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WiiU

Cloudberry Kingdom Arriving on Wii U Courtesy of Ubisoft 

by Jared Rosenberg - April 11, 2013, 6:48 pm EDT
Total comments: 12

Get ready for some crazy platforming action when Cloudberry Kingdom arrives as a downloadable title on the Wii U eShop this summer. 

Ubisoft announced today that it will be publishing Cloudberry Kingdom for release on Wii U later this summer. In the platformer, players will encounter procedurally generated levels, which can scale their level of difficulty based on a person's skill.

We reached out to the game's developer Pwnee Studios to comment about the news and they kindly responded:

We’re really excited to be able to reveal that we are working with Ubisoft to release Cloudberry Kingdom. They have been a great help to us throughout the making of Cloudberry, and we don’t know if we could have done it without them. This game has been a long time coming, and we’re glad that we have such a great publisher to help us share it with the world.

Along with the Wii U, the game will also be released as a download title on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and Steam.

A Cloudberry Kingdom developer diary video was also released today that delves into the game's origins four years ago (ignore the part where they say it's coming out in spring). Check out the developer diary below along with our interview with Pwnee from E3 2012.

Talkback

azekeApril 12, 2013

First "making of" video is kinda touching.

The problem of creating random generated levels interests me as programmer who is into math, but i fear if in the end amping up the difficulty will just turn the game into rhythm game where you have to constantly press right and push jump button at exact times and if you miss one it's game over. Though Rayman Origins had these kinda of levels and it was fine...

Also even if they said they hired an art studio to remake visuals, i honestly can't see much improvement. It still looks incredibly bland.

xcwarriorApril 12, 2013

Sorry, won't be purchasing now. Really thought this game looked cool, but if Ubicrap has touched it, then most likely they threw some rabbid rabbits into it and ruined it.

TJ SpykeApril 12, 2013

Quote from: xcwarrior

Sorry, won't be purchasing now. Really thought this game looked cool, but if Ubicrap has touched it, then most likely they threw some rabbid rabbits into it and ruined it.

Since its a digital release, there wont be a used copy. And Ubisoft has a pretty good track record. And they are only publishing it (yes, i hope your post was joking).

When I was talking to these guys at E3 they indicated that they had plans for a 3DS version, and that's the only platform not mentioned by them here. I wonder if that fell through, or if it may be coming later.

CericApril 12, 2013

In a way I'm a little surprised by this announcement.  They were going to do it themselves on WiiU and PC before.  I'm also surprised as a backer that they didn't send out a general note saying "Hey, Ubisoft is publishing us and Oh by the way this is no longer a PC and WiiU exclusive."

I sort of have mixed feelings about supporting them now.  Also I still like the Original art style more.

Glad0sApril 12, 2013

I'm really looking forward to this; if it completely works, the replay potential is endless. And is it just me, or does the developer's name sound like a Parks and Rec reference?

TJ SpykeApril 12, 2013

Quote from: Glad0s

And is it just me, or does the developer's name sound like a Parks and Rec reference?

I doubt it, unless they were early fans. The studio was formed in 2009 (the same year that show premiered).

@Ceric

Yeah, don't you feel you guys just gave money to Ubisoft now? Who could have financed the game but didn't, and now they're going to reap the rewards? That's something I'd be very wary of: am I giving money to this indie dev just so a publisher can later swoop in despite refusing them the first time around?

leahsdadApril 12, 2013

Quote from: Pandareus

@Ceric

Yeah, don't you feel you guys just gave money to Ubisoft now? Who could have financed the game but didn't, and now they're going to reap the rewards? That's something I'd be very wary of: am I giving money to this indie dev just so a publisher can later swoop in despite refusing them the first time around?

Guil, I'm sure someone will talk about this on RFN, but I agree with you....I didn't give money, but if I did, I'd feel somewhere between betrayed and robbed right now.  I know people still got their beta and are getting the retail release, but let's be honest, when people pledge on Kickstarter, it's not exactly the same as preordering something on Amazon.  The dynamics of the relationship, while not explicitly dissimilar, are implicitly very, very different.

TJ SpykeApril 12, 2013

Quote from: leahsdad

Quote from: Pandareus

@Ceric

Yeah, don't you feel you guys just gave money to Ubisoft now? Who could have financed the game but didn't, and now they're going to reap the rewards? That's something I'd be very wary of: am I giving money to this indie dev just so a publisher can later swoop in despite refusing them the first time around?

Guil, I'm sure someone will talk about this on RFN, but I agree with you....I didn't give money, but if I did, I'd feel somewhere between betrayed and robbed right now.  I know people still got their beta and are getting the retail release, but let's be honest, when people pledge on Kickstarter, it's not exactly the same as preordering something on Amazon.  The dynamics of the relationship, while not explicitly dissimilar, are implicitly very, very different.

And if any of them gave money to Penny Arcade's Kickstarter (essentially just to pay their bills, as the only thing it did was remove the ads from their site), then they are hypocrites if they complain.

CericApril 12, 2013

Quote from: leahsdad

Quote from: Pandareus

@Ceric

Yeah, don't you feel you guys just gave money to Ubisoft now? Who could have financed the game but didn't, and now they're going to reap the rewards? That's something I'd be very wary of: am I giving money to this indie dev just so a publisher can later swoop in despite refusing them the first time around?

Guil, I'm sure someone will talk about this on RFN, but I agree with you....I didn't give money, but if I did, I'd feel somewhere between betrayed and robbed right now.  I know people still got their beta and are getting the retail release, but let's be honest, when people pledge on Kickstarter, it's not exactly the same as preordering something on Amazon.  The dynamics of the relationship, while not explicitly dissimilar, are implicitly very, very different.

In this case, its pretty much an early adopter tax for me.  I've gotten enough out of the beta and I am getting a copy of the game which is now guarenteed to exist.  I supported them, and a lot of the people I support on Kickstarter, because they were pursueing something they wanted to do and I wanted to help them like I would like to have someone help me when I needed it.  Them signing with Ubisoft and not changing the game gives them an oppurtunity they didn't have before.

Also they just sent a note to all the backers.  Let me check if its public.  It is.  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1564776348/the-hardest-platformer-ever/posts/452532

This is good for them and sort of bad for Nintendo.  I think this game could have filled a niche like Guacamelee does on the PS3 for example.  Now that its coming to everything in a way I think that it will dilute its longterm staying power in gaming consciousness.  Though the sales should overall be better and well be better for all.

I'm getting what I've been promised so Robbed, no.  Betrayed, I can't fault someone for doing what is best for them.  A little dismayed for Nintendo, yeah. 

They haven't said it outright, but from everything I've heard from other indie devs, this move was predicated by Microsoft's asinine publishing requirements. While they could have tried to stay independent on other platforms, Ubisoft probably pushed hard to get rights to publishing on all platforms. It means the devs will lose a cut, but hopefully they will gain some resources for QA and the like by working with Ubisoft, in addition to access to XBLA. Given the state of Wii U, I can't blame them for trying to get a wider audience.

In regards to Kickstarter, I backed them for their ideas, in addition to Wii U support, so maybe my investment was of a different sort than some.

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