Exclusive: Project CARS "Simply Too Much For Wii U", Developer Now Waiting On New Nintendo Hardware

Got my morning lulz in thanks to this.

Yah, I was definitely expecting this. It's too bad for all the fans of this project. You'll just have to get this on PC.

Shrug As will I, assuming no one else beats them to the punch with their own decent racing Sim...

Well, we knew this was going to happen.

Really wanted this to work....too bad. Makes one wonder if the effort was ever put in though or if this was a decision made a year ago because of numbers

"Wii U version was always a maybe" - Lying Sods

Well then lets hope they put it on the NX if at all

They say it's 'Too much for the Wii U', but lets be honest, they've already announced they're working on Project Cars 2, why would they bother with PC1 on Wii U anymore.

Then why make Wiiu owners wait for this? Just tell them you can't do it,it's that simple. You did not had to lie to them about this for so long jesus.

so on NintendoNX then

Eh, this is why I don't back kick starters. They said that the Wii U could handle it if they just down scaled it, so if they are unwilling to do it, then so be it.

Incompetent liers, end of story.

I wish they would have released a video or some screenshots from the cancelled Wii U version so that we can compare what they look like against the PS4/Xbox One versions.

Nintendo fans need to learn to stop being personally offended by developers making decisions to protect their bottom line. Nintendo fans seem to think that 3rd party developers and publishers should continue to put games on Nintendo hardware when they have no intention of ever supporting the 3rd party games. Essentially, they seem to want 3rd parties to lose money, waste time, and damage their bottom line just to put games on Nintendo systems where they will not be supported by the audience. Just because.

If you're whining about "this is why Kickstarter is bad" or complaining that they should've known all along the game wouldn't work, or any of this crybaby nonsense, you're demonstrating staggering ignorance to how development often works. Unfortunately, between when they announced the game and hoped to bring it to Wii U and when it released, the Wii U failed hard, proved to be a waste of time for 3rd parties, and failed to outsell the Dreamcast despite being out for quite a bit longer. Besides those problems, the Wii U was built with Nintendo's lazy attitude, which filled the console with generation-old innards that couldn't handle the game.

It sucks, but most of you were never going to support the game anyway, and too many others very obviously do not understand how game development works and focus can change over time.

Someone call Unseen64, I want to see footage of the alpha version on Wii U running at 5fps.

@Quorthon I wasn't gonna say a damn thing to you. But here you go they been lying Wiiu owners for a while now! You cannot be, this much of an idiot to not know that. And you blame them for this? For gods sake they were told many times,the Wiiu version was coming out great,running great and looking fantastic! And now they say it can't even do 20fps and i bet looks awful. So who screwed who here?

@antdickens people would had just accused the developers of not trying hard enough and letting the Wii U owners down.

Just remember, when Project Cars 2 comes around, don't go asking for money from Nintendo fans when you know you can't deliver. And if they are smart, Nintendo fans won't give you a cent/pound.

To be honest with you, I'm not surprised. They had struggles with the game running on the Wii U from the beginning, and this news isn't shocking.

@Quorthon the thing is, a lot of people supported the crowdfunding because they promised a wii u version in their original statement, and they even mentioned they saw the game running on wii u, so... there's that

I don't care if they don't release a game on wii u, but false promises for crowdfunding are way too low for a game dev company

@TwilightAngel

You still kinda didn't say anything to me. There is some incoherence in your post. No, I don't blame the developers for this. The early version of the game that ran well on the Wii U may well have been an extension of the cancelled X360/PS3 version, and as development rapidly progressed on higher-end platforms, the Wii U version struggled. This is not hard to understand.

Essentially, they'd have to spend extra time trying to make a very high-end game run on a single piece of out-dated hardware while the good version of the game run on three platforms with far less difficulty, and guaranteed higher sales. The Wii U version was likely put on the backburner, due to the vastly weaker hardware, so they could finish the game for XBO, PS4, and PC, and after that, they realized it had changed so much, the Wii U could no longer handle it.

This is not a difficult concept to understand. At all.

They'd have two perfectly good reasons to put the Wii U version on the side: Weak hardware and poor sales of the hardware (and to extension, notably poor sales of anything 3rd party on that hardware).

@Quorthon I'd like to remind you, that we were fed stories about Wii U version "looking fantastic" and "running great" for months back in 2014, before it all went silent suddenly. It's not about Wii U being what it is, it's about simple, flat-out lies that the developer spewed in hopes of gaining publicity it seems. Most people are angry just because of that - lies and false promises. Nothing else.

Aside from that, as a person who does understand how games are developed, I must say that I am baffled by your claim that third parties are just hurting themselves putting games on Wii U. Why is that? Because of poor quality stuff that gets developed? That's not Wii U's fault and I'm sure you know that. Many independent developers actually profited from Wii U despite low install base. And look at PS4 and XBO - both are far more powerful than Wii U and even there most companies fail to deliver a product that is playable. Because Witcher 3 running at 20-30 fps is certainly not. It's not about hardware, it's about attitude. And poor sales of anything 3rd party on Wii U are a result of poor quality of almost anything third party and apparently - of Nintendo gamers having quality standards.

Can't release it on the U? Cool, just don't blame it on the Wii U hardware. Not when Nintendo manages to release games that look great and play at 60 frames per second, such as 3D World, Tropical Freeze, MK8 or Smash U, a feat that few first/third party games achieve on other consoles of past or current gen...

@derek_combatir

It's not a false promise if the situation changes, and way, way, way more people supported the game to be released on other platforms. Nintendo fanboys just skewed any and every poll on the game because of sites like this talking it up unrealistically. Look at how many absurd articles appear on this very site about games that "might come to Wii U." They even threw one out there for Shenmue III before bothering to learn that Sony had a heavy hand in bringing the game back. You guys suck up this media and shut off your brain in the process.

It's unfortunate that the few supporters on Kickstarter who wanted the Wii U version aren't getting it, but then again, out of all these articles on this site about this game, I don't think I can recall one person here actually stating they supported it. But lots of claims that people did.

This is just typical Nintendo fan butthurt being levied against a 3rd party because they had to retract a Nintendo version to protect their bottom line.

If I really want to play it someday, I'll get it on Steam during a $5 sale.

@Kifa

That you are throwing out the tired and pathetic "all third party games are low quality compared to Nintendo games" argument is a massive red flag. That you frankly just assume third party games are low quality is a Nintendo fanboy trait, and counter to the number of high-rated 3rd party games the Wii U received, including enhanced versions of Arkham City, Ninja Gaiden 3, Deus Ex, Need for Speed, Mass Effect 3, Tekken Tag 2, etc. Those are all "low quality" to Nintendo fanboys because they're third party, and it's an attitude that has haunted Nintendo since the N64 era. But at least you have high quality games like Nintendo Land, Game & Wario, Pokemon Rumble U, Steel Diver, Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, Flingsmash, Wii Party, Wii Play, etc.

If you want to make the charge of me cherry-picking low-quality titles to make a point, at least recognize the gross hypocrisy in your statement first, because that is exactly how you approached third party games and you have completely demonstrated why this game should never come to Wii U.

There were some awesome realistic-style racing games on the PS3/360. I don't think that the WiiU is really that much less powerful than a PS3/360 that it simply couldn't run something like Codemasters Grid. That's all I was hoping for from P Cars Wii U. Be evidently they've been having a great time simulating the wobble of an antenna and the thermal expansion of a tire, and that's become central to the game, and therefore the Wii U isn't up to the task. Oh well! They should have cancelled it with the 360 and PS3.

@BinaryFragger

I think the game probably was running well on the Wii U at one time, before they focused more on the XBO, PS4, and PC version, which advanced well beyond what the Wii U could do. And when they came back to the Wii U, the hardware was no longer capable of all that had changed.

Oh well their loss.kinda funny they're hoping for new hardware when according to everyone "in the know" we're getting a glorified android box.

Not a surprise at this point, but feels almost too weird and wrong considering this [http://www.projectcarsgame.com/home/which-platform-are-you-getting-project-cars-on] The Wii U version was the most wanted on their site during development and there it even state "Coming to...." without maybes, just saying ^_^;

I didn't follow in detail the crowfunding or development story, but they surely knew very well they had an active interested crowd on Wii U (indeed they are the one who hyped such crowd for begin with) and I don't have the impression they ever worried to communicate properly with it.

I suppose it's a better excuse than 'It won't sell because Mario Kart'

@Quorthon Very nice post. Hate people that won't buy non-Nitendo published games. I have so many great 3rd party games for all my Nintendo systems.

YOU PEOPLE are missing out. And you know who YOU are.

@Quorthon I know you're a developer (if I am to believe some of your prior posts), but come on now.

The developer, in this instance, should have been as transparent as possible, and that is what is riling people up.
Fine, you think Wii U is a turd, and is the primary reason behind this event transpiring. I respect that. But, the developer has to answer to the people who funded the development in the first place - which in this case, are the people who Kickstarted the title.

it doesn't even look fun

Not surprised, and it's the right decision. The game was going to be terrible on Wii U anyway, with the awful oversight of no analog triggers. Combined that with at best 30 fps, with any weather effects killing it to below 25. Citing games like Smash and Mario Kart running 60 on Wii U is so beyond asinine. If you do that, it shows how little you know about game programing.

