Ex-Sony Dev: Wii U Won't Last Another Christmas

[MKGirlism]

You can trust me on my words, I am a 3rd Party Indie Developer for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U systems, I simply know how all of this works.
To follow the NDA, I can't take Screenshots from the site, and such, but I can at least show you this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azOrJz0tuRM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRB5kNcDoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX7jGYlqpgE

 

[Stavros Dimou]

You can trust me on my words, I am a 3rd Party Indie Developer for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U systems, I simply know how all of this works.
To follow the NDA, I can't take Screenshots from the site, and such, but I can at least show you this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azOrJz0tuRM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRB5kNcDoo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX7jGYlqpgE

Well then,if you really make games for the machine and things are as you write,I'm happy for Nintendo.
It's good news to me. When I first read their official site,the scarce details got me wandering and I did a search on Google seeking more details, and what I've read here and there was overwhelming and left a very bad impression.
Of course there have been some months since I did my research,and currently I don't know if what I read was true back then and isn't now,or if what I read back then was false to begin with.
If things are as you say,then Nintendo should re-build the official site ASAP to clear things up and provide more details so developers who visit their site expecting to get a picture of Nintendo's policy don't get intimidated.
Perhaps there are other people who have in their mind Nintendo's 3rd party policy being about the same as I do,and these people might wanted to make games for Nintendo's platforms but haven't because they are misinformed about how Nintendo deals with 3rd parties. In that case it's a problem of communicating how things work,rather than having things work in a bad way.
I hope Nintendo fixes / updates their developer site soon so when someone visits their site,he gets a clear picture of how things actually work,so more people can start making games for the WiiU.

 

[MKGirlism]

It's actually not this bad, Developers can reach either Nintendo of Europe, or Nintendo of America, and make a Phone Appointment, which is what we did.
They're able to give you a better impression than what's written on the site.

The real problem is, however, most 3rd Party Wii U Developers (including us) make games for Wii U using Unity.
As far as I've been working with them, Nintendo kept refusing Master ROMs that were created in Unity, until last month (unless you make a Pre-Submission).
But it's still not over yet, because now they are 'in the process of verifying if they can allow Unity for Master Submission'.
Plus the Wii U Version of Unity is still based on Unity3D 4.2.2, which lacks all of the 2D tools, which is something most Indies like most.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

It's actually not this bad, Developers can reach either Nintendo of Europe, or Nintendo of America, and make a Phone Appointment, which is what we did.
They're able to give you a better impression than what's written on the site.

The real problem is, however, most 3rd Party Wii U Developers (including us) make games for Wii U using Unity.
As far as I've been working with them, Nintendo kept refusing Master ROMs that were created in Unity, until last month (unless you make a Pre-Submission).
But it's still not over yet, because now they are 'in the process of verifying if they can allow Unity for Master Submission'.
Plus the Wii U Version of Unity is still based on Unity3D 4.2.2, which lacks all of the 2D tools, which is something most Indies like most.

I have experience with Unity myself!
The general concept of Unity rocks,I'm really suprprized of how much documentation and resources this engine is getting. Personally I think the reach of Unity will grow even more,as it keeps getting new features at a quite fast rate,while at the same time it has the BEST licensing policy when it comes to 3rd party engines.
Unity 4.3.1 though isn't much stable yet,there are a few technical issues that I'm sure the guys will fix ASAP,but for now it would be good to wait a little. While the 2d features enhance the workflow quite much and are very helpful, I've noticed that importing assets on 4.3 is taking much longer than it did on 4.2,and sometimes the application hangs. Once they fix that it will be quite a nice version,but for now I couldn't recommend upgrading on 4.3 yet,as the frustration that is generated from random app hangs and long import times IMO doesn't worth the optimization done on 2d workflow YET.
Now regarding WiiU development,things like what you just said is why I prefer platforms like PCs better.
On PC you know that things will just work.That there is no one "over your head" telling you how to do things and what you can do or not. You can just do what you want.But that is not only a WiiU thing,its generally a console thing.
Seeing as you delved right on to developing for consoles,I admire your courage and hesitation.
Personally I decided to use PC as the lead platform as its much more simple to get a game working on a PC.
Console development is something I don't even want to touch until I've made a few games on PC first to gain experience,and some money required for the extra development time needed for console development such as specialized optimizations,licenses etc.
Thank you for letting me know that Nintendo is friendlier than I thought it was.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

