Nintendophiles 10.15.08

Posted by Theo Fraser on 10.15.2008

TGS 2008 has come and gone, bringing with it the announcement of No More Heroes 2! Check out this week’s edition of Nintendophiles for the first details, plus more Star Wars games possibly headed to the Wii, confusion cleared up about the new Punch Out, and Hollywood stars are on board for The Conduit!





The annual Tokyo Games Show was held last week, and that would normally spell for a packed edition of Nintendophiles, but unfortunately the show was rather light on Nintendo substance this year. Obviously, Nintendo themselves weren't there, which didn't help matters (although considering the fact they held their own conference a couple of days before, you can hardly blame them), but I was surprised that third-party developers didn't particularly utilise the platform to show off their upcoming Nintendo wares. However, it's hard to be too disheartened when you take a look at this week's first newsbyte...



It's game time...again! No More Heroes 2 confirmed
Credit: GoNintendo, IGN, Kotaku





*Punches the air* YES! It was revealed to the world on day one of TGS 2008 that Suda 51 and Grasshopper Manufacturer are currently working on a sequel to the acclaimed Wii title No More Heroes. Entitled No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, the action takes place three years after the events of the original. Few details are available at this time, but the story so far is that protagonist Travis Touchdown is out for revenge after his best friend was brutally murdered. This should shake things up a bit, putting Travis firmly in the driver's seat, after he was ushered around by Sylvia and co. in NMH1.

Suda 51 promised an updated engine with improved visuals (which hopefully means they've done something about the pretty poor draw distance whilst roaming around Santa Destroy), as well as a more populated city (as you'd often only bump into one other person on a street in the original) and an even darker tone. Considering how sick and twisted things got at the end of the first game, that's quite a statement!

Ubisoft haven't jumped on board for this one, but Marvellous Entertainment will be bring the title to US shores in conjunction with an unnamed publisher (unnamed as nothing is final). Its early days right now so no projected release date, but Winter 2009 sounds about right to me.

One very interesting piece of information to come out of TGS regarding the game is the revelation that Europe will in fact receive two versions of the game; the standard US gorefest version as well as the [strike]neutered[/strike] censored version Japanese gamers will see. As long as there isn't a load of confusion once the game reaches retail store shelves, I think this is a brilliant idea. Firstly, you appease countries with stricter censorship laws such as Germany and Australia, whilst allowing gamers who want the ‘true' experience the choice to purchase the game as it was originally intended. In PAL regions, where the only version available was the censored, non-gory version, No More Heroes was rated ‘16+', so it's perfectly feasible for the violent edition of Desperate Struggle to go on sale with an appropriate ‘18' rating. Personally, I feel it's a shame this is only being done in Europe, as the option to buy a censored version would open the game up to a wider audience, which would surely result in an increase in purchases. Not a big deal though; I'm just stoked that we're getting a sequel full stop!

Here's the first teaser trailer, straight from the TGS show reel. Travis dons a brand new beam katana, and we see a glimpse at an awesome-looking jet-pack inspired boss battle. Check it out:







Star Wars remakes coming to Wii?
Credit: Electronic Games Monthly

I somehow managed to miss this last week, so you may have heard about this by now, but it's a pretty cool little tidbit so it's worth repeating.

The very highly rated Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series of games could find themselves re-released on the Wii in the near future, if industry rumors are to be believed. LucasArts have apparently handed the rights over to a new publisher, who in turn are said to be planning a ‘compilation' disc, releasing all three Rogue Squadron titles on one Wii disc; the original Rogue Squadron on N64, Rogue Leader (the GC launch title), and Rebel Strike, the follow-up Gamecube game with added third-person on-foot sections.

As if getting three awesome games on one disc wasn't enough, the rumor has it that each title will receive a visual upgrade and added Wii controls. In the case of the Gamecube titles, not much would be needed to be done as they still look fantastic, even by today's standards. The N64 title, however, obviously looks pretty dated (see screen below), so that would be a heavy task to give it a graphical boost. It would probably be more logical to just release the Gamecube games on disc, and then put Rogue Squadron up for download on the Virtual Console service, but it's not my call, so hey.





Nothing was mentioned at the Tokyo Games Show, but I'd imagine LucasArts would want to jump on the bandwagon of the "Let's Play on Wii" Gamecube remakes, which are aiming for a Spring release, so I'd expect to hear official confirmation one way or another over the course of the next month.




