The Wonderful 101 has been out on Wii U for a good few weeks now in Europe and Japan, but it all could have been so different as Hideki Kamiya, the director behind the unique title, has revealed it was tentatively scheduled for a Wii release instead.
In an interview with USgamer, Kamiya said the game was put on hold for a period of time, while the studio worked on another project. However, when the new project also got itself shelved the team came back to The Wonderful 101:
At the time Wii U hadn't been announced yet and there was no knowledge of it. I can't say with certainty, but I believe this was something that we think of potentially for Wii. And so it was put on hold. Then, one year later, when we came back with the idea of creating this as a superhero game… At that time it wasn't necessarily based on any specific platform. But when we took it to Nintendo, the discussions went from there, and we decided to put it on Wii.
The production of The Wonderful 101 clearly took some time while Platinum Games laboured over it and it's interesting to find out it was originally pencilled in to be a Wii title. It's not known when Nintendo was planning to publish it or indeed how it would even control but one way or another it ended up off the shelves of Platinum Games' studio and into the hands of Wii U owners.
What are your thoughts on this revelation? Are you glad it was developed on Wii U in the end? Let us know in the comment section below.
[source usgamer.net]
Comments 41
WAT
Something about this being a project that was later retaken is told in the second Iwata Asks about the game. I prefer this on Wii U because of the HD. And probably Wii would have not worked with the extensive voice acting this has.
It hasn't been out on Wii U for a good couple of weeks, it hasn't been released yet
I'm getting a little tired of hearing about how Nintendo starts a game on one system and ends up taking so long that they bring it to the next system instead. We just end up getting a ton of games that take forever to release and that don't fully utilize a system's graphical power. (Pikmin 3 and Twilight Princess, to name a few.)
@Alshain01 Europe and Japan have been Unite Morphing for a couple of weeks now only a few more days to wait for North America.
@sinalefa Don't see how voice acting would have been a problem.
I'm guessing if this were a Wii title you would have drawn the "unite" gestures on the tv screen w/ the Wiimote pointer.
Probably a better move having it on Wii U than Wii,interesting to know anyway.
@DerpSandwich
Nintendo likes to take their time. You don't know how many Gamecube games were originally concieved for N64.
Glad it made it over to WiiU although I would have played it on Wii anyway!
@cookiex Oy, tell me about it. I really wish they would tighten things up a bit.
Uhh the Wii wouldn't be able to run this game.... heck even the PS3 would struggle to play this game at ~30fps.... I can't imagine how terrible this would be on a slower system. 60fps should be required by international law for a fast paced game like this.
@DerpSandwich Shenmue originally was going to be on the Saturn. (And have the content of the first and second game) but it wasn't ready. I think the end result was worth it.
(Very few games made like that - Even the Last of Us dropped in quality after the first level - they should have just pushed it to the PS4 or waited until the whole game was at the same quality).
I hope the Nights into Dreams like game is released on Wii. (Don't remember the name of it but if it is I can just get the Jap version so it makes things easier.)
@DerpSandwich Nintendo didn't develop the Wonderful 101. That was created, delayed and then released on Wii U by Platinum Games.
@Ernest_The_Crab But funded, published and released by Nintendo as a second-party exclusive title. Pretty much the same thing.
@LDXD I completely agree that taking a lot of time on games is what makes a lot of Nintendo games amazing. I just think that they could go a little faster with better management and not sacrifice quality. Like I said, they just need to tighten things up a bit. Plenty of other developers are putting out fantastic, polished games in no time at all. But Nintendo is just a little too lax when it comes to release dates.
@DerpSandwich The problem with that explanation is that they weren't funded until after they made the move to Wii U. There's no mention that Platinum Games was funded by Nintendo prior to that. Which means the game has only been delayed once and that's for the console that it was originally going to be released for (Wii U).
@Ernest_The_Crab Regardless of the nature of this one game, my statement still stands.
@DerpSandwich There are certain notable games that most likely wouldn't have worked out to be what they are now, if they hadn't been ported to the next console. Super Mario 64 is a very good example of this due to Miyamoto wanting to have a controllable camera.
Same thing with Pikmin 3, it was moved onto the Wii U since they wanted to make it in HD. You cannot in all honesty say that the game "would" have been better if it had stuck to the previous generation.
There's simply more evidence for the move rather than against it.
This news bugs me. I'm not very willing to pay $10 extra just for HD. Unfortunately for Wonderful 101, I was already on the fence about it...and now I know this information.
@Ernest_The_Crab Pikmin 3 would not have been quite as good if they'd kept it on Wii. But if they'd been on top of things and hadn't put it off for years and years, by now we'd have Pikmin 4 on our Wii U. To be completely honest I'd rather have a really good game every few years than a slightly better game every NINE. (And all in all Pikmin 3 actually seems rushed to me, with only decent graphics and not a lot of content, but that's beside the point.)
