Of all the announcements at E3 2014, Valhalla Studios’ Devil’s Third – created by Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki – being exclusive to the Wii U was the most unexpected. Originally meant to be published under THQ before the company went bankrupt, the game was in development limbo for several years before finally being announced for the Wii U.
Speaking to Polygon, Itagaki said that with concerns to working with Nintendo, “There are also cultural differences between the way that I’ve worked and the way Nintendo works, which is when it comes down to the basic grammar of games, the method of game creation. And so we certainly fought some, but I think that I saw the value in a lot of the ways that they do things and learned a great amount.
“Now this is close to a trade secret so I can’t say too much, but I feel like I learned the most fundamental meaning of what it means to push a button. When you tell someone, ‘Push the A button,’ there’s a wealth of information there. And I feel like all of us who have worked on this project, as a result, have grown a bit.”
Itagaki also says that the game is exclusive to the Wii U due to support from Nintendo. “I’ve been able to continue working with Danny and others who love games and love game development. That’s been the most important thing that has continued to sustain this. I’ve certainly realized that, at the age of 47, I need to be able to work with mature partners, and thankfully I was able to find Nintendo as a partner.
“They really supported my vision, and when I saw the level of commitment they were bringing to the project, I knew I had to follow through with them. I think a lot of people might have been surprised that such a violent game was going to be released on a Nintendo platform. But I think that you can say, from a certain perspective, things are getting interesting for Nintendo as well, making these kinds of choices.”
Devil’s Third is slated to release in 2014 for the Wii U. Are you looking forward to it? Let us know in the comments.