Road Redemption's Wii U Release is Looking Rather Doubtful

I never realised it had a WiiU version in the works. When I heard about the game, it was through Steam's Greenlight.

@edhe I was about to say the same thing. Perhaps they could wait for the NX and release it on there instead.

I didn't even know it was supposed to be on Wii U.
PC ftw.

Guess I won't be getting it then.

That sucks. I backed it for the Wii U version.

Another developer that promised a Wii-U version of a Kickstarter project but can't deliver? Don't promise what you can't deliver, at least they are trying to make it right by offering another version.

Move it to NX?

@DefHalan that does suck. Do you have an XB1 or ps4?

@Mr_Zurkon Nope.

@DefHalan that really sucks. I hate to see Nintendo fans get burned by stuff like this.

Aw, that's sad, I've been enjoying the beta on Steam, but had backed at the WiiU level and hoped to really play it there. Actually, I've backed a number of game projects on Kickstarter all at the WiiU level and the ONLY one that have actually been released for WiiU so far is Adventures of Pip :-

That's too bad. I was interested in it.

Sucks. I was often thinking hey what happened to that game?
NX release would be good, hope they look into that.

Weak hardware? I don't think "weak" is the correct word, especially in the same sentence as "optimization", as these two things aren't really related. Everyone knows Wii U isn't as powerful as other systems, but it is more than capable of running this extremely graphically-limited, dated looking game. It's the system architecture that makes it difficult to port to in this case, not its ability to keep up with the workload. Just say "we don't have the time/resources/ability to get this running on Wii U."

I always knew of the Wii U version, but i bought it on Steam last year. The developer is updating it all the time, and next update have new physics, new AI etc.

@Mr_Zurkon I e-mailed them, and they told me how to redeem the PC copy that I originally got, which I gave my friend since I was also promised a Wii U copy, so we will see if they give me another PC code.

Another developer, another broken promise to Wii U owners. Hopefully some laws will get passed that prevent this kind of BS.

What a shocker!
Project Cars anyone. 😂
Time for WiiU to bow out gracefully. Here's hoping NX has more oomph inside so developers can't keep doing this.

@Mr_Zurkon They sent me another Steam code. Hopefully it works lol.

It amazes me that in 2016 people are still defending this console, Nintendo in general and more importantly throwing around the lazy developers card. This isn't a charity, folks! They're in it for MONEY.

@DefHalan that's something I guess. Good luck.

@Mr_Zurkon Thanks... at least I can play the game I guess. I really wanted to play it on Wii U

@gatorboi352 Yes, and they already got money for a Wii U version.

@gatorboi352 Uh...it's called crowdfunding lol. xD

Wii U: top of the priority list when it comes to taking your money,bottom of the priority list when it comes to delivering the game.Not even an apology in their statement but of course there's the obligatory "the weak hardware of the Wii-U" excuse.Charlatans,the lot of them!

Aww D: I was going to pay full price for this game on Wii U. Much rather enjoy this game in the comfort of my living room other than on a PC. Big fan of Road Rash 64.

Ah well. Steam it is then. When it's on sale. For less than 5 bucks. Pennies for effort and all that.

Considering this schmuck recently changed the release date on one of his older games to move it to the Steam front page and earn some extra cash, I wouldn't expect much if anything from this game and it's shady sack of a developer.

I don't support Kickstarter for this reason.

Welp. I guess I'll mosey on then...

I was actually looking forward to this on Wii U, too! Oh well.. guess that means no Road Redemption for me, most likely.

I wouldn't release a game on Wii U either to be honest. Unless you're happy making a profit of $2 or so!

Well, at least its not another Project CARS where a WiiU version was promised until they canned it the last minute.

But thats the crux with modern games. Theyve become so bloody expensive, you simply cant afford to put too much time in different versions.

So we can really hope that the NX actually skips one tech gen. If it catches up to PS4/Xbone standards, it will be overtaken in a year or two again. So leaping ahead and gambling for fictional PS5 specs would not only give it a headstart but also secure these "one size fits all" games.

Well...a man can dream i guess.

