Nintendophiles 01.28.09

Posted by Theo Fraser on 01.28.2009

411's premier Nintendo news report has you covered on all the big stories of the week, including a new TMNT Wii title being developed by part of the Smash Bros development team, further confirmation of Red Steel 2, Mario & Sonic return for some wintry fun, n-Space struggle to find a publisher, and a final look at House of the Dead: Overkill before its imminent release. That's all in store for you inside this week's Nintendophiles!






Hello and welcome to another instalment of Nintendophiles, satiating your every Nintendo need since '06! I didn't want to make a separate topic for it, but it's just been confirmed that Square Enix will be bringing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (there's got to be a shorter way of typing that. Even FFCC:EoT is tiresome!) to US shores on March 24th. Woop woop, let the four-player cross-platform calamity begin! In two months time, anyway. Of course, you'll probably be too busy playing GTA: Chinatown Wars to notice any other game releases that month, but it's worth keeping on the back burner in case you need a break from all the drug-dealing, car-stealing, prostitute-feeling antics we all know and love.

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Red Steel 2 confirmed...again
Credit: Wii Fanboy

We've known about Red Steel 2 for well over a year now, and whilst I accept that at first it was merely a rumor, I'm positive that RS2 has been confirmed by way of press releases and the like since that time. Apparently not.




That's the nearest we're coming to official artwork at the moment. Ubisoft should hire me for their Lead Design team, I'm that good.


In speaking to Wii Fanboy about the upcoming fiscal year, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said, "We have lots of products coming for the Wii next year. We have Red Steel..." before pausing and apparently apologising for the ‘slip'. Don't worry, Mr Guillemot...we kinda already knew. Of course, it's nice to see the game is on target for this fiscal year; having still not seen any sign of the title in the form of footage, screens or artwork, one always fears the worst and imagines slippages or, even worse, cancellation, especially in this time of economic difficulty. My guess is that Ubisoft are waiting for the MotionPlus accessory to go on sale before announcing anything, so that people have had a chance to get to grips with what the accessory can offer before the company reveal what they plan to achieve with the attachment. This way, your average Joe will be able get a sense of what to expect from Red Steel 2 in the run up to its launch. Ubisoft likely want to capture some of the casual market with RS2, as although the original was profitable, it didn't perform quite as well as they had hoped. Accurate MotionPlus sword-fighting will sort that out a treat, I'm sure.

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Mario & Sonic to hit the ski slopes?
Credit: Go Nintendo

With the success of Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, you'd be a fool to think that was the last time we'd see the plumber and hedgehog go head to head. I wouldn't be surprised to see Nintendo milk the concept for money, turning it into a franchise of some sorts. And judging by these latest rumors, a franchise is exactly what Nintendo have in store.





Nintendo Accion (a Spanish Nintendo magazine) seems to have the scoop on a new Mario & Sonic title which would reach store shelves in time for the Christmas 2009 period. The article (previewing their next issue) shows a shadowy image of Mario and Sonic, with the text (translated, naturally) below:


"Who are these two and why do they come to see each other? Find out all the details on the mystery game in the next magazine. But before that, here are some clues: Games, Olympics, Cold, Its winter?"


Bit of a no-brainer, huh? I'm glad to see a sequel; I'm always moaning that there aren't enough new franchises, so Nintendo are responding with a title that will most likely make them a ton of money. Not only does it trade on the Mario & Sonic name, it also appeals to those hoping to get in the spirit of the relevant Olympic games, so a Winter Games version makes total sense. I wouldn't have thought the Spanish magazine would have the world exclusive first look, so expect to hear the first proper news on Los Interwebz in the coming weeks.

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Smash Bros, TMNT style!
Credit: Edge Online

Upon hearing of a new Wii TMNT game, your reaction was probably a lot like mine. "Ugh". Maybe even an "Ugh, crap!" But reserve your premature judgement for now. Yes, it's being published by Ubisoft, and more often than not Ubisoft + Wii title = lazy, tacked-on Wii controls, but this time, they have one thing working in their favor. The development team handling the proceedings for this latest TMNT game are none other than Game Arts, who played a significant role in the development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. That's a high accolade, for sure, and already puts this TMNT game in good stead.





Currently referred to as TMNT: Smash Up, links to Smash Bros. can already be made, and with Ubisoft describing the title as a "four-player fighting action game", those links are possibly not too far off. The first screens pictured above certainly seem to display the game in the same light as that of Smash Bros., so I can see anticipation for this one rising into the stratosphere within weeks. This will be the first TMNT title not based on a movie, TV series or comic book outing, meaning that the creators won't be bogged down with restrictions of any kind. And that's most definitely a plus.

