He may be ranked 9th in the UAA assassins' competition, but Dr. Peace is the first of the No More Heroes cast to release his own single. An 8cm (3") mini-CD single of "The Virgin Child Makes her wish without feeling anything" will be available from Grasshopper Manufacture's website on June 25.
The disc will contain four versions of Dr. Peace's signature tune: the "normal" version, sax and trumpet versions, and a (presumably) instrumental karaoke version. We'd gladly pay 1,000 yen ($9.50) for such an item if we could, but, like everything else in the GHM store, it only ships to Japan. It makes us want to listen to some sad music, but ... yeah.
New screens of Fatal Frame IV have appeared on Famitsu's site, coinciding with the launch of the game's official site. Our verdict? They're all rather lovely, but terribly dark. Yes, we fully appreciate that traipsing about in pitch black darkness while being scared witless is a key part of the Fatal Frame experience, but in some of these shots it's the Famitsu watermark that is most prominent. The old adage about "what you can't see is what scares you most" will no doubt apply here, and we look forward to hiding behind our sofas whenever this makes the inevitable trip westwards.
Make sure your night light is on before heading past the break for a few other screenshots.
Grim. Dingy. Grimy. Dilapidated. No, we're not referring to the more picturesque parts of Fanboy Towers (though could well be), but to the environments found in Fatal Frame IV. The latest edition of Famitsu has some of the first gameplay shots from the Tecmo/Grasshopper Manufacture collaboration, most of which feature the title's waif of a heroine and some not entirely pleasant sights; you can see the full scans at the "Source" link below.
It also appears that Nintendo's Japanese arm has updated its release schedule with a date for the camera-based horror title -- Nintendo itself will be publishing Fatal Frame IV in Japan on July 31st.
Wii Fanboy favorite No More Heroes is the focus of this week's Zero Punctuation, and it actually gets off fairly easily compared to the roasting received by most games. In between describing Suda 51 as "the 51st result of an illegal Japanese cloning experiment to create the world's most auteur game designer" and fretting over what the game is satirizing and what it isn't, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw admits he enjoyed playing as Travis Touchdown, and eventually praises Grasshopper's game for its "unpredictable story and quirky aesthetics."
Finally, as if we didn't already admire the man enough, he reveals his deep-seated love of Branston Pickle. Way to make us forgive every mean thing you ever said about our favorite games, Yahtzee. Hit the break for the full, NSFW review.
We don't really understand Amazon's price drops. Why do the prices for some games drop? And how long do such drops last? Yet, that doesn't mean we don't love them -- especially when it comes to getting one of the best games on the Wii cheaply.
Now at Amazon (until when?) you can get No More Heroes for $39.99. That's the best deal we've seen on the game so far, and in our expert blogger opinions, it's worth every penny.
Another price drop to note is House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, which fell $5, meaning that the game will only cost you $24.99. Unfortunately, this price puts it just under Amazon's free shipping qualification by a penny, which sours the deal a little bit. Also, we can't imagine that a price drop so early in the game's life cycle could mean good things for how the it's selling, even if the sale is only on Amazon.
As far as we can tell, the price drops on Amazon fluctuate as a game goes in and out of stock. So, if you check these out and one of the deals is over, it might be worth looking again at a later date.
Gallery: No More Heroes
Gallery: House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return
[Thanks, Sorensilk!]
Read:No More Heroes on Amazon Read: House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return on Amazon
No More Heroes composer Masafumi Takada mentioned in his GDC talk that a remix album of music from the game would soon be available from Grasshopper Manufacture's online store. We now have details of that album, called No More Heroes Sound Tracks: Dark Side -- as well as its burning-Santa-Destroy-flag cover.
The album contains 9 tracks remixed by artists including Takada himself, Game Boy chiptune master 6955 and Metal Gear Solid's Norihiko Hibino. It'll sell for 2,100 yen ($20) when it releases on March 14th. We suspect awesomeness, even though there are only nine tracks on the disc. We're going to have to figure out how to get Grasshopper's online store to ship stuff to us!
Posted Feb 15th 2008 8:00PM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
Looks like all the anecdotal "I bought it!" evidence was accurate: Marvelous Interactive president Yasuhiro Wada announced on the company's website that No More Heroes has sold 100,000 copies in the U.S. Compare that to the 40,000 that shipped in Japan and it's clear that what once was a bomb is now kind of a hit for our favorite video game band, Grasshopper Manufacture. NPD doesn't seem to agree, reporting 65,000 copies sold in the U.S. in January. We don't know if Marvelous's numbers are from a different estimate or including February or what.
Marvelous is shipping 160,000 copies to Europe, as they expect even more demand. This may be the reason for the brief delay. Overall, they are shooting for 500,000 total sales. That may not sound huge by most game standards, but for a tiny company like Grasshopper, and for such a bizarre game, that's huge.
None of the releases this week really appealed to us, just as they didn't appeal to any of you who bothered to comment. So, we figured we'd talk a bit about No More Heroes and the fact that the boss fight with the #2 ranked assassin is driving us crazy. Seriously, how cheap can you get? We'd go into further detail but we fear that there are still a few of you out there who have not picked up the game. Shocking, we know.
