Nintendo Wii Fanboy

We've recently featured excerpts from Suda 51's Eurogamer interview, but Eurogamer has just now posted the entirety of the chat, and it's excellent reading for anyone interested in No More Heroes Desperate Struggle or Suda. Talking about the new game, the charismatic game director mentioned his desire for a somewhat less jovial tone this time around: "I think it's time for No More Heroes to become serious. But it's going to have humour, don't worry. It won't be too serious."

The revenge-based plot seems to fit in with this idea. In the first game, Travis Touchdown was essentially competing in a big game; having a real, personal stake in the fighting definitely changes the feel of the game. Suda even has a vendetta against Santa Destroy: "I wanted to make a lot more stuff, more detail. So this time in No More Heroes 2, I want to take my revenge. And actually, the theme of No More Heroes 2 is revenge, so..."

There's also the all-important "weirdness" contingent. There's no poop talk yet, but Suda expressed his admiration of a past E3 promotion in which booth babes threw pants at attendees. "One day, I want to be able to throw pants to the public. That's one of my main goals."

"Give us MotionPlus!"

That seemed to be the most popular response when we asked you what changes you'd make to No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle. Luckily for us, Goichi Suda seems to agree (does he read Wii Fanboy reader comments? If so, hai, Suda!). Speaking to IGN (hit the break for the full video interview), the maverick developer discussed how he'd like to utilise Wii MotionPlus in the No More Heroes follow-up, despite not having touched the add-on yet. 1:1 beam katana action? Um, yes please.

He's also "very interested" in online play, though sounded slightly less committed to the idea when he discussed it with CVG, describing it as "still up in [the] air." We'd probably take MotionPlus over some online mode, though if Suda feels like adding both to Travis' next outing, we suppose we can accept that as well.

But, wait, before you break out that pen and paper and start writing that angry letter, know this: you're also going to get a fully-featured, bloodtastic game, just like those of us in North America! This time around, you're going to have the option of choosing which version of No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle you want, though we can't imagine why you'd want one without the buckets of blood and over-the-top violence.

"We won't be able to make the same game for all territories," Suda 51 said. "For Europe, we're going to release two versions. One extreme version, and one with less violence." Why? Well, because so many Europeans bugged him about the version that released to their territory and how it was the same as the Japanese version of the game. "With No More Heroes 2 we want to please the fans too. I want the European users to be able to experience the extreme version."

So celebrate, Europe. For once, you're being taken seriously!

Remember back when Mark Rein let loose somebody was working on Unreal Engine 3 for Wii? Well, we finally know what game will be using it, we guess. Kind of. We don't really know much about the exact game, per se. What game? The one that EA is publishing from Q Entertainment, Resident Evil co-creator Shinji Mikami and the man responsible for one of our most favorite Wii games, Suda51.

Suda says Unreal Engine 3 is a "powerful, easy-to-implement game engine" that is aiding his company to "quickly bring our vision to life." He also added that the "tools and technology" allow him to "create games faster, easier and with less risk." So are we excited? Well, maybe. It's not like the Wii version is mentioned and we would think it should be, considering no title up until now has utilized Unreal Engine 3 technology. But, hey, we'll try to be as optimistic as we can, because we feel confident in the abilities of all involved, to tell the truth.

Now if only we could some information on what this game is ...

Toilets seem to go hand-in-hand with Goichi Suda and No More Heroes. Around the time of the game's release, Suda mischievously compared making the game to defecating, and he's now revealed that he was inspired to make No More Heroes while perched on the porcelain throne. This in turn led to the title's quirky save mechanic, as seen above.

These are just two nuggets from a "Making of No More Heroes" piece at the Official Nintendo Magazine site. Suda also mentions how Johnny Knoxville influenced the character of Travis Touchdown, while artist Katsuyoshi Fukamachi and assistant director Toshihiro Fujikawa reflect on the myriad challenges they faced during No More Heroes' eight-month development cycle, including the chaotic final weeks, which both describe as a "total nightmare." It's definitely worth a read, partly because Suda is one of the industry's most entertaining and frank interviewees, but also because he's talking about one of the best Wii games of the last twelve months.

And here we thought the only talk of "Dream Team" was going to involve the Olympics! But no, an incredible wealth of talent in the gaming industry is coming together to produce something we hope is very special. With a mixture of talent like this, we wonder how it couldn't be!

So, facts: EA and No More Heroes (otherwise known as the best game on Wii) developer, Grasshopper Manufacture, have signed a publishing agreement regarding an "all-new action horror game." On top of that, the title in question is being produced by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. Oh, and Q Entertainment is also involved. It's okay, we just wet our pants a little too.

Sadly, that's as much as we know. The source link is full of the kind of carefree lauding that most press releases have, so we're just going to have to wait for more info on this project before we get so excited that we start typing in italics.

[Via Joystiq]

Sure, there's tons of shovelware on the Wii, but there are some genuine third-party gems, as well. Zack & Wiki, Boom Blox and No More Heroes are just a few of the quality, non first-party titles available on the console. More or less, have you been satisfied with what third-parties have done on the Wii? Do you think they're turning things around when it comes to releasing quality product on the console? Do you think third party titles will never be able to live up to the quality standards of Nintendo's own first party titles?

We've been keeping a secret. You see, we're absolutely scared to death of Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. That's not going to stop us from picking the game up and playing the crap out of it though. We just felt we needed to share that with you all.