Monster snip

Can I just say thanks for giving me a massive laugh yes mate your one pro coder go on go make an engine and code it all in a weekend mate and post it up here on Tuesday I look forward to seeing it.....oh and be sure to make a model and control scheme so we can all test out your master piece

I didn't said I can make an engine from scratch in a weekend.
I said I can write simple basic gameplay scripts like those found in a Mario game in a weekend.
Don't take what I said out of proportion.

If a developer is writing their own engine instead of licensing an already existing one (i.e. Unity,Unreal,Cryengine) it will surely take them much more time to have a game prototype running.
That's why most studios use third party engines and stick with them for long.
That's why there are still games coming out with Unreal 3 Engine,even if its 7 years old.

 

[Dragonbums]

It's actually not this bad, Developers can reach either Nintendo of Europe, or Nintendo of America, and make a Phone Appointment, which is what we did.
They're able to give you a better impression than what's written on the site.

The real problem is, however, most 3rd Party Wii U Developers (including us) make games for Wii U using Unity.
As far as I've been working with them, Nintendo kept refusing Master ROMs that were created in Unity, until last month (unless you make a Pre-Submission).
But it's still not over yet, because now they are 'in the process of verifying if they can allow Unity for Master Submission'.
Plus the Wii U Version of Unity is still based on Unity3D 4.2.2, which lacks all of the 2D tools, which is something most Indies like most.

I know I will sound really fucking stupid but...what's a master ROM?

Is that like your original file of the game you made on unity?

 

[MKGirlism]

That there is no one "over your head" telling you how to do things and what you can do or not. You can just do what you want.But that is not only a WiiU thing,its generally a console thing.

This actually only happens with big AAA companies, or smaller Teams.
Where I work, I only have 2 more people to deal with, and we all decide what to do on our parts.
Nintendo doesn't have any influence over your Projects, and if you need more time, or want to release sooner, it's never a problem.

I know I will sound really fucking stupid but...what's a master ROM?

Is that like your original file of the game you made on unity?

It's okay, it's usually a Term that's unknown to non-Licensees.
But a Master ROM is the finalised game with all the required information attached to it, which you need to submit to Nintendo for a Lot Check, or to your Publisher, if you don't self-publish.
In addition, Master ROMs are what Age Rating companies and Localisation companies gather, to give your game an Age Rating or Translation respectively.

 

[Chemical Alia]

The only next-gen thing I've bought (or had any interest in so far) has been the Wii U, specifically so I could go play the Mario game.

That's not great, but at least I'm having fun with something. Probably the most fun I've had in a new game in a few years, honestly.

 

[Dragonbums]

I know I will sound really fucking stupid but...what's a master ROM?

Is that like your original file of the game you made on unity?

It's okay, it's usually a Term that's unknown to non-Licensees.
But a Master ROM is the finalised game with all the required information attached to it, which you need to submit to Nintendo for a Lot Check, or to your Publisher, if you don't self-publish.
In addition, Master ROMs are what Age Rating companies and Localisation companies gather, to give your game an Age Rating or Translation respectively.

Thanks for clearing that up!

ROM has a different meaning to outsiders. Mainly they are near perfect emulations of existing games on PC. Best example I can give is Pokemon. Prior to the release of B/W here in the US, there were a lot of ROM hacks of the game.

Which is why I got all confused with Master ROM.

 

[nima55]

Looks like it's time to break this out again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_E2lh1lgmk&feature=player_embedded

 

[Mr C]

The Dreamcast did better. It sold more and had greater support from third parties. I wonder if Nintendo have discussed pulling the plug in a similar fashion. They weren't always in the videogame industry, let alone hardware. They may need to stick with handhelds and be a console publisher.