XType Plus – an HTML5 Game for the Nintendo Wii U

For many Indie Game Developers getting your game on a real gaming console is something like the holy grail. At least for me it was. The entry barrier for any gaming console seems unequally high, compared to PC or mobile development.

Nintendo is trying to change that with their Nintendo Web Framework – it's essentially a WebKit browser for the Wii U but offers some custom APIs to interface with various controllers and Nintendo's online services. Nintendo also did a tremendous job of speeding up Canvas2D rendering on their console and providing excellent HTML5 Audio and WebAudio support. The result is a game development framework suitable for about any 2D game you can think of, but with an extremely low entry barrier.

A few years ago I made an HTML5 game called X-Type, built on top of the Impact Game Engine. It was mostly meant to test the rendering speed of Browsers at the time, but turned out to be quite fun to play as well.

In 2013 Nintendo invited me to GDC Europe where I presented a quick port of the game for the Wii U. The feedback I got at GDC Europe was extremely positive, so I decided push the prototype as far as I can, polish all the rough edges and make a real game out of it.

A prototype of XType Plus at GDC Europe

Today, XType Plus launches in the Nintendo eShop in North America, Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. I'm very excited to see this come to life!

For the most part, porting the game to the Nintendo Web Framework was very straight forward. My Game Engine Impact worked without any modifications and now officially supports the NWF as well to tightly integrate the Wii U controllers and other platform features.

There were some rough edges, particularly with Nintendo's online services, but these have mostly been smoothed out in current NWF releases. Interfacing with the GamePad screen and various controllers was a breeze and most features supported by a "real" Browser work as expected in NWF. Canvas and Audio work exactly as in the Browser and the settings in XType Plus for instance are simply saved to localStorage.

Even with all the additions for the Wii U, the game still runs in a Desktop Browser as well. This made the debugging process of core gameplay features a very simple process.

Screenshot of XType Plus from the all new Plus Mode

If you want to know more about the creation process of XType Plus and the Nintendo Web Framework please have a look at the interview I did with NintendoLife.com back in Februray.

I hope to see your names pop up in the Highscores of XType Plus!