Nintendo Wii Fanboy

If there's one essential zombie-killing accessory that's often overlooked in survival guides, it's the feather boa. If you don't look good, you won't feel good, and if you don't feel good, you're not kicking a bunch of zombie ass. You can't argue with that; that's science. That's why Onechanbara is awesome: it represents a fusion of high fashion aesthetics and a dedication to efficient killing ... and it's all coming to you at a budget price. There's nothing more you can ask for, except screenshots, and hey! They're right here.

We've seen screens, dabbled a bit in gameplay footage -- now it''s time to get a word in edgeways from Glenn Stotz, introduced as a Naruto "product specialist." A paid Naruto fanboy, perhaps? And here we are watching the series for free like suckers, when we should be raking in the cash. Le sigh.

Stotz talks about Clash of Ninja Revolution 2, which is a pretty ambitious product with a deep storyline and a huge range of Wiimote gesture controls. It's a fighting game at heart, but we wouldn't mind a fighter that actually tries to present some semblance of a plot. Watch the interview and you'll see that Naruto is a perfect license for doing exactly that.

...

Believe it.

I did get to watch the game in motion, and found the visual upgrade over the PS2 version impressive. Apparently the price is getting a downgrade from the Japanese release: the D3 rep said that while they had yet to set a price point, it'll be marketed as a budget game.

D3 also had the costumes from the Onechanbara movie in their booth -- all four square inches or so of costume. I did geek out a bit.

If all-out battle royales are your thing, you might want to check out the above trailer for Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2. It seems to meld the finesse of a fighting game with the brutality of a brawler, and evidently does a pretty good job of it. Hopefully, the key to winning battles won't just be spamming the Shadow Clone Jutsu over and over again -- we are looking for a nice, balanced fighting experience.

If you look closely, you'll be able to see a few on-screen indicators of particular Wiimote movements in combat. Gone are the days of pushing complex sequences of buttons rapidly to execute attacks -- fighting games have evolved somewhat to recognize fluid movements as a valid form of control. It works -- believe it.

As a plucky young ninja, Naruto does heaps of fighting. More fighting than a mob of pre-teens looking to grab that last copy of Pokemon Rangers 2. The difference here is that Naruto -- the anime -- is pretty cool, and occasionally spawns a few decent products -- the games. Today's Naruto game is none other than Clash of Ninja Revolution -- the sequel.

We heard about Clash of Nnja Revolution 2 a while back, and it was better-than-bad news, considering the original isn't too shabby. It's not amazing, but hey -- sequels are designed for improvement ... right? If you think the screens in the new gallery below show a promising future for Naruto games on the Wii, let the public know. As a Pokemon-esque anime phenomenon, it's pretty gosh darn entertaining -- and we want awesome games to come along for the ride. Believe it!


[Via press release]

It may not shatter the earth as Dead Rising did, but the latest Famitsu has interesting news for fans of D3 Publisher's Simple series. Joining the Simple Wii and Simple 2000 Wii series is another new line, the @Simple games, a line of 500-point WiiWare games.

The first two games in the lineup, @Simple Wii Vol. 1 THE Block Kuzushi Neo and Vol. 2 THE Number Puzzle Neo, are the usual early Simple stuff (Breakout and sudoku), but for five bucks! Download services are where this series belongs, in our estimation. The low budgets can be matched with even lower prices (and even less commitment from the customers).

We've been hoping for a localized version of Oneechanbara Revolution, the motion-controlled Wii entry in Tamsoft's once-budget horror action franchise, since D3 Publisher revealed the game at last year's Tokyo Game Show. The company just announced that we're getting our wish: the series is headed to the U.S. for the first time, under the title Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers.

Players will control one of two sisters, Aya and Saki, who slice up piles and piles of zombies, stopping only to shake the tainted blood off of their swords (lest they become slower and get stuck in zombies more often). Getting blood on the girls, however, triggers a "Rage Mode" in which Aya and Saki attack with increased speed and strength, while their health decreases.

After No More Heroes, we have been slavering for some more sword-based action. Now we're looking forward to E3.

D3 Publisher has its Simple Wii series, which consists of cheap, original Wii games designed on a low budget. The company also has its Simple 2000 Series Wii, which consists of cheap Wii games designed on a low budget. The difference, aside from the extra number? The new Simple 2000 Wii games are actually ports of old Simple 2000 series games for the PS2.

The first two Simple 2000 Series Wii games have both been enhanced with new features: Simple 2000 Wii Vol. 1 THE Table Games, which includes Solitaire, Reversi, Go, Mahjong, and other games, now has online play; Vol. 2 THE Party Games, which includes Sasuke-like athletic challenges, plate spinning, and sports-based minigames, now has waggle.

The Oneechanbara movie continues to be our favorite upcoming import-only movie based on an import-only game about girls in bikinis slaughtering zombies. It's a big genre, but we think we can say this with some certainty.

