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Microsoft and Unity tool up for Xbox One, Windows development
Soon developers using Unity Pro 4 will be able to port their games to the Windows Store on PC, Windows Phone 8 and Xbox One, the Unity blog has announced. This partnership will see Microsoft and Unity collaborating to add support for "enhanced Kinect gestures and recognition, multiplayer matchmaking, SmartGlass and cloud stuff" in Unity Pro 4 for Xbox One. If an outfit is using Unity to create a game for Microsoft Studios, then Unity tools for Xbox 360 and Xbox One will be offered gratis. Publishing games on the Windows Store will also be free. Unity is one of the more popular multi-platform engines out there right now. In March, Unity announced it had entered a similar partnership with Sony to offer tools tailored to Sony platforms, including the PS4, and last month Unity made its mobile development tools available free of charge to all indie developers.
Unity and Nintendo partner to bring Unity Engine, and its 1.2 million devs, to Wii U
Unity Engine is best known for supporting mobile and digital games, but Unity Technologies CEO David Helgason sees his company's game development engine as more flexible than that. Nintendo apparently does as well, partnering with Unity on a worldwide licensing agreement that offers first- and third-party developers Pro level engine access to Unity's tools for Wii U development. The partnership also grandfathers in the existing 1.2 million Unity licensees to the Wii U platform, which Helgason tells us is, "extremely easy" to port to -- Unity's calling the partnership an "excellent opportunity" to port existing Unity games from "thousands of studios currently developing mobile and social games." The partnership's effects aren't immediate, however, as Unity Engine's Wii U support won't go live until 2013, which tells us that we won't see any fruit from the collaboration until some point in 2013 at the earliest. When pushed, Helgason wouldn't out any potential games headed to the Wii U via Unity, nor would he offer up names of studios interested in working with Nintendo's next console. It's not hard to imagine big Unity games like Slender and Rochard ending up ported to the Wii U, of course, but it sounds like we'll have to wait a bit longer before we hear which games will benefit from the partnership first.
BitGym Motion SDK brings Kinect-style games to Android and iOS, no huge living room required (video)
If there's a common barrier to playing with a Kinect controller, it's free space. The sheer amount of necessary distance between sensor and player is fine for suburbanites with expansive living rooms, but not so hot for apartment dwellers. Thankfully, BitGym is doing its best to bring hands-free gaming to small spaces with a new Motion SDK for Android and iOS developers. The kit takes advantage of the front cameras on phones and tablets to track three-axis movement, leans and multiple players without any special hardware -- and without necessarily rearranging the furniture. It's built to work with Unity 3D and most common app code on both platforms, all with a reportedly low overhead for mobile processors. Just don't anticipate any leaps and sidesteps in your loft for the next little while. Although the SDK is ready today, we won't see shipping games built on the motion-friendly framework until early 2013.
Unity 3D for linux gets two playable demos
Linux gamers are really just having the time of their lives right now. They've been embraced by indie game devs, by Valve, Epic and the increasingly popular Unity 3D. And, some of these properties aren't quite ready for the big show yet, you can get a taste of what to expect from Unity 4 thanks to a pair of playable demos that have hit the web. AngryBots and Unitroids are both available as standalone executables for your open-source desktop. They're not complete games, but they at least serve as practical demos of the progress being made in porting the gaming engine. They've both got their quirks at the moment, but it's hard not to get excited about the prospect of plummeting through AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome on your Quantal PC. Hit up the source for download links.
Unity 4 bringing code together on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 as well
Stop being all worried that the Unity development engine won't support Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices – it totally does. Er, it will at least, whenever Unity 4 launches (currently unknown). Unity Technologies announced intentions to support Microsoft's flagship operating systems during this week's Unite 2012 conference in Amsterdam, and only said it would become available "during the Unity 4 release cycle."Unity is supported by pretty much everything that can play a game – from your browser window to Android devices to the Nintendo Wii and everything in between – so it's not entirely unexpected that Unity's next upgrade will work with Microsoft's next big OS."Our mission at Unity has always been to provide solutions for developers to effortlessly bring their work to as many different platforms as possible," Unity CEO David Helgason said of the move. Microsoft is similarly stoked. "We are excited that the Unity community will now be given the opportunity to develop world class titles for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8."Unity developers are hopefully also stoked, but they didn't get a blurb in the press release. Perhaps you're a prolific Unity developer who thinks this is just the worst? The best? Just okay? Let us know!
Unity announces version 4 of its game engine, with new animation system and Linux support
Unity has announced version 4 of its game engine, available now in pre-order form from the company's store. Unity is used in everything from indie iOS hits to browser-based MMOs, and the new version of the engine contains a slew of new updates, including a new animation tech called Mechanim, better visual quality and rendering, and new options for publishing online with Adobe's Flash and in Linux.All developers who pay the rather heavy license fee for the engine (the Pro version, at least - the current version is available as a free download if you just want to play with it) will get access to the new beta for free. And Unity promises more news about what Unity 4 can do for game developers at the upcoming Unite12 event in Amsterdam later this year.%Gallery-158490%
