Nintendo Wii Fanboy

[Via press release]

We may be limited to sporadic updates from Red Fly Studio's Mushroom Men, but they're usually worth the wait. Today, we've got a little quality time with the developers, who sound just as excited about working on their project as we are about playing it. They also manage to work in a little humor, which we're also big fans of around here.

The game footage included looks as great as ever, and Q4 is looking further and further away. Though, honestly, we could just stare at the concept art all day long and probably be satisfied.

Our enthusiasm for Ghostbusters has taken a real beating these past few weeks -- after the initial yaaaay period of retro-tinged excitement wore off, suddenly we started to receive worrying news. Terms such as "casual" and "family-friendly" were bandied about in relation to the Wii edition, and we began to panic and hyperventilate a bit, despite Red Fly's admirable attempts to calm us down.

So here's something to lift our spirits (har): according to Sierra studio director John O'Keefe, the Wii version will support both four-way split-screen and the ability to connect your DS to your Wii and deploy the handheld as a PKE meter, a.k.a, the device with the winged arms that the real Ghostbusters used to track spooks. How totally awesome is that?

"Very awesome" is the answer.

Some new details have emerged regarding the Wii version of the upcoming Ghostbusters game (aside from what was already reported), courtesy of Game Informer magazine. And, it would seem the game is going to be more of a party-type game, with a heavy focus on multiplayer. The graphics will focus more on a cartoonish presentation (we're guessing cel-shading) and the title's main storyline will follow the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.

The single player campaign will allow up to 4 players to compete co-operatively or competitively. Ghosts will act much like they do in the movies, flying through walls and objects, scaring the Ghostbusters (which will drain their health). The Ghostbusters will also have all of their tools at their disposal, including one special power for each Ghostbuster. There will also be a ghosts vs. Ghostbusters mode.

The game is currently slated for a Halloween 2008 release.

It was with great excitement that we told you about a Ghostbusters game coming to the Wii, espcially with such a huge part of the cast and crew being part of the project. Another little detail has surfaced through a Variety article, though, which had the effect of smashing some of our excitement into tiny bits of desperation. As is stated in the article, "Developer Terminal Reality is making a 'Ghostbusters' game for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 aimed primarily at the core gamer demographic, while Red Fly Studios is making a version for Playstation 2, Wii and DS designed more for families and casual gamers."

When we first heard this game was coming to the Wii, we thought of how much fun it would be to suck up ghosts with our Wiimotes. If the Wii game is a dumbed down, "casual" version, however, you can bet we'll be getting Ghostbusters for another system instead. We'll just have to wait and see if more details arise, but for now we can feel our excitement plummeting.

[Via GoNintendo]