Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Ever since it was revealed that D3 would bring Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers to the Wii, we've been pumped to play it. That is mainly due to the game being all about a hot chick killing zombies while barely clothed. It's basically a recipe for success. But what of this Wii port? What features can we look forward to? Some things were hinted at back at E3, but we never got definitive word. That is, until now.

D3 has confirmed that the game will feature co-op play, complete with unique characters with their own individual weapons and combos, so you can feel awkward in front of a friend when you're getting weird sensations from a scantily-clad babe destroying screens full of zombies in showers of blood. Aside from the co-op, the roster of game modes has been expanded to include Free Play Mode, Survival Mode and Quest Mode, in addition to the main Story mode.

With these new features, the game sounds better than ever. Any of you excited for what is sure to be some great mindless slaughter?


[Via Go Nintendo]

Wait for it. Don't leave cover too soon. You're nearly surrounded. Bullets fly in from three directions, ricocheting off the paltry bit of cover protecting your crouched body. A grenade goes off nearby -- too close for comfort. And then it's time to strike back and slaughter another wave of enemy soldiers. You stand up, twist your body to the side, and throw, sending a spinning blade of death towards the hopelessly unprepared, screaming soldiers who soon find themselves lacking torso cohesion.

Released in March of this year for the Xbox 360 and PS3, Dark Sector is a far cry from its original incarnation as the first game shown off for this generation of consoles. It evolved into a Gears of War-inspired, Space Marine-lacking action title with an unusual Soviet setting. While on the surface the gameplay is rather derivative -- you'll be taking cover, aiming, and moving around in a manner that's instantly familiar to anyone who's played a third-person shooter in the past two years -- one thing sets Dark Sector apart from other games of its ilk. That thing is the glaive, a vicious, bladed boomerang that dominates the game's combat and puzzles. And while the glaive is enough to make Dark Sector a solid, though overall unremarkable, action title, it represents an enormous potential: armed with a retooled control scheme and a Wiimote, Dark Sector is, without a doubt, Born for Wii.

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It was pretty clear during D3's E3 presentations of Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers that the company wants to make some changes to the original Japanese game, because they didn't let us play the retail Japanese copy used as a display, suggesting that they plan to mess with the controls. Also they told us that they were going to add stuff.

Siliconera got an even better idea of the kinds of additions D3 is thinking of. According to their talk with D3, new stages and enemies not found in Onechanbara R, as well as other characters from the Onechanbara series, may make their way into the new game. More work than is absolutely necessary going into an Onechanbara game? What a strange time we live in.

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.