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TGS07: Wii captures Fatal Frame
Tecmo is bringing the next Fatal Frame title to the Wii, and they're recruiting Team Awesome-Crazy at Grasshopper Manufacture on board to handle the details. Clearly, this eclipses all the other news that's come out of this year's Tokyo Game Show. That's it. There's no topping it. Okay, maybe we're biased here, but Fatal Frame represents some of the best in horror gaming. While the photography-centric series lacks the action some prefer in survival horror games, Fatal Frame has always offered a gorgeous, spooky, thoughtful experience that blends horror and adventure. Combine that with the twisted sense of surrealism Grasshopper can bring to the table, and Fatal Frame IV is set to be an amazing title. [Thanks, Brandon!]
TGS07: No More Heroes says yes to more videos
Now that we know that one of our favorite games has a publisher outside of Japan, we undertook the watching of the latest footage from TGS with a particular zeal. While neither offers sound, we do get a glimpse of the controls and a long, lovely look at the game in motion, which puts all the short clips offered by the official site to shame. Before, we were excited; now a new word will have to be created to communicate the passion with which we approach tSuda 51's offbeat No More Heroes. If anyone has any linguistic suggestions, please let us know. In the meantime, hit up the videos after the break.
No More Uncertainty about No More Heroes' Japanese release date
Grasshopper Manufacture's violent, stylish, nerdy free-roaming action game No More Heroes finally has at least one release date. It'll come out in Japan on December 6. That doesn't help the rest of us directly, but any forward progress in getting this game out the door is a good thing. Since the voice work for the game is already in English, localization shouldn't take a terribly long time, leaving only one major obstacle to a U.S. release. Unfortunately, that obstacle is finding a publisher. Check after the break for another bite-size No More Heroes video-- they usually go up on Friday, but we suppose Grasshopper wanted to get one online before TGS.
Get a slammin' burger in No More Heroes
There's a bizarre cohesion to the environments in No More Heroes: everything seems to be violence-oriented, even when it completely shouldn't be. For example, the local burger joint is called Burger Suplex. Yes, even the place names are violent, and mostly wrestling-related: within the town of Santa Destroy, there's the aforementioned Burger Suplex, the Atomic Drop District, Body Slam Beach, and Destroy Stadium (which is not a command). It reminds us of the restaurant in Itchy and Scratchy Land.The linked article has some new screenshots of No More Heroes, including a map of Santa Destroy, interspersed with some not-so-new ones. The game continues to straddle the line between high art and B-movie ridiculousness, and we continue to be entranced.%Gallery-4611%
Travis vs. Holly: new No More Heroes images
Considering that Holly Summers is ranked several slots higher than our antihero, Travis Touchdown, it's probably no surprise that she's kicking his ass in these screenshots. But just because it isn't surprising doesn't mean it's not cool. We've put the latest shots in a gallery for your viewing pleasure, because we figure that, just like us, you can't get enough of No More Heroes. %Gallery-4611%
No More Heroes site updates
The No More Heroes site continues to leak bits and pieces of information -- just enough to keep us drooling -- and this latest update covers some of the ground already tread by this morning's video. Our hero Travis and his beam katana are the center of the new information, which is all about combat and the tools of the assassination trade. The beam katana can be used to deflect bullets (where've we seen that before?), but it's not a never-ending source of bloody awesome; like any gadget, it can run out of juice. Luckily, there are battery packs scattered around, but in the event you can't find one and find yourself in need of a good cutting edge, you can always get your waggle-charge on. Charging the katana is as simple as jerking the Wiimote up and down. The updates also show off something we've already seen -- Travis's penchant for wrestling moves -- and a shot of a fight brought to a grappling standstill. The image isn't terribly clear, but it seems that with a turn of the Wii remote, it's possible to break free and beat your opponent down. We couldn't possibly want this game more, but at this point, all we really want is to find out just what's up with the tiger indicator on the upper part of the screen. In videos, it can be seen wiggling around, and in these screens, it looks like he takes a little tiger-journey across the top of the image, but for what reason? We can wait for the game, but we must know the secret of the tiger! Perhaps he's like a pet, feeding on the blood of your enemies. It's either that, or he's linked to all the tiger rugs we keep seeing in the game.
