When Stephen Heller from MMGN visited our office to preview escapeVektor on the 3DS, he also interviewed Nic and Bruce. He asked about GDC, developing for Nintendo and PlayStation platforms, the state of the local industry and where we’re heading.
Thursday March 8th – the Joy of Jetpacks and Videoing Vektor
The second day started with one of those meetings we can’t talk about at the moment, but which could lead to an interesting future development. This is one of the things we love about GDC – there are so many industry people there to meet and talk with about potential opportunities. Of course, if anything does happen, we’ll let you know right here on our blog. (more…)
Well, how did that happen? It seemed like it was only yesterday we’d finished writing last year’s GDC Diaries. But when you’re constantly working against the clock to make games, months pass in the blink of an eye. A cough could be all that separates GDC in March from E3 in June. One major sneeze and suddenly it’s Thanksgiving. Fart and it’s Christmas…..OK, OK, you get the point, right? No wonder studios find it so hard to estimate when games will be finished. Game development years are way shorter than normal years. That’s a fact. Now the year had turned full circle and it was time to head off to San Francisco yet again for that electronic love-fest they call the Game Developers Conference. (more…)
It’s almost time for us to fly out to San Francisco for this year’s Game Developers Conference. We’ve got an early build of escapeVektor on the 3DS to show press and the latest version of Spirit Hunters Inc. We’ve been flat out over the last few weeks making sure everything is prepared.
However, we’re never too busy for an interview. So when The Strikester from Nintendo Nation asked Nic to answer a few questions, he was right on it.
INTERVIEW: NNOOO
The Strikester
What happens when you make a successful WiiWare game? The Strikester talks to Nic Watt, the head of the team behind the hit game escapeVEKTOR.
NN: Congratulations on the success of escapeVEKTOR: Chapter 1 on WiiWare. What was the idea behind it?
NW: The idea came from several places. Firstly we wanted to make a new WiiWare game and thought that doing something fun and stylish with depth would appeal to the Nintendo market. Secondly we wanted to make something we could ensure would give the best game-play and graphics we could achieve with not only our resources but also within the confines of the WiiWare service.
I really like the idea of having a person trapped inside the player’s Wii and having to go through games to get out. This sparked the idea of a series of games telling the tales of Vektor, how he became trapped in your Wii and his subsequent escape. escapeVektor is only one part of that story.
Gizmodo Australia run a regular feature called Developer Cubed in which they focus on Australia’s up and coming dev scene. They grabbed Nic for a quick interview recently.
Nic & Bruce - the owners of Nnooo
by Alex Kidman
Gizmodo’s Developers Cubed series offers a behind the scenes look into Australia’s up and coming dev scene. This week: We chat with Nic from Sydney-based games developer Nnooo about why all development isn’t just iOS development and why it’s important to carve your own niche.
Developers! Developers! Developers!
It’s not just Steve Ballmer’s favourite sweat-laden catchcry! If you’d like to be featured in Developers Cubed, shoot a note to alex.kidman at alluremedia.com.au. I’d love to hear from you.
Who are you and where do you work?
My name is Nic Watt and I’m the Creative Director (and technically CEO) of Nnooo an indie games company based in Sydney, Australia
Why do we know you? What have you created?
We have created several successful franchises for WiiWare and DSiWare and are now turning our hand to the next generation of consoles with games for Nintendo 3DS and other unannounced consoles. Our most successful projects have been Pop, a launch title for the WiiWare service; Pop + Solo a sequel to Pop for DSiWare and our myLifeCollected series of applications for DSiWare which includes myNotebook, myPostcards and myDiary; finally escapeVektor our latest game was released to critical acclaim at the end of last year on WiiWare.
Our current projects include escapeVektor for Nintendo 3DS (and other platforms – to be announced) and Spirit Hunters Inc an augmented reality RPG for DSiWare and Nintendo 3DS.
