You may have taken note when it was mentioned that Dead Rising 2, the original of which was developed in Japan, was being handled by Canada based company Blue Castle Games. Or not. Video game IPs change hands all the time, and we’re not always given a reason. In this case, we get to know why. As far as Capcom is concerned, Dead Rising didn’t feel “Western” enough for its audience. Speaking with CVG, Capcom producer Shinsaku Ohara said:

“The first Dead Rising was built in a very Japanese style. We had some help from America, but basically it was all done in a Japan. We wanted to do it better for a Western audience this time. That’s why we’re working with Blue Castle now. They know what they like – and it’s good to have them come up with ideas and it becomes a back and forth thing. Together, we’ve come up with crazier ideas than we did in the first game. What we didn’t quite manage in Dead Rising 1 was that it still felt too Japanese. We’re much closer to feeling like a Western game with this title.”

This concerns me. First off, there’s no such a thing as “too Japanese”. If Western audiences weren’t keen on a Japanese perspective, the import industry for manga, anime, games, adult entertainment, and J-pop would collapse as we know it. Hell, I even import Japanese junk food. So why does Capcom think we didn’t appreciate a more Japanese style? The puzzled Hmmm’s abound. Second, I dislike this West vs. Japan thing that’s been going on for awhile. I recognize there are different style due to different cultural influences, but I resent the divisive (read: annoying, troll-baiting) line being drawn between those who like “Western” games and those who like Japanese ones. Why the distinction? Is it so bad to just like a game, regardless of the source?

CVG
via Joystiq

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Capcom’s much anticipated fighter Tatsunoko VS. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars will be heading stateside on January 26th, 2010.  The announcement came out of the Tokyo Game Show, where the company also announced a new character to join the growing roster. Frank West from the Dead Rising series will be a join the battle, according to Capcom’s Ryota Niitsuma.

Capcom also released a brand new trailer for the game, as shown above. The game released in December of 2008 in Japan, arriving more than one year later for the upcoming US release.

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In case you’re not satisfied with the amount of M-rated games available for the Wii, you might want to keep an eye on this one. Following the revelation that the Wii would receive a port of Keiji Inafune’s Dead Rising, Capcom officially announced the game today as Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop.

The port will use the Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition engine to make the port from non-waggle to waggle as easy as possible, and as quick as possible to allow for the game’s release this winter. You can read the press release after the break, and I’ll try to post screenshots…once I figure out how to put an age gate on this site…

CAPCOM® ANNOUNCES DEAD RISING™: CHOP TIL YOU DROP
Wii Gamers Prepare For a Zombie Invasion

SAN MATEO, Calif. — July 21, 2008 — Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that Dead Rising™: Chop Till You Drop is in development for the Wii™ home video game system. Based on the critically acclaimed Dead Rising™, which has sold in excess of one million units since its release in 2006, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop is scheduled to hit store shelves this Winter.

Taking advantage of the same proven technology that brought Resident Evil® 4 so successfully to Wii, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop delivers a more immersive, intuitive and interactive experience as players use the Wii Remote to shoot, slash and bludgeon their way through a zombie infested shopping mall, fighting for survival.

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop follows the harrowing tale of Frank West, an overly zealous freelance journalist on a hunt for the scoop of a lifetime. In pursuit of a juicy lead, he makes his way to the small suburban town of Willamette only to find that it has become overrun by zombies. Frank escapes to the local shopping mall, thinking it will be a bastion of safety but it turns out to be anything but. It will be a true struggle to survive the endless stream of enemies, but players will have full reign of a realistic shopping centre and its varied stores offering an endless supply of real and makeshift weapons to fight off the flesh-hungry mob. If Frank is running low on health he can pay a visit to one of the many restaurants or cafes for a meal in order to restore his energy and continue the fight.

The game is split into a series of individual cases, all of which Frank must complete in order to gain vital information that will allow him to piece together the truth behind the horrendous epidemic. In addition to the cases, players will be faced with the dilemma of deciding the rescue priority of the residents of Wilamette who also sought sanctuary in the mall. Depending on the player’s skill, some may not be so fortunate as each rescue needs to be undertaken in a set time period, therefore players may need to delay completion of a case in order to save a fellow human.

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop’s infectious humor delivers some welcome relief from the incessant tide of zombies with players able to dress Frank up in a variety of comedic costumes and take on the undead hordes with a selection of improvised and sometimes highly ineffective weapons such as a toy sword or a football.

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop includes the following features:
• Utilizes the same engine as Resident Evil 4 Wii edition.
• New level of interaction – aim and fire guns, swing and throw weapons and shake off zombie attacks with added Wii Remote functionality
• Huge environment – expansive indoor and outdoor areas of the mall provide a variety of different locations to explore
• Improved save functionality allows for more seamless gameplay
• Hoards of enemies on screen at once resulting in non-stop, pulse-pounding action
• Anything in the mall is at Frank’s disposal
• Grab environmental objects like umbrellas and benches to use as improvised weapons
• Snatch items from different stores to use as weapons including golf clubs, lawnmowers, frying pans and more
• Consume food and drink to revive health

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This scan from Famitsu has confirmed what many have heard rumblings about for some time now, Dead Rising is coming to the Wii. It looks to be much the same game as the 360 version, only without the graphical prowess and, most likely, some waggle control. How about some support for MotionPlus eh?

Wii @ Everyday
via IGN

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Some of us may hope for some more Capcom ports, or long lost titles, but it looks like Capcom has squashed those dreams. They have stated that Dead Rising will not see a Wii port, and the mysterious (almost Kid Icarus looking) title Dead Phoenix will not be developed.

As far as CEI resurrecting [Dead Phoenix], frankly, we have enough things on our plate at the moment and enough ideas in the pipeline that we don’t need to be going back to that well.

It’s a shame, I was looking forward to Capcom providing us with a new IP when screenshots of this title were shown back on the Nintendo Gamecube. It looks like Mega Man 9 will have to do.

Nintendo Everything

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