Nintendophiles 11.19.08

Posted by Theo Fraser on 11.19.2008

More GTA: Chinatown Wars details are uncovered in this week’s Nintendophiles, along with Play It On Wii titles not just shoddy ports, Tatsunoko vs Capcom possibly coming to the West, SUDA 51 taking a break from directing, and Square Enix’s Blood of Bahamut looking mighty impressive at this early stage. Come inside for all the latest Nintendo intelligence!






Ladies and gents, for once I've got nothing. I literally have NO opening talky-spiel bit. I'm still playing Smackdown vs Raw 2009 on Wii, it's still awesome, but apart from that it's been business as usual at Chateau Le Fraser. I'm in a play at the moment where I play a 15 year old which is always fun, but apart from that life is the same as it always is. Soooo... better get onto the gaming news I think!



Drug-dealing heavily featured in GTA: Chinatown Wars
Credit: NintendoEverything

New GTA details, OMGZZZ! The gaming industry is keeping a very close eye on Chinatown Wars, no doubt checking to see if it can possibly live up to the greatness of its console ancestors. As such, the internet is awash with news the second an update on the title is posted, including this week's revelation about a couple of gameplay aspects which showed up in a Spanish gaming magazine. Rockstar have yet to comment or confirm, but sources seem to indicate its legitimacy.







For this sort of thing, I usually like to use some good ol' bullet points, but no, not this week. This week, I'm busting out the SQUIGGLY LINES!

~Camera is able to swivel 360 degrees, so this is not just "a retro 2D GTA"

~Hustle and bustle of city life; trains pass overhead, cars pass you by and circle, pedestrians walk etc.

~Mark points on the GPS on the touch screen, GPS tells you shortest legal route with yellow or blue arrows.

~PDA govens are maps and mission objectives.

~New discoveries are added to the map as you progress (i.e. don't judge size of the city based on early screens!).

~Top screen = solely for action. Bottom/Touch Screen for interactive elements, PDA, GPS, radio, use of Molotov Cocktails & grenades.

~Woah, big heavy emphasis on the drug-dealing. That's not gonna sit well with the ratings board!

~Take control of stock of drugs, scout out viable areas to sell them. Good way to make money is to buy in one area, sell in another.

~Map shows what people demand which drugs, and at what price.

~In a nice little touch, you whistle into the microphone to hail a cab. Of course, the majority of us will just end up blowing into it, but the idea's still pretty neat.


Despite all the good news, there had to be a catch somewhere, and that catch came when Take-Two announced that the title would see a brief delay "in order to provide a better launch and marketing window," scheduled to reach the US in the early-mid months of next year.




Svensson hopeful for Tatsunoko vs Capcom in the West
Credit: NintendoEverything

Two weeks ago I mentioned Tatusunoko vs Capcom here in Nintendophiles, with regard to its inclusion of Viewtiful Joe as a playable character, marking his return to our screens after a reasonably lengthy absence. With Tatsunoko being such an unknown franchise here in the West, I commented on the fact that we're extremely unlikely to see the game given the green light for a Western release. However, according to Capcom representative Christian Svensson, the company is doing everything they can to assure it does see the light of day on our shores.





Svensson: The issue is that there are multiple potential outcomes. It's not as simple as 'Yes it's coming' or 'No, it's not'. And we have a few other issues to contend with that I'm not able to get into details on that are coloring what direction we are able take with the franchise in the West. Again, we're deeply in 'stay tuned' territory but I don't expect to have any solid news to share openly, one way or the other for a couple months.


It's a pain we'll have to wait a few months to find out anything more, but I'm super-duper pleased Capcom are at least attempting to get it released over here. Beat ‘em up fans have been clamouring over this one since it was first announced, and with very little in the Wii's catalogue to rival it, you've got to believe it'd sell incredibly well. Whenever a decision is made, you can be sure I'll be here to cover the news.