So far, Shovel Knight is the ONLY Kickstarter game I've backed that made good on it's Wii U release. The rest all cop out late in development.

Just another result of the Wii U having different architecture to the Xbox One and PS4. Hopefully the NX will be closer in line to those so this won't happen and if it does then it won't be for reasons like this.

Ah Kickstarter. Need to hit a goal? Claim you'll make a WiiU version. You won't actually have to do it in the end.

Dear devs: Don't get others' hopes up on promises you can't keep.

People don't know how to use Kickstarter. Too many, ESPECIALLY in this community are lured in when a developer with absolutely no track record at all says their game is inspired by a few well known classics. Use Kickstarter as a chance to fund games from proven developers like Playtonic, Tim Schafer or Yu Suzuki, that can no longer secure publishers for their games because they're no longer mass market.

Haha shovel knight!

Note to developers putting games on Kickstarter: STOP promising you'll put your game a console(s) if you're not 100% certain you can do so. I was really looking forward to playing this title, on Wii U because that's what the dev. promised... Ugh, situations like this make me really avoid backing any KS games.

@Peach64
What you say has some truth.
People don't know how to use Kickstarter.

But as a Nintendo fan you must show a higher degree of intelligence.

Nintendo fans should know that a weak console like the Wii U is only ever going to get basic "cartoony" Kickstarter titles like Shovel Knight etc.,
Backing Kickstarter games along the lines of SK or Lukalalee is fine.

Giving money to projects like pCars or even this Road Redemption is a big NO. These devs simply do not have the resources and these games are a big risk on the Wii U.
If the game is "cartoony" then it is likely to happen.

If you own a PS4 or Xbox then as long as the Kickstarter team is valid you will more likely see a return on your investment.

Sad news for people who backed this for the Wii U version, but this is far from the first and won't be the last time this happens.
Stuff like this is why I will never back a game on Kickstarter. A Wii U stretch goal is not a binding contract. You're not pre-ordering the game (which is pointless enough - why would you spend money on an unknown product?). You're essentially gambling on a dev's ability to keep its (often overly ambitious) promises, usually with a small team and limited resources.

Ah, another kickstarter con, get the nintendo fans to push a game over the line and then come out some time later and say its not going to happen but we'd like to keep your money anyway, how about another version instead.

This is the chief reason I have not and will not back a kickstarter game.

Another complete let down. I was really looking forward to this.

Looks at Need for Speed Most Wanted and FAST Racing Neo on Wii U... laughs in the face of lying developer...

@CHET_SWINGLINE This. It's simply a case of it being too high of a cost to optimize, but it would be nice if they just came out and said that instead of always pulling the "weak hardware" card. The game came out on Xbox 360, ffs...
@A01 Exactly. Although only is a bit harsh, but it is indeed a small group on Wii U.

I've tried to be vocal on their forums and Kickstarter pages about this issues for a long time. My biggest gripe with this whole thing is this would never have got funded without the Wii U backers, so they should be doing all they can to thank those people with a game that works on that platform instead of pissing them off by going off pitch and working on PS4 and XB1 versions. The way they've ignored their forums throughout the whole process has also been dreadful

@TheRealThanos "Looks at Need for Speed Most Wanted and FAST Racing Neo on Wii U... laughs in the face of lying developer..."

These two games immediately came to mind as I read this story. Two games that look immeasurably better than this game, running on the "weak" Wii U. Oh well, I guess it's easier to blame the machine than it is to confront one's shortcomings as a developer.

DarkSeas Games are LIARS. Yes the Wii U is weaker and completely different but their argument fails when NEED FOR SPEED, an open world racer with 100x the detail of this PS2 looking piece of garbage already launched on the system.

THE FACT IS THERE NEVER WAS A WII U VERSION. THEY HAD NO INTENTION OF RELEASING ON WII U. JUST LIKE SLIGHTLY MAD PROJECT CARS THIS TEAM KNEW GULLIBLE WII U OWNERS WOULD PAY FOR THEIR PROJECT.

Court case impending.