Look, you can argue each and every game I mention, but you're not changing my opinion.
I dont know how the game would of played without the pad. Plus this is a fast game type just from the demo alone.
Would rather Vanquish on Wii, then I could actually aim properly. Wonderful 101 benefits highly from Wii U.
@I-U your logic just killed a kitten somewhere. The game makes comprehensive use of every Wii U feature.
@crumpledpapyrus Yeah, but that's the problem. If they had released it a month ago I would have bought it, but now Zelda is around the corner and I'm saving my money. Sure, I might buy it sometime next year but, with Zelda and Christmas, it's going to miss the all important launch sale. Nintendo screwed up, because I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking that way.
It puts my mind at ease.
So it started out as the "Nintendo-smash-fighter's" for Wii. Then they changed it to superheroes. Then they put the project away, and redeveloped it on the of Wii U.
As sick as I am of hearing about games that were going to be developed for earlier consoles, in many cases I am glad they were made. It happens to many games, and many ideas; for instance, Halo started as a game for Macintosh computers It was then left for several years. Twilight Princess was developed for Gamecube, but given better control on Wii. It's not the same as something like this.
If so then why no WiiMote and Nunchuck controls?
@DerpSandwich "Look, you can argue each and every game I mention, but you're not changing my opinion."
You just summed up the Internet in that line; A bunch of raving derelicts shouting their opinions as loud as they can in the middle of a crowded street with nobody actually caring what anyone else has to say.
@I-U Why be on the fence if you could be unite morphing into a giant bazooka instead? Why skip this masterpiece of sheer fun if you could be tossing cars at giant robots with 100 Viewtiful Joe-ish part-time superheroes in somewhat Pikmin style?
I lend this game to a friend who's not easily pleased by a game, and he said it's a truely fun masterpiece as well, even after saying that the demo was bad.
Also, Twilight Princess was for Gamecube, Resident Evil 0 for N64, Wind Waker HD is 'just' a polished version of an old game. But I can't wait to buy it again! Planning, first development or even first release doesn't necessarily make a revision a bad thing, be it only output resolution (PS3 HD Classics), controls (The Godfather Blackhand Ed., RE4 Wii), a complete remake or re-imagining (RE1, Silent Hill Shattered Memories), or even a re-planning (RE0 and way more games than we'll ever know).
@Alshain01
Well, I mean, if you weren't purposefully being obtuse you'd acknowledge that the article was written by Mr. Green, who lives in Europe, and therefore( quite logically), the article, while not being region specific, is obviously pertaining to the European version.
@sinalefa As I recall, the original concept was having a cast of Nintendo All-Stars. That version was likely what was planned for Wii, and then when they revisited it, they revmped the control scheme and made it about new characters. A mere guess, but still.
@FineLerv Wow, you're kind of a jerk, huh?
I'm glad this game went to Wii U instead. The explosive boss battles & huge city environments/backgrounds look amazing in HD but on top of that, the touch screen controls are awesome & that wasn't possible on the Wii (unless they used the 3rd party uDraw device haha).
Probably, on wii, it would have sold way better, also the controls would have been better, with the wii mote drawing on the screen
@DerpSandwich I agree with you, stop with the "this was orginally meant for Wii"-poopiedoodlecacadoggiepoo, and start creating and developing games purely for Wii U. I have the feeling that if they focus everything on Wii U right now, they could bring games out that much faster. Also think Pikmin 3 (being an awesome game) is still rushed, story mode isn't long at all, 2-player multiplayer? seriously? A company that advertises with multiplayer games brings out a game, focused on 3 lead characters, with 2-player multiplayer..
would be a real struggle to see everything going on @ 640x480.
They could have never had that much action happening on Wii. Great that it moved up.
@JtotheY Seriously! The weirdest part is how they pretty much abandoned the Wii for the last two years of its life. Everyone assumed that it was because they were focusing whole-heartedly on Wii U. But then the Wii U comes and we get cheap Mario games, and games that were originally going to be on Wii or look like they should be on the 3DS instead. It's like, what have they been DOING for the last three years???
@DerpSandwich
"Look, you can argue each and every game I mention, but you're not changing my opinion."
Way to go. Now everyone knows not to bother replying to you, since you won't change your opinion even if everything you were basing it on is shown to be objectively wrong. Nice one.
@wombatkidd I have more examples than those, but I don't find that this is worth my time. I have the right to my opinion, and I don't need to keep defending it to feel good about myself. I'd rather just walk away.
Also, my points being wrong is up for debate. I don't feel anyone has proven anything. Well, maybe except that people on Nintendo Life have a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for criticism against Nintendo and will niggle away at you until they think they've "won".
This graphically intense and fast-paced game was originally planned to be released on Wii?
I'm sure this kind of thing happens all the time. What I wouldn't or don't like is when a game is released for say Wii in Japan then held out for a Wii-U release in North America. Now that's not cool
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