Nintendo Gets Dark With 'Devil's Third' On Wii U, Includes A Surprise PC Edition

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By Michael Justin Allen Sexton
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Nintendo may not get GTA V, Fallout 4, or the latest Doom, but gamers who own a Wii U will still be able to get their fill of violence in Devil's Third.

Nintendo is known for developing games that are safe for all audiences, and these games are typically not very violent. That's all well and good, but not even Nintendo can ignore that violent games represent a cornerstone of the gaming market. Nintendo seems to know that it can't have a successful game console without a few shall we say darker games, and to that end the company purchased Valhalla Games a few years back.

Valhalla Games was working on Devil's Third when Nintendo snapped it up, and the title was originally being designed for Xbox. The game is essentially a first-person shooter, but at times it shifts into melee combat and swordplay. Similar to Bayonetta 2 released last year, this game gives Nintendo's older audience an action-packed game in place of the countless other games of this nature released on other consoles but not released on Wii U.

What is unique about this title is that it is not a straight Wii U exclusive. Nintendo will publish a full game with a single-player story mode and an online multiplayer mode on the Wii U, but a separate copy of the game will be published and released on PC.

The PC version of the game will only be available for the online multiplayer experience and won't include the single-player story mode. Currently, there aren't any plans to take the game to any other system, but it is interesting that Nintendo would allow a company it owns to publish a game on anything besides a Nintendo console.

Because the single-player story isn't included on the PC version, and as a result is less likely to harm sales of the game on Wii U, this could be an attempt by Nintendo to pick up some extra revenue by opening one of its games to a wider audience while keeping the core content on its own console.

The game is expected to launch some time in Q4.

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Michael Justin Allen Sexton
Michael Justin Allen Sexton is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He covers hardware component news, specializing in CPUs and motherboards.
18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • James Mason
    :/ Nintendo, smh.

    I get Nintendo is always trying new things, but this isn't an interesting new thing, it's just a poor business decision that will earn them alot of flak when PC gamers get only "half" of a game.

    I should also say that I doubt the multiplayer on a WiiU FPS/TPS will be good enough for a PC gamer to make them even bother with it. The only interest PC gamers would have in the game would be the story, if it all compelling.

    Nintendo could easily make a lot of money if they weren't being such stuck-ups with their products and brands.
    Reply
  • Vlad Rose
    Nintendo is better than Sony is with their 'console only' exclusive tiles (Uncharted, Gran Turismo, etc.). Even better than Microsoft who literally takes games developed for PC originally and forcing them as console exclusives for a while (Halo, new Tomb Raider, etc).

    At least with what Nintendo's doing on this title, there will be something for the PC. Heck, it may even help spur WiiU sales as a result.
    Reply
  • xenol
    :/ Nintendo, smh.

    I get Nintendo is always trying new things, but this isn't an interesting new thing, it's just a poor business decision that will earn them alot of flak when PC gamers get only "half" of a game.

    I should also say that I doubt the multiplayer on a WiiU FPS/TPS will be good enough for a PC gamer to make them even bother with it. The only interest PC gamers would have in the game would be the story, if it all compelling.

    Nintendo could easily make a lot of money if they weren't being such stuck-ups with their products and brands.
    I don't think you understand the PC gaming market or Nintendo.

    First of all, the loud vocal group of PC gamers will complain regardless. It has a console version. That means it's either going to be a bad console port or a watered down-for-consoles game.

    Second, PC gamers care about the story? Last I checked, the top three played PC games were all multiplayer. And even then, games that do have storyline often aren't really cared about anyway. I don't play Skyrim or Fallout for its storyline (don't get me wrong, it was interesting, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't the selling point for most PC gamers who bought it). And the games that I have clocked more than 40 hours in (my average time to complete an RPG) are sandbox/open world style games or games that I've modded to hell and back.

    And besides, the PC version is free. There's really no risk in getting it.
    Reply
  • IInuyasha74
    The PC version is not free. Nintendo mentioned it would be free to try, but currently hasn't stated if they will do this with a limited demo version, a timed trailer, or some other method. Ultimately PC users who want to play it will need to purchase it.
    Reply
  • coolitic
    It's a bit of a long shot, but I hope this means we are more likely to get Metroid on the pc.
    Reply
  • alidan
    Nintendo is better than Sony is with their 'console only' exclusive tiles (Uncharted, Gran Turismo, etc.). Even better than Microsoft who literally takes games developed for PC originally and forcing them as console exclusives for a while (Halo, new Tomb Raider, etc).

