So I’m sitting here in GoogleIo and I’m surprised that I’m hearing about Unity and even. More surprised that there is something great going on with the web client. What’s going on dude 
is unity going to enable the web player output to WebGl or Canvas2D?
Sounds like Unity is porting the web plugin to google’s native client (let’s you run C/C++ native code in the browser, but I’m guessing Chrome is the only browser that supports it). So this would mean that users that have Chrome wouldn’t have to install the plugin, which is awesome if you are selling your game in the new Chrome App Store that google just announced.
This would be a big win for unity if it does happen. However to break the masses would need to be on IE and Safari as often the users who are least likely to install a plugin are those users who remain on their pre-installed browsers.
chrome is the best browser today… and now it’s better.
unity plugin native is awsome!
skateborden is right; it’s a very early WIP preview of Unity Native Client port (as usual: it’s work in progress, no ship dates promised etc.).
Native Client is a technology by Google to enable native code to run in the browser, securely. They have a special compiler and special APIs to talk to the GPU, audio, input etc.
Interesting. So it’s kind of like a virtual hardware platform that you have to compile for, use their API’s etc. Nice. Beyond that I guess you aren’t actually recreating the web player to work as native, but rather, creating a new native compilation (like a desktop app with modifications)?
Either way it sounds all very exciting and cool. Looks like Google is going to try to compete with Apple even more?
Saw the Unity team out here today on the GIO show floor and it is indeed that they are going to be using the chrome library for native operations to make it such that you simply won’t need a plugin on chrome which is awesome (wonder how that will work on chrome os). Also had a chance to see unity3 first hand and it really just makes the wait seem so much harder. There was also a demo showing a similar demo to the latest iPhone demo (the one shown running on the1.7release) running on a tegra tablet from nokia and it looked and ran exceptionally well.
The new sandbox demo also looks so so good too. The wait for unity3 just got a LOT more harder.
And FWIW, I was busy at Google I/O all day, then am now working late tending to all the other “normal work” of my day. 
One of the goals of the native client is OS portability.
What does that mean for Unity? In other words, does it take us a step closer towards Linux support?
I would be very interested in knowing how far this “alpha-experimental-no-dates-out” test has taken you?
In any case, hats and wigs off to the Unity team! Your work is as stellar and admirable as It has ever been!
Yes. A very big step actually. In fact, the Lego Star Wars game Google is showcasing at the native client booth at the I/O conference right now has been tested on Linux (Ubuntu), and worked just fine!
It does, of course, require running a browser which runs native client (that is, Chrome, for the time being).
Jonas, that is ENORMOUS!
Muah ha ha ha ha, now to inform the people of the linux thread that you guys are a million steps further than you were last month.
Wait wait wait… so if unity supports native client and android. In addition google tv is based on android and chrome does that mean we get unity apps on the big screen without the console?
Sweet merciful crap!
While we haven’t yet gotten our hands on any of this, as Google TV is based on Chrome, and will likely support native client, I would assume that our NaCl port will “just run” on that platform, eventually.
Jonas, have you heard about any sort of support for native client on other major browsers?
There are no concrete plans at this point from any of the other browser makers to go this route - but I do know that Google is talking to all the major ones to convince them, and the technology is open source, so anyone can go pick it up. I guess it is mostly a matter of how well-received this will be.
This sounds more and more cool. … an option for linux users, google tv, etc cool.
I’d like to hear more about the quirky sounding nvidea handheld thingamy which it also runs on? Never heard of it.
Should be safe to assume that Firefox will pick it up at some point as well, i would be very much surprised if not.
Blogged it ;p
Since we’re plugging away and you haven’t mentioned it in your article, Zente, allow me to point to a modest contribution I wrote yesterday on the benefits of such a technology, from a Unity perspective:
http://www.i3dgames.com/2010/05/20/unity-rocks-google-io/