Yeah, well, this looked liked a project handled by rather inexperienced people in general at the time of the Kickstarter. And three years later, the game still doesn't look so hot.

Having Wii U as a goal from the start, and then not having a build that runs on the system ready at release is kind of amateurish, considering how the game is made with Unity 3D.

Here's hoping it'll eventually happen though, and that I'll have to eat my harsh words.

@TheRealThanos They should be refunding Wii U OWNERS immediately. There was never any intention of this coming to Wii U despite Wii U OWNERS covering most of their dev costs.

DarkSeas are lying suck. I find it quite amusing how Slightly Mad and DarkSea can make such preposterous claims to deceitfully keep their money whilst providing no evidence that a Wii U version was ever in the works.

Prove to Wii U OWNERS that this is the case, then provide their working code to experts who can confirm the truth.

@CHET_SWINGLINE Indeed...

@liveswired True. I also dislike the option that most of these developers give you on Kickstarter: "well, it's not coming out for console A, but if you want, you can still get your copy on Steam or on console B or C". A lot of people only own one console, so choosing another version is no option, and not everyone plays games on PC, which means that the Steam version isn't a viable solution for everyone either.

It's like I said before: just come out and say it's a financial thing instead of blaming the hardware, since obviously it runs just fine on Xbox 360, which is weaker than Wii U, but of course has a MUCH larger user base, which is all that this is about.

Optimization towards the latest version of their game takes time and the money needed to do that will probably not be earned back if they would release it on Wii U, so they put it on the back burner or won't release it at all.

From a business point of view very logical, mind you, but I just hate it when developers lie about such things.

"the current complexity of the game," what does that even mean, though?

@Pod Apparently, they reworked their AI routines to make the enemies in the game react better and they did some physics tweaks, and having to rework all that again on the Wii U's different architecture as well (since that is more GPU focused while the other versions are programmed towards the CPU) would probably cost more than what they will ultimately earn from copies being sold on Wii U, so the balance goes towards the negative, hence the decision to delay (or more likely: drop) the Wii U version...

To punish them, I will download their game thru BitTorrent... They'll get no money from me, but I WILL play their game, because I like Road Rash and I was actually looking forward to this. That'll teach them. Bunch of losers...

@TheRealThanos
Well, that's stupid. They can just release a Wii U version with dumber enemies. Who cares. People don't own them forever just because they backed a Kickstarter. Still, it's quite moronic to come out and say this now, when they should have ordered a Wii U kit three years ago and had a build tested on it every once in a while.

Nintendo even showcased their game briefly in one of their Directs, have any other platform tried promoting their game like Nintendo did?

@Pod I partially agree with you, but in practice that will most likely not be a feasible solution. Companies did publish "dumbed down" versions of their games on the Wii, but that was because they would still make money on it because of the HUGE user base that the Wii had, so they would at the very least make some profit. With the Wii U? Not so much...

As it stands, especially smaller companies will be lucky if they break even when you compare input with the final revenue they can get from it, so like I said in a previous comment: from a business point of view it is all perfectly understandable, but they shouldn't come up with some BS reason.

In fact, they already gave away the actual reason by saying "It will take a tremendous amount of optimization to make it happen" so it probably can be done, but financially speaking it just isn't worth the effort.

Aww man looking forward too this for a long while now try your best bet too get it playable on the Wii U but hopefully a NX port could be the way too go.

@gatorboi352

Reading down through the comments, at the point where you posted, not one person was "defending this console"...they were upset that promises from a developer were broken, but no one was "defending" the console.

What blows my mind is that in 2016, people are still whining about this console and trolling people who own it and like it.

I really don't understand this need to obsess over a console that clearly is not for you. It's been over four years now...the end of production is on the horizon.

Maybe it's time to stop "attacking this console" and move on with your life?

I feel sorry for guys who backed thus to come to Wii u.

