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Manhunt 2's extra-scary, extra-late UK date
Rockstar has taken a long-form approach to scaring people with Manhunt 2. They've waited very quietly, very still, until everyone in the UK forgot that it was there, and then they JUMPED OUT AND ANNOUNCED A RELEASE DATE! "BOO! Manhunt 2 is coming out on October 31!"This version of Manhunt 2 is different from the one the US got, having been "heavily reworked" (as IGN describes it) in a desperate bid for BBFC approval. They got the right to release the game in December, but by then Halloween had already passed, and what's the point of releasing a horror game on any other date?%Gallery-3148%
Reggie 'answers' questions about Disaster, Fatal Frame IV
Because it's not a Nintendo event if it isn't followed by "where's (Game X)" questions, Kombo cornered Reggie Fils-Aime at yesterday's conference and asked him about the status of North American versions of Disaster: Day of Crisis and Fatal Frame IV. While nobody expected concrete dates or even confirmation from Reggie's answers, he still managed to impart a bit of information. Regarding Disaster: Nintendo of America is waiting to see how the game performs in Europe before making a decision. That means that we at least have to wait for a while after October 24 to hear anything. As for Fatal Frame, he offered the following frustrating response: "you're going to have to contact the publisher for questions on that." So it might be coming out here -- just not from Nintendo, despite Nintendo of Japan publishing it. Who wants to start cold-calling publishers?* *Note: Wii Fanboy does not encourage the cold-calling of publishers. %Gallery-30942% [Via GoNintendo]
Famitsu: Level-5 scaring up two new PSP RPGs
While coding away on its PS3-exclusive RPG, White Knight Story, not to mention the newly revealed DS project with the animators at Studio Ghibli, and two DS sequels, Japanese dev Level-5 somehow still has time left in the day to work on two more PSP titles. Who needs sleep, anyway? A new Famitsu scan reveals that the studio behind 2007's Jeanne d'arc is developing a new scare-tastic RPG for the PSP called Ushiro, in which players will step into the boots of a shinigami, or God of Death in order to battle monsters and -- oddly -- help grant people's wishes. Dambol Senki (translated as "Cardboard War Machine") is described as an RPG in which you're tasked with building a small robot (called an LBX) and battling against other LBXs you encouter around ten. Little beyond this is known about what Level-5 has planned, though with TGS bearing down on us like a runaway scythe, we wish hope we'll find out more soon. [Via PSP Fanboy]Source – Level-5 Announces New RPGsSource – Level-5 announces Ushiro for the PSP
Hopefully not the last update on Last Flight
Click for more eye candy Bloober Team may have split from the Notorious N.I.B.R.I.S., but their methods seem disturbingly similar to their progenitor. They have yet to actually release any games, and after months, and some cases years, of teasing, we have nothing to go on but concept art and occasional doctored screenshots. Their most complete games have made it to the "DS homebrew program" stage. We really want Bloober Team to not be Nibris.So it is with mixed feelings that we present this concept art of Last Flight. We can laugh at the continued non-development of Nibris's Sadness, because it sounds like a pretentious, overambitious game and we'd probably laugh at it if it came out anyway. But Last Flight, the WiiWare game about fighting vampires on an airplane, is something that we would actually like to play within our lifetime. We're glad to see Bloober Team releasing something about this game, but we're a bit worried that it's concept art.%Gallery-32188%[Via press release]
Capcom talks more Dead Rising, inevitable questions ensue
We feel sorry for Capcom PR staff right now. Take Jason Allen here. His performance when talking about Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop is as smooth and unruffled as they come, but somebody just had to wheel out the old, old question of zombie numbers, didn't they? Allen clearly knew it was coming -- he gives a wry smile as he answers -- but he does stumble a little. "[There will be] just as much, er, a satisfactory number of enemies on screen to fight off against," he replies. Fair enough.Away from the issue of zombie quantity, Allen discusses how the game borrows Resident Evil 4's combat controls, a decision that was made because the Wii Remote worked so perfectly there; in fact, he notes, Dead Rising on the Wii will boast more firearms than the Xbox 360 game. Capcom is also restructuring the title so it's more appealing to the casual gamer set. All side quests are now incorporated into the main narrative, the rationale being that casual gamers are less likely to replay the game for the extra quests. That makes sense, and it doesn't really result in less content. It's just all squashed together in one whole now.%Gallery-28028%