Nintendo fans are going to whine and complain, as if the majority that will were going to buy a 3rd party hardcore racing sim anyway. And by the way pCars 2 isn't really in development. It's been announced because it's content is going to be community driven, yet again, and the studio wanted to get out ahead of that. Fact is, pCars 1 wasn't even a finished games and the studio is still making content for the game all the time. Their crowdfunded sponsors on their personal site (WMD Portal, or whatever it's called) send along updates to the public, and it's pretty clear they're still wrapped up with the first game and delivering content they promised. The Wii U port was part of those updates, and it became pretty clear that it wasn't worth painstaking effort.

@BakaKnight: that poll was opened in April of 2014, yet all the comments are from May of 2015 - and they're all from disgruntled Wii U owners. Seeing as the poll is still open, it's pretty clear Wii U owners retroactively flooded that old poll after the news in May that the Wii U port probably wasn't coming. Who knows what it looked like last year. Well actually, I do know what it looked like. It's pretty obvious that PC was the most demanded. Seeing as that's where the racing sim crowd is, it's not surprising.

@Quorthon Uhm. In which part of my post did I suggest any kind of comparison between third party games and Nintendo published/made ones? Because I don't believe I ever did that. And that would be actually pointless, because as you said yourself - there is a ton of poor quality first-party games on all Nintendo systems, and that is a fact that nobody can deny. I also never said a word about cherry-picking anything. I just pointed out that people don't like being lied to, and that was the case with C.A.R.S.

As for the games you have mentioned... Well, Arkham City suffers from really, really poor performance on Wii U, and I'd not call that a high quality 3rd party game (I'm talking quality, not ratings, mind you). Need For Speed Most Wanted is actually the best console rendition of this game, but suffered from almost zero advertising (nothing on eShop, Nintendo-related sites etc.) and even EA seemed to omit this edition in many press releases (Criterion spoke about that a while ago). Deus Ex is also an excellent example, but it simply released too late - by the time Director's Cut edition was out, I'd say everybody interested already played the game, and the rest simply didn't care. Mass Effect 3 presents another issue - how can you expect a third part of trilogy to sell well on a platform that has no previous parts available, plus when it has no DLC support? Nobody in their right mind would buy ME3 for Wii U knowing that they won't be able to expand the game. I won't touch Tekken and Ninja Gaiden because I'm just talking about games I have personal experience with. And I have a few third-party games on my Wii U, but as a multi-platform user and a PC gamer, I often choose the latter because I go where performance and support is best.

That's all. I don't know how I am a "fanboy" (how can I be one when having multiple consoles from multiple companies and a gaming PC to boot, all of which is used?), nor why you have decided to insult me. I never wanted C.A.R.S, because that's not the kind of game I'd play, but the developer's attitude is not something I can look over.

Out of curiosity, can anyone name the last 3rd party title that had no Nintendo (Hyrule Warriors and Bayonetta 2 don't count) help that we weren't let down by or disappointed about?

Because I'm stumped all the way back to Arkham City.

Sharing is caring, thx for the info: http://www.nintendo-magazin.de/?p=2724

Title should read "Work: Simply too much for Slightly Mad Studios."

@Quorthon
Thank you so much for posting this comment. Just one correction: this game was not funded by Kickstarter. It's a common misconception that just won't die. In fact, it seems Nintendo fans had a ton of misconceptions about this game's situation on Wii U; I know I did back before I expanded my gaming horizons.
Anyway this game had its own crowdfunding campaign that Slightly Mad did themselves and this was done back before there was even talk of a Wii U version.
I can't say that I'm not disappointed by this news, but I guess I should've expected the cancellation. The Wii U is simply too slow for a sim as ambitious as this. It wasn't just graphics; there were too many other elements to this game that would demand far more processing power even with adequate optimization.
Whelp, at least we still have arcade racers like FAST NEO coming. Of course they're probably nowhere near as ambitious, expansive, and demanding as CARS, but they play at Wii U's strengths to deliver something pretty and fun.
But yeah, instead of just ogling FAST NEO and flaming CARS, people need to realize these games are doing two completely different things.

A quote from some time ago: "Project CARS Will Showcase The Hidden Power of the Wii U – Slightly Mad Studios" yeah, ok... LOL

http://gamingbolt.com/project-cars-will-showcase-the-hidden-power-of-the-wii-u-slightly-mad-studios#BDyL42sTVKZp5DSu.99

Just a word of advice next time, please DO NOT put the Wii U logo on the list of systems it's coming out for on all your marketing posters and whatnot if you're not even sure if you can deliver us the game. We're used to not getting ports but that's just very soul crushing...

@MrGawain That depends on if we take smaller indie devs into account. Let's assume that we do not and focus just on the "bigger" third-parties. I'd say that NFS: Most Wanted is a great third-party game I have on my Wii U, and that Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is quite a nice (if not lazy) port on that system. But otherwise I have most third party stuff on my gaming PC so... Yeah.

With indies taken into consideration I believe we could go on quite longer.

Didn't they already say this or did people just need reassurance that this wasn't coming to the Wii U?

@BLPs
Bring out all the JDs you got.

I have no problem with the fact that they couldn't get the game running on the Wii U. All they had to do was say, "We are having trouble with the Wii U version of Project Cars," and then either cancel it then or say "we'll keep working on it, but it may end up being cancelled," or something along those lines. Instead, they outright lied.
"The Wii U is more than capable of providing the core Project Cars experience."
"There's no conspiracy here..."
"So when we say the Wii U version is delayed in 2015 because we need a little more time, that's all it is."
"I've seen the Wii U version, I've seen it quite regularly. It's got dynamic time of day, weather - it looks phenomenal."
The fact that the Wii U version was cancelled doesn't bother me, I could simply buy the game on another platform. But after this type of behavior, I refused to buy the game on any platform.

@MrGawain
How about Need for Speed Most Wanted? It did come out later than the other versions, but the devs DID put in quite a lot of effort to deliver the best console version on Wii U. Of course it's too bad they didn't get rewarded for it since barely any Wii U owners bought it. It came late, but even then there should've been plenty of Wii U owners who would grab the game considering how starved for good games they were. It didn't even come as late as every other third party game at the time.

@KillScottKill To be fair I mentioned that old poll cause I saw how it was before, the Wii U even had the 51% of the votes at some point, but that was before the interest for the pc version raised, pushing that version to second place and almost reaching the Wii U level.

A poll anyway it's still not a huge proof or a contract that should force them to deliver the game to Wii U. I just think they saw very clearly that they had more than some potential customers on Wii U, so it is dissapointing how they dealed with this unavoidable cancellation.

@Quorthon I would have supported the game. As so would have many people. It looked like a decent racing sim.
What you don't seem to get was that we were promised a Wii U version, but after that we started to get a string of lies and excuses. Why couldn't the developers just say, " It's not coming to Wii U."?
Why you're blaming the fans is beyond me, honestly.

Translation: "We're lazy."

@MrGawain Affordable Space Adventures? Sports Ball?

I guess i'll rev up those engines with the PS4 version, and if I somehow don't get the game when the NX version comes out, then i'll rev up those engines with the NX version.

@Robotron2084
The anger ninty fans have mostly stem from the broken promises that the devs stupidly made in all their past interviews. They made the Wii U out to be powerful or at least powerful enough without first getting a full understand of its capabilities and limits. The limits pretty much got them in the end. Anyway, it looked like they did it to help promote the game but also to help make them look good to the industry. Every other dev was, nowaways proven justifiably, bashing on the Wii U's capabilities and here they were supporting it. As I see it, they're still a relatively new studio even with all the experienced members they have. They could make themselves look good to not only Nintendo fans, but to the entire industry. It would help them get a publisher for the game. If they could say that they could get their extremely ambitious game running smoothly and attractively on something as weak as Wii U and then go through with it, good things probably could've come their way.

i well not spend 1 cent on buying any game from this company, make any sequel you want, try tell me that my fault as a i still don't care
in conclusion "where too lazy to do anything on wii u and we really don't care anymore"
the problem is if im hearing what there saying is that there not giving refunds back to the people who wanted on wii u...

@Quorthon now now, saying nintendo fans are butthurt is a little too much, i am a huge nintendo fan, but i understand what you say, and i understand sometimes game development won't come as planned

My point is, they should have clarified this from the beginning, they did promise it, they did announce it, and they did give arguments of the game running on the wii u and looking great, so when you come to fans saying that, it means the game is going well

That, and adding the fact that they took years to confirm it's cancellation, well i think it is normal for people to feel deceived, we cannot continue with the argument of "it was to be expected" because it wasn't when the game started it's crowdfunding, back in the days the only thing we had was the game dev studio arguments, and that's it, people believed them and decided to support the development

However, as a game dev studio, you need to come clean, once you see the game won't be possible for specific consoles, you need to clarify that with the game audience, not just some random posts on forums without and official announcement.

