Yakuza 1 & 2 HD on Wii U "an experiment" to gauge interest

Yakuza 1 & 2 HD is being released on Wii U in Japan in order to gauge interest in the franchise from owners of the console.

This is according to Yakuza producer Toshihiro Nagoshi.

"To be honest, we're not aiming to see if the game will be a smash hit," he said. "Our real intention is that we want to see how people respond.

"The existing [Wii U] users are different [from PlayStation owners], so isn't it hard to say if it makes sense? It isn't jumping ship to Nintendo hardware, Yakuza 1 & 2 are coming out on the Wii U, and this is what it is."

One shouldn't expect the Yakuza series to be released on 3DS, unless it was an action adventure game in the series, not part of the standard fare.

"It's not possible," said Nagoshi. "I'd do it if it were okay to have a Yakuza game without many people walking around the city... But it would be forcing it, no?"

The Yakuza series, however, will make its way to Vita as the series was "born and bred" on PlayStation hardware.

Yakuza 1 & 2 HD will be released on Wii U in Japan with Wii U-specific features, including off-TV play.

Thanks, Kotaku.