Havok Physics and Animation to Power Wii U Games

i dont really like that engine. things fall way to slow and it just doesnt look realistic to me

i thought half-life 2 ran on source engine physics?

I am not too much of fan of the rag doll physics the Havok Physics provides, but it's a technology that developer can use so it's good for Nintendo to provide it.

@Some_Chords it does, but the Source Engine is what the game runs on, Havok is what provides the physics, like how much of an impact a bullet will have on an object, etc.

Don't some Wii games like SSBB also use Havok?

According to wikipedia the following Wii games use the Havok Engine: SSBB, RE: The Darkside Chronicles, Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction. Maybe even Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Sonic Unleashed. _{Dont know if the Wii versions use the the same engine as the PS360 versions.}
I hope this means we'll get dozens of high-calibre third party games like those others on the list.

Awesome! This opens up a lot of possibilities for WiiU games and will also makes it more competitive in the industry. MS and Sony better watch out, Nintendo's getting serious.

Excellent news, this will enable third-parties to more easily port between platforms.

Ninjabread Man used Havok. I'm just saying.

This is great, but I disliked Super Smash Bros. Brawl's physics, so I hope SSB Wii U doesn't use Havok.

I hope this time we'll get quality third party games.

meh

The wording of the press release has made me curios; is Nintendo/Havok handing out licenses, or is this the usual you-still-need-to-pay-for-the-thing situation? Because if they were handing out licenses, I would really be impressed.

I thought Brawl's physics were good. For example, in Melee bodies would fly right through each other, but it Brawl they'll bounce of each other if they make contact.

If anyone's interested in what games it's used in:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havok_(software)#Havok_in_video_games

...everything from Uncharted 3 to Brawl to the Halo series. Very nice. :3

Does this mean any developer who makes games for the Wii U has access to Havok? If so, how does that work with multiplatform games? I mean, if the developer is getting to use the engine through Nintendo, for use on Wii U games, can they port the games made with the engine to other consoles, or release the games on multiple consoles from the start, or will the games be permanently exclusive to the Wii U (not that I have a problem with that...)?

Just don't use the crappy ragdoll physics stuff.

I utterly hate that most of the time.

Well that's nice to know.

Something to do with Half-Life 2 and Wii U talked about in the same article? I almost can't contain my excitement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MiVjitccnE

Havok is used in Smash Bros. Brawl.

Don't find anything exciting about this, but cool...

these engines are fully programmable so if you don't like the way things fall or rag doll physics... its because the developers didn't program it right... not because that's just how the engine is...

@V8_Ninja sounds like Nintendo is Paying for developers to use these tools... sounds like a sweet deal for those wanting to develop for Wii U and save some money... !

I'm curious of my future. I might turn into an Xbox fan over a Nintendo fan (becuase I find halo rly fun but I'm rly allowed to play M rated games >:3). But who knows.. time tells.

I've played some games with Havok physics (Probably a lot, just can't think of what they are) and it seems pretty good, but things fall a little slowly though the developer could probably deal with that if they wanted to.

Havok seems to be a really good leading physics engine.
It's just up to the developer on how to utilize the physics...
Used in subtle proportions might unimpressive in your eyes, but they can also be great and used in full force.
An awesome thing to have for Nintendo especially since it's actually part of their development kit.

Edit: Oops, well Maggots already summed it up