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Yooka-Laylee launches April 11th, considering Switch version instead of Wii U

e_i

Member
Bought the deluxe Steam version. Want that Kirkhope soundtrack. Nice to see it coming to Mac. Didn't know that beforehand.
 
Playtonic's excuse stands on shaky ground, even if I 100% support their decision to ditch the WiI U version.

The Wii U version was billed as the lead format alongside PC, with Playtonic handling that version while giving the more straightforward XBO and PS4 versions to publisher Team17.

So to encounter technical issues that make it impossible to release the game on the only format Playtonic is targeting internally suggests a Wii U version was never really the focus, and the game was always targeting formats that were powerful enough to run a Unity Engine game as visually ambitious as Yooka Laylee.

We've never seen Wii U footage to date, for instance, it's always been gameplay of the other versions

More or less, though I was actually going to buy the Wii U version had they actually carried it out. And with similar KS projects dropping Wii U platforms like nobody's business left and right, I was actually commending Playtonic for being the few --if only-- holdouts. The reasons given may be "understandable", but it's no less disappointing to those who backed it or were going to buy it.

Meh.
 

G0523

Member
Did anyone else who pre-ordered the game from Amazon just get a code in their email? I got a code from them because it was a pre-order bonus. I think it's the ToyBox demo but I haven't redeemed it yet since I'm not at home. It's weird because I pre-ordered it physically from Amazon and wasn't expecting anything.
 
Did anyone else who pre-ordered the game from Amazon just get a code in their email? I got a code from them because it was a pre-order bonus. I think it's the ToyBox demo but I haven't redeemed it yet since I'm not at home. It's weird because I pre-ordered it physically from Amazon and wasn't expecting anything.

I got it too. Installing it now.
 

Big Nikus

Member
Yo seriously, with the new Mario focusing on big worlds to explore, it feels like Yooka-Laylee isn't filling a hole anymore. That said, Yooka-Laylee on Switch in spring, and Mario during the holiday at the end of the year ?
Is it 1998 ?? A Playtonic/Rare platformer and a Mario with a googly eyed cap in huge levels... I'm crying.
 

Gartooth

Member
Yo seriously, with the new Mario focusing on big worlds to explore, it feels like Yooka-Laylee isn't filling a hole anymore. That said, Yooka-Laylee on Switch in spring, and Mario during the holiday at the end of the year ?
Is it 1998 ?? A Playtonic/Rare platformer and a Mario with a googly eyed cap in huge levels... I'm crying.

It will still fill a hole for everyone that doesn't own a Switch.

Besides having two games that are 3D sandbox platformers isn't saturation when there hasn't been a great game of this type in the last decade. :(
 

maxcriden

Member
Playtonic - Info on Yooka-Laylee Wii U backers moving to Switch should come later this month

http://gonintendo.com/stories/272474-playtonic-info-on-yooka-laylee-wii-u-backers-moving-to-switch-s

Info given in a tweet. Hopefully we find out the release date soon!

Since this decision is so last minute I highly doubt they can properly port the game over in such a short time. Unless Nintendo steps in either a helping hand.

For sure, the big question is how long they've been trying to get any Switch port made, even if they were still trying to bring it to Wii U for a time the question for me is when they started exploring a Switch port on top of that.
 
Playtonic - Info on Yooka-Laylee Wii U backers moving to Switch should come later this month

http://gonintendo.com/stories/272474-playtonic-info-on-yooka-laylee-wii-u-backers-moving-to-switch-s

Info given in a tweet. Hopefully we find out the release date soon!

In hoping it's not too much later. It sucks like Nintendo fans get screwed. They're the ones who were going to buy this game the most, then they lose the Wii U version and will probably end up getting it later than everyone else with the Switch version.
 

Ionic

Member
Have they released the Toybox demo for all backers yet? I got the basic tier which didn't originally include the Toybox.
 

BigEmil

Junior Member
Locking toybox level behind preorders only is fucking bullshit I'll now buy this when it's dirt cheap
 
Locking toybox level behind preorders only is fucking bullshit I'll now buy this when it's dirt cheap
It's a fucking technical demo that was originally exclusive to Kickstarter backers who paid a specific tier or higher but eventually they thought it could be a nice incentive for pre orders. Like so many Kickstarter games have a demo for backers never properly released to the public. It isn't even amazing, it's just enough to let you have a feel of the gameplay.
 
it's just enough to let you have a feel of the gameplay.

Which is actually a helpful promotional tool all around when it comes to influencing people to buy a 3D platformer and should really be given out to as many potential customers on the fence at this rate and so close to release. Game-feel and solid camera controls are vital. I'm not just going to slap a pre-order down on this if I can't even sample the controls beforehand.
 

