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Platinum Games Opens Kickstarter For Remastered The Wonderful 101: Switch Version Already Funded

by Donald Theriault - February 3, 2020, 12:29 pm EST
Total comments: 10 Source: Gematsu, Kickstarter

April delivery date for a lost Wii U game.

Platinum Games is bringing back one of their past projects on the Switch.

The developer is self-publishing a remastered version of 2013 Wii U game The Wonderful 101 and is currently taking reservations for the game on Kickstarter. The original goal of $50,000 US for a Switch version was met in under 20 minutes, with stretch goals for ports to other consoles.

Platinum is working with The Yetee for bonus reward fufillment, Nighthawk Interactive, and per an interview with Gematsu Dangen Entertainment is "helping". Dangen has been accused in recent months of multiple cases of executive sexual harassment, withholding payments from independent developers, and creating a toxic work environment.

The minimum buy in for a copy of the game is US$36 (code) or $41 (physical): quoted delivery is stated as April.

Talkback

mereelFebruary 03, 2020

Lame. This should remain exclusive. So Nintendo funds the creation of this work of art, only for Platinum to demand multi-platform release on competitors machines. Not cool, Platinum.

KhushrenadaFebruary 03, 2020

What is my reward for helping beta test the Switch under the code name Wii U?

nickmitchFebruary 03, 2020

Is it bad that I don't want to support it getting ported to other platforms, but might give once it hits the mark because of stickers?

Edit: Nevermind, that sticker set is in a tier that's a bit too rich for my blood at the moment.

Mop it upFebruary 03, 2020

I thought Nintendo owned the IP for The Wonderful 101, or at least the publishing rights, but I guess they don't? Did Platinum buy it back or something?

broodwarsFebruary 03, 2020

Quote from: Mop

I thought Nintendo owned the IP for The Wonderful 101, or at least the publishing rights, but I guess they don't? Did Platinum buy it back or something?

Considering how poorly Wonderful 101 sold on Wii U (IIRC, it was somewhere in the low 1000s. Club Nintendo was practically giving that game away), I wouldn't be surprised if Platinum used some of their Tencent money to buy the rights back. Platinum's trying to build up their own library of titles lately (as opposed to doing projects for other companies), so that would make sense.

I've never understood the love for Wonderful 101, but maybe with the changes Platinum's said they plan on making to the game (including a UI update & adding a real Easy difficulty setting), maybe I can get into it.

TOPHATANT123February 03, 2020

$50,000 is nothing, it's like the salary of a single programmer. I'm inclined to think this is more of a marketing strategy

ejamerFebruary 03, 2020

KickStarter is weird. If they list a realistic goal for fundraising, nobody will back. If they list a ridiculously low value like $50,000 then the project will get more attention because it funds quickly and wildly exceeds the requested total, even though the requested total wasn't at all realistic.

I'm ok with them doing this.

However, I'm kind of bummed out about Wii U in general. It was never an awesome system, but the way developers - including Nintendo - are actively removing exclusives by releasing new versions makes it one of the most pointless systems ever to hold onto. (Weirdly, the re-releases are also a disincentive to upgrading, since so many games for the console are already in my collection.)

Quote from: TOPHATANT123

$50,000 is nothing, it's like the salary of a single programmer. I'm inclined to think this is more of a marketing strategy

Or to cover the costs of producing the physical version (so basically, paying back Nighthawk). From the sound of it, the Switch port was pretty much ready to go for an April launch.

Luigi DudeFebruary 04, 2020

Quote from: broodwars

I've never understood the love for Wonderful 101, but maybe with the changes Platinum's said they plan on making to the game (including a UI update & adding a real Easy difficulty setting), maybe I can get into it.

The game has an incredibly deep combat system that is great to play once you master it, which is why there's a very devoted following.  The problem is, the game does a terrible job of even explaining how to use it.  My first time playing the game on Normal, I thought it was ok but really had to brute force my way through the last half.  After finally finishing it, I looked up some Youtube video's just to see how better players dealt with some of the later area's because I wondered how some of these places were even doable without dying a ton of times, and saw them performing moves I didn't even know you could do.

After watching these high level plays video's, I replayed the game on Hard mode and had a blast playing it this time since I actually knew how to fully use the combat systems this time.  But yeah, that's a huge failing on the original game though since players shouldn't have to watch Youtube classes on how to play a videogame to properly enjoy it.  I can't blame anyone for giving up shortly into the game, since Kamiya basically made a game for himself to enjoy and never bothered to tell the rest of the world how to properly play it.

AdrockFebruary 05, 2020

Quote from: Mop

I thought Nintendo owned the IP for The Wonderful 101, or at least the publishing rights, but I guess they don't? Did Platinum buy it back or something?

I saw this interview today. My understanding is Nintendo still owns the IP or at least the publishing rights. PlatinumGames kept asking to re-release The Wonderful 101 then got permission to release it on other platforms.

Quote:

I know it’s on a completely different scale, but that’s like talking about bringing God of War to other platforms. But then Nintendo told us that it was fine, just like that. And now there’s a chance we can release The Wonderful 101 on platforms such as PS4 and Steam if we reach the stretch goals for the Crowdfunding.

Nintendo just said, “Sure. Okay. Fine.”

I like this modern Nintendo. It could have easily been really crummy about everything. This is good relationship building. It has partnered with PlatinumGames for the better part of a decade and is continuing to foster that bond.

Not sure if I’ll pick up The Wonderful 101 for Switch. I barely played it on Wii U. I try to support companies like PlatinumGames, and I expect this rerelease to perform best on Switch anyway.

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