I get what you say about articles saying "possibly coming to wii u", however, this is not the exact case, in this case we had proper word from the developer, and don't take this in the wrong way, i'm not attacking them i understand the situation, but the least people supporting your game deserves is for the game dev company to come clean and be completely transparent, why do i say this, because they didn't give a proper argument until after the game was released (specifically for the wii u), so instead of giving bad news from the beginning, they decided to make people wait.

Again, i understand things can go in a different way, not as expected, but it is their responsibility to give proper announcements if they see things going wrong, not after years of knowing and after countless times they mentioned "the game looks great on wii u", it's false advertising after all

We all saw this news comming a mile away after the last couple of statements from the devs.
Well another studio on my Blacklist. After all we are all poopy according to them.

I'm filing these worthless dirtbags in the same category as EA. At least Ubisoft kept its commitment for Watchdogs and then admitted it was done. Bethesda Softworks was upfront too about not supporting Wii U, as were Deep Silver, Square-Enix, Mojang, and Konami. I have respect for people who are upfront about their business plans and what not, even if it means no Wii U support. But I have a problem with bullpoopy excuses (i.e. Gamefreak's Tembo) or withdrawing support after acting as if its happening.

@Quorthon That is exactly what happened straight from Ian Bell's mouth. I read those exact words on the Project Cars forums. Too bad they could not scale back the physics model they bloated for PC, PS4, XONE versions for the Wii U version. I assume it was possible but they just weren't willing to backtrack that far.

There's definitely some fault on both sides... Slightly Mad probably shouldn't have promised a Wii U version if that weren't certain they could deliver one. But then, Nintendo shouldn't have designed a console that's so damn hard to develop for.

This is probably the least surprising news I've seen in awhile. And if Nintendo makes their next hardware an obstacle like they have with the Wii U, I think we'll see them out of the hardware business sooner rather than later.

The main problem with these guys is that they talked too much, promised everything was alright and that Wii U would get a version... They should have cancelled this with the PS3/x360 ports and they would not get this backlash.

Actually, its also too much for PS4 and XB1 and its terribly optimized for PC.

ayy lmao

@Quorthon Well said.

Power matters. I hope Nintendo understands this now. The current console climate we're in simply demands it.

Right decision from the devs. The castrated version would have sold abysimal.

If you wanna play simulations wiiU is not the right console anyway. The game is a wonderful sim by the way, it is really good in giving you the feeling of a real race weekend. Get it if u can.

@Quorthon well said, as always.

@Quorthon so.. we cannot voice our opinions because???? This developer, along with the others guilty of this, just don't want to take the time or effort to understand Nintendos new system. They are like bullies on the playground.. If you look too different then you will be picked on and not taken seriously.

SMS revealed themselves to be filthy snakes when it was revealed pCars had nVidia Gameworks BS that made AMD and not-so-old nVidia card users have performance issues

The PC version does have some noticeable issues, so I'm not so sure about this being a quality project.

Oh well, another reason to be excited about Fast Racing NEO

@Quorthon Crowdfunding isn't exactly the same as kickstarter but Nintendo fans were promised a Wii U version so thats what we expected.Its also stupid to blame the fans on this one. If they realized the Wii U version was a lost cause they should have just come out and told us but instead they fed us a string of lies, misconceptions, and half truths. All that time they insisted the Wii U version was going great and that PC would utilize the Wii U's secret sauce. It practically borders on false advertising. You should realize its crap devs pull like this that destroys the trust and respect of the systems userbase. Number 1 third party rule of any console don't burn bridges with the systems fanbase

@AJ_Lethal The WiiU has a AMD GPU... wonder if that has anything to do with it.

@Quorthon "Weak hardware and poor sales of the hardware (and to extension, notably poor sales of anything 3rd party on that hardware).? Then why didn't they say this in the first place? They could'ave said it and be done it's that simple. That's what i'm saying they lied for months for no reason,to keep Wiiu owners happy. And no i'm not damage controlling the Wiiu not having third party support,all i'm saying is they lied for months and now they say the truth? That's pretty messed up

I like how someone's complaining about fanboys in a dedicated website. Good job. It's just as bad if all you do is criticize, be negative and shot down every single opinion regarding something. Two sides of a coin.

They kept promising the game was coming out great and that it was possible to release it on wii u, yet dropped the act completely as soon as they realized they could just profit from the pc version. I was interested in this. I'm not interested in having a gaming pc so I was genuinely excited to try a new genre for me on a console I enjoy, but it's nice to see some developers just don't care about keeping their word. I'll just get a car sim on my ps3 to scratch that itch.

Got this for $4.99 on PSN thanks to a DLC glitch a few weeks ago. So, LOL.

Well.....time to order Need for Speed I guess. I knew I should have snagged it for $18.99 when I had the chance but I wanted a good SIM racer for my system and pCARS seemed like it would deliver.....then the delays started, and the rumblings and rumors, then statements from SMS assuring that things were progressing well. Too bad in the end. I really wonder what the fate of the Wii U would have been had they gone X86?

All these talks about power and the ps4 and xb1 arent better than a low-mid entry gaming PC from 2 years ago.

Advertising can do wonders

@Gso PS4 and XBO use AMD APUs, so... no

So first they say they can do it to get their project funded, then they completely drop it when they got enough?
That isn't the usual screwed up third-party company I usually see.

This is just not Nintendo's summer.

@AJ_Lethal True

@AJ_Lethal and i doubt any developer would be dumb enough to use gameworks on consoles, they are just too weak.

Eh, what a crock. Any game can run on any system. 25fps after a lousy 6 month is pretty good tbh. Had they invested half the effort into this version as the others they'd have it running just fine. Bunch of lying snakes trying to weasel their way out of responsibility. When they were looking for money it was a different story.

Take your game elsewhere and keep it. Cause I'm certainly not buying it- not on NX or any other system.

In fact I take that back. I hope they do port to NX just so I can have the pleasure of not buying it all over again.

Who cares... Rather play Mario Kart 8 anyways

@Quorthon Dude, you're such a walking contradiction that it's not even funny...it's actually kind of sad. The Wii U version was part of the KS goals, if I recall correctly, so the whole project has basically been a bait-and-switch. I commend Slightly Mad for at least proposing to bring the game to NX, at least. However, your attitude towards this is worse than NL's poor, and short-sighted, reception to Devil's Third.

@Quorthon

You go to the Nintendolife comment section and proceed to insult Nintendo fans and condescend to everyone who tries to have a conversation with you. You undermine your own argument with mud slinging and name calling. People aren't disagreeing with you because they're "butthurt fanboys", they are responding to a bully. You know, you can make an argument without being a complete jerk.

The right call, really, and as far as I remember, they only talked about PC during their funding drive—a drive that got them in a bit of trouble with regulators in the UK.

Thinking I might get a PS4 if I get the new job/big bump in pay that looks likely. Between this, Star Wars Battlefront, and No Man's Sky, I'd spend a lot of time on that system.

@Faruko >comparing consoles to gaming PCs

You realize that consoles aren't as powerful as dedicated gaming PCs so that they can maintain affordability to the mass market, right? If console makers tried to compete with PC power, they would lose millions in sales.

Close to not getting it funded so they announced Wii U. Soon it was funded, with promises it was already running on Wii U. And now it's gone. Any Australian backers might be able to get a refund due to Australian consumer law.
Did they try using downloaded texture packs and various heavily used files like Xenoblade Chronicles X, or was that not going to be enough?

It's at the point that I don't think anyone really cares anymore anyway...
This is a thing of the past.

@kensredemption Project CARS, to my knowledge, was never on Kickstarter. It was on World of Mass Development and they got into trouble with the Financial Conduct Authority for how they were doing it.

@Quorthon I'm no Nintendo fan boy (I own a WiiU but my primary console is PS4), but those 3rd party games really are poor conversions. I played about 30 minutes of deus ex before I had to give in and trade it. As with most third party games, the frame rate was lower than it's PS3 counterpart, in this case to the point it was a pain to look at and aiming was a chore. The first party games look and play amazingly, but third party games all show signs of struggle with the system and compare unfavourably to last gen versions.

@KillScottKill Yes, but there are builds out there with better performance for comparable prices.

Not every PC needs to cost 2k you know ?

@arnoldlayne83 Many Wii U owners backed this - ie pre-bought it for the Wii U,which means they already mad money from it. Not the first game developers to promise a Wii U version on Kickstarter and never deliver (I backed the Terminator 2 pinball table and still no Wii U version news).

Okay, I can accept that the WiiU isn't powerful enough for Project CARS without very embarrassing compromises. If the WiiU got an inferior version, I would be among the first to say "Why did you even bother?", simply because the detailed visual representation is one of the strongest points this game has.
However, I#m not willing to believe for a single second that they couldn't have realized that much earlier in development, or possibly even during the crowdfunding period. The WiiU lacking the horsepower to run this game on the same level as XBone/PS4 is unfortunate, but not their fault - but that absolutely doesn't apply to their lack of planning. Not to speak of the media buzz they generated among WiiU owners who actually hoped to see this game in all of its glory (including me, despite not liking racing sim's at all).

