Game & Wario initially planned as pre-installed Wii U game, reveals Iwata

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has revealed that Game & Wario - due to hit Europe June 28 - was originally planned as a pre-loaded Wii U title called Pirates. It didn't star Mario's nemesis at all, in fact.

Iwata confirmed the game's origins during his latest Iwata Asks session, in which he asks Nintendo developers about their games.

During the interview Game & Wario director Goro Abe said, "At first, the idea was to make a game that would come preinstalled on the Wii U console. I became involved in the project when it was already underway, and I began by asking myself what kind of games the Wii U GamePad might make possible.

"When I had an idea of the overall direction for the project, I knew that I needed to try these ideas out to see whether or not they would be fun, so I asked Intelligent Systems to work on realizing the ideas I'd had.

"It wasn't actually conceived of as being part of the WarioWare series. E3 was approaching, and we began working on something that we could present and which would be easy for people to pick up and play".

Over time, Nintendo's team realised they had too many madcap ideas to cram into one pre-loaded title, so decided to then expand it out. The game also includes a Gacha-ball machine that dispenses prizes - similar to Smash Bros. - so there will plenty of content in there that's for sure.

Game & Wario hits Wii U on June 23 in North America and June 28 across Europe. We'll have more on the game nearer the time.

Thanks Nintendo Life.