Nintendophiles 06.11.08
Posted by Theo Fraser on 06.11.2008
Featuring the first details on the Wii-exclusive Tenchu IV, the latest saga on the Wii storage problems, Square Enix take a page out of Eternal Darkness’ book with their new horror title, and Capcom deny US gamers a Resident Evil Zero Wii-make. That’s all inside this week’s edition of Nintendophiles, so come inside and check it out!
I'm in a very good mood this week, mostly thanks to the wonderful weather we've had in the South West of England, which has allowed me to spend a few days chilling out at the beach in the company of friends. Oh, and I've totally been owning my best mate on Mario Kart Wii. Sure, he evens it out with white-wash victories over me in Smash Bros, but you've gotta let ‘em win a few, eh?
Alrighty, we've got quite a bit to cover this week, so I'll cut the chit-chat and get straight to it!
The latest on the on-going Wii storage issues
Credit: Edge Magazine, GoNintendo, Cubed3
I might as well make this a weekly feature of the column! Right now it seems as though this will never be resolved. Sigh. Anyway, this week's story is split into 3 main areas, all relating to the matter of the Wii's storage issues, which have been becoming more and more of a concern as of late, especially since the WiiWare service launched.
Nintendo of Europe's Laurent Fischer (who is really doing himself no favors with comments like this) recently spoke to UK gaming magazine Edge, further addressing Nintendo gamers' request for an external hard-drive, telling readers that "only geeks and otakus would be people who would need one." Riiiight. Good way of making friends there, Laurent. I don't want to cover the same ground that gets covered every time this issue gets brought up, but Nintendo can't solely focus on the casual market. There are plenty of hardcore gamers out there who are rapidly filling up their Wii's on-board memory, and it's just plain ignorant to pass off the matter as only applying to ‘geeks'.
Despite this rather negative turn of events, we received some of the best news yet on an external hard drive, when another Nintendo representative gave a more positive spin on the matter.
Nintendo rep: Aside from SD Cards, at this time the Wii console does not support external storage devices, such as USB drives or external hard drives. While it's possible to transfer a file manually to an external storage device using an SD Card, there is currently no way to save directly or to transfer files directly to such a device from your Wii console.
If such functionality is granted via a future system update and WiiConnect24 is activated, we will post it to our website, and might possibly send notice via the Wii Message Board.
If the matter hadn't been given any consideration by Nintendo, there would be absolutely no reason for the representative to reveal this information. So despite Fischer's assertion that the issue can be largely ignored, it appears that Nintendo may in fact be serious about rectifying it. Which leads me to the final part of the story (for this week, at least!)...
Nintendo's official website posted a very interesting job advertisement late last week. Take a look for yourselves:
CONTRACT - Software/Hardware Tester
-Description of Duties
* Creating and executing a test plan for Wii's USB devices
* Executing test plans with great attention to detail and documenting bugs
* Writing test procedure documents, gathering, and learning required software/hardware
* Reproducing bug reports and helping find work-arounds or resolutions
-Summary of Requirements
* Extremely thorough with keen attention to detail and accuracy
* Able to execute scripted tasks lists with regular repetition
* Ability to reliably report and track defects via spreadsheets or other bug tracking software with great detail
Up until now, the USB slots on the back of the Wii console have been completely idle, save for various useless third-party gadgets and guff. Now, however, it appears as though Nintendo are adamant about utilising this particular feature, and the fact that only now are they fully exploring the idea of a USB device makes me wonder if they are finally looking at the possibility of an external hard drive. Originally I was hoping to see something by E3, but with this advert only going up in the last few days, I'm not so sure we'll see something quite so soon.
Tenchu 4: First details and official trailer
Credit: Cubed3, CVG
Last week here in Nintendophiles I mentioned that Tenchu IV was heading to a Nintendo home console near you as a Wii-exclusive. The first details have been revealed, along with a swank new Japanese trailer that shows off some pretty impressive stuff. We'll get to the trailer in a moment; first up, let's take a look at what we can expect from the title when it launches in Japan on October 23rd this year, with a US and European release to follow at some point in the future.
DS owners may be familiar with the Tenchu series thanks to Tenchu: Dark Secret, although it's probably best to forget about that particular entry as it's really rather abysmal. And I'm being kind there. But look back to the Playstation originals from 1998 and you'll realise why this popular stealth franchise is still running today. Tenchu IV looks to right the wrongs of the recent DS and Xbox 360 iterations, with developer Acquire hoping to make this entry an "epitome of the series." This is no throw-away, low-budget, cash-in-on-the-Wii-craze kind of game; this looks to be the real deal.
So what exactly can we expect? Being a ‘stealth ninja action game', you'll find the usual elements of stealth gameplay in there, from lurking in the shadows, waiting for the precise moment to make your move, to crawling along ceilings, hiding bodies in dark corners...everything you'd expect from the genre. Of course, with Tenchu having a particular focus on ninjas, you'll see more of an emphasis on your character being a trained assassin, as opposed to Sam Fisher's exploits, where excessive violence is often frowned upon. Combat will be largely the same for each character you play, save for their unique ‘killing techniques', which I'm assuming means each character will have their own finishing manoeuvres and combos.
Being a Wii exclusive, it goes without saying that we can expect some kind of motion-sensing aspect to make it into the game. Acquire are going for the "less is more" mantra at the moment (although I doubt plans have been finalised just yet), allowing you to utilise your special ninja tools with various flicks of the Wii remote and nunchuk. Wii-mote induced shuriken throwing? Yes please!