Who gaves a monkeys flying Scheisse this looks like every other sim racer not missing out on a lot ..Mario kart 8 Bebe

@The_Dude_Abides If you are making a game and funding it through Kickstarter, all you need to do to get it funded is announce a Wii U version. Well, it certainly adds a lot of people who pre-buy a game for the Wii U that has not even been made yet.

Also, in the overview document, they talked about the Madness engine running across platforms, including the Wii U. They never said there—or as far as I know in their WMD funding pitch—that Project CARS as a specific title was coming to the Wii U. Just that their engine could run on it. (Not well, apparently)

@Quorthon I am not upset for them making a business decision. I am upset that they have been claiming since near the beginning of the project that it was going to be on Wii U. You can look at the internet archive pages for the project when it was just that, a project of their crowdfunding initiative, and within a few months of being announce it claimed Wii U.

They should have either been upfront when they dropped 360/PS3 support to cancel the Wii U version also, or properly managed their project to keep it within the specs of the systems they claimed to be supporting.

EDIT: Just to clarify, it's the same reason that Activision and Ubisoft got my ire when they pushed out marketing material with the Wii U symbol on it for Assassin's Creed: Rouge and the latest Call of Duty with absolutely no intent to publish on the console.

@Quorthon
I have no problem with companies making decisions for their bottom line.
But to implicitly promise and use that to generate funding for development ... that gives crowdfunding a bad name. This game dropped PS3, X360 and now WiiU. I wonder how much of the funds for the games were raised from people wanting/thinking they could get those versions.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-27-slightly-mads-project-cars-raises-500-000-from-crowd-funding
I forgot, not Kickstarter, but still raised plenty of funds from people pre-purchasing a Wii U version.

He's just trolling now.

x86 ≠ PowerPC

Lots of work to be done.

inb4 the developers have problems getting it to run on NX.

Can we please stop with this Kickstarter bs. The game was not on Kickstert. It was funded through different means.

Still the game was launched as a PS3, 360, WiiU, PC title. And they took money from players of these systems. All but one of those initial system got dropped.

Its a company that should not be supported by anyone in the future.

@Quorthon dropping knowledge in this comment section. Keep speaking truth.

@Sinister They are trying to fund Project Cars 2 now

Let's see...you say that it's coming on to Wii U. You say that it's working great. Then you do a complete 180' and say that the Wii U can't handle it? ...What?

@-Godot Ha, you'll need a new liver by lunch time then.

A shame but not surprising...

This was not a surprise, the only surprise is they left it this long to confirm it.
I believe the WiiU version was canned months ago even before they made the announcement about the problems they were having.
I think they should have just said "game cancelled" and left out the "we're going to wait for the next hardware" as to some this brings false hope and some will see this as a promise that PC2 will be on the mysterious NX.
If the NX is a cross mobile home console, or indeed a dedicated home console, with the leaked / rumoured chip set that will be at the heart of the NX. I am certain that SMS wouldn't be developing for that either nor will, Activision, EA, UbiSoft, Capcom or any of the other big players.
It's very hard to change a perception/reputation that has been built over three generations of consoles. Unless the NX is something totally revolutionary like the Wii was, the NX will just add to the gaming world perceptions of Nintendo consoles.

@Faruko And like every good sheep gamers will fund it.

Thats the problem right now. Bad behavior is getting rewarded. Just look at WB, EA and Ubi. They pull stunts like BMAK, BMO, WD, ACU, BF4 or BFH and they still sell millions.

@Quorthon Once again, here you are blaming the victims to push your anti-Nintendo bias onto everyone else. Whatever you may think about Nintendo games (and their fans, obviously), the game's lack of release on Wii U clearly isn't due to lack of support from Wii U owners (who greatly helped fund the project in its Kickstarter phase), but due to a flip-flopping perception of the developer that couldn't fulfill its promises to its game's backers. Don't you think, then, that those same supporters are at least a little entitled to be upset that they have been lied to by a developer they've trusted?

Overall, this isn't an issue of Wii U's current general lack of third-party support, at all, considering Wii U fans were some of the biggest supporters of Project CARS' release. It's due to a poor choice of a developer, whose current statements regarding the status of the game should not be defended in light of past statements predicting its release. Also, since you seem so quick to point the finger at Nintendo fans, realize that Nintendo, themselves, does not break promises to their fans about releasing games, often, unlike Ubisoft, EA, Slightly Mad Studios, etc. Just look at the situation of Devil's Third's upcoming release in North America, for a good example: Nintendo wasn't going to release it, themselves, but due to fan reaction, they recanted. Yet, so many other publishers, when faced with similar outcry from Wii U owners, simply just ignore all that they hear.

Feel free to criticize the Wii U third-party situation as much as you want, but please use relevance in your criteria, next time. Your general disdain of Nintendo isn't convincing anyone, and it is in very poor form.

April 2013:

"What we´re going to make sure is that the Wii U version is not the worst

one, it won´t be a crappy version. We want people to get the game and

say `Holy s***, that looks amazing!´"

SOURCE: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/04/project_cars_dev_making_sure_wii_u_doesnt_get_a_crappy_version

December 2013:

"The Wii U is more than capable of providing the core Project CARS

experience. Sure, some super-high-level graphical effects may not be

possible but in comparison it also offers a unique interaction

experience via the GamePad controller, with the second screen

potentially becoming your track map overview, rear-view mirror,

telemetry, or simply mimicking a real race car steering wheel whilst you

use the gyroscope to drive."

SOURCE: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/12/wii_u_more_than_capable_of_providing_the_core_project_cars_experience_says_developer

September 2014 :

"Tudor said he sees the game regularly and he's impressed with where it's at. "It's got dynamic time of day, weather--it looks phenomenal," he said. "And the actual console itself is quite good."

""It's not our job to disappoint those guys," he added. "So when we say the Wii U version is delayed in 2015 because we need a little more time, that's all it is. We just want to make sure it's of the same standard of all the other games. To do that, we just need a little more time." "There is no conspiracy."

SOURCE: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/project-cars-wii-u-delay-theres-no-conspiracy-dev-/1100-6422143/

It could probably run great on the Wii U had they just put in the resources to optimize it. Sometimes we get lazy ports with poor performance, bad framerate etc and sometimes the developers know their stuff and bring us terrific ports.

It's not a secret as to what each system is capable of doing or not doing. Simply Mad would have known this from day 1 of development.

The issue is that this game was crowd funded and they misled some people with their statements. If this was all Simply Mad's money then it would be a different story.

We don't buy Nintendo consoles for these kind of games. We buy them for the Nintendo exclusives!

Well this is completely the developers fault, there's no way to blame Nintendo this time. They shouldn't have crowd funded it while promising a Wii U version if they weren't completely sure they could deliver.

@crimsontadpoles Nah, it's totally the fan's fault/sarcasm.

This game was being sold as one of the reasons to buy a Wii u before the Wii u was even released. Just shows how far behind the other consoles Nintendo are now.

I forget, is Quorthon the guy who bragged about "maxing out" the Quake 2 engine, a derivation of a 1st gen 3D engine?

_{You can always just ignore him -Lz}

Life goes on. A lot of great stuff coming.

Backpedal, backpedal, backpedal...

Another great fail for Wii U.

i think i was the only one who was still waiting for this, its just been bad news after bad news for this game, like we need it anyway, if us ninty fans wanna race we just play mario kart its simple.

All we have to do now is see whether the NX will be capable of such games. Having played it on PS4 I seriously doubted it would be released on Wii U anyway

No Nintendo NX release. Slightly Mad is ruining their reputation with horrible PR. They say it's the Wii U, but the Steam reviews mention that the game runs poorly on AMD GPU systems. Outside of that, their insistence that they can't make a worthy game without downgrading graphics reflects the other Steam reviews stating that the actual game is a sub part racing simulation. They can't compete with Codemasters in the game play, Sony in content, and they can't keep a decent account of their own skill level. They are just as bad as 22cans as far as I can see.

@SeriousSam I agree. I just posted a similar comment

@helbertpina Nintendo could do that because they made the hardware, they know every last thing in there, and they have teams of top-notch devs constantly learning new ways to optimize games for it. To expect that from a third party is completely unfair.

@MikeW Speak for yourself, buddy. I would have bought it, under the original promise. In my opinion, you're part of the problem.

And I don't mean that in like a pompous, I'm-a-better-Nintendo-fan-than-you kind of crap. You buy whatever games you want, as anyone will. It just saddens me that so few Nintendo gamers have zero interest in anything not made by/exclusive to Nintendo. I figure it's because you have multiple consoles or at least a proper PC, so good for you. Just sucks for us.

@Genesaur
I get what you're saying, and I agree it would be nice if Nintendo would make a third-party friendly console so that we could get all the games PS4/XBOX owners get.