So I think we're safe to expect something rather good. Graphically, I'm not overly impressed; there's nothing in those early shots that particularly jumps out at me. However, I'll hold off from being too sceptical until I see it in motion; if it plays anything like a Smash Bros. title, I won't give a damn what it looks like. Its pure hyperbole at this stage, but this could be the game to buck the trend – that licensed games CAN be very good. So uh...no pressure, Game Arts!

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The first time I've ever looked forward to Winter
Credit: IGN

Remember Geist on the Gamecube? The FPS/‘Ghost ‘em up' hybrid that had big ideas but unfortunately failed to deliver, in part due to being rushed out the door a little too quickly; more Nintendo's fault than anyone else. That's beside the point; Geist's developer, n-Space, has recently revealed a concept for a new survival-horror Wii game entitled Winter, which was looking pretty damn good.

WAS being the key word. Unfortunately, n-Space were unable to find a publisher willing to take the game on board, and so as it stands right now, Winter won't see the light of day. However, since gamers have been made aware of the title (it was originally kept secret, hence why we're only hearing about this now), a fan petition has gone up online which I heartily urge you to sign. Go to the relevant Petition Online link here and sign your name. I'd love to show you the leaked footage, but due to water marks etc I can't provide a link. However, it doesn't take a genius for you to figure out that Youtube is your best friend here. So please, watch the footage (which is genuinely pretty scary at times; a rare occurrence these days) and if you even have the slightest of interest in seeing the game brought back to life, sign the petition.

According to an interview with IGN, the title was consistently highly praised by the publishers it was sent to for approval; it simply wouldn't get the green light due to it being an adult title on a console associated with a typically younger demographic. Apparently these publishers have never looked at the sales statistics for Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition or Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles; both well into the millions in terms of units sold. With enough support from fans around the world, we could see the project resurrected. This is one of those times where your voice really can and will make a difference.

This is all beginning to sound a little like a political rally, and I'd never pretend that Winter is going to change the face of the survival horror genre, but after all the hard work that's gone into it, it seems like such a waste for it to fail at the last hurdle. The four minutes of action demonstrated in the video look extremely promising. With a little extra shine and a polish around the edges, this could be something great. Let's make it happen.

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"Putting the ‘hot' in shotgun"

It's funny, I'm not normally the type to be getting excited about a ‘mere' on-rails shooter, but for some reason I just can't help looking forward to House of the Dead: Overkill. Released in just under two weeks, it's finally time to see if SEGA really can offer us "the hardcore we've been waiting for". First though, let's take a peek at the latest official trailer, which shows an improved build (the final build, one would assume) and a neat look at some of the later environments of the game.





It's nice to see that the blood has been upped a notch. OK, ‘nice' makes me sound a little bit of a lunatic, but I think you catch my drift, it's...cool. Loving the strippers as well, particularly the interesting implementation of *cough* ‘bounce' physics, shall we say? And the ultra-cheesy dialogue is just too awesome. "Ever going to tell anyone what that fucking G stands for?" "No." That is BAFTA worthy, my friend! Barring some huge news regarding secrets SEGA have been keeping from us about the game, I expect this'll be the last time I'll be featuring the game in Nintendophiles prior to its launch, so keep an eye out on the 411 Games main page for the first review!

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The 411 Games Crew

The final part of the 411 Games team's 2008 Year End Awards is here. Find out which title was picked to be our Game of the Year!

Vincent Chiucchi talks about Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy announcement in this week's Select and Start News Report.

Achievement Unlocked focuses on firms restructuring and Microsoft's new outlook, brought to you by Rod Oracheski.

Chris Vicari shines the PC Spotlight on the upcoming games of 2009, and why they will blow 2008's offerings out of the water.

Jordan Williams looks at what Lionhead Studios need to do to make Fable III as epic as its predecessors in Working Title.

Conversely, John De Large tells us everything that sucks about Fable 2 in the latest edition of What I Hate About You.

Derek Robbins counts down the Top 10 Most Annoying People in World of Warcraft in this week's 10th Hour.


Next week, Nintendophiles will be a day later than usual, as I'm going to be away from the internet (shocking, I know) from Sunday-Wednesday, doing a small bit of filming which should be fun! Anyway, just wanted to give you all a quick heads up on that one. Have a great week, and I'll hopefully see you right back here next Thursday! Peace.

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