No More Heroes
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January is a good month not to be a hero
The retailers were right! Ubisoft is treating us to two fewer weeks of waiting for No More Heroes. Instead of February 5th, or "too close to Smash Bros.," the game is now slated for release on January 22nd, which is actually really soon. We have to start getting the apartment ready for when it gets here! Ubisoft confirmed the change in release date to IGN yesterday. We suppose they want to give the game every possible advantage to actually sell some copies -- although we have yet to see any commemorative toilet paper. That's the next step!
Some more updates for No More Heroes
A mix of new and old screenshots from No More Heroes burst from the ether this week, and since we can't resist anything starring our favorite anti-hero, Travis Touchdown, we've updated our gallery. So many of the screens and video we've seen from this title have been small or short or marred with watermarks that our raving obsession with everything No More Heroes is a true testament to Suda's unique vision. Come drool with us -- the waiting is almost over.%Gallery-4611%[Via press release]
Rumor: Bully giving out swirlies from March 3rd
Over the years, the games industry has developed the irritating habit of cramming all of its best software into the last three months of the calendar year. The inevitable result of this is the dreaded post-Christmas lull, whereby the first quarter of the following year is severely lacking in noteworthy titles.Despite this trend, Q1 2008 content on the Wii looks good. Like, really good. And as if No More Heroes, SEGA Superstar Tennis, The House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, Harvest Moon Heroes, SEGA Bass Fishing, and some Nintendo fighting game you may have heard something about weren't enough to placate the Wiimote-wielding masses, now GameStop has Rockstar's Bully: Scholarship Edition listed for a U.S. release on March 3rd.Which is awesome news, if it turns out to be true. Now all we need to do is convince Take-Two that the Wii is worthy of receiving some GTA lovin'.[Via Go Nintendo]
No More Heroes in painful detail
Siliconera has posted some in-depth impressions of the Japanese version of our speculative Game of the Year 2008 (you heard me), No More Heroes. If you're super-sensitive about spoilers, avoid the writeup (because the game is discussed) but if, like us, you are ravenous for any scrap of information about Suda 51's latest poorly-selling avant-garde action game, this is the link for you.The post covers things we've heard about like the slot-machine powerup system and the coconut-collecting part-time job minigame, but also includes totally exclusive new information. For example, we thought we understood the controls, but there is an element we absolutely knew nothing about: two fighting stances, selected by the angle at which the Wiimote is held. There's also a detailed account of a certain boss fight that we haven't heard about yet. Welcome to 2008: it's the same year that No More Heroes comes out.
Our New Year's resolutions: Wii edition
Now that the sun has set on 2007, it's time for the Wii Fanboy staff to start laying down some New Year's resolutions, such as resolving not to use tired metaphors about the sun setting on stuff. So, without further ado, here are each of the staff's personal goals for 2008 (Wii-related ones, obviously. It goes without saying that I'd like to try to stop having wine for breakfast, but some things just aren't appropriate topics of conversation here): Alisha: I resolve to populate YouTube with many short films of my forthcoming baby playing Wii. Of course, since he's not even gonna get here until February, you can probably replace "playing" with "lying there looking pissed while Mommy makes him hold a Wii remote." David: I resolve to actually keep my job and not fall into a shame spiral of bad hygiene and lone nights crying alone as I play nothing but Smash Bros. Brawl in February. Hopefully I'll find the courage to not be sucked into that vacuum. Mike: I resolve to not buy ten new games before beating the last one. That either means I'll be spending more time playing games (yikes!), or just buying less of them. The more games I get, the harder it becomes for me to finish any of them, and even a masterpiece like Super Mario Galaxy ends up sitting at a measly 61 star gets, princess saved, and no green overalls. JC: I resolve to make a deal with Mike that could solve both our problems. (Here's how it works: Mike continues to buy too many games, but sends them to me instead. I play them until he is ready to start another one. There are no flaws with this perfect plan.) Candace: I resolve to not laugh at my mom anymore when she plays Wii ... even though she looks really, really ridiculous. Chris: To not excitedly squeal like a schoolgirl the first dozen times I insert No More Heroes into my Wii. This will almost certainly end with abject failure. And to beat my cousin, who is LESS THAN HALF MY FRICKEN' AGE, at Guitar Hero III. The child has the fingers of Hendrix. Eric: In the Year 200ERIC, I will exercise with Wii Fit while wearing a Banana yellow suit and a huge pair of shades, singing out "Too Wii Fit to Quit" like it's going out of style. Was it ever in style? Hey, HAAYYYYYYY! How about you? If you haven't already filled us in on your resolutions for 2008, what are you waiting for?
A bit less waiting for No More Heroes?
