The Wonderful 101 Devs Talk Crowdfunding and Getting Nintendo’s Permission to Go Multiplatform

The Wonderful 101: Remastered

PlatinumGames’ Hideki Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba talked about crowdfunding for The Wonderful 101: Remastered and getting permission from Nintendo for a multiplatform release, and more in an interview with 4Gamer.

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Check out a bit from The Wonderful 101: Remastered interview with Hideki Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba below:

 

Atsushi Inaba: “The Wonderful 101 released six years ago, and as you may know, it wasn’t a particularly successful title in terms of business. Not many users played it and it wasn’t that recognizable, but there’s always been a part of us, and Kamiya, that wanted to release it one more time on a new platform.”

4Gamer: What do you think are the reasons it didn’t do well in terms of business?

Hideki Kamiya: “One reason is that I think the hardware that was the Wii U itself didn’t perform well. In addition, The Wonderful 101 itself as a game that was hard to convey and difficult to communicate.

For better or worse, we intended on making a unique game, but looking at it as a user, there’s already the hurdle of it being a new IP, and on top of that it’s an unfamiliar game, so it must’ve been tough to reach for it.”

 

the wonderful 101 kickstarter nintendo switch ps4

4Gamer: A lot of time passed since its release, so now you can find gameplay footage by searching The Wonderful 101, so at least the hurdle from the ‘unfamiliar game’ part should be lowered a bit.

Hideki Kamiya: “You’re right. I think it’s much easier for players to gather information these days compared to when it released. Or if you happen to know someone who played The Wonderful 101, ask about their play experience. Although I often say that only 13 people played the game in the entire world. [laughs].”

4Gamer: I don’t know if I’d go as far as 13 [laughs]. So you’re saying that’s how unrecognizable the game is. However, when you think of the word “crowdfunding” you can’t help but think that there’s a sense of “let’s give it another go” to it.

Atsushi Inaba: “Yes. The game was developed as a second party title for Nintendo. So until Nintendo says let’s do one for the next hardware, we wouldn’t be able to release it no matter how much we ask. Much less so for a game that didn’t perform well. Stuff like that quietly disappearing is the way it goes in the game industry, but we kept persistently asking without ever giving up. Then we started talking about how if PlatinumGames can release it then they’ll look after us.”

4Gamer:  In short, you received permission to use the IP.

Atsushi Inaba: “Yes. However, we’ve always been developers and we don’t have much know-how in the field of publishing. There’s been a wall in terms of funding and various matters. In order to surmount it, we need help and all kinds of support. On the other hand, I’m grateful to think that our company is close to the fans.”

4Gamer: Indeed, and that’s where it connects to the keyword of ‘crowdfunding.’ So according to the process, you’re releasing a Nintendo Switch version of The Wonderful 101.

Atsushi Inaba: “Actually, there was one more thing I wanted to get permission about while talking to Nintendo. That was ‘to also release it on other platforms’.”

4Gamer: That sounds a little tough…

Atsushi Inaba: “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.”

4Gamer: That’s incredible. So at the very least, the base platform is the Nintendo Switch.

Atsushi Inaba: “That’s right. But that said, we don’t want to make the campaign about dangling a carrot, so if it’s coming to the other platforms, we plan on adding it all together as one stretch goal.”

4Gamer: Have you established a target amount for funds?

Atsushi Inaba: “We haven’t decided on the target amount itself. However, we don’t plan on making it that high. We also don’t plan on having the crowdfunding take care of the entire cost of the port, or rather a new remaster. But we want to properly shoulder the burden of financial risk as well. We just want to feel the support from fans on top of that.”

The Wonderful 101: Remastered is scheduled to release for Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam, and PlayStation 4 in April 2020. Check out the first details in our previous report. The Kickstarter campaign surpassed $1 million in less than 24 hours to reach one of its two new stretch goals that add new modes.


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