According to an article over at Gamepro, core gamers shouldn't fret going into E3 this year. Even though Nintendo just unleashed Wii Fit on us, the focus for their newest console isn't going to be entirely casual. "We recently announced the upcoming release of Mario Super Sluggers," said Marc Franklin, director of public relations at Nintendo, to Gamepro. "Additionally, we will be announcing several new titles that core gamers will be interested in around the time of E3."
This is likely to be music to the ears of fanboys who've wondered where stellar-looking titles such as Disaster: Day of Crisis have been for their beloved console. But, this goes against what Reggie said, in a good way. Where the resident ass-kicker, name-taker said we should expect one big title from Nintendo at E3, we're liking the idea of "several new titles" that Franklin said. Let's hope we get a bunch of new games next month when the show goes down!
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.
Monolith Soft's Disaster: Day of Crisis has been delayed indefinitely from its original July date, though we aren't 100% certain of the veracity of the rumor. It certainly seems to have had a rocky history since its debut at E3 2006, so we wouldn't be too surprised if Nintendo pulled it for retooling -- or cancelled the thing altogether.
Do you believe that Disaster is still coming? Do you believe that an "indefinite" delay at this point would mean the end of the game? It's a question of faith, we suppose, put to those who care.
Alternately, and more enjoyably, let's talk potential edits that could be made to make it more of a stereotypical Wii game. Balance Board minigames? Mii integration? Charles Martinet?
Sad news, if you're willing to buy into this rumor. According to QJ, a supposed Japanese press release was fired off by Nintendo where they explain that Disaster: Day of Crisis has been put on indefinite hold. We're taking this with a big grain of salt, to be honest, because we don't want the rumor to be true and because QJ doesn't even source anything on the rumor.
Without a credible source (or any source, for that matter), we're hard-pressed to buy into all of this. However, it's a good discussion topic, as many are still waiting for Reggie to deliver on his promise of delivering a big Wii title at E3 and hoped this would be it. Until we hear more word on this, we're just going to sit in the corner, with our hands over our ears, singing to ourself as we refuse to buy into this.
We were a bit shocked to receive any kind of update at all about Disaster: Day of Crisis, much less a release date. Monolith's survival adventure is one of those games that disappears for months at a time, then pops up with just a few screens. For some reason, we think of it as perpetually on the brink of cancellation. But Nintendo's serious enough about releasing it to, uh, print a page in a retail pamphlet about it! Interesting factoid: Bears are now natural disasters.
Another page (after the break) tinily reveals new screens of Super Mario Stadium: Family Baseball, which was just announced for the U.S. as Super Mario Sluggers. From the title, we know that the new game will be developed by Namco Bandai and will share gameplay aspects (though certainly not controls!) with their Family Stadiumgames. Miis will also be playable!
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.
Nintendo of Japan just released a statement of their financial results (PDF link here) for the period from April to December of last year (spoilers: they did well) which includes a list of projected 2008 releases. Unlike the actual financial results, this bit contains some surprises! Seen above is the list for Japan.
Both Animal Crossing and some kind of new Kirbygame have general "2008" release dates, as does a thankfully still-planned Disaster: Day of Crisis. Also basically new is Super Mario Stadium Family Baseball, a game about which we've heard absolutely nothing since October, and not really anything then, either. We're also quite happy to see Mario Kart Wii planned for a spring release in the U.S. and Japan, and a Q2 release in Europe.
Every Tuesday, Mike Sylvester brings you REVOLUTIONARY, a look at the wide world of Wii possibilities.
Thought of by many as the "Disney of video gaming," Nintendo has crafted themselves an image of family-friendly entertainment. But to certain generations and classes of gamers, the term "family-friendly" is synonymous with "kiddy," and immediately sparks disinterest. But ever since publishing Rare's Killer Instinct, they've been working on broadening the public's perspective. Trying to appeal to the bloodlust of the Mortal Kombat crowd didn't give them any headway, and as generations progressed and they've garnered more "mature-themed" titles, they still haven't been able to shake the "kiddy console" stigma.
