It’s no secret that Nintendo has been doing a great job of catering to indie developers in order to woo them to the Wii U platform. That’s why the eShop launched with titles like Little Inferno, Trine 2: Director’s Cut, and Chasing Aurora. There’s still quite the line-up on the way for the eShop and one of the biggest titles headed our way is Zen Pinball 2 from Zen Studios. The developers had originally planned for the game to be launched in December, but delays have pushed the release to sometime this year.
In an interview with Nintendo Life, Zen Studios developer Mel Kirk sat down to have a chat about development for both the 3DS and the Wii U and the future the studio has with both of Nintendo’s properties. When asked specifically about the Wii U side of development, Kirk had some interesting things to say.
We knew Zen Pinball 2 had to be on the Wii U from day one. There was no question that we would support the system, it was just a matter of finding the bandwidth to get the game ready.
It’s always great to see developers so enthusiastic about their releases, but as we know developing for a new system isn’t always as easy as some hope. In discussing the challenges of certification and support from Nintendo, Kirk spoke candidly:
It was a pretty natural progression to go from 3DS development to Wii U. We have a great relationship with Nintendo on all levels, so I think both parties just assumed that we would work together to bring Zen Pinball 2 to the new system. Of course, once the project was confirmed, both Zen and Nintendo were really happy.
When asked about the recent delay, Kirk was also upfront about the causes:
There are always a variety of reasons for game delays. This time around I think we can chalk it up to the fact that it is a new system and there is always a learning curve. Also, Zen Pinball 2 is a very complex game and any time you release a free game download with lots of in-app content it is going to be quite tricky. This implementation is taking just a little longer than first expected, but we are very close to completion.
It’s great to see indie developers getting the support they need from Nintendo to make their releases the best they can be. Zen Pinball 2 will be available sometime this January as a free download from the Nintendo eShop. Users will be able to purchase premium tables to play, making Zen Pinball 2 the premiere experience for pinball on the Wii U.