We've been pessimistic about Disaster: Day of Crisis getting localized for North America, and with (what we believe to be) goodreason. Now, the will-it-won't-it saga has taken another twist, after Go Nintendo reader Silver Lunar received an email from Nintendo customer support saying the game would be released in the region.
Okay, we know. Some guy saying he got an email from Nintendo customer support is exactly the kind of anecdote we'd usually snort derisively at, and you're right: we should all treat this with a degree of suspicion. That said, Go Nintendo's RMC received screencaps of Silver Lunar's email exchange with the big N, and reckons it's the real thing. If you'll excuse us, we'll shamelessly grasp at any straws tossed our way. Pleeeeease be true, lovely Disaster rumor.
Namco Bandai's Fragile isn't short on interesting characters. The latest is Shin, a brilliant (but socially weak) scientist and the latest addition to the game's ragtag cast. He'll be voiced by Toshio Furukawa (all of the game's dialog will be spoken), former voice star of Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, and Jann Lee of Dead or Alive fame.
Though Fragile still can't match the oddball quotient of No More Heroes, it's encouraging to see Namco Bandai isn't falling back on stock RPG characters. We were going to mention how Shin might be the oddest-looking Fragile cast member yet, but then we remembered this guy. Join us past the break for a look at the game's eye-catching Japanese boxart, and catch 14 new screens in the gallery.
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile comes out in Japan next week, but Namco Bandai is only circulating the first videos now. We have no idea why anybody would want to keep this luscious title from us. Watching Klonoa and Huepow bounce around these vivid, beautiful, omigawdcolorssopretty levels, we can't shake the feeling that Klonoa is the best-looking third-party Wii game we've seen in many a month.
There's a Japanese TV trailer after the break to give your eyeballs a further treat. Now let's pray for a speedy (and sensible) localization!
This week's PAL Virtual Console line-up isn't short on quality, but it represents fairly awful value. As dreamy as we find any Metal Slug title, there are cheaper ways to play all three of this week's offerings.
Want Metal Slug 2? We'd recommend picking up this. Fancy having your delicate gamer's ego rudely kicked in by Forgotten Worlds? There's an excellent compilation out there for a bunch of platforms that costs peanuts and comes with another 20 or so games. If you can't find Space Invaders for less than £6/€8, you're probably reading the wrong website. Better still: lavish those points on Space Invaders Get Even!.
The ESRB has rated a pair of Koei games that aren'tDynasty Warriors for release on the Virtual Console. Both are historical strategic RPGs, though with very different settings. The first, Nobunaga's Ambition (top screens above), tasks players with conquering feudal Japan, while Uncharted Waters: New Horizons is based more on life at sea, and lets you indulge in sailing, trading, and even piracy.
We assume these are the NES versions, though could be wrong -- there were versions of each on the Genesis and SNES. Considering a boxed of copy of either goes for about $20 or $25 on eBay, we could be in for a bargain when these appear.
Not many games become diamond-sellers -- that is, pass one million sales -- in the United Kingdom. According to ELSPA, only nine titles have managed the feat since it started recording sales in 1999. As of today, a further two have joined that elite group, and both are close to our hearts: Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit.
They've taken their sweet time getting there, however. Fellow diamond-seller Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas took just three weeks to break the seven-figure landmark in Britain, while Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit took 32 and 30 weeks, respectively. On the other hand, there's no doubt that both epitomize the "evergreen" appeal of popular Wii titles -- whereas games like San Andreas had a very explosive start and then faded, the Nintendo pair are still in the top five in the latest UK charts.
Hit the break for the full list of titles that broke the magic one meeeellion mark.
To those of you who celebrate it, happy Thanksgiving! And happy Thursday to everybody else! We'll be running a reduced shedule today, but we'll still be there, in the form of a few posts and also in your hearts (perhaps). Anyway, let's talk Turkey Day, and more specifically what role gaming will take in your Thanksgiving celebrations. As this is a time for families and togetherness, the Wii is probably the ideal Thanksgiving console. What will you be playing between mouthfuls of turkey and cranberry sauce?
For his latest Zero Punctuation review, renowned intertubes misanthrope Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw has cast his jaded eye over Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Things start off well between reviewer and game (though Rock Band's troubledrelationship with Australia undoubtedly has something to do with this) but Yahtzee soon finds assorted holes to pick at, with some of his targets including the pointlessness of Spanish language songs in an English language release, the new slide bar on World Tour's guitars, and the game's credentials as a karaoke simulator. Hit up The Escapist for the review in full or simply jump past the break.
