Nintendophiles 02.18.09: Renegade Kid, Capcom, Virtua Tennis

Posted by Theo Fraser on 02.18.2009

Big news this week as Virtua Tennis 2009 is revealed for the Wii! Plus, an update on Renegade Kid’s secret Dracula title, rumors of Bioshock coming to the Wii, Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics is finally officially announced. Check out the latest edition of Nintendophiles for all that and more!



Oh what a woeful Wednesday! There's nothing wrong with it being Wednesday per se, but for me it marks the fact that I have gone a whole week without playing any video games. Not by choice, I'd like to point out! Time has not been my friend this week and I just haven't had the chance to sit down and play any games. I really hope I don't have to point out that this fact frickin' KILLS me. Mass Effect is lying in its wrapping, I've only racked up about 10 hours on Okami, Final Fantasy VI Advance is so close to being completed and yet I STILL haven't done it, there are countless songs to unlock on Guitar Hero: World Tour, Smackdown vs Raw 2009 is constantly staring at me from a distance, willing me to finish off the Road to Wrestlemania mode, not to mention all the other half-completed titles in my collection. I think I need to hibernate for a couple of months in which I lock myself in my room and solely play through all my games. No daylight until each one has been 100 percented. Yes, that's the clear solution here.

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Virtua Tennis series to debut on Wii
Credit: IGN, TechRadar




Can the Wii version look this good?


We're kicking things off this week with some tremendous news; SEGA are bringing the famed Virtua Tennis series to the Wii! Launching in May, we haven't got long to wait, but the next 3 months will be an absolute bitch because, if you're a Tennis fan, you're going to want this more than oxygen. We'll take a quick look at the press release, and then move on to the good stuff.


"Wii owners will finally be able to take to the courts in the fans number one tennis game, boasting all the features and arcade action that has made Virtua Tennis the most critically acclaimed and best selling tennis series available.

Virtua Tennis 2009 for Wii includes the same impressive player roster as Virtua Tennis 2009 on other platforms, meaning top stars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams will all be in game, as well as players new to the series such as Andy Murray and Ana Ivanovic. Over 40 court vibrant court environments will be playable within single player, multiplayer and online modes giving Virtua Tennis 2009 an impressive online and offline depth for a Wii title."


Confirmation of online play? Check. Sustained erection? Check. But that pales in comparison to the textual equivalent of an orgasm that is the following piece of news; TechRadar can confirm that, despite not being officially announced yet, the game will indeed support MotionPlus control.


[*Double-spacing to allow time for that to digest...*]


Yes. Not only is this a MotionPlus Tennis game...it's Virtua Tennis. I'm a little bit speechless if I'm honest. The concept sells itself. Seriously, if SEGA screw this up I am personally walking to Tokyo and taking a dump on their doormat. It's simply a winning combination if ever I saw one. The ‘standard' Virtua Tennis gameplay is silky-smooth and incredibly intuitive, so adding in MotionPlus to allow pinpoint precision control already makes this a groundbreaking tennis sim. If programmed correctly, the slightest change in angle of your wrist could affect the spin you put on the ball. You'll actually be having a game of tennis in your own living room.

Glorious news if you ask me. But what is Booker T's reaction?





Thanks Booker!

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Renegade Kid's secret Dracula game cancelled
Credit: Cubed3

I think "Aww, shucks" is the appropriate expression here. Renegade Kid, responsible for Dementium: The Ward and M.O.O.N on the Nintendo DS, were in development of a brand new gothic Wii title, supposedly based on the legend of Dracula, with a prototype name of Son of a Dragon. According to recent reports from inside the company, however, the title has unfortunately been cancelled. The original teaser artwork, shown below, is all we have to go on, but judging by the company's impressive outings on the DS, it was a safe bet we were in store for something at least half-way decent.





No official reason has been given for the game's cancellation, but Gamecock (who were originally scheduled to publish the title) recently partnered with Southpeak Games, no doubt presenting the developer with funding issues amongst other things. Fans of the company needed worry, however:


The Renegade Kid team is hard at work on a new secret game, which will be announced in 2009. The entire team is extremely excited about our new title, and we look forward to sharing more information with you about it soon.


Let's hope this new title is also for the Wii. We know what the team is capable of on the DS; I'm eager to see how much visual flair they can squeeze out of the White Box of Delight.

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Lifetime sales figures for key Capcom Wii titles
Credit: Edge Online

I wanted to include this purely as an interesting little fact! NPD revealed the lifetime US sales for some key Capcom titles on the Nintendo Wii, producing some fascinating results.