Punch-Out!! IS motion-controlled
Credit: Nintendo Everything

Another very short tidbit for you here, but one that evidently needed clearing up as there was a ton of confusion after Nintendo's Fall conference the other week. So we all know by now that one of Nintendo's primary titles announced at the conference was the return of Punch-Out!! to the home console, coming to the Wii next year. Being a first-party Wii title, it was expected that the title would feature motion control, with a control scheme much like the Boxing portion of Wii Sports (albeit a little more complex and deep). However, no such confirmation came from Nintendo, and they seemed almost cagey to go into specifics. Fortunately, Nintendo of America's Senior Director of Corporate Communications, Charlie Scibetta, has come to our aid, easing our minds by confirming the title's usage of motion control.


Scibetta: Well, I'm excited about Punch-Out!!, too. I grew up on that game and it's been a lot of fun playing against Glass Joe and King Hippo and those two characters are going to be in the new version. It will be interesting to see too how gamers react; I think they're going to react great to the motion control capabilities of the Wii with that game because you're used to hitting buttons and doing your blocks and your throws and kind of dodging out of the way, but now you can do all that with your own body. So it's going to feel you're right there as a boxer.


So there ya have it. Motion control is in. Like the Boxing in Wii Sports, you're going to be in for a serious work-out, but by God it's going to be a fun one. Before I allow myself to get too excited, I want to make sure the game has a certain depth to it, and clever AI would be very much appreciated as well, so hopefully Nintendo aren't rushing this one. If they deliver all that and more, then this will just be fantastic, and a definite multiplayer favorite. I can't wait.




Hollywood stars on board for The Conduit
Credit: Kotaku, NintendoLife, IGN

The Conduit, developed by High Voltage, quickly gained recognition in the Nintendo gaming community upon its original announcement due to its mission to prove that the Wii is capable of producing high-end graphics to rival some of the stuff seen on other next-gen consoles. Now though, the internet is abuzz with talk of The Conduit once again, this time in regards to its lineup of talent for vocal work in the game.

The title's main character, Mr Ford, is voiced by Mark A. Sheppard, who has had roles in Battlestar Galactica, 24, Medium, Firefly, Burn Notice, CSI and The Bionic Woman on TV, and Unstoppable, Evil Eyes, and In the Name of the Father on film. According to Sheppard, the script is "fantastic", so those after a meaty plot to get your teeth into should be well satiated. For those wondering, here's his mugshot:





William Morgan Sheppard (Mark's father) voices John Adams (who from what I can gather is your superior/corporal), and this particular Sheppard has a heap of credits to his name, having spent 12 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a recurring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation, not to mention Babylon 5, The Prestige, and Transformers. This guy knows his sci-fi! He's also well-versed in the art of video game voice overs, having worked on Medal of Honor, Metal Gear Solid 2, Escape from Monkey Island and Star Wars: Force Commander. This is the face behind the name:





Lastly, we have the voice of the terrorist Prometheus, played by Kevin Sorbo. You might remember him better as this guy:





Yep, that's right biatches, it's Hercules, baby! Apologies for the vaguely homoerotic picture there, that was all I could find at short notice. Anyway, yes, Kevin Sorbo played the hero in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, as well as Captain Hunt in Andromeda. Film-wise, he's been in Kull the Conqueror, Avenging Angel, Prairie Fever, Meet the Spartans and An American Carol.

Considering the game as of yet still doesn't have an official publisher, I think it's pretty impressive for High Voltage to assemble a cast such as that. Let's hope the gameplay lives up to the high standard of voice acting!

For an updated look at some of the special effects and features included in the game, watch the recent tech demo below. Bear in mind this is still in the beta stage at this point, so graphically it's gonna look even better!







The 411 Games Crew

Rod Oracheski dons the 10th Hour cape this week, presenting his list of the Top 10 Best Game Intros.

Joe Roche has another instalment of The Full Circle: 360 News Report.

Jordan Williams has a bumper edition of Working Title for you this week, looking at the so-called Smackdown Killers as well as The Skate It Effect.

Derek Robbins covers the Sony portion of the Tokyo Games Show in B3yond the Report.

Vincent Chiucchi and The Select and Start News Report looks at the E for All show, Halo 3 Recon, more on No More Heroes 2, the Starcraft 2 trilogy and more.

Chris Evans once again tackles the issue of piracy and DRM, as well as Valve/Steam issues in The PC Centric Extravaganza.


That's all from me for this week, so I look forward to seeing you back here in 7! I'm off to get my ass kicked by Expert mode on Guitar Hero III. Wish me luck. Peace.

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