Wii U Developer License Wait Time?

Hi,

I signed up for the Wii U developer program for Unity (not wario world) about a week ago and they said someone will call me to discuss terms and stuff. Anybody know how long it takes to get the call (I'm a bit anxious)? I don't believe this is a question that will violate any NDA with Nintendo on this subject.

Thank you

 

Very long time because they have to review every single application. If they do not contact you within 6 months, then it is weird and something to worry about. Also wiiu development works from handful of countries which is a shame for nintendo. Do not be surprised if they reject you for geographical reason. Americas should be supported, no idea about Asia.

A friendly suggestion, try others. Specifically, Sony. Make sure you have the followings(applicable for all of them):
1. Own website with own domain.
2. Own email domain(xxx@tsatwal.com, like this) and contact them using it.
3. A set of previously released games as reference.
4. Good GDD for future/ongoing games.
5. Yearly statement which proves your financial backup.

By the way, you can apply multiple times. Don't worry.

 

Why would you make a game for Wii U anyway?

 

Because I like it better than my xb1 or ps4 and if you have a problem with that then too bad I wasn't asking for your opinion

 

Wii U is not yet indie friendly and have lower market share vs. Xbox One and Playstation 4.

Nobody cares that you like it better than other consoles. If you manage to get a license and release it on eShop you will have lower sales.

 

Depending on the kind of game, the Wii U, can make more sense than the other consoles.

 

I never said not to choose to publish for WiiU because quality of games varies. What I trying to say is that Nintendo trusts only large AAA companies with their developer kits.

Take Microsoft for example:

• Xbox One wants you to be of legal age and have at least one game published.
  
• There are no fees to pay for developer kit as well.
• Xbox Live Arcade does not require to have a publisher anymore!
• Xbox One has larger audience than WiiU (but no larger than PS 4 though)
• Unity does not provide with any Apis concerning WiiU (as far as I know)

I am not trying to discourage indies stop developing for WiiU it has a controller screen which allows to make more creative games. However, it's not indie friendly yet, but Nintendo is getting there.

 

The op didn't ask if anyone cared nor did the op ask if it was indie friendly. If the op asked for opinions about the viability of the Wii U as a platform for indie developers then your posts might have had merit.

 

It took us a month. We got mail from Nintendo that we're approved and a person from Nintendo Europe called me to discuss some further details

 

Thank you. And by the way I'm sure Nintendo is much more indie friendly than Sony or Microsoft. They have no requirement for previous game creations and they don't even have to approve your game. They also make it easy to self publish. On Sony's platform, you must have a decent background and be a company (legally). Same thing with Microsoft (for Xbox One) minus the being a company thing.

 

Took me two weeks.

 

Thanks for your response. Out of curiosity, do you live in the US? I need to find out how long it takes for them to contact American applicants. Thanks for the response though.

 

Yep, it's going to take a while. We had a dev who we partnered with for sound, 2 months to get a response, in the meantime, the dev the game, just continued to make hist game better. Just sit back and wait. Also, it helped sending in multiple emails and calling the Unity offices throughout the USA (He was in USA). Don't stop at one office, someone will reply.

 

Interesting.
That reminds me, that I have to fill out that Wii U Developer form.
In the meantime, I'll continue to work hard on my game for now.
And improve.

 

Thank you. That is just what I was looking for. When you say call and email Unity offices, do you mean Nintendo? I would think Unity would not have much to do with the approval process. Again thank you so much.

 

Yes, I live in US. I received a call only two weeks after registering. This was about 5 months ago or so.

 

Alright hopefully they will respond soon its been about three weeks. Based on what I got out of this thread, I should get a call soon as most people say 1-2 months. Thank you all so much for your help I really appreciate it.

 

Hey tsatwal, I remembered reading this thread a while back. Just wanted to check in and let you know that I applied about a week before you did and just got my call today. So if all goes well, you should get yours within a week (if you haven't already).

 

Just wanted to let you know that I got my call after about a month. Hope everything is going well for you!

 

Hi guys,

I actually forgot about this thread (sorry) but I got my call about 2 weeks ago. Thanks for checking up on me though, appreciate the concern!

 

sorry guys, my thread mentioned that I was a developer "helping a developer", we simply made music for a game. I was pretty sure you could note the difference. But after 5 public games on Unity and 2 years on the indie scene, I am super duper mega duper mega omg I can tell my 2nd cousin whom I don't know, I'm now a full fledged Nintendo Developer with Unity with their special unity package. OMFG, really!!!???> tHX GUYS;. We have many games,l and (I can't wait for our first port to Nintendo, it is actually a new game not yet released but based on 20k players whom played a previous game, going to be the bomb game!!!!! This is actually going to be a Nintendo specific game, not available on any other platform. ,...... and best to them ,= as it was going to be specific to Steam.

 

im pretty sure that dumb ass meant nintendo lol

 

I just got accepted to be a wii u dev (it took them 3 months to get back to me), seems pretty pricy to get a dev kit, has anyone actually released a game on WiiU?

 

What do you mean nobody cares? He cares, and if he's releasing the game, thats all that matters.

 

Who cares, what someone said a year ago

 

Dude. I said it like a year ago. Opinions change over time.

 

Oh wow your right, sorry I thought this was a new thread. My mistake

 

It's all right. No problem

 

Has anyone of you been recently accepted as a developer?
I've been waiting for about two months now.
Just wondering if they still might get back to me concerning my application.
Also, do they tell you if you're not being accepted?

 

Nintendo has become much more indie friendly in recent years. They are not like the Wii and eShop days where you were required to have a physical office space. One advantage the eShop has compared to XBL and PSN is that its a much less crowded marketplace and you don't have to pay for front page space

 

The microphone. The camera. The gyroscope. Miiverse. Licensing is free. Or it could be the only console you currently have. Or you want to try making something on a couple different consoles and see which one works best. You might not care about sales. Maybe you made a game for one thing and want to make a Wii U version. There are plenty of reasons.

 

Licensing may be free, but devkits certainly are NOT. You didn't really give list of reasons to develop for the Wii U so much as you shrugged your shoulders and went "why not?" in post form.

 

If you didn't care about sales why would you target a console? Microphones and cameras are on PC too.

 

So you signed up for the forum and made your first post to reply to a thread from 3 years ago explaining why you would develop for a Wii U?

 

No business in the whole world would waste their money expanding their product(s) to new markets which they know won't bring them profits.

If a business (apart from non-profit) doesn't care about sales they usually go bankrupt.

When I asked that question 3 years ago I saw how Wii U had mostly games made by Nintendo. Their graphical capabilities weren't their strongest point either. They were in a completely different market than Microsoft's Xbox One or Sony's PlayStation 4.

I didn't look at a separate screen, a Miiverse, microphone or camera. I looked how would it benefit me, as a game developer financially.

Now, Nintendo Switch is more open to third party developers and has attracted different spectrum of customers, not just Zelda fans.

Its too early to judge the new console, but it definitely has a good start.

 

It's far cheaper too. Buying everything you need for Wii U game development will set you back a sum of about four to five digits while the Nintendo Switch as far as is publicly known will only set you back three digits.

http://nintendotoday.com/nintendo-switch-dev-kit-price/

 

Well thats interesting. Is this information valid?

 

Some of the articles mention the actual source being Nintendo at a Game Creators Conference.

http://www.shacknews.com/article/99...-kits-low-price-might-entice-indie-developers
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...ding_to_reports_from_game_creators_conference