Did you have a Wii U? Statistically speaking, the answer to this question is a resounding "no," but one must admit that there were some very appealing games. Some of the Wii U's best games, such as "Bayonetta 2" and "Hyrule Warriors," were eventually ported to the Nintendo Switch, and Platinum Games' "The Wonderful 101" is coming soon. That in itself is not that shocking. What's odd here is that it took both Nintendo's blessing and fan funding to make it happen.
The information comes from the Kickstarter page for "The Wonderful 101" and tells (almost) the whole story. Platinum has developed titles such as "Bayonetta", "Nier", and "Astral Chain": while it has developed titles such as "Automata" and "Astral Chain", this unusual company does not publish its own games. It relies on major publishers such as Sega, Nintendo, Square Enix, and Activision. Since Nintendo published The Wonderful 101, it seems that porting the game to the Switch should have been left to Nintendo's discretion.
And in a sense, it was. Instead of publishing the Switch port as is, Nintendo gave Platinum permission to raise funds on Kickstarter. While this probably won't fully cover the cost of the port, it is more than enough to show that the project is financially viable.
But here's where it gets interesting. Some of the game's stretch goals included a port to Steam and PS4, meaning that Nintendo was willing to allow their game to be released on competing platforms. Platinum did not elaborate on their relationship with Nintendo, but offered the following two tidbits on their Kickstarter FAQ page:
"PlatinumGames has been able to grow over the years thanks to our players and fans, but we have to admit that our own IP We have yet to fully realize our long-held dream of self-publishing." Now, with Nintendo's support, we have the opportunity to bring this game to Nintendo Switch and other platforms!"
The rest of the Kickstarter project is pretty standard crowdfunding: by plunking down ¥3,900 ($35.70), you can purchase a digital copy of the game on the platform of your choice when it is released. As the reward price goes up, you can get physical copies of the game, soundtracks, keychains, t-shirts, action figures, and more.
Perhaps the most attractive reward starts at the 11,000 yen ($100.68) tier, where you get a block from Hideki Kamiya, one of the company's most beloved game designers. Kamiya is notoriously less than patient with people on Twitter, and being blocked by him is both an honor and an embarrassment. (The reward for blocking is optional, but it seems like a good trade-off for us, since we get a personalized tweet right before he hits the "block" button.)
For those who have never played The Wonderful 101, the premise alone may be enough to sell the game. You control a team of superheroes who can combine their powers in a series of transformations called Unite Morphs. Using these morphs, your team can fight enemies, solve puzzles, and traverse tricky levels. As more citizens are added to the team, they can transform into larger and more complex configurations.
The Wonderful 101 Kickstarter is different in several ways. It is an indie developer trying to publish its own game with the full cooperation of its parent company with an open hand, and it may be the first time it took $100 for someone to be blocked on Twitter.
Either way, The Wonderful 101's journey to Switch is going to be a very strange one.
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