Oh Capcom, how we love you here at 61FPS...
As John pontificated upon reviewing November's NPD numbers last week, Nintendo's Wii is the dominant gaming console, no longer doomed to the Tickle-Me-Elmo purgatory of fad-dom, and with that news along with the announcement of Dragon Quest X on Wii at some point in the future, it should not be long before more and more third-party developers are pouring less of their interest into hi-def grimefests on the other current-gen consoles and more into unique and compelling play experiences on the shiny white kiosk everyone you know has in their living room already.
Unlike Sega, whom I've already mentioned seem to "get" the Wii hardcore audience, Capcom have always been good to Nintendo console owners. Fan-favorites Mega Man and Bionic Commando started out on the NES, the Super NES played host to the definitive home versions of Street Fighter II, the Gamecube was slated to host five exclusive Capcom titles (one was cancelled; Viewtiful Joe, Resident Evil 4 and Killer 7 found their way to the Playstation 2 as well; only P.N. 03 stayed on Gamecube) and just over a year ago Capcom treated Wii owners to a beautiful and doomed adventure puzzler in Zack & Wiki. Sure, it's easy to forget when looking at the wave of Resident Evil remakes and a toned down port of Dead Rising that Capcom wants quality product on the Wii. That perception is about to change.
First off, let's not forget that it was over a year ago that Capcom announced Monster Hunter 3 would be coming to Wii instead of the expected Playstation 3. Some doubt has been placed on this concsole choice lately, but Capcom has stood their ground stating on their japanese webpage:
"Monster Hunter 3 tri~ utilizes the unique features of the Wii to their fullest, and development continues with the intention of creating a Monster Hunter never before seen."
As for original IPs, this past spring's "Captivate" event brought the announcement of the Wii-exclusive saturday-morning-cartoon adventure Spyborgs. Almost immediately after that announcement, fan backlash agaisnt the cartoony style and presentation filled the internet with contempt and outrage. Well, good news! In next month's issue of Nintendo Power magazine it is revealed that the game is being "significantly retooled and will bear little resemblance to what's been shown thus far." While I'll admit the game's premise excited me, the presentation in the teaser trailer still makes me very uncomfortable, so this could be a very good thing, expanding the audience for what I'm certain will ultimately be an excellent game.
Most interestingly to me, though, is Tatsunoko vs Capcom, the new Japan-only Wii-exclusive 2D fighting game. If you haven't heard of it, its a fighting game in the vein of Street Fighter where the available fighters are taken either from a variety of Capcom games or from Tatsunoko Production's animation studio. I'm still not really sure why this game is on Wii and not Playstation 3 aside from the obvious "everybody in Japan has a Wii," but ultimately I don't particularly care about that, just watch this control/battle system primer video made by Keits:
Two things to take away from this video:
1 - That game is flippin' gorgeous. The desaturated cel-shaded character models look fantastic and fit perfectly between the 2D sprites of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and the lush stylized 3D models of Street Fighter IV. Look at that helicopter and those trees in the background! Look at those particle effects. Then pause and remember that this is a 2D fighter on the Wii.
2 - Those controls, while simpler than most fighting games these days, are still surprisingly deep and pro-tournament-ready. This is definitely a serious hardcore fighting game. And it's on the Wii. I can't quite get over that.
Sure, the Wii has actually seen some solid and beautiful fighters in the Smash Bros, Naruto, and Dragonball franchises, but this is Capcom, and this is another entry in the beloved Vs. series. We've all heard the rumors of an impending Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and we've all needed to change our pants just thinking about it. There was even some speculation earlier this year that the localized version of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom would become Marvel vs. Capcom 3 with all the Tatsunoko characters replaced with the likes of Spider-man, Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America and others. While we here at 61FPS have heard that speculation tromped down directly from our friends at Capcom, it's hard not to watch footage like this and dream.
Seriously, from what I've seen here, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom has too damn much potential to not be westernized. Come on Capcom and Marvel. Get some smooth cel-shaded Gambits and Black Cats in here. More importantly, keep up the Wii commitment. It'll pay off soon enough. And thanks for everything yet again! We love you!
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