Is it worth watching X-Play to see some No More Heroes footage?
We say it is! No More Heroes is the pinnacle of Wii awesomeness. Unfortunately the G4 website is the nadir of annoying Flash navigation. You have to click "Videos," then the X-Play icon, then the No More Heroes link. But once you've jumped through all those hoops-- beautiful gameplay footage. And English voice acting!No More Heroes looks as stylish and cool in motion as it does in stills. Sword combat looks great, with insane duels ending in explosions of blood. It looks like a real action game-- much more so than Killer 7. The motion-controlled Beam Katana charging is, well, inspired. The wrestling moves appear numerous. And then, as if merely to fill space, there's a surprise Suda 51 interview.No, there's no explanation of the tiger graphic. Yes, we're a little disappointed too.[Via NeoGAF]
No More Heroes character bios
The official No More Heroes page has updated with three brief character bios. We immediately put on our Secret No More Heroes Fan Club Decoder Rings and set to the task of figuring out the mysterious secret code in which they were written.Travis Touchdown is #11 in the assassin ranking. He loves pro wrestling, competitive fighting, and a "Japanimation" (their word) called "Bizarre Jerry." Sylvia Christel is an agent of the assassins' group. A mysterious, cool woman, she organizes the ranking competition herself (we think.) Holly Summers is ranked #6. She is a model who also works as an assassin.None of this is entirely new, but it does have the benefit of being about No More Heroes. And it's another excuse to go look at the character art.
Need more No More Heroes?
We do, too, and though the countdown has ended, we've been left a little unfulfilled by the No More Heroes site. Guess we can't expect much from these countdowns, eh?The good news is that the site is open, and there's lots of unactivated tabs ripe for expansion. Looks like the real wait begins ... now. But from everything we've seen of No More Heroes, it's worth a few months of thumb-twiddling and breath-holding. We just hope it doesn't suffer the same fate as Manhunt 2 .... Luckily for those of us who burn for more on Suda 51's latest effort, Famitsu has some updates for us, including some hot shots of rocket-legged female assassin Holly Summers. Expect more coverage in the coming months, as No More Heroes is tentatively scheduled for release this winter.
GDC07: Classic Suda 51 weirdness hitting the DS
Suda 51's first games as part of Grasshopper Manufacture are being remade for the DS. The games, called The Silver Case and The Silver Case Ward 25, were originally released for the Playstation and mobile phones, respectively. Suda revealed this fact during his GDC keynote "Punk's Not Dead".Both are graphical text adventures; Ward 25 uses static art and the original Silver Case uses full-motion video. Unfortunately, because of the amount of text that would have to be translated, Suda isn't sure the remakes will be released outside Japan. Someone tell him that American DS players love graphical text adventures! And tell him that we <3 Grasshopper Manufacture too.
No More Heroes to be most violentest Wii game. EVAR!
Take Jackass Johnny Knoxville, make him an anime and Star Wars otaku, give him a lightsaber and martial arts skills, call him an assassin, and then toss the concoction into an open-world game infested with more assassins ... that's the premise for Suda 51's Wii game No More Heroes -- but it doesn't stop there. The Killer 7 developer has proposed a particularly un-Wii-like challenge for his Grasshopper team: "make No More Heroes as violent, or even more violent than Manhunt 2!"And afterwards? Well, there's that secret "Project S" collabo with Kojima (a Snatcher sequel?) that's been floating under the radar; and, as Suda reveals, there's interest in developing for Xbox 360. "I want to develop games for Xbox 360 as soon as possible. In fact, I am planning the next project for Xbox 360," says Suda. "As for PS3, I don't have enough materials/topics to comment on this because there is only a small chance for us to develop for the console at this point in time." Small chance? Why's that?[Via Evil Avatar]
Heroes gets a new name
Forget Heroes -- we don't need no stinkin' heroes. Looks like Suda 51's latest is going through a rechristening and will sport a name not unlike the old name, just without all that messy implied hope. The forthcoming Grasshopper title will now be called No More Heroes. We're at a loss for which title is a better choice. Here we have a game rife with murder and mayhem, with light sabers katanas and a city named Santa Destroy ... it's hard not to see heroes in that!
