PlatinumGames have once again discussed how Bayonetta 2 “would not exist without Nintendo white knighting that project”.
The sequel, exclusive to Wii U, has received flak for not remaining multi-platform, although it simply wouldn’t have been made if Nintendo hadn’t provide enough backing behind the studio developing it.
“Without getting into some stuff that is both business and confidential, the simple question I’d like to ask you is, ‘Do you want to play Bayonetta 2?’ Bayonetta 2 would not exist without Nintendo white knighting that project”, creative producer JP Kellams reasoned during a presentation at UCF’s Center for Emerging Media.
“So while I totally understand that people want to play it on the platforms that they’ve played it on previously, we really wanted to make Bayonetta 2”.
Kellams continued to share that he’d “rather be in a world with Bayonetta 2 than without”, discussing that those complaining about its exclusivity aren’t moaning about having to buy different hardware, just that they didn’t want it on Wii U in the first place.
He continued, “But if you were going to sell a game on a Nintendo platform, what publisher would you choose? Right, Nintendo. Right? So if you’re going to sell a game on a Nintendo platform, the publisher that you want to be with is Nintendo because they know how best to service their audience and they’re going to do the best job of explaining your game to that platform.
“You very rarely see huge, major third-party successes on Nintendo platforms because it’s really hard to fight against Mario, right? It’s why Universal isn’t as big as Disney. I mean, it’s really hard to fight somebody on that kind of turf, so…
“We really wanted to make Bayonetta 2. And Bayonetta 2 is a project that we were passionate about. And when we couldn’t… when the business situation changed and we couldn’t make it the way that we were originally planning on making it, we definitely wanted to make sure that our project survived. I’ve seen Bayonetta 2 – I look at it every single day of my life when I’m in the office. It’s really cool and the world is going to be a better place because Bayonetta 2 is in it.
“I spend a lot of time on Twitter seeing people get really angry, ‘Why is it not on PS3 and 360?’ Right? So kind of the way it went was, ‘Why do we have to buy a Wii U for one game? Why isn’t it on PS3 or 360?’ And now that the Xbox One and the PS4 are out, it’s ‘Why isn’t it on PS4 or Xbox One?’ So then it’s not about buying a piece of hardware, it’s just that you didn’t want it on the Wii U.
“And that’s cool, I mean maybe that system’s not for you, or maybe that platform isn’t what you want to play games on, but we really want to make Bayonetta 2 and we think it’s going to be a fun game and the people who do play it are going to really enjoy it and I think that we made the right decision to make sure that game survived. I mean I’d rather be in a world with Bayonetta 2 than without”.
Actually, the world is not only better with Bayonetta2 in it, but the game will be better for just being on the Wii U, and that is not just some fanboy spouting.
The Wii U, hands down, is perhaps the most misunderstood system since the DS emerged with dual screens, and it might just be one of the most underestimated as well.
Not only has the Wii U surprises a lot techsperts with its surprising ability to perform and put out flawless 1080p 60fps for finessed exclusives, but it is perhaps the best choice for this game when the other systems are still trying to prove themselves with their own exclusives/cross platform games which have left the world wanting.
Also, lets face it, the game would be a mess if it had to be cross platform just like Banonetta where one version was superior to the other just because the dev teams lacked familiarity with the 360 and did not put forth the effort they could have for an American based system as opposed to a Japanese. Even scarier would be having to deal with the One’s bottle neck issues and trying to make a comparable version for a more powerful system and a less powerful system that has a few interesting tricks.
The actual fact that it will be on only one system lets the developers use that system to its fullest and of course allow them to achieve the best version of that game and not just a comparable.