Potential happy news from retailers: according to Amazon, GameCrazy, and Gamefly, the release date of No More Heroes has been moved ahead, from early February to late January. Amazon and GameCrazy list the game as releasing on January 22nd, while Gamefly places the game's release on the 24th. We applaud this decision, if, in fact, it is a real decision that was made and not some weird error. From a sales perspective, any move to prevent No More Heroes' burial by Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a good move (even placing it where it will be buried by waiting for Super Smash Bros. Brawl). From a personal perspective, we might get to play it sooner and that's all that's important.[Via GoNintendo]
Comic book manual makes No More Heroes even cooler
Perhaps "cooler" isn't the best word to use, since comics tend to be associated with, well, nerdy lifestyles. Fortunately, though, this is a video games blog, meaning that we completely eat up geek culture like it's delicious candy. The folks over at Grasshopper Manufacture seem to understand this, and have therefore decided to incorporate a comic book motif into the No More Heroes instruction manual. We can only hope that Ubisoft decides to use this style as well, but in case they don't, check out some pictures provided by Siliconera's Spencer Yip after the break.
No More Heroes' European boxart is familiar
We're starting to think that Rising Star Games are taking all their cues from the Japanese release of No More Heroes. The European version of the game will, of course, lack blood like the Japanese version; this was revealed as the decision of the game's creators, Suda 51 and Yasuhiro Wada.Now the European boxart has been released, and it features the exact same piece of artwork that the Japanese boxart used. The artwork has been tilted and, for some reason, a white haze now decorates the bottom quarter of the box. In addition, the logo has been moved around and given a border. But those are minor changes compared to the American boxart. Maybe Rising Star is exercising just a bit of safe rebellion by making extremely slight changes.
No More Heroes: possible U.S. boxart, possible attempt at placation from European publisher
Two interesting items related to localized versions of No More Heroes have popped up, and we decided to combine them despite the fact that they don't necessarily relate to one another. First, Amazon's page for the American version of No More Heroes now contains a boxart image. We have no idea if it's the final boxart or a placeholder, but it's cool and doesn't have too much clutter. The other news tidbit is that Rising Star Games has apparently been responding to angry emails from European gamers who want ichor. The message, as reported by NeoGAFfer Dachande, says not to "rule out a revised, 18+ version released some time in 2008 incidentally." If this happens, it's either a fan-pleasing move or an open grab at double-dippers' wallets -- or a confusing bit of marketing that will make people hesitate to buy the game the first time and, at worst, forget to buy it the second time. Most likely the statement is just Rising Star's way of trying to get people to leave them alone about the blood thing.
Suda 51 approved Europe's bloodless No More Heroes
Grasshopper Manufacture CEO Goichi "Suda 51" Suda has made himself a target for fans angered by a recent display of perceived censorship in the European version of upcoming sword swinger, No More Heroes. Much like its Japanese counterpart, No More Euros has been scrubbed clean of blood, rewarding each violent slash with a spectacular gush of coins. In that sense, it couldn't be a more accurate metaphorical representation of the hitman motif that carries over from Suda 51's Killer 7.Regardless, a statement issued by Goichi Suda and Marvelous president Yashiro Wada hopes to divert the outrage away from publisher Rising Star games, noting that the decision was made "to release in Europe the same version as has shipped in Japan considering the broadly growing Wii market." Apparently, said broadly growing Wii market is entirely separate from that in America, where it's perfectly alright to add blood to the localized No More Heroes. A pretty weak justification then, likely conjured up to avoid a possible BBFC ban-trum.
Suda and Wada behind bloodless No More Heroes
A recent announcement that Europe would be getting a bloodless version of No More Heroes didn't go down well with many of our bloodthirsty commenters. At the time, PAL publisher Rising Star Games refused to reveal what was behind the decision, but more light was shed on the omission earlier today, in a joint statement from director Suda51 and producer Yasuhiro Wada (pictured above unsuccessfully trying to give away free toilet roll and autographs on the streets of Akihabara).Turns out that it was Suda and Wada themselves who decided to drop the outrageous levels of gore from the European version, citing the "broadly growing Wii market" in the region.Not that this affects many of you, as the U.S. version still contains plenty of the crimson stuff. Buckets of it, in fact.
No More Heroes themed Wii makes us sad no more
Hearing about No More Heroes' unsuccesful launch in Japan was enough to break our Suda-loving hearts, and make us really believe that the world is severely lacking in heroes. Fortunately, we were wrong. Kotaku reader Frank decided to show his support and respect for Suda51 with this Wii, which is all kinds of excellent. This fan tribute won't heal the wound of disappointing sales, but it's certainly a nice gesture. Like sending one of these custom Wiis to each of the Nintendo Wii Fanboy staff would be a nice gesture. (You can't blame a blogger for trying.)Another picture of this heroic Wii can be seen after the break.