However, every person that buys a Nintendo console ever since the N64 days knows that third party support is not Nintendo's strong suite, so to expect third party games on Nintendo consoles is naive at best...

@shigulicious I must admit that I am guilty of troll feeding - guess it's just natural for some of us to react to nonsense and try to combat it with reason. Resistance is futile, though.

What is more worrying is that such stances, blaming consumers instead of creators, are getting more and more widespread. I don't know where this might be coming from, but I hope it does not become a standard for any gaming-related discussions...

@Quorthon

Seemed appropriate...

So without bothering to sift through the back and forths of Quorthon and those he is arguing with, can someone tell me something: Did the devs of project cars promise a Wii U release and then take money for it, and, since the release is not coming, do people get their money back? To me that is the only relevant question/answer. I'm not a big driving game (without weapons on the car that is) fan, so missing this isnt a big deal to me personally.

@darth2d2 You forgot to mention that they're asking for 11 million dollars to fund the sequel, after the the first game was just released...I think I know where they got the name "Slightly Mad".

http://s920.photobucket.com/user/Kinetic_BlueStreak/media/ian-bell-hates-nintendo-users.png.html?o=0

Are they really? I hope they're not promising an NX version!

Any news on 90s arcade racing and Fast? Thats the racing games I want on my Wii-U!!

@Ryno #149 ahahahah sadly true ....

They will be protected by wwf in the near future

@SavoirFaire Technically, all people were doing with their money was investing in the company and receiving certain perks along the way like early builds, etc. Those supporters are still entitled to a share of the profits paid quarterly, but can also get a refund if I understand correctly. The funding scheme got them into trouble. So it wasn't like Kickstarter, where it's support for specific rewards.

@MikeW #150 so then we should blame nintendo executives even more than slightly mad, since they were promising ton of 3rd party support for wiiu

Maybe next time Nintendo will make a console that can actually handle third-party games.

I don't really feel sorry for fanboys who only own a Wii U and magically expect third-party games to arrive for the system. Just buy a PS4 like the rest of the world so you can actually play everything that comes out. Stop crying when your under powered Wii U can't handle an X1 or PS4 game.

@SavoirFaire No. The only version that was crowd funded was PC.

People cheer up! Without analog buttons (facepalm to wiiu designers) this game would have been unplayable anyhow, so you are not gonna miss much at all!

@arnoldlayne83: And hahaha, to your comments! Sadly, I was once a "Wii U only" owner and felt some of the pain these guys went through. But once you get another option (PS4, XBO, or a good P.C.) you realize how limited it is to be a Nintendo only owner is.

So these meanies took money from Wii U owners, canceled our game, and then said, "maybe we'll give the NX and a 2 year old game when it comes out"

This topic is being blown out of proportion, into something very nasty. Generalisations, accusations and comments created by one thing: Despite. Some of these comments makes me think that the console industry and it's fans has become the new racist battle, and Nintendofans are the new minorities Everyeone:! Seriously! I know this is the Internet, but behind every comment there is a real person so keep a friendlier tone... It might be contagious.....

@larry_koopa We should be able to have all the third parties, whether we have a second system or not. On top of all that, it's unethical for them to take Wii U- fan money and not give them the game.The Wii U can absolutely handle it. There's no way that the U can handle huge open world games (that have good graphics/ framerates/ resolutions), but can't handle some racing game.
This is all coming from a self-claimed Nintendo fanboy that has a PS4 on the side.

@joshuagamer: What huge Wii U "open world world game (that have good graphics/ framerates/ resolutions)" are you referring too?

The day Namco picked up the publishing was the day I knew this wasnt happening.

@Ryno agree 100%... It is my story too. Got a ps4 last summer. Since there I am lost in tons of games I could have never played on N consoles...when I hear here ppl saying that PS/XBOX only have FPS I just laugh loud....

@TheLastLugia See, that's just sad. There're so many better things they could be doing with their lives than trolling on the internet. In fact, there was a user who said he was going to keep track of Nintendo just to watch their failures...or, you know...you could just ignore them all together if you hate them so much.

Eh...car racing games peaked for me during the early playstation days. Looking forward to fast racing neo!

@joshuagamer i think i missed the huge open world game you are talking about....

Plus, earliest videos of supposed wiiu version of project cars were without opponents. Have you any idea how heavy is the computation for 30 ai opponents on real time? We are not talking of jumping gombas following a straight line here

@Genesaur Nintendo home consoles are in the situation they are in for a multitude of reasons. Probably the biggest is the fact that most people that are serious gamers will own more than one console if they can, and will buy the game on the system that is friendliest to playing online and/or has the most features. In both of those regards (online/features) Nintendo consistently got the short in of the stick.

I don't entirely blame third parties either. It was a silly design decision to only include a few GB of available storage on the basic console, and that decision alone probably killed most third party support where DLC and large update patches are normal. Hopefully Nintendo will learn from the Wii U and make the NX a better system because of it.

It's funny to me that everyone says third party games don't sell on Nintendo consoles. Then you read people saying 'I guess I'll have to get it on my xbox or playstation. Are those people lying? Do they not buy third party games on those consoles either?

@Trickbaby14 most funny are people still believing that only Nintendo can deliver good quality games... Go amd tell this to from software or naughty dog...

@arnoldlayne83 If the Wii U can handle a game as huge as Xenoblade Chronicles X, I think it can handle some opponents in Project Cars. Also, nobody said that only NIntendo can make good games. There are plenty of masterpieces out there not made by the company.

Let me just state the truth before I get blasted by someone. I did not fund the kickstarter for this game but I have always had this on my radar. So with that, I am disappointed. I'm a fan of Forza on Xbox 360 and was hoping for something similar on the Wii U. I guess I'll have to buy a Xbone to play Forza or Project.

I'm very content with my Wii U though. There are plenty of awesome games on the system. IMO there are more quality games that I want to play on the Wii U then on the other two right now. I have fun games that are sitting on my shelf because I don't have enough time to play the games I want to.

@NintendoFan64 i heard that statement so many times.... Anyway, believe me, scripted Ai is one thing, real time Ai is another. Plus physics and so on. I have the game on ps4. Even there the graphics is subpar. No wonder that wiiu can t stand all of that

Already have it on ps4, I get why they say it is too much for wiiU, it would either lag so much it will be unplayable or they would scrap so much out of the game, both graphical, performance and features that the game wouldn't be fun to play anymore if you put it next to the other versions.

I truly hope for the people that buy, and only buy nintendo consoles and want this game that the NX is as powerful as ps4 or maybe even more powerful, in my opinion nintendo gamers deserve more love from developers. (I never touched anything besides nintendo until 1,5 year ago)

@arnoldlayne83
Sure! Both deserve some of the blame. Slightly mad for being outright liars, and Nintendo executives for not making due on their promise to get the third party support Nintendo so desperately needs!

The Wii simply can't handle the versions of Call of Duty that the 360 and PS3 got, either, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the watered down ports that it did get.

@TheLastLugia: Hey dude, I have had every home Nintendo console since the NES except for the Gamecube. I grew up on the NES and the SNES is my favorite system of all time. I have been enjoying Nintendo for many years so go a head and call me a "Nintendo hater" despite me having a super sexy Nintendo collection. I have been a fan of Nintendo, just not the Nintendo of today.

@arnoldlayne83 Well, I'm not really a tech wizard, so I can't really comment on the whole AI thing. Plus, I don't wanna get into trouble, so I'm just gonna leave.

Meh, don't really care. Project Cars has problems on the other platforms (or at least PC), as evidenced by people who were absolutely pissed at them for announcing Project Cars 2.

Also, why is it that this article has the huge amount of comments, but the Devil's Third article doesn't? I'd expect it to be the other way around. Surely Devil's Third coming to PC is a way to spin things into Nintendo going 3rd party, right?

@darkswabber This is the only generation that I don't own more then one home console, so far. Fall Out 4 may change that. I know that if I owned a PS4 or Xbone, I would find games I like for sure; but currently the Wii U has the games that I want to play. I grew bored with COD, Gears, Assassin's Creed, Rock Band, and even Bioshock Infinity was like a job for me.

Unlike some, I am not butthurt about the cancellation of this game on Wii U. The Wii U is neither a powerful nor a successful platform, which are two perfectly legitimate reasons why any third party developer would want to stay way from this console.

However, this game was Kickstarted, which means money was passed, from an investor to Slightly Mad Studios. This means some people paid SMS for the development of the Wii U version of Project Cars, and these same people should be refunded rather than be promised with a version of the game on some platform (NX) that nobody knows jack about. Canceling a game is one thing; canceling a game and refusing to refund the investors is another.

It's looking more and more like the Wii U is my last Nintendo console

The U just wasn't capable enough to compete. Nintendo needs to give us a powerful system finally, for the first time in 20 years. Sheesh.

@Gridatttack LOL... I mean, I don't usually comment on this type of stuff, but I just had to reply to his first comment.