As far as the storyline goes, Acquire are keeping relatively tight-lipped, but we do know that Tenchu IV will continue the story of series regulars Rikimaru and Ayame, a year after the riots brought about by the Witchcraft Lord, Tenrai. Princess Kiku is kidnapped when strange forces begin to take power in the Gouda territory, and it's up to Rikimaru to save the day. No points for originality, but hey, it's the gameplay that matters, right?
Having said that, visually Tenchu IV is looking top-notch. Acquire are using updated character designs and a new artistic direction, and the change has really paid off, as you'll see below in the Japanese trailer (which you should check out now!).
The lighting effects particularly impressed me in that short clip, and it's great to see that the proceedings aren't too gloomily lit, which is always a danger with stealth games. As I've mentioned previously, the game will be on Japanese shelves in late October, so I'd fully expect a playable version of the game at this year's E3. We've got a couple of 411 representatives attending the event, so hopefully they'll get a bit of hands-on time with this extremely promising title.
Capcom USA pass up opportunity for Resi Evil Zero Wii-make
Credit: GoNintendo
It was a little while ago now that I mentioned Capcom's plans to bring a Resident Evil Zero remake to the Wii, a la the Resi 4 Wii-make that has gone on to become one of the Wii's top selling titles so far. However, now it has been revealed that the USA division of Capcom have twice rejected the idea of bringing the game to US shores, simply expressing a lack of interest in the project. The European branch of Capcom haven't been quite so dismissive, merely stating that they "have no announcements to make regarding Resident Evil Zero at this time," but it's not looking good.
This is a great shame in my eyes, as the Gamecube prequel to the Resi series went largely overlooked, despite a strong storyline and two appealing main characters. A Wii update could be brilliant for the title, depending of course on how much they update the controls. The archaic controls from past Resident Evils remained in Zero, so if Wii control is merely tacked on in a light-gun manner, then I'll agree with Capcom USA; there really is little point in bringing the title to the West. However, if the company have bigger plans, giving a Resident Evil 4-style of gameplay, then we'll truly be missing out on the definitive version of the game. Whilst the company hasn't revealed full details on what the Wii-make entails, it's too early to pass judgment, so we'll just have to wait and see. The Japanese version is scheduled to hit the market in late Summer, and we should get a definite answer regarding a Western edition sometime before then.
Square Enix horror title goes all Eternal Darkness on us
Credit: Cubed3
Crazy stuff, this. I don't want to talk about the trailer and spoil it before you've seen it, so check it out now if you haven't given it a look yet.
Brilliant. This is the trailer for Square Enix's new horror title, currently going under the title of Game with No Name, although this is likely to change for the Western release. In case you really couldn't understand the Japanese trailer, it basically fools you into thinking the game is a simple 2D affair (which was a total mindf*ck for me, as I kept seeing comments about how good the graphics are, and I was just like "...WTF?"), only to then show that this is just some kind of playable mini-game at the arcade, as the impressive 3D engine kicks in. ‘Impressive' is probably an understatement, as it really looks to push the DS' capabilities, giving a 3D backdrop that appears can be fully explored at your leisure via slick stylus control.
In just a few minutes, Square Enix managed to totally captivate me with this trailer. As a massive fan of Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube, I'm likely to be more susceptible to this kind of thing, which borders on the ‘sanity effects' type of thinking, but I think it's an area so untapped right now, especially on the DS, that I fully support this project that aims to bring the psychological horror/thriller genre back into the mass market. I'll be watching this one very closely.
The 411 Games Crew
Metal Gear Solid 4 arrives in stores this week, so check out Mark Salmela's B3yond the Report for the final countdown.
Chris Scott takes a look at when sequels go wrong in this week's edition of The Red Snifit.
John Curry explores the games that should be made in The Checkpoint.
The 10th Hour counts down the top 10 things about the Metal Gear franchise.
That's it from me for this week! Obviously the major gaming focus this week is the release of MGS4, so all eyes will be on Solid Snake, but here in the UK Okami finally goes on sale, so European Wii owners should definitely give that a try. Other than that, it's all a bit quiet on the Wii front, so I'll see you back here in seven days for another dose of Nintendophiles goodness!
Actually, you can hook keyboards up to the USB ports on the Wii, so they are not completely useless.
Posted By: Kevin (Guest) on June 11, 2008 at 02:08 PM
Tenchu4 looks very promising!!
Posted By: daniel (Guest) on June 11, 2008 at 04:20 PM
I'm actually kind of glad they didn't release RE Zero for the Wii outside of Japan. They have a tendency to re-release Resident Evil games a lot, even without much enhancement. The Wii's controls would do little to improve the fixed camera angles and tank-like gameplay. The game is still really though - I like it better than RE 2 and RE 3, maybe even Code Veronica.
Posted By: JT (Guest) on June 12, 2008 at 06:43 PM
Kotaku reported that Nintendo of Europe's Marketing Rep said that people who want a harddrive for the Wii are "Geeks or Otakus"
Posted By: Travis (Guest) on June 12, 2008 at 08:21 PM
I don't see the big deal with re-releasing titles on the Wii - I had Resi4 on the PS2, completed it, traded it in and got the Wii Version about a year later... why ? Because the game is that damn good! re-released games have a kind of company money grabbing stigma about them with some gamers but I think they blow it way out of porportion.
Posted By: Snedpop (Guest) on June 15, 2008 at 02:27 PM
