. To top it off, Nintendo exclusively publishing a big hit franchise like Bayonetta, from the PS/360 on the Wii U was just lol worthy, to say the least. Desperation at its finest.I just want to make clear that I don't see the Wii U as a *bad* platform, it's just seems to be following on the Wii's footsteps of being misused, and much like the Wii, it has a lot of potential, but Nintendo needs to take the BS out of the way first.
@vader501st What about Super Mario Galaxy 1, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Skyward Sword, and Xenoblade Chronicles? What did you expect? Nintendo (as the publisher) to release it on the Xbox 360 and PS3? Dirty Business? There are plenty of "shady" deals in all types of business. I just don't think this is one of them.
We can't be positive. The Wii U was first thought to be a beast of a system but due to the costs of the hardware and Nintendo's philosophy of offering affordable consoles, it had to be toned down.
Also if the next Playstation/XBox are indeed far more powerful, that could actually serve to backfire on them because this generation has already proven how difficult it is for developers to break even, what more when the next gen arrives? While the next Playstation/XBox may attract AAA games, the Wii U will probably get the bulk of the lower budget games, especially if the user base is huge.
A good read if you're interested.
http://gengame.net/2012/07/wii-u-will-not-be-behind-next-generation/
1 Like @vader501st @abHS4L88 New Xbox and PS4 will run games on dx11, that is almost sure, and they will at least run UE 4, that is way beyond the Wii U will offer, I am no graphics ho', but let's face it, if the new consoles come out, 3rd party will loose interest on developing for WiiU, not because of the audience, company, but because since the Xbxox and ps4 will ahve very similar architecture and power, it'll be easy to port, whereas the WiiU will have to be almost changed fundamentally, imagine using an UE4 and then having to downgrade it for the WiiU, it costs money that devs won;t want to spend.
I will wait for the next gen, if they are much more powerful than WiiU, I'll skip it, if they're not, which I highly doubt it; why would they spend millions on Q&R to develop a console that isn't a vast change that can justify their userbase to spend money in such hard times; the Wii U might become an interesting outlet, maybe combine PC and WiiU.
1 Like @abHS4L88 Totally. If the next Xbox and PS aren't up to the horsepower of a current gen PC at least, Nintendo would be very smart to take advantage of that and level the playing field for the Wii U to come out in first place sales and quality wise.
If the next Playstation and XBox are indeed not much more powerful, than the Wii U should be completely fine. Nintendo does have work to do in creating a user base that will buy the 3rd party games to keep developers around and the ports are a good way to gauge interest right off the bat.
1 Like @abHS4L88 No doubt Nintendo will deliver on the First-Party front, the question is if they'll be able to keep up the Third-Party momentum after the next gen completely arrives. That's the reason I'm worried about how far the Wii U is going. And the amount of questions and "what ifs" devs raised surrounding the console are so different that I think it's hard not to be skeptical about it, especially with how Nintendo treated the Wii and Gamecube in the past (the latter being completely forgotten a little too soon).I'm still going to give the Wii U the benefit of doubt, though. One of those "wait and see" kind of situations.
1 Like I do think the PS3 was the result of Sony's hubris, thinking that they've gained so much loyalty that they thought consumers would automatically pick up the PS3 regardless of price, same thing also with Nintendo and the 3DS (although they fixed that problem much faster).
The Wii had a pretty good library for those seeking different kinds of games, especially platformers and Nintendo does always deliver when it comes to 1st party support but I do agree that 3rd party support could've been better. It was mainly due to lackluster sales and Nintendo could've helped bring more attention to these titles. That's why giving the spotlight to the 3rd parties at their Wii U presentation was an excellent move instead of flooding us with 1st party announcements (which I think they're saving up for E3, just imagine O_O).
Bayonetta 2 did come out of nowhere and for me, I was instantly excited and went OMG!!!! but there really wasn't anything dirty or sneaky about it when you learn why this happened.
@abHS4L88 Indeed, it happened to both 360(being nicknamed the "Xbox 1.5") and PS3 (with its disastrous launch), but you see, the PS3 had to live up to the standard set by the PS2, which was nearly impossible, and the 360 had a lot to prove with MS being a newcomer and all. However, I feel that Nintendo has to do a lot more in terms of quality with the Wii U than they ever did with the Wii, which seriously lacked the same games quality as the competition. Hell, if it weren't for NSMB, NMH 1 and 2, I'd say the Wii was a waste of money to me. That can't happen to the Wii U or Nintendo will be dead in the water from where I'm standing.
About Bayonetta 2, it came out of nowehere, and was anything but fair with its fanbase, it was a dirty move from both Nintendo and Platinum. I totally believe the Wii U can cater more to the so called "hardcore" crowd than the Wii ever did, but I just think this isn't the right way to do it. Then again, this is a dirty business, after all.
Ahh, but you see this is true of pretty much any new console launch, it's just been so long since a home console was released that most people aren't used to all of this anymore.
Regarding the power of the Wii U, my belief is that before this generation, it was pretty much a no brainer than every new home console would be more powerful than the last, how much more powerful was up to the developer and Nintendo clearly displayed that by not making the Wii a huge step above the Gamecube. Ever since this generation though, gamers all of a sudden think they know everything and have it all figured out when it couldn't be farther from the truth. The fact that Nintendo had to clearly state that the Wii U is at least just as powerful as the PS3/360 is evidence of this.
I don't see publishing Bayonetta 2 as an act of desperation, they took a beloved but under-appreciated franchise and breathed new life into it along with it being a huge step in telling everything that they're serious about catering to the "hardcore" gamer (even though they've been doing that all along).
I'm pretty sure when the PS4 and the next XBox are revealed, we're going to hear a bunch of BS surrounding those consoles also.
8 Like @vader501st Do you have any idea whatsoever what you're talking about? Because you sound like an uninformed ass that just copy/pastes rhetorical BS you hear on other forums in an attempt to make yourself sound intelligent. Please explain the "political" remifications of this endeavor. I'd really like to hear them.
3 Like @n0matter Try not behaving like an animal and maybe I'll waste my time using actual arguments and facts with you. You only end up looking like a fucking hypocrite by talking about "intelligence" when you seem to have no arguments yourself. Suck it up, kid.
9 Like Hey Gamespot, at the bottom of this article it sais the Wii U deluxe is $399, you should probably fix that since its actually $349 :I
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