Nintendo Wii Fanboy

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]

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?

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!]