The No More Heroes failure-to-launch event
Grasshopper Manufacture held a launch event for No More Heroes at Sofmap Amusement on the 6th, and ... well, it didn't quite go as planned. Or, at least we assumed that it didn't go as planned, because we assumed that they planned to sell some copies of the game.Apparently it took over 20 minutes for anyone to actually walk up and purchase the game from director Suda51 and producer Yasuhiro Wada -- and even then, the first person to do it was a Famitsu reporter. We guess people just don't turn out for these things in Japan unless the game is porn or Dragon Quest. Uh, and nothing's more punk rock than being unpopular anyway, right?[Via NeoGAF]
No more blood in European version of No More Heroes
While we're glad that Rising Star will be distributing No More Heroes to Europe and Australia, some European (and yes, probably Australian) gamers might be peeved to know that the version of the game they get will be blood-free.Games Radar asked publisher Rising Star if this decision had anything to do with the recent Manhunt 2 BBFC fiasco, to which the company replied a telling, "Maybe."This certainly isn't the worst news in the world, and Japan is also playing the blood-free version, but we can understand if European gamers are a little disappointed by this development. Check after the break to see examples of the bloodless version versus the ridiculously bloody, Kill Bill-esque North American version.
European No More Heroes removes bloody gameplay
Director Suda 51 established one cold hard fact with his 2005 sleeper hit, Killer 7: every living person is composed of chunks of blood that explode jubilantly, like a blood piñata, when that person is killed. Though it contradicts the professional opinions of most anatomists, we are stringent supporters of the bloodsplosion ideology -- which is why we were so disturbed by recent gameplay footage for the European version of Suda's No More Heroes.Click the jump and watch as the game discards the stylish, bloody effects of Killer 7, replacing them with ... what are those? Coins? Vanilla Wafers? Whatever they are, they definitely aren't blood. We know blood when we see it -- because when we see it, we shout "yeah" and give each other high-fives.
No More Modesty in advertising
No More Heroes is out on the 6th in Japan, and Grasshopper Manufacture and publisher Marvelous have stepped up the release of media. Accordingly, videos released through the official No More Heroes website are now generally longer, and are coming out every day. We've embedded one at the top of the post; the other new ones at the website are pretty bloody and thus less appropriate for public display. We know that some of you were upset about the lack of blood in previous videos -- you will be pacified as henchman after henchman explodes into a fine red mist. The video update also shows that Travis can find and wear new outfits, much to the consternation of cosplayers.After the break, we'll have a look at a provocative magazine ad for the game that, were we a British publication, would no doubt elicit a "Phwoar!"
No More Heroes with some more goodies, this time music
We know that you were impressed by the opening video for No More Heroes, because, well, you told us so. The people behind the game must have degrees in tease-ology, though, because now you can download music samples from No More Heroes at the game's official website. Even though they aren't full tracks, it's easy to tell that the music for this game is going to rock our socks off. Now we're even as hyped for the soundtrack release as we are for the game itself.To download the track samples, go to the bottom of this page and click on the orange buttons. Your ears will thank you.[Via Siliconera]
No More Heroes intro turns us into wannabe assassins
No More Heroes may be too hard (for wusses), but if you think that means we're going to stop our blatantly ridiculous amount of coverage for this game, you're wrong. In fact, after hearing about the difficulty (even if it was a fake translation), we're more pumped than ever.Our latest update brings you the game's English intro, according to Gametrailers. We love how the game completely demolishes the fourth wall, although some people may find that irritating. Also of note is Travis Touchdown whistling the NMH theme at the beginning. Caveat: We at NWF are rating this trailer NSFW due to cursing, violence, and Sylvia in skimpy outfits.
No More Heroes too tough? [update 1]
Famitsu recently reviewed Suda 51's No More Heroes and we're glad to say the game received some good marks. But, even though the game was received well by the Famitsu folk, they still found one problem with it: it might be a tad bit too hard. See, the game is supposedly too tough for the Wii's casual audience. So, it's not so easy to pick up and play like, say, Super Mario Galaxy is. At least, that's what Famitsu thinks.We would like to know exactly what Famitsu found to be too difficult about it, whether it was the difficulty of performing Travis's maneuvers or it was simply just the mission structure. Heck, it could've been a combination of any number of things. But, regardless, we can't wait until February, when we will find out for ourselves.[Update: We don't know the actual text of Famitsu's review, but we do know that the translated review summary was a joke on the part of NeoGAFfer "Dascu." We do know that the game received scores of 9, 8, 8, 9.]%Gallery-4611%[Via Go Nintendo]
No More Heroes: more gameplay, more PLAYSYLVIA
A new week means a new model dressed up as Sylvia Christel and presented in a playing-card-inspired Flash interface! Whether or not the PLAYSYLVIA cosplay is your thing, we can all agree on this: it's an excuse to talk about No More Heroes every week.But cosplay wasn't the only update made to the No More Heroes site. An anomalously awesome video was added to the "Special" page as well. Why is it so anomalous? For one, it's longer than 10 seconds -- it's almost one whole minute of uninterrupted gameplay. Also, today is not Friday at all.We're a little awed by how fast-paced the combat in No More Heroes is, and how well-placed the motion-controlled flourishes seem. Even without the humor and the style, this is an action game we would be dying to play.
