Nintendo approves first Australian Wii U developer, Nnooo

Impressed by the Wii U's GamePad and capabilities, Australian developer Nnooo proudly announced the studio has received approval to develop for Nintendo's upcoming console.

"We're thrilled to receive developer approval for this exciting new console," said Nnooo Creative Director Nic Watt. "We can't wait to see what the console is capable of and already have a number of ideas we'd like to experiment with."

Nnooo, the first Australian developer to announce Wii U approval, has been developing titles for Nintendo since the studio was formed in 2006. They are best known for US WiiWare launch title Pop, the myLifeCollected applications for DSiWare, and escapeVektor: Chapter 1 for WiiWare.

Nnooo is currently developing Spirit Hunters Inc, an augmented reality RPG for Nintendo DSiWare, and escapeVektor for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita. These are expected to release in the final quarter of 2012, at which point Nnooo will begin prototyping some ideas for the Wii U.

"We're very close to finishing Spirit Hunters Inc and escapeVektor," said Watt. "We'll be showcasing the games at Gamescom in Cologne in the middle of August. Once these games are completed we'll be prototyping some ideas for the Wii U to get a feel for what we can do."

"We've already had a quick play with the hardware and everyone in the studio is super impressed by the GamePad and the capabilities of the Wii U itself," he concluded.

The Wii U still doesn't have an exact release date, outside of the general holiday 2012 season. Nintendo's Satoru Iwata, again last week, emphasized that pricing was the "most important element" in regards to the Wii U's release.