One very interesting bit of news that has been floating around is that Nintendo have struck deals with Havok and Autodesk that will allow them to provide free copies of these companies’ so-called “middleware” – special software that stands between game developers and the hardware, which automates many complex development tasks.

The package includes Havok’s well-known physics engine, Scaleform (a program widely used by developers to create visual user interfaces), and several other professional tools. Normally, developers need to pay fees to license these technologies for use in their games; but if they’re developing for the Wii U, they get access to them free of charge.

While this won’t affect you directly as a gamer, I thought it was worth pointing this story out because it shows just how far Nintendo are going to gather third-party support for the Wii U. I mean, it doesn’t get much better for developers than free software development tools, right?

When asked what games he was looking forward to, Mike Roush of Gaijin Games stated that:

I am REALLY looking forward to any Nintendo release on the Wii U. I really hope they launch with a Mario title.

Gaijin Games have a Wii U dev kit and are likely to bring Bit.Trip Runner2 to the system. That they’re going to make games for the Wii U is a given, but hearing that they’re feverishly excited for it certainly can’t hurt.

Following up on the three Ninja Gaiden 3 videos from yesterday, Team Ninja have prepared a trailer to accompany Ninja Gaiden 3‘s upcoming launch on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. They released another developer diary video as well.

You can watch both of them after the break.

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Takashi Iizuka, the head of Sonic Team, finally put an end to the rumour that Sonic Dimensions was in the works for the Wii U. When asked to confirm or deny the rumour, he denied it outright:

Sonic Dimensions? [Laughs] I think it’s a complete hoax. [Laughs]

Shame – Sonic Dimensions would have been a fine addition to the Wii U’s growing library of awesome, but we can’t have everything.

Vigil Games have given us another video in the Behind the Mask series, which focuses on different aspects of the development of Darksiders 2. In this latest one, entitled “Death’s World,” the developers talk about the game world’s scale and design. You can watch it after the break.

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Forget The Box, from whom we’ve heard that the Wii U might feature eReader-like capabilities and that Nintendo are working on at least three new franchises for the console, have another batch of Wii U rumours for us, this time regarding what we can expect to see of the console at E3 2012.

According to their unnamed sources, roughly 70 games are currently in development for the Wii U. Ten or eleven of these are published by Nintendo and will be shown at E3, of which four will launch by the end of the year (two extremely likely candidates are Pikmin 3 and Retro Studios’ secret project, and a). A variety of third-party games will be present as well, though that’s hardly a secret – many third-party developers have been talking about their Wii U projects since E3 2011.

Another interesting detail is that Nintendo are considering pricing the Wii U lower than they really want to. While it might spell a few losses for the company, there is absolutely no doubt that getting a powerful and capable next-gen console out there at an affordable price will help it sell, which will in turn attract more developers to it. Look how well the $80 price cut worked out for the Nintendo 3DS!

Finally, we are apparently due for “a tsunami wave of 3DS and Wii U software this holiday season to soften the blow from hardware losses.” Sounds good to me!

A rumour sprung up that Nintendo have at least three brand-new franchises in development for the Wii U, by a number of different studios. As great as Nintendo’s tried-and-true properties like Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Kirby are, they do receive quite a bit of flack for constantly “rehashing” their games from year to year.

Whether you believe that or not, it’s always nice to see a company trying new things, and the Wii U seems to be all about just that. If this rumour is true, expect to hear more about these mysterious franchises at E3.

Keiji Inafune, former producer of the Mega Man series, doesn’t have a Wii U dev kit yet, but he is “confident that it must be impressive,” explaining that “whenever Nintendo comes out with something new, it’s always good.” Even though he hasn’t had a chance to play with the console yet, he looks forward to tackling its unique possibilities someday.

Mark Rein, who said a few extremely positive things about the Wii U, had the chance to play the Wii U build of Batman: Arkham City and is very impressed with the game, claiming that it makes “fantastic use” of the touchscreen controller.

He didn’t say anything more specific than that, but it was confirmed that the game is not a direct port, meaning that Rocksteady Studios are likely using the additional development time for the Wii U release to make it worth the wait.

Mark Rein of Epic Games, a company well known for the Unreal Engine and a seemingly low opinion of Nintendo’s consoles in the past, offered up some seriously high praise of the Wii U at GDC. Notably, this comes right on the heels of the rumour that Nintendo tweaked the Wii U’s specs to make it compatible with Unreal Engine 4.

He pointed out the mainstream appeal of the Wii brand as a point in favour of the Wii U, describing that that “a lot of parents really trust [it] and [are] probably ready to buy their kids an HD Wii that does much more than just being and HD Wii.” Because of this, he says he will be “shocked if it doesn’t do well.”

Moreover, Rein is clearly very excited about the control possibilities that the Wii U offers, citing the three-player Battle Mii demo as something he would buy the Wii U for “in a heartbeat”. He hopes that other developers will use the Unreal Engine to create similarly unique and creative experiences for the console.

And speaking of the Unreal Engine, he also claims that Unreal Engine 3 is capable of putting out even better visuals than the famed Legend of Zelda tech demo:

Do you remember the Zelda demo they had on it? Would you not buy a Wii U just to play that? Of course you would. That’s what Nintendo is all about. Their hardware is the software delivery service for their great content. That Zelda demo was gorgeous and we can do even more than that with Unreal Engine 3. I think it will do great.

You can make of that what you will, but it does sound like an honest pledge of support from the man who once slammed the Wii for not being up to spec. If Mark Rein likes the Wii U this much, I really don’t think there’s anything to worry about as far as horsepower is concerned.