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All Articles: The Wonderful 101
The Wonderful 101 Remastered will be released on May 19
With their Kickstarter campaign entering its final days, Platinum Games and Nighthawk Interactive have announced a release date for The Wonderful 101 Remastered. The campaign’s backers are still on track to receive the game in April, but all PC, PS4, and Switch owners will get a second chance to play the quirky superhero game on May 19.
Along with confirmation of the release date, Game Designer Hideki Kamiya published a heartfelt message to fans of the game on Platinum’s official website:
Re-Introducing the Wonderful 101
Hello, everyone. Platinum Games Chief Game Designer Hideki Kamiya here.
About seven years ago, we released The Wonderful 101. I’ve moved up to become a member of the Platinum Games executive board, but back in those days, I didn’t think very much about the business end of things (okay, I’ll admit that maybe I still don’t). I devoted all of my attention to creating games that met my own personal standards. The Wonderful 101 was the sixth game I’d directed throughout my career. Unfortunately, I can’t say it was much of a success, from a business standpoint.
But I’ve also never thought of it as a failure. I didn’t back then, and I don’t today. That’s because, to a game creator, a game is only a failure if it disappoints the gamers who play it. From the start, The Wonderful 101 didn’t quite reach a large enough audience for me to clearly call it either way.
So regardless of how The Wonderful 101 fared in the marketplace the first time around, I’m considering this a chance to show it to the world again. I’m looking forward to seeing how it measures up.
The Wonderful 101 has gotten this miraculous second chance thanks to all of you who’ve told us you wanted to play it, as well as the passionate PG staff who worked on it with me. We’re delighted to see it return on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Steam.
This isn’t just a simple port, either. We’ve tuned the controls for each new platform and made several adjustments that should make it easier to grasp and play. On top of that, we’ve improved the image quality and frame rate to suit modern hardware. On the whole, I’d say The Wonderful 101 Remastered is the definitive edition of the game!
We’ve loaded The Wonderful 101 Remastered with as much Platinum spirit as we could. I sincerely hope you’ll all play it and let us know what you think!
If you’re attending PAX East this weekend in Boston, you’ll be able to get some demo time with The Wonderful 101 Remastered at Platinum’s booth. A short Release Date Trailer for the game has also been embedded above.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch
Tagged PAX East 2020, The Wonderful 101
Platinum Games turns to Kickstarter to bring The Wonderful 101 Remastered to Switch, PS4, and PC
Grand Theft Auto V completely upended the video game industry when it was released in September 2013. It even managed to overshadow the first collaboration between Nintendo and Platinum Games, The Wonderful 101, which launched the same week. While GTA5 continues to smash sales records, the love for The Wonderful 101 has been kept alive thanks to a dedicated cult following that seems to grow larger every year.
And now it’s back!
After multiple rumors that a modern port was in the works, Platinum has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to bring the game to the Switch this April as The Wonderful 101 Remastered. The modest $50,000 target has already been reached, as have Stretch Goals to eventually bring the game to the PC and PS4. If the developer receives further funds from fans (which is almost a guarantee at this point), they plan to add a series of downloadable content to the game, which will be free for all players.
With the short turnaround time from campaign to release, it’s safe to say that the Switch version of The Wonderful 101 Remastered is already complete and what backers are actually doing is pre-ordering their copy of the game through Kickstarter. Fans can also pledge to receive a wide range of goodies through the campaign, including t-shirts, custom controllers, several soundtrack options, character figures, a comic, and more.
Platinum will self-publish The Wonderful 101 Remastered, though they’re also partnering with Nighthawk Interactive to distribute a Physical Version of the game to backers and through retail stores.
I expect we’re going to learn a lot more about the game as the campaign continues through the end of the month.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Switch
Tagged The Wonderful 101
Golden Pixel Awards 2013: What We Loved, What We Hated, and What We’ll Never Forget
2013 was an amazing year in gaming. While we got loads of sequels, we also got some beautiful new IPs, and plenty of new hardware to enjoy it all.