The Famitsu 40/40 has lost some of its lustre in recent times. Since 1998, the magazine has awarded nine perfect scores, but three have come in 2008, including one for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
However, even we found the latest game to receive the honor surprising. 428: The World Doesn't Change Even So is a "visual novel," a graphical text adventure from roguelike kings Chunsoft that keeps player interaction to a minimum. In other words, it's very unlike any other game to receive a flawless Famitsu grade. In fact, it's unlike mostother games, period.
We haven't posted a great deal about 428. That's not because we don't find it interesting -- we definitely do. It's because, as Alisha has noted, a game of its ilk is almost entirely impenetrable to our western eyes. Suffice to say, it has now been instantly promoted from "intriguing curio" to "must-own import." Not that a release outside Japan will ever happen.
In one of its more mystifying announcements this year, Nintendo Europe sent out a press release saying it was dumping the famous red Nintendo logo, and replacing it with a ... serious, business-like gray version. Ugh.
The press release, translated from German to English by Kotaku, didn't give a specific reason for the switch, merely requesting that, "In the event that you have not already done so, we would like to sincerely ask you to now only use the current, grey Nintendo logo." CasualGaming.biz contacted Nintendo UK, who not only confirmed the story was entirely true, but revealed that the change was officially made around two years ago. We missed that one, to be honest.
This may seem like trivial news to some of you, but to a generation who grew up in a world where Nintendo was assuredly red and Sega always blue, this feels somewhat sad.
As co-director of a game that many consider the greatest of all time, you'd think Eiji Aonuma would be content to put his feet up and soak up the praise. It's what we would do, but that's probably why we'll never create anything as awe-inspiring as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Speaking to Nintendo Power about his past work on most of the Zeldas since Ocarina of Time, Aonuma insists that he can't stop making the games, because he's yet to beat what he achieved with Ocarina. "I'm happy that a title I worked on some time ago remains highly praised to this day," he says, "but that also shows how none of the subsequent games in the series have surpassed it."
He adds that this alone may be what motivates him to make more Zelda and keep putting more happy in our heads. A revealing insight into the perfectionist mindset of a top game designer!
How any follow-up could top the unlikely mélange of disasters (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, terrorists, bears) that featured in the first game is beyond us. Perhaps an asteroid?
Nevertheless, developer Monolith Soft is at least open to the idea of a Disaster 2. In an interview with Cubed3, Director Keiichi Ono revealed that "...there were so many wonderful options [in the game]. We would like to see the possibility for them, if we have chance to develop the sequel..." The sequel? Or a sequel? The difference is pretty crucial! While we're not exactly taking that as rock-solid confirmation of Ray's return, it's an interesting remark.
To bring us back down to earth, Nintendo's Hitoshi Yamagami reminded us of why the first game might not even come to North America, describing how Disaster is "performing lower than expected" at the tills.
This Japanese TV commercial for Prope's Let's Tap just popped up on YouTube. While it contains no notable new footage, we do like the use of the 2001: A Space Odyssey theme, which suggests something EPIC and MONUMENTAL is coming, before you realize that no, it's just a really fun-looking, stylish minigame collection. And a free box. Which is more than good enough for us! Oh, and there's a release date squeezed in there, at least for Japan: December 18th.
Past the break, we've posted footage of the game's practice mode -- ideal for starting your tap training early!
If you're still deciding where to take your sleeping bag and flask of cocoa for this Black Friday's queues, Target's deal on the Guitar Hero: World Tour Guitar Kit may sway you. The store will be offering the SKU, which includes the game and a wireless guitar, for a mouth-watering $59, a generous saving on the original MSRP of $99.99. It certainly beats paying close to three hundred big ones for the full band experience.
As happens each month, some of the more interesting tidbits from the holiday issue of Nintendo Power have been transcribed by the tireless folks at Aeropause.
The most eye-catching news, for us? A novel and particularly painful-sounding attack in Platinum Games' MadWorld. According to the magazine, you'll be able to lodge "a trumpet where the sun don't shine, leaving the unfortunate fellow to stagger around as he inadvertently toots the horn." Awe. Some. What's a trumpet doing lying around on the set of a futuristic game show about death and wanton bloodletting? Heck, don't ask, just shove.
Other worthy factoids drawn from the mag deal with how No More Heroes creator Goichi Suda relaxes (by playing Burnout Paradise), and the news that Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers will have a two-player splitscreen mode. Hit up Aeropause for the rest!
We've been pessimistic about Disaster: Day of Crisis getting localized for North America, and with (what we believe to be) good reason. Now, the will-it-won't-it saga has taken another twist, after Go Nintendo reader Silver Lunar received an email from Nintendo customer support saying the game would be released in the region.
