Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Turn out the lights, get some popcorn and pull up to your computer: it's time for Extremely Short Horror Theater! This week, we've got a super spooky treat for all of you fright fans: a chiller from the masters of horror at Capcom, called "The Evil Residents and the Umbrella," about a town full of arthritic pedestrians terrorized by a group of militaristic, gun-wielding murderers! We're sure you'll have such a screaming good time that the name "Residence of Evil" will haunt you for years to come!

[Via Famitsu]

Turns out it's just one Gamecube! Either that or Capcom is lazy. The evidence to support either conclusion is found in this Gametrailers video, which compares the Gamecube and Wii versions of Resident Evil 4 side-by-side. Major spoiler: they look exactly the same.

The sad part is, we actually don't know if the Wii can do better graphics than the original Resident Evil 4, because nobody has tried. Well, at least this version of RE4 has waggling. And it's not like the graphics were bad on the Cube or anything.

With all this talk of a possible remake (can we get a sequel?) of Killer 7, we find ourselves once again dealing with the idea of games on rails. It seems to be one of those things gamers either love or hate -- never something that's just okay. But we've got to ask: where do you stand? Do you feel differently about, say, Sonic and the Secret Rings being on rails than you do about games that are essentially on-rails shooters?

GayGamer recently got a chance to play Capcom's Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, which pulls old RE stories from their graves and reanimates them as segments of a rail shooter. Unlike previous Resident Evil spinoff games, this one seems like it's going to be okay.

They were especially pleased with the treatment of the story-- since the Resident Evil series has traditionally had a good story element, this game has a leg up over other zombie-filled shooting games. Nobody will have to suffer like G did.

The Nunchuk use also received praise-- being able to look around freely with the joystick just lets you do more in each area, allowing the players to search for hidden items, aim shots more accurately, and choose paths.

This is simply the coolest limited-edition box in recent memory. Forget the European Resident Evil 4 box. This Japanese Biohazard box is the business.

For 3,675 yen, which is a suspiciously low $30, you get an awesome 20-DVD-capacity Umbrella Corporation biohazard storage box (itself inside an Umbrella Corporation shipping box), two keys, warning tags, and caution tape to seal it up. With a case this cool, who even needs a game? You could always buy this and RE4 Wii Edition and build your own limited edition set.

[Via The Tanooki]

Not so much a discussion topic today as it is a directed viewing. This is the boxart for the European release of Resident Evil 4. It's basically the PAL PS2 boxart, but white instead of red.

We are now totally okay with the tacked-on waggle controls, and the fact that it's a Wii port of a game that is two years old and can already be played on Wii, because it's got really nice boxart. We're not even being sarcastic. Too bad about the "Wii Edition" thing, but we'll look past that. So what's your opinion? Awesome boxart, or totally awesome boxart?

So we're all excited about Resident Evil 4 redux, because it's such an awesome game, but what about Umbrella Chronicles? Some people don't seem to be too thrilled about the fact that it's an on-rails shooter. We're all about shooting zombies around here, so we're okay with the idea, though we'd like to get our hands on it before we deliver a final verdict. At this juncture, it's best to say we're tentatively excited, pending more details, video, and images. How about you?

[Update 1: fixed the name of the DS game. Thanks, SnesR0X, and no thanks to the many similar DS-game subtitles!]

It's been a while since we had a directed blurry-Famitsu-picture staredown, and this one is, as usual, totally worth staring at. Famitsu printed a long-awaited look at Capcom's Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles, the Wii-exclusive RE-series-spanning game.

According to the article, it's a first-person gun shooting game with playable characters from past REs including Chris, Jill, Wesker, and others. Whether it's a true FPS or an on-rails affair like Resident Evil: Dead Aim remains to be seen.

Also in Famitsu was confirmation that Resident Evil 4 is getting an enhanced Wii release. Rumor has it that all the PS2 extras will be included, but the only definite is an added Wiimote-controlled knife mode. Sounds like RE Deadly Silence on the DS.

[Thanks, zshadow!]

There's an interesting feature over at CVG detailing ten games to watch for on the Wii this year (similar to what we did for the DS). Now, as this is a list from the UK, they've included some games with which we American gamers have already been blessed, but the rest of the lineup is interesting indeed. Of course, they highlight Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (we so can't wait for that), but the lion's share of the list goes to the most obvious -- and long in coming -- games for the Wii, like Metroid Prime 3 and Super Mario Galaxy (and the less talked about, but also cool Disaster: Day of Crisis). Of course these are going to be great games, but on what shall we pin all our hopes and dreams between now and the oblivion of year's end? It hurts to see so many great games on this list when we know they have no firm release date. Reggie promised us that there'd be no drought, but things are looking a little dry from the vantage point of this list. Potentially awesome, yes, but a little dry all the same.

See, when the Resident Evil for the Wii was announced as the Umbrella Chronicles, we thought, great! An overarching story about everyone's favorite zombie-producing conglomerate. And we're getting that (in a sense), but it turns out that we've been fooled ... here, "umbrella" means "that which covers all" and chronicles seems to stand for "a little rehash of a lot of story."

That's right, folks -- the so-exciting ReWii may not be that exciting after all. Instead of an all new game or a straight up remake, Umbrella Chronicles will feature four chapters that recover old ground from games 1-4, and some Wiimote functionality has been tossed in like a drizzle of chocolate atop a subpar sundae.

While it will no doubt be interesting to see the long and winding story of Umbrella told in this fashion, it still feels like a copout. Capcom is throwing us a bone so that we remain dedicated to their series. Where's our game? Where's our chance to blast all new zombie heads? If we get it, it won't be soon. For now, we'll cling to the old idea that good things come to those who wait. But if they make us wait too long, we may be storming Capcom ala the torchbearing villagers in RE4.

[Via Joystiq]

[Update: The teaser trailer has hit the net and is after the break.]

And that's really about all that has been confirmed for Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles. Here's what we do know, and it's not much: the game is categorized as "action" (you don't say) and Kawada Masachika, who handled the port of Resident Evil 4 from the 'Cube to the PS2, will be the lead producer. The game also appeared briefly in the Wii preview video that we've been cooing over all day.

There are a lot of rumors flying around about the game, naturally. Some people think it's at least a partial remake of the remake of the original Resident Evil (that's a lot of remaking). There's word of an established voice actress lending her pipes to Jill Valentine. And some people say it may even -- wait for it -- have some zombies. Now that's news.

Speculate your fanboy hearts out and we'll bring you information as it comes.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this one in!]

We've known for quite some time that Capcom would be developing a Wii-exclusive Resident Evil title. Would it be the next game in the main franchise, a true RE5, or perhaps a more direct sequel of the Gamecube and PS2 mega-hit Resident Evil 4? Or would it be one of those Outbreak/Zero/Veronica spin-offs that no one really cares about?

According to the most recent issue of the Official Nintendo Magazine (UK), we won't have to wait much longer. Though the news was too fresh to make the August issue, they apparently have some exclusive info on REWii, as evidenced by a rather obvious silhouette of Leon Kennedy. The issue is due for release somewhere around August 6th.

[Update 1: Clarified August vs. September issue mix-up.]