Naughty Dog took a break from Uncharted and gave us The Last of Us, BattleBlock Theater reminded us why we love The Behemoth, and Ken Levine and his crew unleashed BioShock: Infinite on the gaming world. And let’s not forget all the amazing ports, including Diablo III (on consoles), Fez (on the PC), and Hotline Miami (on the PS3 and Vita). Yes, this year took our breath away, and cramped our thumbs like the good old days of the NES. We here at Warp Zoned have been gaming our little fingers off the last 12 months, and we’ve been even harder at work the last few weeks trying to decide what we loved and hated about gaming in 2013. After several days of deliberation, here’s what we came up with. And now it’s time for us to get back to gaming… 2014 is ready for us. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Etcetera, Features, PC, PS3, Top Story, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged BattleBlock Theater, Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians, BioShock Infinite, Dead Space 3, Diablo III, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Grand Theft Auto V, Legend of Dungeon, Ridiculous Fishing, Super Mario 3D World, Tearaway, The Last of Us, The Starship Damrey, The Wonderful 101, Tomb Raider, TowerFall, Typing of the Dead: Overkill
New Releases: Grand Theft Auto V, The Wonderful 101, More
This week’s edition of “New Releases” will be considerably shorter than normal because of one game: Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V. Almost every other publisher is taking the week off to avoid the PS3 and Xbox 360 juggernaut. The theme of GTA5 is “The Almighty Dollar” and with almost no competition this week, Rockstar will be sure to rake in a lot of them.
But Nintendo has never been a company that cares about what other publishers are doing, so they’ve slotted The Wonderful 101 into the calendar as the week’s other big release. The Platinum Games-developed strategic superhero squad simulation is available in stores today for the Wii U.
The remaining new releases are made up of a smattering of budget titles including Hot Wheels: World’s Best Driver (3DS, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360), We Sing: 80s (Wii), Takedown: Red Sabre (PC), and a boxed copy of Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded (PC).
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Grand Theft Auto V, The Wonderful 101
The Wonderful 101 Review: Another Golden Hit From Platinum Games
With its crazy sense of style, colorful worlds, and oddball humor, The Wonderful 101 feels like Director Hideki Kamiya’s spiritual successor to Viewtiful Joe. As the title suggests, instead of controlling just one masked superhero, you take charge of a 100-strong battalion as the 101st member of the squad. So how does controlling an army of shape-shifting warriors handle?
In a word? Viewtifully. (more…)
Posted in Reviews, Top Story, Wii U
Tagged The Wonderful 101
Nintendo Download: Zelda II, Tecmo Bowl, Wonderful 101 (Sunday), more
It’s another big week for the Nintendo Download as Platinum Games’ strategic superhero smash ’em up The Wonderful 101 will be available on the Wii U eShop on Sunday.
If you’re looking to download something today, the Wii U’s Virtual Console expands by one with the addition of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Over on the 3DS, everyone’s favorite football game, Tecmo Bowl, can be downloaded just in time for the start of the season.
And we’re still not done. The DSi is back this week with three new titles… a word game compilation (Letter Challenge) and two interactive storybooks (Tales to Enjoy! Little Red Riding Hood and Tales to Enjoy! Puss In Boots).
You can find more information on all of these titles after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii U
Tagged The Wonderful 101
Nintendo is bringing 25 playable games to PAX Prime 2013
The games industry is squarely focused on Gamescom this week, but don’t forget that PAX Prime is just around the corner. Nintendo surely hasn’t forgotten, as the consolemaker has announced they will be bringing a huge slate of playable games to the Washington State Convention Center next week.
All of Nintendo’s major releases this Fall (including Pokemon X/Y, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and many more) will be playable on the show floor. Third party games from Yacht Club (Shovel Knight), Sega (Sonic: Lost World), WayForward (Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse), and Vblank (Retro City Rampage, which is coming to the 3DS). Fans can even get their hands on Bayonetta 2, which won’t be released for the Wii U until next year.
But the real star of Seattle will be The Wonderful 101. Nintendo plans to devote an entire panel, “Inside The Wonderful 101 with Hideki Kamiya,” to the game. They also plan to sell 101 copies of the game to fans each day of the show… two weeks before its September 15 release date.
PAX Prime 2013 takes place August 30 through September 2. The full list of playable games Nintendo will showcase at the show can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged PAX Prime 2013, The Wonderful 101
The Wonderful 101 will be released on September 15
During this morning’s Nintendo Direct presentation, the publisher announced that Platinum Games’ superheroic Wii U title, The Wonderful 101, will be released on September 15. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata didn’t have anything else to say about the game today, but he did promise that we’d learn more about The Wonderful 101 after this year’s E3 Expo.
Platinum Games is also hard at work on another Wii U exclusive, Bayonetta 2. It wasn’t mentioned during today’s Nintendo Direct presentation.
Posted in News, Wii U
Tagged The Wonderful 101