@westman98 It wasn't on Kickstarter and their crowd funding model didn't promise a specific version. In fact, the notion that it was coming to PS3/360/Wii U/PC seems to be in their initial presentation that talked about what platforms their engine could run on.

Did the marketing folks take that and run with it? Yep. But they were very careful in their wording, and funding SMS was considered literally an investment, where you would share in quarterly profits.

Why can't Nintendo just make a good system? I have been burned two generations in a row now. 😢😢😢 I enjoy the heck out of what does come to the system, but I feel screwed at the same time.

@dkxcalibur there are some great games I would recommend when buying a new console like batman arkham knight and the witcher 3, they are both great and aren't annual games where you quickly grow tired from especially since they're noth the last of their series and the conclusion of a trilogy. (I would recommend ps4, I would also recommend to keep your wiiU since it still has some great exclusives). But I get why fallout 4 is your trigger to buy a current gen console next to the wiiU, I think fallout 4 should be the trigger for every console gamer that hasn't upgraded yet or only owns a wiiU (yes I consider both the wiiU and 3ds as 2 of the 5 current gen consoles, the other 3 being the ps4, psvita and xbone)

In better news, The Undertaker is Back.

@Danrenfroe2016 The Wii was pretty good and did well; at least far better than the Wii U is doing. You didn't like it?

Yep, I think I've been mugged.

@Ryno Do not acknowledge that Skyrim, Mirror's Edge, Metal Gear Solid V, Halo 3, The Last of Us, and Read Dead Redemption are good games. Ever. They're all just a bunch of generic, underwhelming rehashes as only Nintendo is capable of good games, as if Star Fox Zero, Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival, and Metroid Federation Force don't exist. At least Zelda and Fire Emblem still look good.

@TTGlider

Uhh, the Wii U is MORE powerful than the 360/PS3.

Honestly though, I don't care about this game. I don't like racing simulators at all.

Lmfao I knew it would come to this. I was never super interested in this but they've been struggling with this game for ages now and it's tarnished their record. But at least we know who they are now. Too bad buyers in real life are ignorant to their trips and falls

weren't NIntendo fans the main people crowdfunding the project, if so this is a big ripoff

@Aromaiden I did like the first party games, but we got screwed on so many third party games do to the weak GPU and processing power...

@TheLastLugia Dude...you say that you're against Nintendo haters, yet you're acting like one yourself. You're bashing on the Xbone and PS4 with their shortcomings, yet not bringing up the good on those systems...kinda like what Nintendo haters do to the Wii U.

Would have been a comparatively bad version of the game anyway. Im a fan of racing games though, so if I get a PS4 Ill try the game there, PC would be best but Im still a console gamer.

@TheAdrock I don't think they will... They are very very hard headed. It will probably be a new controller with low power consumption and weaker than even the PS4. 😢😢😢😢

@Moon : HA! The Project Cars team statement strikes me as an incredibly lame excuse. MK8 and Splatoon have offered 2 of my best console experiences, so insulting the Wii U is not a convincing argument to me. I am an avid fan of racers, so I was looking forward to this title, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it . . . or run out and buy a PS4.

Shouldn't have been so quick to announce it for Wii U, then.

Never cared for Project Cars, and I still don't, but this is nuts. The cancellation is the least of my surprises, but just backing-out on those that funded the game for a Wii U version? Heck, if you knew you couldn't have handled it, you should have said this much sooner. Now you're saying it can't be done on the Wii U?
Well, I'm sorry for those that wanted/funded a Wii U version.

Slightly Mad Studios, EA, Ubisoft, Gearbox, Warner Bros, Sony, Konami, Microsoft, Activision and Square-Enix all walk into a bar, the Bartender says:
"Sorry guys you've got the wrong place, Homebase and their beds are round the corner for all you liars."

badum-tshhhh

Not surprising.

Honestly, I don't even think Project Cars will release on Nintendo's NX system, considering its less powerful than both of the Wii U's competitors. This makes me want to buy a PS4.

@Ayronom That's just a rumor.

@TheLastLugia I'm guessing Homebase Bed's aren't good quality?

@Kifa Agree with alot of what your saying mate, but the witcher 3 unplayable?? I've put in over 120 hours on it on xbone, or are you referring to pc version cause I've not played that one.

@Ayronom Missed games in general or just Project Cars? Cause from what I heard about this game it's not much better than The Crew. And that wasn't exactly a good game, as I tried out the beta for it.

its reasons like this why i hate buyin new systems..heck with ps4 xbox one and wii u..i not be suckered no more.im so upset buyin wii u at this moment...i can remember them sayin how good this game looks amd runs..its ok ill not be suckered no more...

Another reason why the NX must be at least as powerful as the PS4 in my opinion.

This might stoke the "third parties are afraid of Nintendo, because its fanbase doesn't much tolerate their games on systems due to their thriving on high quality" down the road. And you know what? All the third parties that crossed against Nintendo and its fanbase are going to get it now. We should make them fear us even more and MAKE THEM SWEAT about even thinking developing with Nintendo. Be very vocal about it. This ain't about pride, but they sure will be given a warning before they try. So, this is a case of the need for a stronger identity. Be very hard on third parties so when like Project Cars even comes to Nintendo's next system and it fails, we WILL laugh about it for the low quality game it may as well be. (Not laughing if its high quality.) We will not be seen as pushovers. This will send a fearful message about us. There are plenty of reasons why it's known Nintendo has strong first party games as well as great indies now in the mix, so, even if they refuse to develop for Nintendo, we will make them show respect to the company and fanbase. Once they fear us, the fanbase won't be used ever again like that. So you know, I do own a PS3 and PS4 as my good alternatives AND I do acknowledge that we do need GREAT third party titles in the NX's library. Also, the Wii U's weak sales did its part of the problem, I know.

Would have been nice to have on my Wii U, but now I know my money used to buy Gran Turismo 7. No use in buying PC on PS4.

As a developer, you can reduce some graphics code and so forth and make it work on "lesser" hardware. This sounds more like an excuse or stab at Nintendo. Pretty lame.

@hopfolla It was not done through Kickstarter, but their own crowndfunding platform. Also, the only people that funded it were PC players. Only after it was fully funded did they announce any console versions. Backers paid for PC copies knowingly and have received PC copies.

@TheLastLugia

You can stop with the sarcastic tirade now. Every publisher has issues and everyone does the whole remake/sequel nonsense, Nintendo included. You've got to admit Nintendo hasn't been the saintly bringer of new ideas this gen:

Pikmin 3
New Super Mario Bros. U
Mario Kart 8
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Super Mario 3D World
Yoshi's Woolly World
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Mario Party 10
Wind Waker HD
Wii Fit U
Wii Sports Club

Don't get me wrong, most of these are great and polished games, but they're either remakes or iterations on pre-established formulas. They're no less derivative than any of the competitors you mock.

Not to start another chapter of flaming underneath this article, but some misconceptions need to be addressed:
This game was NEVER on kickstarter: they had their own crowd funding on their own site and you could subscribe to stay up to date. It has always been made VERY clear that the first backers were going to be the play testers of the beta versions, that you could download once you had paid/subscribed. Since they must have read the small print, they must have known that they were only backing a PC version. The beta version is kind of a dead giveaway as well.
The developers weren't lying about the Wii U version running pretty good and they also haven't backpedaled:
The initial version did perform more than adequate on the Wii U, but during 2014 they decided to upgrade the physics engine and tire model, based upon the feedback they got from the community of beta testers, that wanted even more realism and better, or rather: more precise handling.
It was the older version that ran just fine and which Andy Tudor was so enthusiastic about. The new physics engine and tire model is WAY above what the Wii U can handle and the differences are, from what I read in the Project CARS forums, pretty significant and they didn't want to release two entirely different versions of the game. It wasn't just a matter of downgraded graphics and options; it's an entirely different experience and that was what made them decide to can the older version and go with the new model instead. They didn't want to make any sacrifices to car handling and other physics that were now already implemented in the newer beta version.
If you look at comparisons of the console and PC versions, you can already see the changes they had to make in the cosmetic department and in let's plays all over YouTube the differences in performance are also explained.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZfCkRvhkg0
Seeing the other two consoles still struggle at times with the downgraded version of the newer engine, makes it quite clear that a platform that is weaker than those two would never be able to give gamers the same experience.
I fully agree that the way they went about it is anything but pretty, what with all the silent treatment Wii U owners got, but backers that had kept themselves informed all through the developments could have known that they were just backing a PC version; only later on did they announce console versions.
The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions were the first to be dropped, due to them not even being able to run the old engine well enough. The Wii U did, but ultimately the transfer to the considerably more demanding physics engine and tire model did them in.
Quoted from the official forum where someone asked if it would be possible to revert the Wii U version back to the old tire model:

"Is it too late or too complicated to revert to the BTM? I was already told by a WMD member at one point that the Wii U version might not share the STM with the other versions, that it might use the BTM instead. I applaud your commitment to equal physics across versions, but if cutting down the graphics isn't enough, a game with the BTM is better than no game at all, right? I still play and enjoy racing sims from yesteryear that lack the details of the STM, and I'm a stickler for physics.
It wouldn't help. Our tyre model is saturating the WiiU's full compliment of CPU. There's not much left for anything else."

