In a move that may surprise many, at Nintendo’s press event today – during which they revealed the official launch date and price of their upcoming console – the House of Mario also made a shocking announcement: Bayonetta 2, the sequel to Platinum Games’ 2010 hyper action beat-em-up, will be exclusive to the Wii U. The original starred the game’s titular hero, the long-legged femme fatale, and featured a blend of highly stylized combat and aggressive enemy AI.

While this play by Nintendo may seem quite startling at first, it makes a lot of sense. Firstly, Nintendo needs to capitalize on the hardcore market, a network of gamers they’ve tended to neglect for the last few generations. Secondly, Nintendo and Platinum have a bit of history together: the Japanese developer created MadWorld for the Wii, one of the console’s first truly “mature” games. They also co-developed the strategy RPG Infinite Space for the Nintendo DS and are the sole developers of the now officially titled The Wonderful 101 (formerly Project P-100) for the Wii U. The move may upset fans of the original who had no intent on purchasing the Wii U, but if Nintendo wants to starts distinguishing themselves from the competition and pose a real threat to Microsoft and Sony, this is exactly the kind of stuff they need to focus on.

Also announced at today’s event is Capcom’s Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Edition for the Wii U and 3DS. As stated in the press release:

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate utilizes the functionalities of Wii U and Nintendo 3DS to provide players with a truly intuitive hunting experience. The touch screen feature of both platforms allows players to quickly access in-game books, weapons, field maps and mini games while the high quality graphics of the Wii U and 3D visuals of the Nintendo 3DS powered by the latest iteration of Capcom’s MT Framework delivers a unique and stunning world for players to explore.