The above video for the game does a good job of depicting exactly what scares us. It's got spooky ghosts, a dark and creepy environment and a girl we hope survives long enough to get her film developed.

We say it's a game for people who enjoy awesome games. But, hey, we're just some internet blog. Although, when you think about it, being on a TV network that nobody watches might be better than being an internet blog that nobody reads.

But, we digress. Any favorable exposure for No More Heroes is certainly welcome, because we're absolutely sure that every person that owns a Wii console also needs to own this game. In fact, we still have nightmares about how mixed the game sales were.

Head past the break for the video.

Next week is going to be hard on your wallet. Circuit City is going to be having a big sale, according to DVDTalk, and our favorite Wii game is going to be available for insanely cheap. Supposedly, you'll be able to nab Suda 51's No More Heroes for only $19.99 (or you can try your luck at nabbing it from us). If, for some crazy reason, you haven't gotten the game yet, you need to do so next week.

Aside from that, the deal is further sweetened through the retail giant offering buy one, get one %50 off on select games. These games include:

• LEGO Star Wars
• Super Mario Galaxy
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympics
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
• Mario Kart Wii
  

Outside of the games, they've also got DVDs and other junk on sale. If you're into that sort of thing.

[Thanks, Nate!]

Update: The contest has come to an end. Winners have been contacted and confirmed. Thanks to all who entered and better luck next time!

We're going to be honest here: we just couldn't trust you to do the right thing and get No More Heroes. So, we picked up three copies ourselves to make sure that some of you got your hands on the game. The only crummy part is that we have but 3 copies and not the 50 we wanted to order. We blame our bank account, which is mainly filled with loose buttons and bottlecaps. Our bank account is a shoebox under a loose brick in our cell that Joystiq keeps us locked up in, if you were wondering.

But, we digress. This is about you! And about how you are going to get a free copy of No More Heroes (retail value $29.99)! What do you need to do to enter? Well, for this, we thought about the game's protagonist, Travis Touchdown, and how he's such a punk, rebel badass. So, tell us the most rebellious thing you've ever done! Did you, like our own JC Fletcher, get spotted checking out a Ramones CD once in a local music store? Or, have your rebellious spurts been more tame than that?

Simply leave a comment (you can leave one once per calendar day) between now and the end of the giveaway, which is Thursday, May 8th at 11:59pm ET (winners will be selected via random drawing the following day), and you're entered. The giveaway is only open to legal and current residents of the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec) who regularly check their email (we're serious, folks, if you don't check your email and win, someone else is getting your game so be on top of that). Also, you have to be 18 years or older. This is a mature game, folks!

Best of luck to you all and don't forget to give the official rules a read.

Look, folks. We've presented you with many opportunities to pick up Suda 51's amazing game for a lot cheaper than the usual $49.99 price tag. Now, Amazon is selling this game at a ridiculously low price of $29.99. That's thirty frickin' dollars. Thirty!

Whatever your excuse for not opening up the Amazon page right now and ordering the game, know this: it isn't a good enough reason. We're serious about this; if you don't own the game and read our site, we're going to call your parental units and rat you out. That's how serious we are about you needing to buy, and play, this game. Especially when it's this cheap.



[Thanks, Steven! You're a kind and wonderful person!]

Looks like all the anecdotal "I bought it!" evidence was accurate: Marvelous Interactive president Yasuhiro Wada announced on the company's website that No More Heroes has sold 100,000 copies in the U.S. Compare that to the 40,000 that shipped in Japan and it's clear that what once was a bomb is now kind of a hit for our favorite video game band, Grasshopper Manufacture. NPD doesn't seem to agree, reporting 65,000 copies sold in the U.S. in January. We don't know if Marvelous's numbers are from a different estimate or including February or what.

Marvelous is shipping 160,000 copies to Europe, as they expect even more demand. This may be the reason for the brief delay. Overall, they are shooting for 500,000 total sales. That may not sound huge by most game standards, but for a tiny company like Grasshopper, and for such a bizarre game, that's huge.



[Via NeoGAF]

None of the releases this week really appealed to us, just as they didn't appeal to any of you who bothered to comment. So, we figured we'd talk a bit about No More Heroes and the fact that the boss fight with the #2 ranked assassin is driving us crazy. Seriously, how cheap can you get? We'd go into further detail but we fear that there are still a few of you out there who have not picked up the game. Shocking, we know.

Anywho, enough about what we're playing. What about you all? What game(s) will get you through the days ahead?

During a rather extensive interview with Goichi Suda, the man behind No More Heroes and Killer 7 (GameCube), it's revealed that the Grasshopper Manufature CEO has found his experience of working with the Wii a very enjoyable one. And, in regards to the whole bloodless/bloody No More Heroes fiasco, Suda is of the mind that the U.S. version (see: the one with the buckets of blood in it) is definitely closest to his final vision of the game.

Nintendo was totally cool with the blood from the get-go, as well. Suda says the U.S. version was the closest to his initial vision for the game, and that the "issue of having blood spilt is an interesting one. Today's technology makes a very realistic visual experience possible, so does that mean blood has to be sprayed all around? I'm not sure." Well, we're glad the blood was added, as looking at the comparison videos shows the blood adds a lot more to the game.


[Via Go Nintendo]