Even so, this latest trailer raises some concerns about the movie. Specifically, why the CG blood? It would actually cost more than the normal goop used in movies, and the producers didn't quite spend enough to ensure that it didn't totally look ridiculous. Oh, that reminds us -- WARNING: This video features blood, sort of, and may not be suitable for children sensitive to the sight of computer-generated Jell-O.

[Thanks, zizzy!]

The first trailer for the Oneechanbara movie should allay the concerns of anyone who thought D3 Publisher's cheap zombie-slashing game series would forget where it came from. Oneechanbara is staying true to its low-budget roots by, apparently, having a very low budget.

Roughly half of the trailer is composed of game footage, followed by a quick look at Eri Otoguro as Aya, in an impressive "leaning kind of sideways, because she's hurt or something" scene. We suppose this trailer -- with little content other than a few seconds of a girl in a bikini -- would fit the definition of a "teaser" pretty well.

[Via Kotaku]

Chris Kohler has taken a somewhat surprising stance on an issue that Wii enthusiasts have to face daily: shovelware. Most people online seem to be of the opinion that Wii shovelware will cause the Wii to fail, the game industry to crash, and life on Earth to end (when aliens discover our copies of Chicken Shoot and declare us unfit stewards of our planet), but Kohler sees Wii shovelware as not just not terrible, but maybe even good.

Supporting his argument is one of his best examples of shovelware gone right: D3 Publisher's Simple series. D3 admits in the very packaging that their games are cheap, with the implication that you shouldn't expect much. People buy them expecting flawed experiences, and can then ignore the technical issues. Simple games allow games by new developers with small budgets to share shelf space with AAA games. And if people don't want that, they know not to pick up the game.

People can spot a crap game, Kohler says, and know to avoid it. Nobody's going to be fooled into thinking a Data Design Interactive game is high-quality. Kohler likens it to knockoff He-Man toys or bargain-bin DVDs in Walgreens: people can tell the difference, and these things don't deter sales of real products at all. What they offer is a cheap, occasionally novel choice, and more choice is always better. If a "shovelware" game is at least a little bit fun, then it's good that it exists.

The final point he makes, which is something we hadn't considered: allowing garbage on the system is a message that Nintendo isn't so closely restricting content for the Wii. This could translate into AO-rated games in the future, or (we think) wildly experimental games.

Oneechanbara Revolution does indeed look much better in motion than in stills, losing the awful scanline look that has made us question whether D3 should have been releasing screens at all. In motion, Revolution actually looks quite a bit better than the original PS2 game -- not only graphically, but in terms of smooth movements and combos. Initial impressions make it seem that the game actually has quality this time, and that the new controls are fun (if tiring). Even though we were less than totally enthused with the PS2 game, we could see ourselves really enjoying some blood-soaked waggle combat with this.

After the break, there are two more videos, including a demonstration of co-op gameplay. These videos, as well as the one above, are very violent and bloody and absolutely for adults only and not safe for work. If your mom or boss is severely disappointed in you, don't blame us.

When did D3's once-budget hack-and-slash action game Oneechanbara become such serious business? Apparently, going full-price on the Wii was just the first sign of Oneechanbara's transformation into an important franchise, because an Oneechanbara movie has been announced for an April release in Japan. The movie will star Eri Otoguro as Aya, Chise Nakamura as Saki, and Manami Hashimoto as Reiko.

We'll be interested in seeing if an audience who is able to cite gameplay reasons for their interest in the series will be up for an Oneechanbara with no gameplay. It's really all about the girls in costumes, this time.

[Via Famitsu]

Dengeki had a playtesting session of D3's Oneechanbara Revolution, and from what we can gather based on automatic translations, they quite enjoyed the (costumes in the) game. They also seemed to think that the new controls, while requiring a bit of practice, work out well for the action game and create an enjoyable flow. They didn't think it was awful, which is news for the series.

While the idea of learning controls seems antithetical to the Wii ideal, at least they're fun. Oneechanbara Revolution includes a practice mode in which you can just slice up endless hordes of zombies, in order to facilitate the learning process.

Along with the English-unfriendly impressions, there is a nice set of new screenshots. We're fascinated by whatever that on-screen display is in the practice mode.

As if we weren't already all about action games, recent developments have given us a taste for waggle-style action games. In this video for the new Oneechanbara Wii game, Official Aya Model Erina demonstrates the Wii controls for the bloody game. Also she wears her Aya outfit. Obviously, right?

Oneechanbara's controls are much more motion-y than No More Heroes'. You're really (sort of) swinging your sword around and cutting through thousands of zombies. Surprisingly, while we totally think No More Heroes balances button-mashing and waving around perfectly, all the waggling in this looks fun and exciting. We're probably only swayed a little bit by the fact that it's being shown off by a bikini-clad model!

While you're in an Oneechanbara mood, check out some new screens at the link. They're screens of the game, by the way.