This is yet another reason why nintendo needs to make their next console have the same inside as the others, or else this is going to happen again. For some reason, I enjoy playing games on the nintendo console, then the others...and I play on Sony for the trophies, but nintendo has that charm that makes you like playing on their consoles more. If only half of the world can get back into their charm! Hopefully, the NX will be powerful enough to back up all the games that are coming on the rival systems, then we won't have to buy 2 consoles to enjoy everything. It would have been nice to get the newest Batman Arkham Knight on wii u, to go with the previous 2...also would have been nice to get the first one too.

@Clownshoes so you don't think the developer shares any of the blame for making promises that they can't keep? Interesting.

This is why I'll only support a Kickstarter video game when the game is available, full release, on some digital storefront.

@TheRealThanos
Sure, it's about the money. But if it really was about the money, then do it for less money. People would complain if the Wii U version wasn't up to par, but then let them, if you're only doing a Wii U version to provide backers with a product anyway, and you aren't expecting to make much back.

It's not like people WON'T complain just because they decide to NOT make do on their promise of a Wii U version.

They reap as they have sown with this one, and as you say, lying about it is only going to make it worse.

@Pod I get your point but in my humble opinion giving Wii U owners a lesser version because they are going to complain either way doesn't really sound like the way to go to me.

And technically, if the changes have already been made, then the old build will have effectively been either deleted or written over with the new implementations, so there probably is no lesser version to give to any other console anymore.

So doing it for less money isn't an option, because they would have to invest EXTRA on top of what they have already invested on the other platforms to optimize the game for Wii U.

The only solution would then be to start from scratch with the Xbox 360 version and re-write and re-optimize that to work on Wii U, but that will once again cost too much since that will be yet ANOTHER investment to make, so that is not going to happen.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not defending them, and I certainly would have liked to see this game on a Nintendo console and I positively hate liars and BS'ers, but from a business standpoint I can see why this happened.

Weak hardware, huh? For such a dull and basic game?

This feels so outdated. What is this? Big Motha Trucker?

@electrolite77
What's so imminent about the Wii U's demise?

@Einherjar tell me mystic future man, what are the specs of the PS5? I kid

Its still early enough to no matter what specs Nintendo throws in the NX. They could make it out preform 4k ultra PC rigs and in a few years it'll be outdated and Sony/MS will leap frog it. That or Nintendo would drain its funds and go dreamcast

@abe_hikura But were not talking about a "few" years here. If they would enjoy 3-4 years of the pole position, they would have buffed out the bump the WiiU made in their finances and they would be back in the game.

All we know so far is, that the NX "could" be on par with PS4 specs, all the while rumors are surfacing that Sony might be releasing a revision or even a new console relatively shortly.

And with the fortune they made with the PS4, i actually wouldnt be suprised if they wouldnt go for broke to secure their position in the race now.

This gen showed, that people mostly care about specs, not library. The PS4s library is riddled with rereleases and mediocre exclusives with only a handfull of titles that really stand out.
And still, it sells like mad.

Hypothetical scenario:
Since all we know are rumors, lets roll with them as facts.
Nintendo stopped WiiU production early, which could mean NX production is already on the way. Lets say its out by the end of the year and technically sits between Xbox and PS4.
Lets also say the other rumors are true, and sony releases its "PS4.5", a 4k revision with a lot more horsepower in conjunction with their VR shenanigans.

Nintendo would automatically be the tail end, low tech console again. And weve seen how well that went the last time.
They need to play risky at this point to simply keep up the pace.

@Einherjar I dont buy that people was blinded by specs, blinded by one hell of an illogical PR campaign (we're slightly better than Xbox but a crapton weaker than PC) and MS shooting themselves directly in the crotch - that I can buy.
the majority of Day one PS4 owners I knew cited one of three reasons for buying it "I had a PS3 last", "i wont support Microsoft DRM, they'll bring it back" or "I'm not paying for a Kinect"

lets ignore the PS 4.5 rumour, the back lash from games being .5 exclusive would be a PR nightmare. Even if it wasn't getting exclusives and lets say there some magic way that the .5 can run existing or even new games at 4K Sony would be making their no-VR games look better than their VR games. If people are spec driven as you say, they just wont buy PSVR stuff since it'll run at a lower resolution than "normal games". However I could see them releasing an PS4 VR edition, which would effectively be PS4.5 but they'll expressly state its not an update, games wont run better on it but VR games wont need the extra box.