Mory Dunz

Member
In hoping it's not too much later. It sucks like Nintendo fans get screwed. They're the ones who were going to buy this game the most, then they lose the Wii U version and will probably end up getting it later than everyone else with the Switch version.

Yeah. But tbh it's in playtonics best interest to get it out on switch soon. If the Wii U version existed, I'm pretty confident it would've been the best selling system. Switch remains to be seen, but getting it early might be beneficial.
 

Kouriozan

Member
I can wait a few month for the Switch version for the sake of having it in portable form, it's done in house so it should be good enough.
 
Which is actually a helpful promotional tool all around when it comes to influencing people to buy a 3D platformer and should really be given out to as many potential customers on the fence at this rate and so close to release. Game-feel and solid camera controls are vital. I'm not just going to slap a pre-order down on this if I can't even sample the controls beforehand.
Then that's fine, but cursing the developer for doing something that's fairly standard and saying you now won't buy the game until it's dirt cheap seems fairly petty. You could watch plenty of videos of others playing it, wait for reviews, etc

Demos aren't even all that common nowadays. Now I think they should have given something else as a pre order bonus and have this available to the topic, but hey it happens.
 

PSqueak

Banned
Locking toybox level behind preorders only is fucking bullshit I'll now buy this when it's dirt cheap

Dude, don't see it as locking content behind a preorder when the content was originally only available to BACKERS of the project, if anything they're just making it so MORE people can have a crack at it.
 
Which is actually a helpful promotional tool all around when it comes to influencing people to buy a 3D platformer and should really be given out to as many potential customers on the fence at this rate and so close to release. Game-feel and solid camera controls are vital. I'm not just going to slap a pre-order down on this if I can't even sample the controls beforehand.

Pre order on Amazon and if you don't want it cancel he preorder. Costs you nothing and you aren't charged until it ships.
 

deleted

Member
Is it still possible to switch from PC to the Switch version?
I liked the MP trailer and I hope to get more out of it in MP than on my Laptop which is my main PC indie multiplayer games machine that I take along.
 
I didn't think there was no chance, per se. It might not be a high chance but it's still possible, right?

The blunt truth is I suspect rare2.0 probably didn't get a dev kit in time to make that a possibility.

Posters have been suggesting that they were stingier with dev kits, and I suspect that probably extended to playtonic, unfortunately.
 
They might have been able to get a Switch dev kit earlier if they hadn't squandered so much time trying to get the game playable on Wii U, which in hindsight should have looked like a futile effort much earlier than it did.
 

TDLink

Member
I don't think it's impossible the switch version isn't there on April 11th. They haven't said anything about it. It could be later, but it might not be. If it is later I'm curious as to how much so.
 

Oregano

Member
They might have been able to get a Switch dev kit earlier if they hadn't squandered so much time trying to get the game playable on Wii U, which in hindsight should have looked like a futile effort much earlier than it did.

Yup, the fact that the "We can't make it work on Wii U" came so late is a bit of a piss take. They had to have known earlier and strung people along.
 
I didn't think there was no chance, per se. It might not be a high chance but it's still possible, right?

I hope so, but Nintendo has to work harder to get launch parity on as many games as possible. This deal with them consistently getting later release dates stinks. I understand this situation and I'm not mad, I just hope this doesn't continue to be the norm with the switch.
 
Yup, the fact that the "We can't make it work on Wii U" came so late is a bit of a piss take. They had to have known earlier and strung people along.

I dunno, I wouldn't be surprised if Playtonic had tried in good faith to get it playable on Wii U a lot longer than made any sense. I mean, they could have just outsourced that version and developed the PS4/XB1 versions in-house.

But given that the game is far more technically ambitious than any released Unity game on Wii U, it shouldn't have taken so long to reach that conclusion.
 

Oregano

Member
I dunno, I wouldn't be surprised if Playtonic had tried in good faith to get it playable on Wii U a lot longer than made any sense. I mean, they could have just outsourced that version and developed the PS4/XB1 versions in-house.

But given that the game is far more technically ambitious than any released Unity game on Wii U, it shouldn't have taken so long to reach that conclusion.

Oh I don't think they were being malicious but they definitely waited until the last second to come clean.
 

Dupy

"it is in giving that we receive"
Which is actually a helpful promotional tool all around when it comes to influencing people to buy a 3D platformer and should really be given out to as many potential customers on the fence at this rate and so close to release. Game-feel and solid camera controls are vital. I'm not just going to slap a pre-order down on this if I can't even sample the controls beforehand.

It would be risky to put the Toybox out to unconvinced customers. Yes the core mechanics are there but the level is unpolished and sparsely populated, you get almost no direction after the initial tutorial and a few of the challenges had a wonky camera and unclear objectives. I'm a backer so I have faith the full game will come together but to anyone else it could damage their impression of the game.
 
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