Nintendophiles 05.10.07
Posted by Theo Fraser on 05.10.2007
Soul Calibur comes to the Wii, but not as we might expect it, and the DS gets another Final Fantasy remake. And I'm sunburnt.
OK, so I am officially in Paradise. And that is no joke. I have no idea how I'll manage when I return to civilization in a couple of weeks. Just look at this pic of the sunset I took last night at Noosa Beach in Queensland...
Pretty gorgeous huh? Only a centrefold double spread of Dixie Kong could possibly match up to that! But the awesomeness of this country doesn't end there, oh no! Upon visiting the Noosa Civic shopping mall, what do I see? $2 ANIMAL CROSSING GASHAPON!!!!1111!!!!
Of course, being the dork extremely cool guy that I am, I had to buy one! So say hello to the 2" tall plastic version of Mable:
Man I am so cool.
It's Soul Calibur on the Wii, but not as we know it!
Credit: IGN, Famitsu
Famitsu magazine have just revealed that the Soul Calibur series will be heading to the Wii at some point in the future, but in a departure from the normal beat 'em up titles. Soul Calibur Legends will apparently be an action/adventure game, set in the 16th century, where gameplay focuses on sword-based combat, utilising the Wii-mote in unique and inspiring ways. Players will also meet a host of characters from the Soul Calibur universe, suggesting RPG aspects to the game. Previous Soul Calibur titles have been pretty good at their story-telling, so this definitely bodes well.
Whilst it's a shame the Wii isn't getting a proper full blown beat 'em up, seeing as how that genre is pretty lacking at the moment, I highly doubt Namco are going to release a throwaway title. The Soul Calibur series has been consistently brilliant, so I'd be inclined to expecy big things from Soul Calibur Legends. No release date has been provided, so I wouldn't expect to see it this side of Christmas. Famitsu only had a logo to show for the game, but hopefully we'll see some official screenshots turn up sooner or later.
Final Fantasy IV set for DS
Credit: IGN, Jump
Final Fantasy III has just been released in PAL territories, but elsewhere it has seen incredible success, with over a million sales in Japan alone. With that in mind, Square Enix were hardly going to leave the remakes at that. That is why they have just announced, prior to their annual Square Enix Party, that the DS will be receiving a full 3D upgrade of Final Fantasy IV, arguably the very best of the series, certainly from a storyline standpoint. FFIV was re-released on the GBA early last year, and was instantly snapped up by RPG-hungry fans. Now, they'll be out in droves all over again as it gets a much-deserved graphical update.
But, FFIV DS won't just be upgraded in the visual department. Jump Magazine have revealed that there will be new episodes and side quests to allow the player to delve deeper into the storyline. Character designs have also been completely remade, so guys like Cecil and Kain should look great on the little screen.
The team who provided us with the FFIII conversion are working on the game, so it's certainly in safe hands. Expect to hear a lot more next week after the Square Enix Party this weekend, when I'd imagine the game will be officially revealed to the public. Very awesome news indeed! I'm still ploughing through the GBA version, but I'll be more than overjoyed to go through it all over again in glorious 3D.
Resident Evil at a budget price
Credit: CVG
As everyone probably knows by now, Resident Evil 4 is being remade for the Wii, with added motion controls and a few extra modes here and there. That's great and all, but would you really want to fork out a ton of cash for it when you can buy the Gamecube version for half the price? Fortunately, Capcom have seen the light and have announced that the Wii version will retail at a budget price.
Capcom have listed the game on their online shop at $29.95. At that price, you really can't go complain. So now there's no excuses for not buying it!
Apologies for the shorter than usual column, but as I was late with last week's edition, there hasn't been all that much news in 3 days. And this internet cafe kinda sucks...
The 411 Games Crew
(Yep, sorry, still haven't had a chance to read them yet!)
I've been staying at my cousins' house the past few days, hence the lack of blog updates. However, I'm off on my travels at present, and the internet cafes are great around here, so hopefully I can get online a lot more often. So, as always, keep an eye on my blog for all your up-to-the-minute news on your favourite resident Nintendo reporter.