just a little FYI I didn't say Nintendo shouldn't go with power this time, my inelegant point was trying to match the PS5's power would be foolish as there is no set goal post for the next gen of systems, sony's own comments on the subject suggested its next system might even be cloud based http://www.gamnesia.com/news/sony-vice-president-says-ps5-might-be-cloud-based

Nintendo simply declaring a set of specs as "next gen" doesn't make it so. Otherwise the PS4/X1 would only have 2GB of RAM and a tri core processor.

@abe_hikura But it would be VR man, its da futre !!!!
No seriously, people pay up to 8/900 bucks for a VR set that gets promoted with "Work Simulator"....
Of course PR played a huge roll, im not denying that.
Also, Microsofts ridiculous E3 presentation which endet up being one giant PS4 marketing campaign...

But you hear it on here every day: "The WiiU is just underpowered" ... for what exactly ? I doubt that Nintendos 1st party titles could have looked any better with PS4 hardware :/
Its a 3rd party thing, and they tend to produce a "one size fits all" version...and the WiiU isnt really playing in that league.

Also, you seem to have hung yourslef on the whole "PS5 specs" thingy. Thats why i said they should aim for hypothetical specs.
If they aim for current specs, they will just be overtaken again, and the whole process begins anew.

Of course im aware that there is no definitive roadmap to what will be the next hardware plateau. But going for what others are doing now, while they are alreay working on stuff for tomorrow is literally what happened to the WiiU.
The whole inovation schtick simply doesnt work out anymore.
The times of "there is a PS360 version and a seperate Wii version of a game" are over.
There is one version, and if your platform cant handle it, tough luck.

@Einherjar my point at its basic level = what RAM should the NX have that will compete with the hypothetical X4/PS5? Should it be double the current systems? quaduple? Will they be aiming for 4K? or by 2020 will 12k be the desired resolution?

Even if Nintendo made a monster machine that somehow hit a comfortable range of the next gen xbox/ps , it'll be by itself now meaning devs will have to make an X1/Ps4 version and an NX version. Hell even if they got the specs right and all sony and MS have to do to torpedo Nintendo would be switch from X86. sure the devs will be pissed but Nintendo is still on the outside.

The only way for Nintendo to get back into the direct fight is to wait and launch a new system along side the next gen. be there day one. too late and they are playing catch up, too early and they get leap frogged.

believe me I want Nintendo back in that fight, the console war has to be a three way brawl. Right now Sony is doing the bear minimum because MS has basically decided its lost so it shouldn't try. (hence all this PC focus).

My hope is the NX is on par or better than PS4 specs wise and that the current prediction of next gen MS/PS in 5-6 years hold. that why we can have all three systems hit the market at the same time. Honestly something the NX could do that would help no end would be to ignore sony's (current) waffling on the matter and join the Xbox's idea of open cross network between pc and rival consoles (still not sure how that's going to work well enough). If that network contains Steam/orgin/galaxy, Xbox and Nintendo players, suddenly Sony is the one out in the cold and when a dev is deciding if their game should be excluives it would be Xbox+Nintendo vs Sony (seeing as it'll launch on pc reguardless), certainly a harder choice.

@Clownshoes - So basically your response is to rehash all the most popular "negatives" about the Wii U console?

What does any of that have to do with a developer who took kickstarter money developing for a console that was already on the consumer market for a long time?

Sorry, but you can't justify every troll-ish attack with "derp, Wii U is too weak"...fortunately since then the developer has released new statements that supposedly clarify his initial statement.

I just hope they FINISH the game. I've moved on from expecting everything to be released on Wii U and buckled down for a PS4 just to snatch up 95% of the games I want that have no hope of a Wii U release.

The Wii U is still a last gen system technically speaking, you can't expect it to perform on par with current gen consoles. From the start it was set with HD Nintendo games, and little more than that. I love the thing, but I stopped holding my breath on multiplatform releases designed for current gen systems long ago.