Destructoid is reporting that Fatal Frame 2 and Fatal Frame 3 have been (finally) issued reprints. These games, especially the third one, have been notoriously hard to find. But apparently if you act now you can find copies of both games fairly easily.
Destructoid also has an interesting note about the popularity of Resident Evil on the Wii. Astute readers might recall that I expected the Wii to be the place for horror games, and it appears that customers, at least for the moment and at least in regards to Resident Evil, agree.
Counting Umbrella Chronicles as a Resident Evil game is like counting Metroid Pinball as a Metroid game – technically true, but it most certainly doesn’t have the same audience as the main series.
Finally, ive NEVER seen a copy of the 3rd one in shops, and snapped up the first and only copy of the second i could find.
still aint worked up the courage to go through the full game though, that series scares the shit out of me, wich is a double standard really.
> samperi
The point was that Wii customers are buying horror games. Or do you think that Umbrella Chronicles isn’t horror-themed?
> hellsing
Yeah, the second game in particular is fantastic. I highly recommend it.
As far as the reprint goes, that’s awesome news. I loved the first two, and have been wanting to get the third… but the insane prices on eBay (often within the range of $60-$70) put me off.
Definitely picking it up!
Yes, RE: Umbrella Chronicles isn’t a survival horror game, but it is horror themed and it has a lot of fan service for fans of the main game. Plus I seem to recall hearing that the Wii version sold extremely well for an old port, over half a mil if I remember correctly.
Thank the lord, i’ve been waiting for a copy of the third for ages.
The fatal frame games are fantastic because they do something that all good survival horrors should; they give you enemies that you can’t help developing an unhealthy obsession with, characters that scare your bowels empty that you can’t help but love.
It’s kind of like what they say about victims becoming obsessed with their torturers and kidnappers, you pray that you’ll never see them again or be put in that situation ever again but there’s almost an emptiness there now that only they could fill.
The fact that you can take and keep pictures of them adds a kind of twisted voyuerism to it all (i’ve got half a memorycard full of shots of ‘Broken Neck’, ‘Long Haired Woman’ ‘Wandering Monk’, ‘Female head’ and ‘Woman in Box’), and the ‘Ghost List’ feature allows you enough information on them to sufficiently fuel your passion whilst keeping you wanting more.
I need to allow myself ample time to become obsessed with the third because Fatal Frame 4 on the WII is being made in collaberation with Suda 51 and he’s a master of developing characters/storylines/situations that i can’t help but fizz, melt and become one with; like a great big soluble paracetamol dropped in a glass of water to make a nasty tasting substance that you know deep down is good for you.
“I seem to recall hearing that the Wii version sold extremely well for an old port”
That might have more to do with the fact that Wii STILL has very few games that aren’t party/casual type. Beggars can’t be choosers.
> RainbowDespair
Umbrella Chronicles is a port? I think that it’s an original Wii title. Resident Evil 4 for Wii is a port, but it’s hardly old.
> samperi
The lack of titles on the Wii is a problem, but I think it’s the publishers’ fault rather than the hardware. Until summer of 2007 when it became obvious that Wii sales are not going to slow down any time soon, a lot of the old guard game publishers assumed that the Xbox360 or PS3 was going to be the market leader. Until quite recently, many publishers had written the Wii off (EA went from no active Wii development to something like 8 games in development over a span of 3 months).
So then the Wii shows up and does awesome in the market last year, and the publishers all realize that maybe that was a horse that they should have bet on. So I think there are a ton of Wii games in development now (see Fatal Frame 4 announcement, etc), but they won’t start to really reach the market until this Christmas or so because they were started late.
Yeah, I mistyped there and meant to say RE4 Wii Edition as the port. Still, you gotta admit that over 1 million sold is an impressive amount for a port to a system that already has the ability to play the original version (which was plenty cheap at the time as well).
And like Chris said, a lot of publishers were expecting the PS3 & XBox 360 to be the market leaders and had written off the Wii. Console sales have proven them wrong and they’re scrabbling to get titles on the system. By Christmas 2008, I think we can expect to see a good deal of quality exclusive non-casual games on the Wii.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Films-Kiyoshi-Kurosawa-Master-Fear/dp/193333021X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204983481&sr=8-5
Does anyone know why the the Fatal Frame series changed it name to Project Zero for European Release? For the life of me I cant think why they would thing Project Zero was a better title.
Ive been holding off buying a new console, my ps2 is still doing me proud with a decent selection of older games that I have still not got through (I picked up haunting ground the other day for cheap) but I’ll get round to getting a new console when i get a bit extra cash. That said, if the wii is the one with the best selection of horror games I could be convinced. Hower, i feel the previous two sony consoles have offered the best selection of horror games compared to their competitors.
Also, check this book out, has anyone read it or can offer any thought?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Films-Kiyoshi-Kurosawa-Master-Fear/dp/193333021X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204983481&sr=8-5
Its a book about kiyoshi kurosawa and would be interested if anyone had read it and wheter it was interesting.
> Lee
It comes from this series’ Japanese name, which is Rei: Zero. Rei is a word that can mean “ghost” or “zero”, depending on how you write it in Japanese. So it’s kind of a play on words. They just reused that name for the European released and tacked on a Project to it.
Chris, Thanks for that. I’ve been learning japanese myself but im still very much a beginner. Interesting that they chose project:zero as opposed to project ghist…though i guess that project ghost would be very obvious.
Im going to watch Pulse for the first time tonight, its my first kiyoshi kurosawa film and i’m looking forwward to it. My last two girlfriends just dont go for subtitled films (boo to them!) so im looking forward to it.
I was just thinking, as a general question, even with games that have subtitles as well as spoken dialogue, do you think that the subtitles can affect the atmospere (something important in horror games in particular)? I like playing games without subtitles in general. Regarding horror games, subtitles are mainly used to just reflect what characters are saying and I prefer to stick to just the dialogue.
However, it would be interesting to see a horror game / film use subtitles to their advantage and perhaps use them to develop the atmosphere. One instance where this springs to mind is in the film “man on fire” where the subtitles are characteristic of the tone of the film / character rather than just being plainly reflective of the speech. Perhaps a horror game has dones this, but I havent come accross it.
> Lee
Though Pulse is a great film, it’s going to be like jumping straight into the deep end if you’re not familiar with Kurosawa’s work. I highly recommend it, but if it leaves you going “what the hell was that?”, I would suggest that you see more of his work. Cure is also excellent and a lot easier to understand.
Also, Pulse isn’t a good date film (I’m not sure if thats what you were saying) because it is very depressing and confusing. However, if you do watch this with a girlfriend and she enjoys it (or even tolerates it), you know that she’s a keeper.