Anywho, enough about what we're playing. What about you all? What game(s) will get you through the days ahead?
European gamers are already feeling pretty sensitive about No More Heroes, since they're getting the original Japanese version and not the "extra bloody" American version. Now there's one more thing to complain about, as Rising Star Games has bumped the release date back a week from February 29th to March 7th. That's not too long to wait, but considering that the game has been out for two months in Japan and one month in the U.S., we can imagine how it would sting.
In lighter news (to distract the European audience from the boiling rage they're sinking into), check out Suda 51's joking, Suda-like design idea for an 'adult' Mario game: "Maybe Mario could wear an Italian suit and have a machine gun," he hypothesized, adding, "But Nintendo probably wouldn't like that idea." Oh, Suda, you certainly do enjoy making games about professional killers.
During a rather extensive interview with Goichi Suda, the man behind No More Heroes and Killer 7 (GameCube), it's revealed that the Grasshopper Manufature CEO has found his experience of working with the Wii a very enjoyable one. And, in regards to the whole bloodless/bloody No More Heroes fiasco, Suda is of the mind that the U.S. version (see: the one with the buckets of blood in it) is definitely closest to his final vision of the game.
Nintendo was totally cool with the blood from the get-go, as well. Suda says the U.S. version was the closest to his initial vision for the game, and that the "issue of having blood spilt is an interesting one. Today's technology makes a very realistic visual experience possible, so does that mean blood has to be sprayed all around? I'm not sure." Well, we're glad the blood was added, as looking at the comparison videos shows the blood adds a lot more to the game.
It's no secret that we've had No More Heroes on the brain since the game's release a few short weeks back. We're doing our best to climb the UAA ranks, but that doesn't mean we don't have time to stop and smell the roses. Some of our time has been spent dumpster-diving for t-shirts and checking out the Area 51 for new apparel. Do you spend any time messing with Travis' looks, or is it all about the Beam Katana upgrades and UAA ladder-climbing for you?
Spoiler alert: This is the first boss fight in the game.
If there's one thing we can't get enough of right now, it's No More Heroes. Suda's masterpiece (yeah, we went there) came in to our video game collection and proceeded to decapitate every single other game in its pursuit to be the top title of our library. We're so smitten, we've cuddled with the game's case every night in bed, clenching it tight against our chest like our teddy bears of old.
But enough about our rampant love of the game. One of the biggest concerns for Europeans is how the censored version would stack up the bloody affair that is the U.S. release. One gamer was kind enough to do just that, taking video of each death scene in the game from both censored and uncensored version of the game. So, if you're beaten the game or just don't care about spoilers, hit up the link below. For the rest of you, go play No More Heroes already!
We can totally get behind No More Heroescosplay. For one thing, it's a cheap and fairly easy pastime, not unlike your mom requiring none of the intricate and potentially expensive items needed for, say, successful Metroid cosplay. For another, the end result generally looks quite good, if you have the right physique to pull it off (we don't), as well as the correct cocksure attitude (again, no).
Hit the link below for more photos of Travis Touchdown and Sylvia Christel imitators that you can shake a paper-mâché WarioWare mask at.
Months after announcing a new installment to its survival-horror/photography game, Tecmo unveiled a two-minute CG trailer for Fatal Frame IV(Rei: Tsukihami no Kame) and discussed a few specifics behind the spooky title. The video hasn't yet been released, but you can peek at screen grabs from the movie in the gallery below.
According to series producer Keisuke Kikuchi, the game's "image color" will be yellow, and the words "memory," "moon," and "mask" will be recurring themes. That's not much to go on, but we still have months before Fatal Frame IV's expected summer release in Japan.
Tecmo has teamed up with studio Grasshopper Manufacture (No More Heroes, Killer 7) for Fatal Frame IV's development, bringing in Goichi Suda (!) to help direct the game along with Makoto Shibata. Surprisingly, Nintendo will handle production, publishing, and promotion. What an interesting mix!
Suda 51 is the Quentin Tarantino of game design. Like the hyperactive filmmaker, Suda 51 makes intentionally rough-looking works that celebrate forgotten film genres and are characterized by over-the-top graphic violence and rapid-fire pop-culture references. The major difference between the two is that Tarantino has been successful, making millions of dollars, winning awards, and guest-judging on American Idol, whereas Suda has to make licensed animegames (unconventionally, still) in order to gather the budget for original work.
To carry the metaphor further, No More Heroes feels very much like it could be Suda's Pulp Fiction: the game in which Suda finally gets to bring his unique game design to an accepting mainstream audience. It could easily be the crossover hit that he never tried to make. And in true punk style, No More Heroes redefines the AAA game, rejecting most of the considerations that usually denote a game's quality in favor of what he cares about.
He may be ranked 9th in the UAA assassins' competition, but Dr. Peace is the first of the No More Heroes cast to release his own single. An 8cm (3") mini-CD single of "The Virgin Child Makes her wish without feeling anything" will be available from Grasshopper Manufacture's website on June 25.
_thumbnail.jpg "Mega Man 9")
_thumbnail.jpg "Smash Bros. Brawl Snapshots")
