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Gearbox Explains Why There’s No Borderlands For Wii U

Gearbox’s CEO, Randy Pitchford says that the reason there’s has been no mention of Borderlands 2 coming to Wii U is simply down to the fact that the studio has yet to come up with a unique selling point for bringing the game to the console. Pitchford went on to say that the team knew exactly what they wanted to do with Aliens: Colonial Marines on Wii U, hence why the game has been announced for the platform.

“We get asked if there is going to be a Wii U version of Borderlands, and the reason why there’s not is because we couldn’t think of a natural, obvious, ‘OMG, I want that for what the Wii U brings to the table’ feature. But with Aliens, the first thing we thought was ‘Holy sh*t, I can have a motion controller in my hands!’ When it’s there in my lap it feels like I’m part of the movie.”

62 thoughts on “Gearbox Explains Why There’s No Borderlands For Wii U”

  1. This is how a developer should embrace the system. Don’t throw a half assed port on it just to turn a quick buck.

      1. Wow thank you for that comment Wii u can improve in all aspects if gamepad capabilities aren’t used. Allow after using gamepad I can honestly say I would sacrifice it for the world,

    1. I’m more worried about technically poor ports, that is, with framerate or visual problems that you won’t get in other versions. I’m more inclined to believe Gearbox just didn’t have enough manpower to study the WiiU architecture and port more than one game to it properly right now, and decided to focus on one game for the new platform and the other for the ‘traditional’ platforms.

      But that said, I think the WiiU will benefit from receiving ports as long as they’re at least technically proficient. The more games it gets the better, and not all of them need to use the system’s unique features. That’s why we get all the usual buttons, triggers and stick on the GamePad, not to mention the Pro Controller.

      1. That’s what gives a console and/or developers a bad rep. Making half-assed ports is what’s screwing over companies and consoles with their respective fans

    2. Yeah and make up stupid ass reason =s like the cou can’t handle it or the disk doesn’t have enough space couthgamecubecough!

  2. I appreciate that he doesn’t wan to just do a half assed port to cash in on the Wii U, but at the same time I want everything the PS/360 get. He could’ve put the inventory on the GamePad, off TV play, Wii remote functionality and online multiplayer. That would’ve been good enough for most. Leave luck to heaven.

    1. @ d I feel your pain but that’s asking for a half assed port with tacked on extra options which doesn’t make the game feel original. Think about it this way if were patient we can get a better game which takes time to use the system correctly. The best part if built from scratch maybe we don’t have a lot of issues that have plagued the first generation of ports. Us fans have to be patient I recall. Someone saying the wii u will get a race game that was made at the same time as the other consoles but will be leaps and bounds above those consoles. So in time we shall see.

      1. You’re right. I’m willing to wait for the devs to get used to the Wii U’s hardware. I would say within a year’s time we should start seeing ports that use the system properly.

        1. It could also be the developers console of choice when the other 2 consoles are out. So maybe the other consoles will be getting Wii U ports.

        2. Within a year we will see no ports for the Wii U hopefully. Within 1 year the Wii U games will be ported to the last gen systems and developers developing the games on the Wii U.

          1. I hope that will be the case, but I see either Sony/Microsoft or having their console ready for next Christmas. The 3rd party devs will either jump head first into that, or Wii U will become the default platform like the 360 was this gen.

              1. Anything’s possible. Would you have thought at the beginning of this gen that 360 would be the default platform? I would’ve bet on Sony (before they announced the price of the PS3)

                1. Yep… we can´t be sure by now. I think that neither Sony nor MS will launch their next console on 2013. There´s still a lot that can be done with the current generation and they probably don´t want to launch a very expensive console and wait years for it to give them a profit, again. My bet is that WiiU will have 2 years from now to get the audiences attention until we see the next PS/Xbox (2014 or early 2015).

    2. idk now im looking at this in a different point of view now, now i don’t want ports that just don’t do nothing different anymore.
      together wii u.

      1. I agree, but I would like Nintendo to stay competitive with the others in terms of 3rd party support. It could be something as simple as having the map displayed on the GamePad.

        1. Exactly, we can’t except all the lazy devs to do something innovative with the GamePad. A map or an inventory would be fine.