Renegade Kid releases art for mysterious new game
Dementium: The Ward and Moon developers Renegade Kid have announced that they're partnering again with Gamecock for their next game. The platform isn't explicitly specified for this new project (nor is anything else), but Renegade Kid has references to their "next original title for the Wii" in job postings, and only the Wii and DS logos appear on their website, so it's a fairly short logical jump to assign this new game to the Wii.The new game is based on "one of the biggest horror icons of all time," and, like the platform, it doesn't seem too hard to figure out. The cool stencil-style teaser art features a caped character, a full moon, and a bunch of bats. The Gamecock logo is even sporting some little fangs! Also the character appears to have Texas for a hand, but that may not be related to the character's lore. [Via IGN]
Dyack: Ownership of Eternal Darkness IP is 'complicated'
Our greener, slightly more hi-def colleagues at X3F recently had a chance to sit down with Denis Dyack, famously outspoken founder and president of Silicon Knights. Although Dyack and Silicon Knights have been working with the others in recent years, the company does have a history of working alongside Nintendo, perhaps most notably when Ninty published cult favorite Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem on the GameCube. Since it was released in 2002, the fan clamor for an Eternal Darkness follow-up has been considerable.Regrettably, the signs given by Dyack here (at around the 4.30 mark) aren't encouraging. The sticking point seems to be the issue of who owns the Eternal Darkness IP, something which Dyack describes as "a complicated question with a complicated answer."That said, he also reveals that Nintendo is a "silent partner" with the developer, and that the two companies have a "great" relationship. "It's not time to talk about Eternal Darkness 2," he concludes. The chances of an Eternal Darkness sequel on Wii seem a little slimmer after watching this, and that makes us sad pandas.
Video comparison shows Dead Rising taken down by Hitman
So yeah, we're not even touching this. Not with a twenty-foot damn pole. Some user at GameTrailers compiled this video, featuring a comparison between Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop and the PlayStation 2's Hitman: Blood Money. The point? To show up the supposed lack of NPC zombies in the former, by comparing it to the achievements of a two-year-old game on a technologically inferior system.The Dead Rising footage used is a touch selective (we've seen screens with a far greater number of zombies), but like we say: we're staying out of this. It isn't going to end well.%Gallery-28028%[Via Go Nintendo]
GC 2008: First footage of Cursed Mountain
You'll have to endure some conference attendee's phone call at the beginning of this off-screen Cursed Mountain footage, but it takes place during the seemingly interminable intro anyway. This video contains the first actual images of Deep Silver's horror title, which, at first, only seems scary because the music and the editing tells you it's supposed to be. It's just a foggy mountain, which isn't really that terrifying unless you're there. But then ghosts arrive, and it's generally accepted that ghosts are scary.Judging by the brief glimpse of an onscreen prompt, QTE-style gestures figure into the combat. Either that is what they meant by motion-controlled combat, or those arrows were on the screen as a tutorial, to help players learn the gestures. There's also a pointer visible on screen, which may just be used for investigating or may also be part of the ghostbusting.
Rub your eyes: Sadness 'footage' emerges, disappears again [Update 1]
Go Nintendo's RawMeatCowboy recently received an email from an anonymous, shadowy figure calling themselves "rabbits can't be sad." That's pretty weird, but stranger still, the email contained something we almost never expected to see: footage of Nibris' "vaporware" title, Sadness. Despite the unconventional method of its delivery, it definitely looked like the real deal.We say "looked" because now it's gone, pulled down by RawMeatCowboy, who (we're guessing) was asked to remove the footage. In his amended post, RMC simply writes: "Sorry for the inconvenience, but I unfortunately have to remove this post. That is all I can say at this time."So after being relentlessly mocked (not least by us), has Nibris actually been making a game all along? Really, really slowly?[Update 1: Some enterprising soul grabbed the footage before it was pulled, and added it to YouTube -- thanks, DaisukeKiriyama!]%Gallery-12425%[Via Go Nintendo] Previously, we've had plenty of reasons to believe that Sadness is about as likely to exist as Bigfoot: just take a look at our timeline of the game to see what we mean.