It’s been quite a while since our last post, but that’s because we’ve been super-busy (and also on holiday for a couple of weeks)! But we’re back and hopefully we’ll have plenty of exciting news for you soon. But before that, there’s this – our new Mario Kart 7 Community!
Yes, we’ve been playing the awesome Mario Kart 7 on our Nintendo 3DSs and we want to race you! We’ll be racing every weekday from 1pm-2pm (Sydney time). Just check the countdown clock on our community page to find out when the next race is. The running totals of the top 10 cup winners will be recorded on our leaderboard for everyone to look at in wonderment and awe.
But that’s not all! If your name is at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the first week, we’ll gift you a copy of escapeVektor: Chapter 1 for WiiWare. If you already own a copy or don’t own a Wii, you can choose someone else for us to gift the game to.
Have you got what it takes to get to the top of our leaderboard? Have you? You really think so? Well, bring it on!
We’ll keep the racing going until…..well, until we get bored of it. See you in the race suckers!
The latest games website to review escapeVektor: Chapter 1 is MMGN.
Did they like it? Well, let’s see. They scored the game 5 stars out of 5 and wrote “Very rarely do we see a game come through with such perfect design and gameplay, but escapeVektor: Chapter 1 nails it on debut.” So yes, we think they liked it. Have a look at the review below.
escapeVektor: Chapter 1 Review
by Stephen Heller
Some of the best games of all time are the simple, yet challenging ones. Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Tetris all have simple concepts, yet immense difficulty that challenges the player and keeps them coming back for more. While the puzzle meets retro arcade gaming sector has seen a number of successes in recent years, Nnooo’s escapeVektor: Chapter 1 goes above and beyond all expectations, as it offers an inviting and unforgettable experience.
Wow, it’s been a little busy at Nnooo HQ in the last couple of weeks, what with the release of escapeVektor: Chapter 1. Because we’ve been keen to share the initial reviews of the game with you, we haven’t had time to show you the second part of this MMGN article. Until now that is! If you haven’t read Part 1, you should take a look at that first though.
Making escapeVektor Chapter 1: 7 Key Principles of Game Development
We recently completed our second WiiWare™ title, escapeVektor™: Chapter 1 which is released in Australia, NZ, The Americas and Europe on September 29th for 500 Nintendo Points.
If you’ve read our 3 features on escapeVektor: Chapter 1 over the last few weeks, you’ll hopefully know all about the game by now. We thought we would finish off by sharing what we believe are some key principles of game development, and show where we applied them to escapeVektor: Chapter 1.
This is part two of this article, if you missed it you can view part one by clicking here.
Nintendo Life have written their review of escapeVektor: Chapter 1 and it’s another hugely positive one. With comments like “one of the finest experiences on the entire WiiWare service” and “This game is sharp, challenging, clever, gorgeous, atmospheric, thought-provoking, and, above all else, fun”, we think they quite like it! Have a read and see if you agree with us.
Virtual world, real quality
by Philip J Reed
After the delightful Pop (and its various offshoots), it seemed a bit like Nnooo was taking a break from game development. The studio released several applications through DSiWare, and while they were quite good, gamers might be forgiven for assuming that the company’s future releases would gravitate more toward “useful” than “fun.” Now Nnooo has released escapeVektor: Chapter 1 to remind us all that not only is the team still interested in games, but that it can also to deliver one of the finest experiences on the entire WiiWare service.
escapeVektor: Chapter 1 is brilliant. There are no other words to describe it, though, so that this review isn’t the shortest in Nintendo Life’s history, we’re going to have to try to find some.
It looks like IGN are also fans of escapeVektor: Chapter 1. In their 9/10 review they say “escapeVektor just blew me away.” and “It’s a spectacular experience.” Nice!
escapeVektor: Chapter 1 review
by Lucas M. Thomas
escapeVektor just blew me away. I’d had this new WiiWare game on my radar for a while, and I thought that it looked like a good one – but now that it’s out, and I’ve played it, I was wrong. It’s more than good. It’s great. It rocks. It’s totally freaking slick.