FYI: BTM stands for Brush Tire Model and STM stands for Seta Tire Model, a highly advanced simulation of tire and suspension movement.
For those of you that want to know more:
http://www.wmdportal.com/projectnews/inside-project-cars-seta-tire-model/
Well, maybe NX will be what they are looking for to put their game on, maybe for a Director's Cut, or maybe we will just skip the first game and go straight to the second one that they have now started developing...
Let's just not virtually kill each other over something as trivial as a computer game, okay fellow NLifers?

Well no worries i will never buy anything from them due to how the treated us fan..So take the game and shove..I will stick with real awesomeness..Mario Cart 8 anyone

Because unless I'm wrong, the two most note worthy things over the past week in gaming was Iwata's death and Evo 2015.

I buy systems from all of the big three, and they all have their issues that bother me. A consumer has every right to voice their displeasure if they think a company is going in the wrong direction or they don't agree with something a company does.

I'm a loyal Dr. Pepper drinker, but if they decided to change the formula to something that suddenly sucked, I would have every right to complain about it and voice my opinion. Because my feeling is that after years of spending money on a product, I have a right to question them if they suddenly screw with something that I like.

Nintendo is a good company, but they are not perfect. They make mistakes, and they should be called out on them, the same as any other company. It also ties into the fact that I remember the NES and SNES. I remember when Nintendo was the standard of gaming that had third-parties lining up at their door to make games for them! That's why I've sometimes been harsh on Nintendo. To be blunt, I want another SNES and NES.

You think anything I've ever said against Nintendo is bad? Its a good thing I don't get a chance to unload on Sega, much on this site because they would be the ones who would get the worst venom.

And I was a Sega fanboy back in the day.

@FlaygletheBagel that's what I'm saying though, it's hypocrisy of the highest order. Nintendo have their faults, I won't deny that, but try and say that Sony, Microsoft or in particular the 3rd party devs like these are saints is just ludicrous. I know people who absolutely despise Sony in particular for their anti-consumer policies, and I can't blame 'em, I at least have owned all their systems bar the Vita but boy has it been a rough ride through the years. Here the Sony fans and Nintendo haters are though attacking us on a Nintendo site, believing the glory days of the SNES were the only times when it was good to be a Nintendo fan. Though TBF at least the industry as a whole was 1000000000000000000 x better back then, though the main contributing factor to that was the lack of greedy 3rd parties (and when Squaresoft/Konami made good games). But no I for one would have to wait for a major price drop before I pick up this game on my PS4, they're just nothing special at all, in fact, only 2 PS4 games I've purchase have been (The Witcher 3/Bloodborne). Maybe at £10 or something this time next year, that looks like all it's worth.

@kensredemption Um... nothing has changed..... the only thing that has changed is his passing.

It is what it is... i think the developers are making the right call to wait for better/new hardware.

@Gauchorino You are so full of it I don't even know where to begin. First of all - ahem (and how many times must us rational people with brains post this) - Project CARS was not funded via Kickstarter. I repeat, PROJECT CARS WAS NOT FUNDED VIA KICKSTARTER. Slightly Mad funded it through World of Mass Development and those who pledged significantly were instrumental in the game's overall development. CARS stands for Community Assisted Racing Simulator, and it lived up to that name, as much of its content was inspired and driven by its funding community.

Moving on. Saying that Wii U owners greatly helped fund this is a lie. An outward lie. For one, initial funding was more about PC with hopes of Wii U/360/PS3 releases. The game was funded by the racing sim community, plain and simple. And guess where that community games? Not the Wii U. CARS wasn't funded by a bunch of Nintendo fans. Funny. You see all these outraged posts by people like yourself saying they screwed over the people who payed money to play on Wii U, but... If that's true, where are those people? You never actually see someone saying "I gave x amount of money so this game could be on Wii U and now I feel robbed." It's because those people don't really exist. Whatever amount of money that was from people specifically looking to play on Wii U was a drop in the bucket.

Fact of the matter is, 3rd party support on Wii U IS a factor as to why the game isn't coming to Wii U. Reality is, 3rd party games do not sell well on Wii U. Even massively popular yearly IPs couldn't make a dent in the Wii U's infancy. I'm talking about Call of Duty, Asssassin's Creed, Madden, FIFA... Of course a 3rd party IP, hardcore racing simulator wasn't going to sell well. But hey, if Nintendo fans actually bought 3rd party games and the Wii U actually had a decent install base, the game probably still would have come one way or another, because it would have been a worthwhile investment. Look at the PS3. That thing was a PITA for dev's to port to last generation, but they still found ways to do it because it had the numbers and PS3 owners bought games.

For all the outrage on sites like this (by Nintendo fans that more than likely weren't going to buy the game anyway, even if it launched aside all the other versions), you simply don't see it from the ACTUAL Project CARS community. You know, the people who actually funded the game? Go check out forum.projectcarsgame.com. There's a single thread about today's Wii U news and only like one or two people show disappointment. There isn't some outrage of funders coming out of the woodwork, beating down doors over how they were robbed. Why? Because, again, Nintendo fans really didn't fund this game. It was funded by the racing sim community.

Wii U sucks! Don't take me wrong, I am a Nintendo fan....I had bought every home and handheld console from them like literally. I even bought Wii U on launch and this is why this news are painful for me. I feel very disappointed with the Wii U and sadly I have no hope for NX. The NX will be the first Nintendo console I will not buy on launch day or ever.

Okay, Slightly Mad. That's fine. I hope your game has fun competing against Forza and Gran Turismo as well as the other third party racing heavy hitters.

I'll just use the money I could have spent on your game elsewhere.

They'll have to wait until the game's on store shelves (with mostly positive reviews) if they want to see my money...and judging from the current state of Project Cars on other platforms...this could just be developer laziness.

@Quorthon bam: these are the exact feelings I have, and this quote is expecially true: "the Wii U was built with Nintendo's lazy attitude, which filled the console with generation-old innards"

I hope this doesn't cause other Crowd-funded games to start dropping the Wii U after getting a lot of support from Wii U owners. (Looking at you Road Redemption)

I notice PushSquare doesn't have these kinds of articles. I wonder why...

too bad

Launch title for NX confirmed.

Next time round, on the NX, I think it'd be wise for Nintendo NOT to release previous-gen third party games on it. Not straight away. I think it hurt the Wii U's reputation by having lots of PS360 titles around launch. It didn't give the impression it was a step forward. If I were Nintendo, I'd say Project CARS 2 for NX, or nothing at all.

This was definitely intended from the outset to be a hardcore PC title with all the modding bells and whistles. This was never going to happen on Wii U, and this studio never should have bothered even suggesting a Wii U offering, or even attempting a console version of any type. The Wii U/PS360 just happened to be the versions getting axed. (Don't worry, Xboned/PS4 support will probably be axed in a few years, too, anyways. Only the PC version will retain support in the future.)

@-Godot HIC! Way ahead of ya, Mr. Godot! Nice to see ya in court again.

@Resh Can I have some of that popcorn? I washed my hands.

Goodness. Can we not have a calm discussion?

@LztheQuack This is the internet. Sadly calm discussion rarely happens. At least this site isn't that bad; thankfully it's a bit more strict than other sites.

It will likely never end up coming out even on the NX seeing as there simply isn't a market for realistic simulation racing games like this on Nintendo platforms. It would sell horribly if it did end up being made.

@Quorthon Preach. I agree

Mods deleted the popcorn comments. No fun allowed.

@Resh I deleted them as they were in bad taste and had bad timing with all the harsh comments here.

Anywho, in response to the topic, I never really cared for Project Cars, so eh.

_{Sorry if I deleted a comment in error. I had to read through all 200+ comments and probably made a mistake. -Lz}

@Quorthon I partly agree with you. The vast majority of Wii U owners would have ignored this game indeed. I know it, you know it, everyone knows it, so why in heaven's sake have Slightly mad studios wasted time on Wii U is beyond me. That said you are wrong of accusing Nintendo of being lazy. Nintendo managed to publish amazing games on their underpowered console and that alone requires hard work and technical mastery unmatched and unrivaled by any other studio. Be honest and give them full credit for that. On my side it happens that I'm so tired of hearing 3rd party devs constantly whining that they can't develop games for Wii U because it is underpowered. The real reason is that Wii U owners won't buy their game because they usually are unimaginative and poorly designed. In other words, go sell your poopy generic 1st person shooter or racing game elsewhere! Project Cars development in the hand of competent folks at Nintendo EAD would have potentially give you a nice 60 FPS at 720p with no problem. The truth is 3rd party won't publish on Wii U because they know their game will look bad compared to Nintendo titles and consequently sell poorly. Nintendo customers wants quality only.

Does this confirm NX will be more powerful than Wii U?

