Gearbox explains why Borderlands isn't on Wii U

Why isn't there a Borderlands game for the Wii U? Developer Gearbox Software has answered this question before, but this time there's a new answer.

In an interview with GamesMaster magazine (thanks NintendoEverything) Gearbox chief Randy Pitchford said the developers couldn't come up with an “OMG” feature that makes use of the Wii U's uniqueness for the Borderlands experience.

“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,” he said.

Of course, there is one Gearbox game in the works for Wii U: Aliens: Colonial Marines. So why is it Aliens is right for Wii U?

“But with Aliens, the first thing we thought was 'Holy sh*t, I can have a motion controller in my hands!'” Pitchford explained. “When it's there in my lap it feels like I'm part of the movie.”

Back in July Gearbox's Brian Martel offered a different reason for the lack of a Borderlands game on Nintendo's two-screen HD console, saying the Texan studio will employ a wait and see approach.

“We really like the Wii U, I think it's a really cool platform,” he told Dealspwn. “I like what they're doing - obviously with the touchscreen - and it will be interesting to see what Microsoft do with their approach to that idea. It's one of those problems of the Wii: the only people who have ever made a lot of money on the Wii is Nintendo.

“So we're really excited to bring Aliens: Colonial Marines to it. And we're going to do a wait and see approach, our publisher 2K is going to see whether they're going to go with that.”

Martel said if Borderlands was to hit Wii U it would probably put the inventory on the GamePad, as other games have.

“But if Borderlands 2 was on the Wii U, the thing I would be most excited about is inventory management: it would be amazing on that, it would just be fantastic. And I think the artwork would look really good, with the way they can deal with the resolutions and textures, I think it's a really good console.”