A trio of Contact gameplay videos
When you woke up the morning, your first thought was, "Man, I wish I had a whole bunch of Contact videos to watch." Right? That was you? Well, play along anyway. These videos, originally from GameSpot, offer a long and languorous look at gameplay and graphics, and we've embedded them after the jump for your viewing pleasure.
Metareview: Contact
Grasshopper Manufacture is certainly developing a reputation for unpredictability. Opinions on their last Nintendo foray, Killer 7, were all over the place -- some loved the twisted rail-shooter, others hated it, and many just scratched their heads and offered up a simple "wtf, mate?" Their new Atlus-published RPG Contact, while a little more straightforward, seems to be getting the same wide range of responses. As this is a metareview, Contact seems like a metagame; it's the little things that are praised, the inclusion of other games, references to games, influences from games, the touches from old school games. Unfortunately, the actual game seems to have suffered a bit -- even the most praise-worthy reviews indicate some gameplay issues. 1UP - 80%: "Savvy players will almost certainly enjoy all these little references and arty concepts, so it's a shame the entire package won't hold up to their scrutiny. In crafting their gaming curiosity, Grasshopper has made some design choices that are simply curious. The autobattle system is far from engaging ... fighting enemies in Contact is a woefully straightforward process. It's impossible to dodge or block attacks. In fact, the player can only watch as Terry trades hits with his target."Games Radar - 60%: "Contact is a mixed bag and will delight some while disappointing others. It feels "classic," but the flipside of that is "outdated." Even though it's chock-full of personality and pomp, Contact falls short on fun, with some disappointing shortcomings. Casual RPG fans will have no problem finishing this game in less than 14 hours and a lot of that time will be spent backtracking through previous areas and grinding to boost your stats before boss fights. Also, weapons and special attacks unlocked near the end are just as unimpressive as the ones you begin with. Contact does sport an incredible surprise ending that adds depth and changes your perspective on all the main characters in the game. However, its impact is greatly diminished by the extremely short play time."Yahoo Games - 70%: "The linearity is one area where Contact is particularly disappointing. You'll end up stuck because you can't figure out how to trigger a certain bit of scripting (pay attention to the dialogue!), or maybe you can't figure out the trick to defeating some inscrutable boss battle. Or perhaps you haven't quite leveled up enough to easily dispatch the latest round of monsters in a new area. At times like these, all of Contact's charm can't save it from the tedium that bogs down a lot of RPGs. But it's still as solid as they come, not terribly spectacular, but the perfect fare for devotees of the genre."So it seems Contact definitely reaches out with its intriguing concept, and Grasshopper knows how much we like references and in-jokes, but RPGs have evolved over time for a reason. Some of that evolution should have perhaps been maintained for this title.
DS releases for the week of October 16th [update 1]
Big week, Nintendo fans! Looks like the winter glut of games has begun ... and so many of us already blew our gaming wads for the month on Wii preorders! Guess it's time to start making some sacrifices, since this week brings us a new Nintendogs as well as the latest published by Atlus, Contact. Grasshopper Manufacture's new offbeat RPG is our pick for the game of the week, though there's a good possibility that anything with the Nintendogs logo might just outsell the Bible, much less any games that dare to compete.DS: Contact Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long, Attack of the Dark Dragon Disney's Chicken Little: Ace in Action Justice League Heroes Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning, The Lionel Trains: On Track Nintendogs: Dalmatian & Friends SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab GBA: Justice League Heroes: The Flash SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2 And for our counterparts in the UK, the exciting release this week is Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007, which hits shelves on the 20th. As always, availability is subject to manufacturer delivery.[Update 1: Changed category from Interviews, which this ain't, to news, which it is.][Via Joystiq]4 leaves take 5 4 good, 6 feet under. A shame, really.