Anti-Aliased: Scare tactics
Our MMOs are filled with all sorts of emotions -- the excitement of getting to the next level, the surprise of the item you desperately wanted dropping off of a boss, the intense rush of a player vs. player encounter, and the joy of exploration of these fantastic worlds.But there is one very specific genre and emotion that goes regularly unnoticed in our massively multiplayer gaming experiences. The genre in question isn't anything new to our gaming culture in the slightest, but it just seems that no MMO developer can make a game centered around it.
The Secret World screenshots 'leaked' in Funcom quarterly report
Funcom has been keeping their upcoming MMO The Secret World under wraps, but some details have been coming through. Rock, Paper, Shotgun has found two new images from the game, depicting a fairly deformed zombie or mutant caught in the act of jaywalking. Their source is a Norwegian site, Dagbladet.no, which shows the images as well as a piece of apparently aquatic concept art. Funcom's Ragnar Tørnquist, who is working on The Secret World, acknowledges that the images weren't so much 'leaked' as 'sneakily released' as part of Funcom's quarterly report. He also says that the images are pre-alpha screenshots, and points out that they're already being discussed on The Secret World forums.
Wii Warm Up: Surviving the onslaught
The Wii seems to be getting a lot of one thing lately: horror games. Fatal Frame IV and the newly-announced Cursed Mountain spring immediately to mind, along with Dead Rising (hey, it's got zombies who wish to eat you, and that's pretty horrifying), rumors of Resident Evil 5 (as well as the other Resident Evil games we've seen on the system), and, uh, Sadness (lol). That's not even all of the games that fall under the horror umbrella -- the Wii library already boasts several entries, and will soon be packed with more horror than you can shake your pitiful flashlight at. We've established the what -- now let's talk about the why. What's with all the horror games? Is it because it's one genre that has proven popular with all types of gamers, from the most casual to the hardest of the hard? Is it because the Wii controls can add to the immersion factor of the game, and immersion drives horror? Or is there another explanation?
Suda and Mikami love EA
Nothing makes EA sound like a warm, welcoming place than two people used to dealing with Japanese publishers. 1UP interviewed Suda51 and Shinji Mikami about their new horror game with EA, and the two have nothing but good to say about their treatment from the mega-corporation. Suda was impressed with the communication: "We actually don't even communicate that much when working with a Japanese publisher, but when something happens, we can always get in touch with EA and talk about how we both feel on an issue. Our relationship is extremely good."This deal is four years in the making. Suda presented Mikami with his concept at the end of their collaboration on Killer 7, and the two decided that they work well together. "I mean, Grasshopper has experience in creating action games," said Suda, "but Mikami is one of the top three action game creators in the world." They described how Mikami balances out Suda's weirdness for the audience, and how Suda delivers amazing visuals. Last June they brought ideas, including this horror game, to EA. No concrete information about the game was revealed, but Suda proffered two sources of inspiration (though there is a note in the translation that these are guesses): the Takashi Miike film Crows Zero and the Japanese drama Rookies. So something about high school gangs?
EA publishing action horror 'franchise' from Suda51 and RE creator Shinji Mikami
And here we thought the only talk of "Dream Team" was going to involve the Olympics! But no, an incredible wealth of talent in the gaming industry is coming together to produce something we hope is very special. With a mixture of talent like this, we wonder how it couldn't be!So, facts: EA and No More Heroes (otherwise known as the best game on Wii) developer, Grasshopper Manufacture, have signed a publishing agreement regarding an "all-new action horror game." On top of that, the title in question is being produced by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. Oh, and Q Entertainment is also involved. It's okay, we just wet our pants a little too.Sadly, that's as much as we know. The source link is full of the kind of carefree lauding that most press releases have, so we're just going to have to wait for more info on this project before we get so excited that we start typing in italics.[Via Joystiq]
EA publishing new action horror 'franchise' from Suda51, Shinji Mikami
EA has just announced a publishing agreement with eccentric No More Heroes developer, Grasshopper Manufacture. The deal concerns an "all-new action horror game" produced by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and directed by the master of self-referential weirdness, Goichi "Suda51" Suda. The mysterious title, which also boasts the involvement of Q Entertainment, is slated for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and Wii. Goichi Suda has nothing but good things to say about EA Partners in the press release, praising the group for sharing Grasshopper's "commitment to quality and innovation," all the while respecting its "independence as a studio, which is very empowering." EA Games' Frank Gibeau is equally polite, saying, "It is an honor for EA to sign Grasshopper Manufacture and help bring their new franchise to gamers worldwide. Franchise, you say? Of course, neither of them say anything about the actual game. Way to leave us hanging, guys!