• Resident Evil‭ ‬4: Wii edition - 759,000‭ units



• Resident Evil:‭ ‬Umbrella Chronicles - 398,800 units ‭



• Okami - 165,900‭‭ units



• Zack‭ & ‬Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure - 116,600 units ‭

I was surprised to see Resident Evil 4 had sold quite so much. Obviously it's a fantastic game, but the Gamecube version didn't exactly disappoint in terms of sales, so I never would have expected it to be nearing the million mark in the US alone.

Umbrella Chronicles has done exceedingly well worldwide, although RE4 is clearly outselling it 2:1 in the States. But it's no surprise to see it doing reasonably well, due to it being an established franchise, complete with loyal fans who eat up any Resi offering.

Then it all gets a little bit depressing. The sales figures for both Okami and Zack & Wiki are just criminal. I've said it countless times before, and nothing I can say will change it, but those are both some of the Wii's finest titles, and as a diehard gamer with a passion for unique, creative, well-designed adventures such as these, it's just overwhelmingly disheartening. I knew neither had done terribly well in stores, but I had no idea that it was quite so bad. Perhaps a Capcom budget range might do the trick?

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The rumor mill churns again; Bioshock 2 to Wii?!
Credit: Gamasutra

Here's a classic example of the internet jumping to conclusions FAR too early, in my opinion, although I'll gladly eat my own words if it turns out to be true. To catch everyone up to speed, Bioshock is the critically acclaimed 2007 FPS title, and due to its retail success a sequel has been put into development, scheduled for release on Xbox 360, PC and PS3 either very late this year or early 2010. What's this got to do with us here at Nintendophiles? A job advert has been posted by 2K Games seeking a ‘UI Programmer' for Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams, and under the banner of highly desired additional experience and skills, it lists the following:

~Experience developing for next-generation game consoles (PS3, XBOX 360, Wii).

Yep, one mere mention of the Wii and ZOMG BIOSHOCK IS COMING TO WII!1!1!1! Whilst I will admit that it is a little intriguing that the development team are seeking individuals with experience developing for the Wii, it really doesn't mean anything at all. Part of Bioshock's charm is the rich environment it offers, which is created through visuals only capable on more powerful systems than the Wii. Downgrading the visuals for the Wii just doesn't make much sense, and they wouldn't be able to produce a port; it would have to be built from the ground up, and I can't see that happening; it's not exactly cost-effective when the bigger boys on 360 and PS3 are the ones that will shift units.

Not that I want to crush anyone's dreams but...I wouldn't hold my breath for this one, if I were you.

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Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics made official; First teaser trailer
Credit: ONM, Cubed3

After two consecutive weeks of reporting that Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games is ‘kinda confirmed but kinda not', it's nice to finally be able to say ‘it's official'. Aside from being based on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics as opposed to the Beijing Summer Games, the big news this time is that the Wii version (a handheld DS version will accompany it, just like last year) will be compatible with the Balance Board. See, Wii Fit wasn't a waste of money after all!





As you can see from the teaser trailer above (and yes, it does say Olympics Winter Games, but that will assuredly be fixed in translation), Snowboarding will likely be involved somewhere, but we also know that Alpine Skiing and Speed Skating activities will be included. On the DS, Snowboarding and Bobsleighing has been confirmed, which makes a balance-board enabled Bobsleighing event in the Wii version a distinct possibility. Going back to the DS iteration for a second, touch screen controls will of course be the name of the game, with a ‘virtual snowboard' appearing on the touch pad for that particular activity. With enough variety between contests, this could be a very worthy accompaniment to the ‘big brother' console version.

SEGA are also stressing an added level of realism for this sequel, hoping to make the environments and locations closer to their real-life Vancouver counterparts. This won't affect character design or anything like that; it's probably just a way of ensuring extra coverage from Vancouver and the Winter Olympics themselves, and will let SEGA advertise the titles alongside the ‘proper' realistic Olympics game on PS3 and 360.

Screenshots of the actual gameplay do exist, but are currently only exclusively available in various publications. Expect SEGA to release official shots in the coming weeks.

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The 411 Games Crew

B3yond the Report is presented by Derek Robbins, who discusses MGS4 going platinum, the upcoming Harmonix Beatles game, as well as all the usual features such as the One Man Water Cooler.

Aliens vs Predator, Godfather II, how to pick up Left 4 Dead DLC on the cheap...sound good to you? Better check out The Full Circle: 360 News Report by Joe Roche then!

Living LIVE is written by Trace Aber.

What I Hate About You by John De Large has a Valentine's Day-themed column for you this week, looking at presentations of luuuuurve in video games.

Greg Bruno introduces his girlfriend to Soul Calibur IV in The Gamer Girlfriend this week.

Natalie Shoemaker presents Girl Gamer Chronicles.

Screenshots
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