[3] Suda believed that pitching matched the body leverage mechanics required by the motion sensor and considered whether or not it would be fun for a player to mimic throwing an object using the device.

[4] Grasshopper's chief creative officer Akira Yamaoka elaborated that they based the project on baseball, or more simply throwing and catching a ball, because it was recognizable to most people around the world.

[5][6] Suda claimed he formulated a game prototype involving a pitcher in a fantasy amusement park prior to the announcement of Kinect and that the device's debut was ample opportunity to implement it.

[4] Grasshopper would add its own unique flavor to set it apart from simple baseball simulators, such as giving the player character a bionic arm to hurl balls at waves of bizarre enemies.

[3][7] Yamaoka stated that the designers wished to "meet halfway" to appeal to both demographics and that adding a fantasy element to the baseball premise of Diabolical Pitch "would ease them into a Kinect experience".

[9] Yamaoka believed the Grasshopper's penchant for creativity would be enough to successfully market the game in Japan, where the Xbox 360 was already struggling financially and a region in which the physical space required to use Kinect may be incompatible with the small size of many houses.