  3. This is the same problem the Wii had; developers seem to think that they NEED to have something unique on the system just because of it’s input, but believe it or not, some people would just be happy with standard controls and no additional features. If anything, the gamepad could offer quicker and easier item/weapon management, off screen play, constant map access with waypoint markers etc, views on the gamepad from your turrent/deathtrap. I guess there is no point in moaning about it now as it’s clearly not coming to the machine.

  4. I like Randy Pitchford, but I don’t think you have to reinvent the wheel to bring Borderlands or anything else to Wii U, and I think there are uses with the Gamepad that can always be used that are more convenient even if they don’t have a Wow factor.

  5. Im happy with gear box they clearly believe in the wii u and this is great really because i dont want half assed ports because everyone that come out that gives the haters something to bitch about. but i do want everything that the other consoles are getting but i hope that will happen from now on :D

  6. *raises hand* errmm, multiplayer? Isnt that what the main point of Borderlands is? Imagine 3 player co-op, or even just 2 player, one on the tv, one on the gamepad.

    1. Developers dont NEED to do anything, thats why Nintendo has a more compatible main controller this time around, and a boring “hardcore” controller

      1. With all do respect, that “boring” hardcore controller is infinitely better than the Wii Remote. I can’t believe people were ever excited for that thing. What was wrong with us?

        1. Have you ever used A wii remote to pALAY metroid prime 3 ? It’s massively more precise than twin stick controllers. Skyward sword ? 1:1 sword slashing feels amazing! way better than pressing a button. It’s all opinion , but it’s been proven more precision can be afforded with a wii remote compared to twin sticks. Wii remote pointing is on par with a Mouse.

        2. That depends on the game, but id either use the gamepad or the wiiremote. Pro controller only interests me for local multiplayer and Smash Bros

      2. These^. No excuses for not bringing Borderlands 2 to wiiu , even a year late. It’s the sort of Art design and Gameplay that Nintendo fans live for. Just some touch screen inventory and off screen play and Multiplayer dual screen would do it for me. Heck even the option to motion steer vehicles.

        I understand what Randy is talking about, But he also sounds like he’s suggesting that in order to put games on wiiu there has to be some sort of MAJOR innovation. Why doesn’t he just take a leaf out of AC3 and Blops2’s book ?

  7. With a game like Borderlands 2, simply putting the inventory and menus on the gamepad would be good enough. It’d be a lot easier to equip weapons, shields, and grenades with a touch screen. Leveling up and viewing mission info would be easier too. If I remember correctly, the game doesn’t stop when you go into a menu, so this could save a couple of lives and the money it costs to come back.

  8. You could use the gamepad screen as a sort of interactive echo device which lets you store and replay all the different messages you get during the game. In the same time it would get rid off the irritating echo device break-off when accepting multiple quests or triggering echo device events without being able to relisten to the full message. And off course your minimap or inventory when not echo devicing. They could even make full drawn animations for all the echo device messages and just display them on the gamepad while playing.

  9. really? You can’t find a feature that you can utilize with the U? The screen is there for a reason. You can implement a split screen without splitting the screen, use the screen for the HUD menu: maps, missions, stats, action skill trees, backpack.. you’ve also got Miiverse to implement.. i mean.. what else does it take to actual think and use it’s features?

    sigh.. but after reading the comments from up above, ig I can reason with why they haven’t done anything.

  10. I don’t care what they do I just want it on my WII U. It’s a couple of games I haven’t preordered yet because I heard they we’re coming to the WII U.(Splinter Cell,Tomb Raider,HitMan,Amazing Spider-Man etc.) Hopefully they bring Borderlands 2 over. That would be dope.

  11. What?
    How can they not have thought of an innovative idea?
    Is their dev team asleep half their work day or something?

    Here ya go, GBX, a free idea: Hot-swapping gear mid-combat.
    The game pad would keep your inventory display, map, etc, constantly on the gamepad unless you press start to bring it up to the main screen.
    If you’ve got your gear and inventory displayed on the bottom, a simple touch and drag would let you swap out gears on-the-fly.
    Or, heck, you could even program some “hot-swap buttons” on the pad for one-touch-swapping.
    Just put whatever gear you want into the swap space, then all you’d need to do to switch between that piece of gear and what you’re currently using is to tap the icon.

    Hot swapping shields, relics, and COMs would be a fantastic idea for the game.

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