Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Don't you just hate it when a menacing antagonist reaches through the screen at your local cinema, absconds with your girlfriend, and forces you to obtain all kinds of awesome powers in your quest to rescue her? Okay, so maybe it doesn't happen that often in the real world. But if you've played one of the best games of last generation, odds are it's a familiar story.

Viewtiful Joe was released for the GameCube in 2003 as one of Capcom's exclusive titles for Nintendo, though the exclusivity deal didn't last long; just like Resident Evil 4 and Killer7, Viewtiful Joe was released on the PS2 as well. Side-scrolling beat 'em ups are few and far between in the 3D era, but Viewtiful Joe brought back the genre in a big way, with stylish action and movie-inspired powers that shame the competition. And while the gameplay is the real meat of what makes Viewtiful Joe great, the game's sharp wit, pop-culture inspiration and wonderful setting really elevate the experience. Viewtiful Joe 2 continued the tradition, but it's been over three years since the sequel's release, and the series' two spinoffs, Red Hot Rumble and Double Trouble, don't satisfy this gamer's desire for a fully-fledged Viewtiful sequel. Trilogy, anyone?

Four months ago, we started mourning the sad loss of Clover Studio, the development house responsible for beautiful, original games like Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and God Hand. Well, now we can wipe our cel-shaded tears away! Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya, and Resident Evil/Devil May Cry creator Shinji Mikami have held their V-Watches aloft, shouted "Henshin a-go-go, baby!" and transformed the moribund Clover into a new development studio, called Seeds.

And they want you! You know, if you're a qualified programmer or artist of some kind. According to the site, they are in the process of looking for new people to help them make some "weird, amazing games." We Fanboys are hoping that they (and whoever publishes their future work) turn their attentions to the two weirdest, most amazing consoles we can think of; given that the Wii is the go-to console for innovation these days (and the only next-gen console that a small developer could realistically afford to make games for) it seems like a natural fit.

[Via Game|Life]

Update: Those insidious italics!

Clover Studio, a development studio under Capcom, was responsible for the Viewtiful Joe franchise, on both DS and home consoles (as well as Sony's handheld thing), as well as the recent success that is Okami. They have an impeccable track record in the industry, as not only have their games had incredibly stylish graphics, but a downright fun playability.

This really does come as a shock to the gaming world, as their games sold well. So does this mean we won't be seeing a sequel to Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble on the DS, as well as other Viewtiful Joe outings on the Wii, or even a port or sequel to Okami? Hard to say, but we are fairly certain should these see the light of day, they will not have the same high level of polish and replay values of the previous titles. But still, why did this happen? Next Generation recently conducted a Q & A with Clover Studio, so you can get the word directly from the horse's mouth here, should you wish.

Truly, it is a sad day in gaming ...

[Via Joystiq]

Okay, now this is getting ridiculous. For some reason, developers seem to enjoy answering in ambiguous, wishy-washy and altogether non-committal ways when questioned about the Revolution.

"Ah, yes, I've heard of the Revolution. It's very exciting."
"Are you developing for it?"
"I'd love to!"
"Is that a yes?"
"Well, it has this wacky new controller...I bet we could do really amazing things with it."
"Is that a yes?"
"I think it's wonderful that Nintendo is trying something out there, you know?"
"Are you going to answer the question?"
"I'd love to!"
"Is that a yes?"

And so it goes. Speaking to the Official Nintendo Magazine in the UK, Capcom developers did little to buck the trend and offered some insight into their vague plans. Atsushi Inaba (President of Clover Studios) said that Nintendo had not formally asked about a Viewtiful Joe title as of yet, though he would be delighted to oblige if they did. He expressed interest in utilizing the controller for Joe's actions, as well as some uncertainty as to how exactly the many VFX powers would be implemented.

Minae Matsukawa (Producer of Phoenix Wright) pointed out how cool it would be to develop for the Revolution, but that he was far too busy with the French localization of Ace Attorney to commit to a next-gen entry in the franchise.

Finally, Tsukasa Takenake (Designer of Mega Man Battle Network 5) had the most interesting thing to say: If fans want a first-person perspective Mega Man game on the Revolution, he'd be willing to give it a (charge) shot. Interesting!

In summary, it looks like we can, with a fair degree of certainty, expect Capcom to probably make some kind of Revolution game at some point. Maybe. We're sure they'd love to.

[Via Ownage.nl, GameFront]

That's right, the spandex-clad chop-socky cel-shaded superhero may be headed for the Nintendo Revolution, at least if Clover Studios' president Atsushi Inaba has anything to say about it. The kind folks at 1up were kind enough to translate parts of an interview conducted by the French folks at Jeux France who were French enough to ask some interesting questions regarding the Capcom team's upcoming games and some of their past successes.

After finishing the utterly fantastic looking Okami for PS2, Mr. Inaba intends to get cracking on his next project right away, showing a keen interest in Nintendo's next-gen machine. He says that "if the character and the universe of Viewtiful Joe adapt correctly to the characteristics of Nintendo's future console, and we could indeed conceive a Viewtiful Joe on Nintendo Revolution," the project would see the light of day. "In the contrary case, we will try to make to propose another game on Nintendo Revolution which is as interesting."

As interesting as controlling Joe's Mach-speed kicks and punches with the Revolution controller? That seems unlikely, sir.