If you thought our 7/10 review for Disaster: Day of Crisis was harsh, you should hear what Reggie Fils-Aime -- yeah, that Reggie Fils-Aime -- thinks about it. Twenty-five minutes into IGN's latest Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, Matt Casamassina revealed how Reggie "doesn't think Disaster is a $50 game," and regards the audio as "laughable." Burrrrn.
We have to confess we're slightly dumbfounded to hear Reggie delivering such a hefty haymaker to one of his company's own games ... while speaking on the record, as well. We suppose it's, uh, refreshingly honest?
If Disaster: Day of Crisis were a movie, it would be one of those big, dumb, summer blockbusters, the kind of feature where it's best to leave your brain at the door.
Although that might sound like a criticism, it's not intended that way, because just like over-the-top, thought-free action flicks, Disaster can serve as a guilty pleasure. It's got a Seagal-esque hero who must be one of the most resistant, hardened one-man armies of all time, tons of implausible "escaping death" scenarios, and a script that's cheesier than an explosion in a Roquefort factory. Yet despite all of this, I enjoyed it. Mostly.
Of course, not like it matters, because, thanks to the Japanese game releasing, we've basically seen the whole game on YouTube. But, we're still contacting Nintendo for a comment, so sit tight.
We know what you're thinking: Disaster: Day of Crisis' protracted development can't have been that calamitous, right? The game released in Japan last week, and promptly earned itself a respectable score in Famitsu. And just getting released is probably more than we should expect for some games.
But not every part of the title's gestation was peachy. The Monolith Soft team who worked on the game have been recounting their experiences in an interview for Nintendo's Japanese website, revealing that they were first approached about developing an "epic" game in early 2006, to be delivered in time for the launch of Nintendo's new Wii console.
This gave Monolith around nine months to finish Disaster, but by the time the deadline had rolled around, the game still felt incomplete and had very few Wiimote-related functions -- instead, it used the Classic Controller. Nintendo temporarily halted the project in October or November of 2006, only for work to begin again in early 2007; at this point, the entire game was revamped to include more waggle.
Getting to peek behind the development curtain is always intriguing -- we're just glad everything worked out for the game in the end.
We all know the man's stance on bears. He doesn't like them. In fact, he downright despises them. That's why we're sure that Nintendo's latest, Disaster: Day of Crisis, is among Colbert's most treasured games. Why? Well, it features a boss battle against a bear. Aside from teaching us the near indestructible nature of the beast, it also shows us what kind of weapons to use against a bear should it get you in its sights. Also, it teaches us that bears like to stupidly charge back and forth.
Oh, man. Listen, Disaster: Day of Crisis is a game we've been waiting on for a long, long time. We like the idea. We like what we've seen. We even like this video (showing off nine minutes of opening gameplay, including the intro movie), despite the questionable YouTube quality. It looks pretty decent and more than playable. We daresay it could even be fun. But the dialogue is a little lacking.
Okay. Let's get real: it's repetitive, unrealistic, and silly. But hey, we're used to less-than-stellar game writing, and Disaster has one thing going for it at the start: a hero with an indestructible noggin -- and that's all any action game really needs, right?
Even when escaping buildings that are crumbling around his ears, Disaster: Day of Crisis hero Raymond Bryce takes time out to line his stomach with the huge food that can be randomly found in large wooden crates.
We're just pleased to see him looking after himself and getting his five a day. We're sure his mother feels the same.
None of us know why Nintendo kept such a tight lid on Disaster: Day of Crisis for so long. Logic dictates that the company didn't present us with much info because, well, the game was bad. Kind of Project H.A.M.M.E.R. bad. Well, the truth may be very different.
Famitsu recently revealed its score for the game, and it received a respectable 34/40. Not too shabby, if we may say so. Especially for a game that pretty much got a surprise release. Not a Sega Saturn kind of surprise, but you get the idea.
Following last week's Australian classification of Disaster: Day of Crisis, we've all gotten our hopes up again that the game could actually release during the Wii's lifespan. As a response to that, a Nintendo of America representative told GamePro that the title is, in fact, "still in development."
Sounds good to us, but could you give us something else, Nintendo? More info? No? Okay, then. Back to waiting it is.
Well now, it looks like we might be hearing more on Disaster: Day of Crisis soon. That is, if an Australian certification that recently popped up has anything to say about it. So, what's the deal? Your guess is as good as ours.
The title received a Mature rating from the Australian classification board, on August 13th, so could the title be destined for a release this year? We can only hope. But, as it stands, that's all we have to go on right now.
Although the Disaster: Day of Crisisdelay was recently confirmed, it's not time to panic just yet. While the words "indefinite delay" caused a stir among Wii owners, it seems that Nintendo isn't shelving the title. It's true that there's no new targeted release date, but according to Nintendo, Monolith Soft just needs more time to work on the game.
The timing of the delay has also caused a few folks to speculate that it has something to do with the terrible tragedies that occurred recently in China and Burma. This would make sense, seeing as a game of this nature might hit a little too close to home in Asian markets for the time being. The wake of such events also helps to put things into perspective for a moment, as being upset over game news is trifling in comparison -- but we digress.
So, is the delay indefinite? Technically, yes. But is Disaster: Day of Crisis canceled? Not likely.
After being announced almost two years ago (note: two years in the game industry is roughly equivalent to 853 Earth years, or at least it feels that way) Famitsu finally managed to yank a Japanese release date for Disaster: Day of Crisis from beneath the rubble.
July 3rd is the day to note down in your BFF journal, and are we relieved about that. The long stretches of silence in the build-up left us fretting about the fate of the title, but now we know: the natural-disaster-survival-me-do is definitely coming! Yaaay!
While we're on the subject of Japan and release dates, we should also mention that Famitsu has Super Mario Stadium Baseball down for a June 19th release. As someone who finds baseball to be a dense, impenetrablemystery (this could have been written for me), I'll leave it at that.
We like having updates for Disaster: Day of Crisis. It's a pleasant change to the norm of not knowing what is going on. And, as we told you yesterday, we're very much glad the game is still alive. These newest screens, especially the one at the top of this very post, get us so excited for the game. We can't wait until we can get our hands on it.
If there was ever a game we were waiting on to see some actual substance from, it's Disaster: Day of Crisis. And, much like the character receiving treatment above, we're glad to see the title has been given the 'ole CPR. While we'd like to say these new screens are accompanied by some kind of release window, sadly we can't say anything to that effect. But, that won't keep us from enjoying the knowledge that the game is still alive and breathing.
Check past the break for the other new screens courtesy of JeuxFrance and Dengeki.
