Late Night Consoling

Further deteriorating the trend of third party platform exclusivity on modern consoles, Capcom today announced that its upcoming action game Devil May Cry 4 is in development for Xbox 360 and PC. Previously, the game had only been confirmed for release on PlayStation 3. The two console versions are set to ship simultaneously, with the PC version following. Capcom has not given any release period projections for any version of the game.

Devil May Cry 4 is being directed by Hideaki Itsuno, who handled direction on Devel May Cry 2 (PS2) and Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (PS2, PC). Producing the title is Hiroyuki Kobayashi, who previously produced the first game in the series as well as Resident Evil 4 (PS2, GCN, PC).

Capcom has taken criticism from PC gamers in the past for its PC ports of Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry 3. The Xbox 360 version of Devil May Cry 4 may bode well for the game's PC counterpart, given Capcom's announcement last year of its internally-developed multiplatform game engine.

Keita Takahashi, creator of sublime stuff-collecting simulator Katamari Damacy (PS2), has famously and publicly objected to Nacmo's sequelization of his game, expressing his frustration with the franchise-driven nature of the video game industry in general. Though the designer reluctantly agreed to work on one sequel, We Love Katamari (PS2), he refused to participate in development of the PSP followup Me and My Katamari. A year ago, Namco humored Takahashi by announcing that the series had drawn to a close.

Now, it seems, the publisher does plan to roll on with the series. In a recent blog entry Cabel Sasser of Panic Software--the only company licensed by Takahashi to produce Katamari merchandise--recounted a trip to Namco Bandai's Japanese offices, where he met with the designer to discuss Panic's new Katamari shirts as well as the franchise's future. Takahashi confirmed that more games are on the way, "possibly as soon as later this year," but that he is working on an entirely separate project. Though no details were printed, Sasser promises that gamers will be "surprised, confused, and delighted" by the results.

Sasser's report of more Katamari gaming adds credence to a recent Xboxic report allegedly depicting Blockbuster Video computer terminals listing three upcoming Xbox 360 games from Namco, including one entitled Beautiful Katamari. Also listed were Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, which came to PC courtesy of Black Hole Games last year, and Ace Combat 6, the inevitable next entry in Namco's flight combat series, which has previously never touched down on a Microsoft platform. While retailer rumors tend are frequently off base with release date speculation, they are generally accurate in terms of the simple existence of games, suggesting that as long as Xboxic's photos are genuine, so are the three games in question.

Update: Lending further weight to the report of Ace Combat 6 on Xbox 360 are reports out of Japan (automatically translated here) listing the game as coming to Xbox 360 in 2007. The news was pointed out by Japan-based NeoGAF user Jonnyram, who also noted that this week's issue of Japanese publication Famitsu made no mention of a PS3 version of the game.

With its pointer-based interface, old school adventure fans have frequently commented on the Wii's appropriateness to point-and-click adventure games, but until recently the genre had yet to surface on the system. Last week, Capcom announced that its pirate adventure Treasure Island Z would be coming to the system, and now publisher The Adventure Company has announced that AWE Productions' adventure Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None is en route to the system as well. First released in 2005 for PC to mixed reviews, the game is of course an adaptation of mystery maven Agatha Christie's 1939 novel, the bestselling work of her prolific career. As in the novel, the game revolves around ten guests (plus an added player character in the game) who are invited to an island mansion and are mysteriously murdered in accordance with the causes of death listed in the macabre poem "Ten Little Indians" ("Ten Little Sailor Boys" in the game).

In addition to translating the cursor-based gameplay to the Wii remote, various item and environment interactions--such as turning a safe handle or digging into the earth--will be mapped to motion-based control. The Wii reworking of And Then They Were none may be the first of a series of titles to get the same treatment from The Adventure Company, based on statements made in today's announcement.

"We are very excited to take this new direction with our adventure titles and are certain that our fans will find Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None to be a perfect fit for the Nintendo Wii," said president and CEO Richard Wah Kan. "Many PC adventure game fans are having a great time with the Wii and we'd like to be the first to deliver them games they love on a console they've embraced."

The Adventure Company plans to ship AWE Productions' Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None for Wii this November.

Nintendo this morning released three new games to the Wii's Virtual console, one each drawn from the libraries of the NES, Sega Genesis, and TurboGrafx-16. Nintendo's well-remembered 1985 racer Excitebike (NES, 1 player), with classic overheating, ramp-jumping action, is available for 500 Wii Points ($5). Ancient's 1995 title Beyond Oasis (Genesis, 1 player), combining beat-em-up gameplay with light RPG influence, is going for 800 Wii Points ($8). Finally, Namco's 1990 release Splatterhouse (TurboGrafx-16, 1 player), a gory sidescrolling action game, is up for 600 Wii Points ($6).

Check back tomorrow for Shack's impressions and recommendations on this week's Virtual Console lineup.