SUDA 51 steps out of the director's seat
Credit: Tiny Cartridge

This came as quite a surprise to me, I can tell you that. Recent views on SUDA 51's projects have been very split, with the titles garnering polarising reactions. No More Heroes in particular was a lot more "love it or hate it" than I had previously realised. Similarly, I expect to see a mixed response to the news that Goichi Suda will take a back seat for No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, (due to SUDA becoming merely an ‘executive director' with the former associate director Toshihiro Fujikawa [Of Killer7 fame] taking on full directing duties this time round.


SUDA explained in an interview with Tiny Cartridge the basic plot of NMH2 and also where the subtitle Desperate Struggle originates from.


SUDA 51: There's a word in Japanese, shito. Shi means 'death,' and to means 'fight.' When I tried to find an English translation on the Internet, it came up with Desperate Struggle.

This time, Travis [Touchdown] is looking for revenge. It's a serious fight this time, and the word shito reflects that.

There's a series of Japanese movies called Jingi Naki Tatakai that are about the yakuza. They're really famous in Japan ? sort of the equivalent of The Godfather. They focus on the relationships between members of the Yakuza.

The subtitle for the second one is Hiroshima Shito Hen. That roughly translates to The Desperate Struggle of Hiroshima. Inspired by that, I wanted No More Heroes 2 to be The Desperate Struggle of Santa Destroy.

There's a really intense fight in Hiroshima Shito Hen, and I wanted to sort of recreate that in No More Heroes 2.


January 2012 is the projected US release, now that X-SEED are back in charge of handling the proceedings. Stay tuned for all the latest developments, including any future SUDA 51-exclusive titles.




Play It On Wii titles a whole lot more than just a GC port
Credit: CVG, Famitsu

Announced back at E3, the Play It On Wii titles are basically ported versions of popular/rarer Gamecube games ... at least, that's what we were told. However, judging by latest reports, each title seems to be getting a reasonable overhaul, such as Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, which no longer features bongo-support, not to mention forgoing motion controls, sticking with traditional A-button/analogue stick input. Speaking of Jungle Beat, you'll also see brand new levels, new item placement (so as to keep long-term fans on their toes) as well as different enemy locations.

The Metroid Prime Wii-makes supposedly feature the control scheme of Metroid Prime 3, which should help to familiarise players only familiar with the third Wii-ified Prime title. Donkey Kong and Pikmin are scheduled for a Japanese release next month, with the Wii remote's pointer utilised for ease of use in selecting individual Pikmin. Extra content is also expected to be added in some form. By the sounds of things, these will really be the definitive versions of each title, and will provide a great chance for gamers to catch up if they missed out on them the first time round.




Square Enix bolster DS RPG genre with Blood of Bahamut
Credit: Cubed3, NeoGAF

I read a report earlier that Square Enix simply can't choose their favorite platform to develop for, but judging by the number of DS titles they have in the pipeline, I'd imagine Nintendo's handheld is high up on the list. Now we can add Blood of Bahamut to the ever-increasing list, and RPG fans will definitely want to take note of this one. With over 130 missions offered (in the style of FFXII: Revenant Wings), BoB will keep you occupied for weeks.

Commanding a hero out of seven potential soldiers in the campaign mode as well as a co-operative multiplayer offering for four players, you'll have your work cut out for you. Unfortunately, it's just a local wireless co-op mode, unlike the full-on Wi-Fi online mode of the upcoming FFCC: Echoes of Time, but at this early stage plans could still change.

Check out the debut trailer below to see the title in action! Square Enix fans have a lot to love about this one...







The 411 Games Crew

Vincent Chiucchi's Select and Start News Report.

Joe Roche presents The Full Circle: 360 News Report.

Chris Evans takes a bow from 411 Games with his final PC Centric Extravaganza column. Good luck to Chris in all his future endeavours!

Coming Attractions is brought to you by Drew Robbins.

The 10th Hour features Chris Lansdell's Top 10 Games He Loved (And You Probably Didn't).

Chris Vicari keeps up the PC end of things with The PC Spotlight.

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