Dead Rising makes sport of zombie-smashing
Dead Rising: Chop 'til You Drop offers the one feature that Wii owners didn't even know they needed: waggle-based zombie-batting. According to the latest screens, shaking the controller in response to an onscreen prompt while holding a baseball bat will trigger the "Home Run Swing." We're happy to see that the Wii Dead Rising game keeps an emphasis on a wide variety of useful and/or hilarious weapons, including saw blades, samurai swords, benches, and various firearms. All of the weapons have been given some kind of motion-based interaction: guns, for example, are reloaded by shaking. That sounds like some other Wii game that used the Resident Evil 4 engine! But which one?%Gallery-28028%
Mythos lives!
These have been some turbulent times for both Mythos and Hellgate: London. Following the closing of Flagship Studios, recent news revealed Namco-Bandai Games as Hellgate: London's saviors, while the fate of Mythos remained uncertain, but grim. However just over a week later, the Hellgate: London page at Namco-Bandai has already disappeared. In another turn of events, Gamasutra reports that Korea's T3 Entertainment, perhaps best-known for their online music game Audition, is seeking programmers for its new development studio in San Francisco: "T3 Entertainment is searching for creative minds to passionately continue development of Hellgate: London and Mythos, along with other new games, which are being published by HanbitSoft Inc." This may put to rest the dispute over IP which HanbitSoft was engaged in with Flagship Studios, as T3 Entertainment is HanbitSoft's largest stockholder. With any luck, the opening of a North American studio signifies a healthier future for both Mythos and Hellgate: London. We'll keep you posted, once more details become available.
Impressions of Nintendo of Japan's amazing summer lineup
While Americans are still busy complaining about Nintendo's E3 presentation, Japan got a double dose of amazing Wii games right in the middle of the summer. And Rhythm Tengoku Gold on the DS, as if the lineup wasn't mindblowing enough. Wired's Chris Kohler, who can apparently afford very fast shipping, has already put a few hours into the whole lineup, and wrote up detailed impressions of both Wario Land: Shake It! and Fatal Frame IV. Both are, basically, in line with their respective series, feeling like they're supposed to and providing the same kinds of challenges, with the addition of sensible motion controls that work well. For example, the pointer in Fatal Frame IV controls the flashlight. As if to prove that it's still Fatal Frame, Kohler says that it isn't scary at first and that the characters move too slowly. Yep, that's Fatal Frame. %Gallery-26293% %Gallery-14901% Source - Wario Land: Shake It! impressions Source - Fatal Frame IV impressions
Cursed Mountain looms over Wii
Deep Silver, co-publisher of the logo-filled Duke Nukem Trilogy, is developing an original survival horror game for Wii called Cursed Mountain. Set in the 1980s, the game follows a climber as he ascends a mountain in a search for his lost brother. Along the way, he finds -- zoinks! Like, ghosts! With its emphasis on ghosts (dead people in limbo) rather than corporeal monsters, Cursed Mountain promises a different kind of violence than the bloody, visceral experience of other survival horror games, according to Deep Silver's Hannes Seifert. "It's violent in the sense of ever present danger and very aggressive environments and enemies. But you can't be violent against ghosts and mountains. So Cursed Mountain is violent, yes, but in a very unorthodox way."How unorthodox? You enter a shadow world, sense enemies with the pointer, and then fight with motions, including a praying gesture.