    At least with what Nintendo's doing on this title, there will be something for the PC. Heck, it may even help spur WiiU sales as a result.

    tomb raider as far as im aware is a time exclusive, while crappy, isnt ripping a multiplat dev away from other platforms.

    and halo... well lets look at bunji for a moment... mac mac mac mac and windows later, mac and windows later... looks to me they were a mac developer and later became a pc because macs didn't cater to games, and when halo came out they went to microsoft because apple told them to pound sand, and the game that was going to be a pc version of halo was a rts, not a fps. than because it was microsoft published, they made the second game vista exclusive, fun fact, vanguard was also going to be published through microsoft but decided against it because of the same restriction.

    :/ Nintendo, smh.

    I get Nintendo is always trying new things, but this isn't an interesting new thing, it's just a poor business decision that will earn them alot of flak when PC gamers get only "half" of a game.

    I should also say that I doubt the multiplayer on a WiiU FPS/TPS will be good enough for a PC gamer to make them even bother with it. The only interest PC gamers would have in the game would be the story, if it all compelling.

    Nintendo could easily make a lot of money if they weren't being such stuck-ups with their products and brands.

    "doubt the multiplayer on a WiiU FPS/TPS"

    why? is it just the genre or is it because its a wiiu game? for me, late gen ps2 graphics were good enough for me to not care about the visuals anymore, wiiu is at least as powerful as a 360 or ps3 (i believe twice as powerful though) if i remember right, and when games are made, graphicly, its good enough... if anything holds it back it will be controlls, but i cant comment till the games out...


    Reply
  • James Mason
    16303658 said:

    :/ Nintendo, smh.

    I get Nintendo is always trying new things, but this isn't an interesting new thing, it's just a poor business decision that will earn them alot of flak when PC gamers get only "half" of a game.

    I should also say that I doubt the multiplayer on a WiiU FPS/TPS will be good enough for a PC gamer to make them even bother with it. The only interest PC gamers would have in the game would be the story, if it all compelling.

    Nintendo could easily make a lot of money if they weren't being such stuck-ups with their products and brands.

    "doubt the multiplayer on a WiiU FPS/TPS"

    why? is it just the genre or is it because its a wiiu game? for me, late gen ps2 graphics were good enough for me to not care about the visuals anymore, wiiu is at least as powerful as a 360 or ps3 (i believe twice as powerful though) if i remember right, and when games are made, graphicly, its good enough... if anything holds it back it will be controlls, but i cant comment till the games out...


    Mainly was concern about controls/gameplay feel, and then partly graphics.

    Nintendo could make a killing if it could do good ports of some it's popular brands/titles to PC though. Emulators are super popular. If you don't sell the product people want to buy, it's your own fault.
    Reply
  • Vlad Rose
    Actually, the original Halo that was originally to be on PC was a FPS. I remember it from the PCGamer magazine article comparing it to the Unreal Tournament series at the time. But yeah, you're right that Bungie was originally a Mac developer and that Microsoft tried to force it as a Vista exclusive on Halo 2.

    Fable was also another series that was originally stated for PC, then turned into an exclusive for Xbox, then eventually released as a horrid PC version port years later. There were a few others as well, but those 2 were the ones that made the most noise.
    Reply
  • airborn824
    WOnder what Nintendos plans are with this developer, surely they did not buy them for this IP as i dont hear about it. Maybe Nintendo wants more IPs for T and M ratings on the console. With a new CEO inc, i imagine things could possbily change but Nintendo is very old school
    Reply
  • alidan
    16303709 said:
    16303658 said:

    :/ Nintendo, smh.

    I get Nintendo is always trying new things, but this isn't an interesting new thing, it's just a poor business decision that will earn them alot of flak when PC gamers get only "half" of a game.

    I should also say that I doubt the multiplayer on a WiiU FPS/TPS will be good enough for a PC gamer to make them even bother with it. The only interest PC gamers would have in the game would be the story, if it all compelling.

    Nintendo could easily make a lot of money if they weren't being such stuck-ups with their products and brands.

    "doubt the multiplayer on a WiiU FPS/TPS"

    why? is it just the genre or is it because its a wiiu game? for me, late gen ps2 graphics were good enough for me to not care about the visuals anymore, wiiu is at least as powerful as a 360 or ps3 (i believe twice as powerful though) if i remember right, and when games are made, graphicly, its good enough... if anything holds it back it will be controlls, but i cant comment till the games out...


    Mainly was concern about controls/gameplay feel, and then partly graphics.

    Nintendo could make a killing if it could do good ports of some it's popular brands/titles to PC though. Emulators are super popular. If you don't sell the product people want to buy, it's your own fault.

    there is a difference with nintendo and everyone else they ever competed with, nintendo makes profit off every console they sell and always have, everyone else sells at cost or at loss to get better than nintendo.

    if nintendo does step away from the console race, than we could see a glut of their stuff come to the pc, but i highly doubt anything major would go pc while they still sell systems.
    Reply