Well I did not have my hopes up. But I agree with the people who said this "info" should have came months prior with or around the cancellation of the PS3 and XBOX 360 versions. I also agree that they should have not even supported consoles in the first place. PC games should stay PC games (here's looking to you, Minecraft).

Darn mods deleting my comments by mistake. I'll have you all pay for the damage done to my feelings /s
@yuwarite That's a given. No Nintendo console has been weaker than its predecessor. (unless the NX is a handheld)

ONLY THE PC VERSION WAS CROWDFUNDED!!!!!

@TheRealThanos Heh, make sense had they disclosed this in public better. Wish they gotten their attitude better tho. Thanks for the info.

@electrolite77
Wow. +1 for you

@LztheQuack Aw, come on, they weren't that bad (I haven't refreshed the page, so I can still see all of the popcorn comments ). Your decision though.

Buzz off, you clearly don't care about us

oh well.

@demerzel514 Wii U owners supported this the most...

@IceClimbers Perhaps another time I shall allow fun and popcorn!

@Uberchu thats incorrect, the main funding of the game was already completed on their initial crowd funding. the crowd funding campaign was for the PC version only. there never was a kickstarter for this game, WiiU was not an extended Goal. it is therefore very dubious that WiiU owners supported this the most since the original crowdfunding was for PC only

@electrolite77
"Push Square doesn't have factual news reports on games getting cancelled for PS4"
Someone forgot Silent Hills.

Couldn't they make it to into a 2D top-down game in the style of Super Sprint? Or maybe use scaled sprites for a Pole Position look? Does the WiiU have mode 7? Just throwing ideas out there, and you'd barely notice the difference from the other versions. You're welcome.

And they couldnt work this out before they started? Give me a break

@Ryno Why are you here? I don't get it at all. NintendoLife is a fan site after all.

@WebHead
That's putting it mildly. Hopefully this time next year the news will be solely focused on the NX looking like a very promising return to form for Nintendo.

Now we can wait for news, that the "new" Zelda won't come to Wii U, but to the next Nintendo console next year, whatever it will be called.

Wii U is soon history.

we can all move on now.

@helbertpina Those games you mentioned have cartoon-y graphics. As far as I know, the cancelled game has realistic graphics. You can't compare those two that easily. Wii U perhaps isn't that powerfull to for a such game; it seems like the system is stuck with (mostly) cartoon looking games because it can't handle other games. Besides Nintendo is working with its own system. They know how to bypass the restrictions and gimmicks within the system in that way so people won't even realise what had to be sacrifaced to make the game look good and run smoothly. They did that with Wind Maker and they do it now.

No matter what you think of the wii u and its power, these ppl lied flat out for a long time about bringing it to wii u. I can't stand ppl who fib

@Captain_Toad Yeah, their attitude certainly isn't going to win them any prices. Although I would like to change "their" to Ian Bell, the Head of Studio. He more or less silenced Andy Tudor (who has been nothing but kind and decent) and now all communication is done by him.
I still appreciate Bell for having the guts to keep communicating with people in the forums, but his method of communicating needs some fine tuning here and there. And explicitly saying he doesn't like Nintendo fans definitely isn't helping things along either.
Oh, well...

@Ouch You're joking right? This is a joke post, right?

Because its like saying just make Tekken 7 a 2D fighter, nobody would notice.

You're going from a racer that is trying to be a realistic racing sim like Forza and Gran Trusimo to something like Super Off- Road.

Not only do they play nothing alike, they only thing they share is a genre.

@KillScottKill I have a document from the original pitch back in Feb of 2012. It wasn't pitched as a PC game with possible Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U support. It was pitched as a multiplatform game that would appear on all of them. It even had a page dedicated in the pitch to how the Wii U gamepad would be implemented. You can find the document still buried on their Weapons of Mass Development webiste. (http://www.wmdportal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/WMD_Overview_160212.pdf)

To say it wasn't originally planned for the console is an outright lie when their own documentation presented to the backers and public at large say otherwise.

The fact is that they fell victim to their own poor development choices. They grew the project in scope until it outgrew the consoles and instead of reigning in the project, they allowed feature creep to bloat the game. When it was painfully obvious that it outgrew the Wii U (along with the 360/PS3) they couldn't or wouldn't fess up, instead going completely silent despite that most when polled wanted that version of the game.

@Malakai: One reason is because I have a Wii U.

@Darknyht: How is it a poor development choice to make a game all it can be and then axe those platforms that can't handle it? Visuals are everything these days and there's no WiiU market for a multiplatform game that relies on visuals, simply because every other platform shows a better game. Add Steam prices and all to the mix and developing for WiiU becomes a suicide mission.

It's a wise choice, even if it's hugely disappointing to those that oddly thought a console with roughly the processing power of a current generation smartphone could handle a game like this. Including the developers.

But I think even Nintendo was surprised by how weak their console really turned out to be as gaming progressed, and now everybody is backpedaling, including Nintendo. Even Xenoblade Chronicles X looks like vintage Skyrim at best. I wouldn't be surprised if they axed that too. Or delayed if for their mystical magic NX (Zelda. "X". "NX". Think about it) to up the hype factor when that gets released. At this point, you can't go wrong. WiiU owners are so thoroughly shafted, what does it matter. Most of us have accepted our fate.

@TheRealThanos if what you said is correct, then slightly mad never promised a Wii U version.

If one think about it, how many Wii U fans will go out to buy this game? If you are simulator fans you would not buy a Wii U anyway. Why blame a third party which publish games that you will not buy and do not care?

@Sceptic It's a poor development choice if you are targeting specific systems, seek crowd funding based off those systems (and their known specs), and then don't develop within limitations of those systems. That is bad project management.

Now if you want to move to a more capable system, that is fine but be upfront about it. Don't string people along for months claiming that it runs fine. The Wii U version didn't magically start dropping frames last month, it had to be a known issue not long after they moved their targets to the specs of the XBO/PS4 systems.

It is also bad design to leave the door wide open to ever increasing features on your project. Eventually the door needs to be closed and you move forward. Instead it appears that Project: Cars kept adding feature after feature without thought of whether or not the projected systems could actually handle all that extra stuff.

Most of the stuff that got shoehorned into Project: Cars after a certain date should have been set aside for Project: Cars 2, and the team should have focused on making the already implemented features actually work. Then most of the people who bought Project: Cars wouldn't be upset because Project: Cars 2 was announced while Project: Cars still plays like a beta in some regards.

@Caryslan I'm being completely serious. With slightly improved lighting and a minor touch up of the car models, Pole Position would look at least as good as Project Cars running on a monster PC, and the AI is already spot on. Just check out the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gzWsIJQTKY

@Quorthon poppycock mate. You are defending shady corporate bull whip just to have a dig at Wii U owners. That doesn't make sense.

@Darknyht: Yeah but the WiiU is a dead platform. That was not the case when they asked for funding. When the WiiU bombed that changed everything for any developer that didn't have a dog in the fight already. You can't sink money into something that has no hope of succeeding.

I'm reasonably sure the honest answer is, "we could make it, but it would look a lot worse than any other platform, so nobody would buy it anyway." And I think they're right.

Nothing got 'shoehorned' into PCars later. The game was improved and enhanced to the point where it was no longer feasible on the WiiU. Everybody that can run it is getting a that much better game. That's not shoehorning, that's progress.

If there was a market for a toned down last-gen looking PCars they'd do it. But there isn't, and I wonder how many people claiming broken promises here actually funded it (and then funded it for WiiU alone). Because those are the only ones that get to complain in my book. For everybody else, yeah, WiiU is dead. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Dissappointing as I played it an was looking forward to something 'similiar' at least. I long hoped Namco would have made a Ridge racer, Armoured core, Soul Calibur, Ace combat for Wii U by now, even the FtP PS3 games would do. Ahh well.

@GreatPlayer It's not that they didn't promise a Wii U version (they did, actually) what I meant to correct is the mistake that a lot of people in this thread think that you could donate money towards a Wii U version, which definitely isn't true. The game started out PC only and after some time they got a lot of feedback and questions on the forum that made them consider console versions, and so in the end they announced them.
First for the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U, and after a year or so those first two consoles got canned and they transferred these versions over to the Xbox One and PS4, but the Wii U version was still a possibility. That all changed after the PC community and beta testers wanted even more out of the game and they upgraded the physics and tire model to a point where they could still run it on Xbox One and PS4, only with downgraded graphics (check out the YouTube comparison video that I linked to, if you haven't already) but the Wii U just couldn't handle this upgraded version of the game, hence the final verdict of a non-appearance on the Wii U.
They seem to be thinking that there is a very real chance of this game appearing on NX, because they mention it every time they get the opportunity...

Waiting for new ninty hardware? umm yea another game will already be developed and released before then

This particular game doesn't interest me at all, but I do believe the Wii U could've used this game, or any adequate third-party support. Nintendo really needs to focus on specs with their next hardware. No one cares about how "cool" the controller will look. No one cares if it can finally emulate 2013 hardware. We want them to go beyond that so we know they allow better games. We're tired of Nintendo's arrogance.