Kotaku

Zero Punctuation Relishes No More Heroes

While Yahtzee was a little bit late to squeeze into our No More Heroes Frankenreview, he still offers a pretty enjoyable review of the game, likening the experience to, among countless other colorful, non sequitur metaphors, Branston Pickle. Having never consumed Branston Pickle, I can only assume that this review is absolutely, utterly false in its conclusion. And as I don't plan on visiting Branston's home in England any time in the near future to try it (or even going to the shelf in any large chain store to buy it), I should live a life of blissful ignorance for some time.

Zero Punctuation: No More Heroes [The Escapist]

Fez Music Dude Makes Suda Remix!

No More Heroes Does OK In America (Probably Better In Europe)

Suda Wants to Make Xbox 360 Games For Your American Love

This originality will always remain, but I also want us to challenge ourselves by working at making realistic visuals as well. The next title will have a very different style, but keep the Grasshopper feeling at the same time... The Xbox 360. Definitely, I want to develop on this platform. It is really easy to work with. It is also quite popular outside Japan on markets that I would like to aim at. Specifically, I think of the American market as the Major League — I would like to go there and be successful.

Watch No More Heroes Lose Gallons Of Blood

Want to see what Wii owners in Europe and Japan are missing out on, in terms of flowing rivers of blood, decapitations and amputations? Then watch xserothx's No More Heroes Death Scene Comparison clips for a study in regional censorship. This is grisly stuff, folks, and not for the faint of heart of virtual murder. Anyone wary of spoilers should skip 'em, as they're essentially every boss fight in the game.

No More Heroes Death Scene Comparisons [YouTube - thanks, Sidepocket!]

There's no doubt about it—the Wii is in dire need of some decent third party titles. That's why we find director SUDA-51's/Grasshopper Manufacture's No More Heroes so intriguing. A sort of Grand Theft Auto meets Killer7 meets light sabers, the game promised to bring action, humor and style to the Wii...without Mario or his friends.

So what did the critics think? Hit the jump for our Frankenreview to find out: not quite every review, but probably more than you're going to read anyway.

3rd Party Titles Not Selling Comment "Misinterpreted"

I am concerned to learn my comments in one interview regarding the success of Nintendo 3rd party titles have been misinterpreted. My point was that "NO MORE HEROES", unlike a lot of Nintendo Wii titles currently available is the kind of product which will attract a different kind of consumer to the hardware. ie. gamers who are looking for a different genre to the products which have been successful on this platform thus far.

We finally start getting some good titles this week with No More Heroes, Advance Wars 2, Pirates of the Burning Sea and Burnout Paradise My wallet is going to start emptying itself again. I can just feel it coming. What are you going to be picking up this week?

No More Heroes (WII)
Suda 51's surreal cel shaded adventures of Travis Touchdown.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)
The follow up to the wildly popular Advance Wars hits with a new storyline and wi-fi.

Pirates of the Burning Sea (PC)
Arrrgh! Live the life of a pirate on land and sea in this new MMO.

Burnout Paradise (PS3, X360)
Drive, crash and burn!

Endless Ocean (WII)
Explore the mysterious world under the sea.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
Pit Mario against Sonic on your DS.

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure (WII)
Search for booty with Capt. Monkey.

Iridium Runners (PS2)
It's a space race!

Rainbow Islands Evolution (PSP)
Bub and Bob are back again in a new old adventure again.

Whilst the sales weren't as high as I hoped, other titles for Wii aren't selling so well either. Only Nintendo titles are doing well. This isn't just because of the current situation in Japan, as this is happening outside Japan... Actually I was very surprised about the reality about Wii, because before I was making this game, I wasn't expecting that Wii would be a console targeted only for non-gamers. I expected more games for hardcore gamers. The reality is different to what I expected.

We are constantly inundated with stories of games getting their release dates bumped back, but rarely if ever do we hear about something releasing early. In a statement to IGN yesterday, Ubisoft announced that Suda 51's No More Heroes will be coming to the Wii a little over a month early. Originally slated to release Feb. 29, the quirky cel-shaded cousin of Killer 7 is now set to hit store shelves on Jan. 22. The original release date would have pitted No More Heroes against heavy hitter Super Smash Bros. Brawl, so was this a shrewd marketing move on Ubisofts's part, or merely a coincidence?

