The story of Wii U exclusivity for Devil's Third

The announcement of Devil's Third's exclusivity on Wii U was made during E3, when it became known that Tomonobu Itagaki's next project would be heading solely to Nintendo's platform.

The project, Valhalla Game Studio's debut title, was to be released with the backing of the now defunct publisher, THQ. Speaking with Polygon, Itagaki revealed what happened with the game after the bankruptcy, and why it was Nintendo's eagerness to support the developer's vision that ultimately formed the genesis of the new partnership.

"I've been able to continue working with [THQ's] Danny [Bilson] and others who love games and love game development," Itagaki told the site. "That's been the most important thing that has continued to sustain this. I've certainly realized that, at the age of 47, I need to be able to work with mature partners, and thankfully I was able to find Nintendo as a partner.

"They really supported my vision, and when I saw the level of commitment they were bringing to the project, I knew I had to follow through with them."

He then added: "I think a lot of people might have been surprised that such a violent game was going to be released on a Nintendo platform. But I think that you can say, from a certain perspective, things are getting interesting for Nintendo as well, making these kinds of choices."

Of the new partnership with Nintendo, Itagaki had this to say: "There are also cultural differences between the way that I've worked and the way Nintendo works, which is when it comes down to the basic grammar of games, the method of game creation. And so we certainly fought some, but I think that I saw the value in a lot of the ways that they do things and learned a great amount.

"Now this is close to a trade secret so I can't say too much, but I feel like I learned the most fundamental meaning of what it means to push a button. When you tell someone, ‘Push the A button,' there's a wealth of information there. And I feel like all of us who have worked on this project, as a result, have grown a bit."

We're still not sure when we're going to see Devil's Third land on Nintendo's console, but there's no doubt that there'll be plenty of Wii U owners looking forward to getting their hands on a game that's designed for a more mature audience. With that in mind, let's hope it delivers. You can check out the E3 trailer below.