Much of what we know (or think we know) about the next-generation consoles comes from unidentified sources speaking on the condition of anonymity. How refreshing, then, that actual developers working with Wii U hardware have come forward to speak about the system. The developers in question are none other than Fumihiko Yasuda and Yosuke Hayashi of Team Ninja, who are hard at work on Wii U launch title Ninja Gaiden 3.
The two developers are clearly encouraged by their experience with the console, despite the surprising news that, "The hardware is still constantly changing."
Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime has stated that Wii U information will be released throughout the year, though aside from the tablet controller's Near Field Communication tech, few concrete details have come to light. Meanwhile, in Nintendo's Corporate Management Policy Briefing/Third Quarter Financial Results Briefing, Satoru Iwata promised that the company would "showcase the final format and discuss the details" for Wii U at E3 2012.
E3 2012 is now almost exactly five months away, and while that may sound like an eternity to those waiting for the show, it is practically the blink of an eye in game development terms. Are the developers at Team Ninja worried that the hardware continues to be in flux? Not at all.
"[Wii U is] very easy to develop for... We're finding it very similar to develop for Wii U as for Xbox 360 and PS3."
Hayashi is particularly impressed by Nintendo's willingness to accommodate developer requests -- a disposition that can only help as the company works to rebuild relationships with third-party publishers.
"They've asked us what we would want from the hardware, and when we give them feedback we can see that they're definitely listening to it and making changes."
Ninja Gaiden 3 was one of the very first games officially announced for Nintendo's new console, and it is still expected to launch alongside the Wii U when the system debuts during the 2012 holiday season. The game will be available much sooner on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (March 20th, to be exact), but once the Wii U version rolls around, don't expect a straight port of the others. Without giving too much away, Yasuda describes the team's intentions for Ninja Gaiden 3 on Wii U.
"The Wii U's touch control is like the Nintendo DS's. We released a Ninja Gaiden game, Dragon Sword, on DS, so we want to introduce some elements from that into the Wii U version [of Ninja Gaiden 3]."
Ranters, are you encouraged by Team Ninja's description of working with Wii U? Are you surprised that the hardware, at this late stage, still hasn't been finalized? Let us know in the comments below.
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