Even after snagging the exclusivity to the Resident Evil series for a generation, Nintendo was largely overlooked by the Playstation-bred gamers that were brought up on the series. How much more will it take for Wii to be regarded as a platform that can satisfy the tastes of mature gamers?
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.
According to Zentendo, we haven't heard anything on Disaster: Day of Crisis because they've been hard at work on it. The story involves a terrorist group who use a natural disaster as a window to attack and hold the United States hostage. As the protagonist, it's up to you to throw a wrench in the cog and stop them. Why would they want to attack the United States? Well, they're ex-patriots who feel wronged (and probably want lots of money), apparently.
When are we supposed to be receiving this game? Q1 or Q2 of 2008, Zentendo says.
First, the good news: after speaking with NoA's PR star Beth Llewelyn, AMN reports that Disaster: Day of Crisis is trucking along. Since this is one of the games we've been most hoping to see (for a long, long time), we're pleased to hear it. Project H.A.M.M.E.R., however, does in fact seem to be either canceled, or at least indefinitely on some back burner in a forgotten room. Well, E3 can't be all about good news, we supposed, but we seriously wanted to smash things with a giant hammer. And who can blame us?
This new-style E3 has had its ups and downs so far, and today, we want to talk about the downs. What had you hoped for that you haven't heard about? Disaster: Day of Crisis is among the first things that come to mind for us, but we want to hear from you. Any announcements or games you were hoping for that just seem to be MIA? Just remember, campers, not to fret ... just because something hasn't been discussed doesn't mean it's not coming. It just probably means it's not priority, at least for right now. You can still keep your fingers crossed. We won't tell.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo confirmed that they do in fact plan to release Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, and Super Smash Bros. Brawlby the end of this year, as well as pretty much every Nintendo game announced for the Wii. This corroborates an IGN report to the same effect, and is also totally, totally rad. Here's the full list of Nintendo's planned 2007 releases. Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race is slated for June 28, and the rest are all "2007":
Keep checking with us for news of the inevitable delays of about half of these. Seriously, that's a lot of first-party Nintendo games for just half a year or so. Aw, we just made ourselves sad with our own skepticism. Still, if half of this stuff does get released in Japan this year, it'll be great news and do a pretty good job of ending any drought that may or may not be happening.
Monolith Soft is responsible for the reviled Xenosaga series (the Japanese limited edition release of Xenosaga II included the unfortunate figurine seen here, nicknamed MOK-KOS), the crossover strategy game Namco X Capcom, and, in conjunction with Tri-Crescendo, the two Baten Kaitos games. Maybe now we'll get that pseudo-religious science-fiction KirbyRPG we've all been waiting for!
Although the Disaster: Day of Crisis delay 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.
Monolith Soft's Disaster: Day of Crisis has been delayed indefinitely from its original July date, though we aren't 100% certain of the veracity of the rumor. It certainly seems to have had a rocky history since its debut at E3 2006, so we wouldn't be too surprised if Nintendo pulled it for retooling -- or cancelled the thing altogether.
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.
First, the good news: after speaking with NoA's PR star Beth Llewelyn, AMN reports that Disaster: Day of Crisis is trucking along. Since this is one of the games we've been most hoping to see (for a long, long time), we're pleased to hear it. Project H.A.M.M.E.R., however, does in fact seem to be either canceled, or at least indefinitely on some back burner in a forgotten room. Well, E3 can't be all about good news, we supposed, but we seriously wanted to smash things with a giant hammer. And who can blame us?
This new-style E3 has had its ups and downs so far, and today, we want to talk about the downs. What had you hoped for that you haven't heard about? Disaster: Day of Crisis is among the first things that come to mind for us, but we want to hear from you. Any announcements or games you were hoping for that just seem to be MIA? Just remember, campers, not to fret ... just because something hasn't been discussed doesn't mean it's not coming. It just probably means it's not priority, at least for right now. You can still keep your fingers crossed. We won't tell.
All those Wii and DS profits must have been burning a hole in Nintendo's pocket, because they went developer shopping and picked up Monolith Soft. We guess they really liked that one screenshot of Disaster: Day of Crisis.