No More Heroes Ships Early [IGN]

There may be No More Heroes, but there are plenty of screenshots of Suda 51's action-adventure title for the Wii to be had. After being charmed, disturbed, and a little frightened by Killer 7 for the PS2, I'll get in line for anything Suda does until he actually physically comes to my house and punches me in the face. With the U.S. release only a month away, we'll soon see if the title sees a warm welcome in the states than it did in Japan.

Who out there reads instruction manuals? Show of hands. None? That's what we thought. Video game manuals are generally:

1. Boring
2. Not super clear
3. Nor concise
4. Dull
5. Synonym of dull

But this No More Heroes manual is modeled after a comic book and looks to lack Wiimote sketches altogether. Why not take a risk on the manual? It's not like you are going to disappoint anyone if the idea's a miss. Of course, if it is fantastic, chances are that no one will notice then, either.

Marvelous! No More Heroes has a comic book manual [siliconera]

No More Heroes Censorship Explained...Kinda

No More Heroes was supposed to be a gorefest in Europe and the US. But to every Australian Kotaku writer's surprise, the game will have the blood censored for its Europe release. In the theme of pretending we care about markets outside the US, we thought that we should let you know that Grasshopper CEO 'Suda 51' and Marvelous's Yashiro Wada made a joint statement today on the matter that should clear things up a bit:

First, let me say how honoured I am that everyone in Europe is expecting No More Heroes....The sales point of this game is action. Both I and Wada san have concentrated on making the best possible action game for the Nintendo Wii. We have chosen to release in Europe the same version as has shipped in Japan considering the broadly growing Wii market.

Studio boss chose to censor Euro No More Heroes [cvg]

So, Suda51's No More Heroes doesn't look like it's a breakout Japanese hit. That fact alone has made many people quite blue — glum, even! Reader Frank sends this:

I felt sad that NMH ain't doing good in Japan, I decided to show some love to Suda by asking you to post my Wii which is not finished yet but to show support and respect to Suda for making what I know to be a great game, already pre-ordered it but no keychain or toilet paper Damn It! Well thanks for listening!

Face it: Japanese Wii owners buy Wii Sports, Wii Fit and maybe Super Mario Galaxy. That's about it, really! So, when a third party company releases something that, well, isn't any of those three, what happens? Not much. That's No More Heroes executive producer and Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada and No More Heroes and Killer 7 creator Goichi Suda hoping to give out toilet paper and hoping to sign copies of NMH. Thing is, after twenty minutes of Suda and Wada standing in front of Akihabara's Sofmap, nobody bought the game. Keep in mind, that not only two well-known game creators were giving out toilet paper, but there was also a woman in a mini-skirt (that, after the jump). Talk about a tough crowd!

Japanese game press like IT Media, GA Graphic and Famitsu were at the bust of an event and didn't have any customers to photograph at the launch. According to Akiba Blog, a staffer from Famitsu publisher Enterbrain apparently went and bought a copy of No More Heroes for Wada and Suda to sign. Regardless of what you think of No More Heroes, stuff like this isn't just sad for Suda and co., but for Wii owners ultimately. No More Heroes isn't your typical Wii game, and it seems to be getting punished for that. Hope it does better in the States — for the Wii's sake.

Hit the jump for the mini-skirt cosplay girl.

No More Heroes' Sinister Villain Gets...Sinister

"I just need you to look the other way for a second."
"A second?"
"Yes, just a split second."

I love few things more than wacky villains who are unnaturally tolerated by fearless protagonists. This may be the longest No More Heroes clip we've ever seen (probably because it was cut by GameTrailers). Seriously, this is like the Lawrence of Arabia of No More Heroes teasers. They should have added a .5 second intermission or something.

No More Heroes Video Trio

Marvelous Entertainment brings us a trio of No More Heroes videos. They are short and sweet but really give you a feel for the style and humor of the game. I'm really digging the 8-bit style elements like the pulsing heart and markers. The fist one has a little gameplay with some fighting, while the second shows how you power your weapons and yourself up. My favorite though, is the third clip featuring a look into lead character Travis' room which features some Japanese robot and figure collectibles, a short stint with a kitten and trip to the can with an amazingly weird and hilarious put-your-pants-back-on dance.

Make the jump for the other two videos.

Marvelous Entertainment and Grasshopper Manufacture lare oading up the No More Heroes site with new game clips weekly and now they've added wallpapers to the mix as well. Currently there are two wallpapers available with seven more coming in the next four weeks. As for the videos, they are advertising that there will be a total of fifty-one with thirty-five available at this time. So, if you want to deck out your computer in the latest No More Heroes fashion, head on over to the NMH website.

No More Heroes Website
[Thanks, Luis]