Kotaku: zack & wiki

Korea Goes Totally Overboard With Zack & Wiki Promo

Luke Plunkett — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 02:30:00 MDT

When the Wii finally launches in Korea next week, one of the games available will be Zack & Wiki. How do you sell a game like Zack & Wiki to the Korean market? With mousepads. Oh, and the promise of riches. Everyone who preorders the game will get two bits of merch: a mousepad and a small treasure chest filled with treasure-shaped candy. Except not all the chests contain candy. One hundred of them will contain a pearl necklace. A real, pearl necklace. This would be the part where I'd say I wished we could have gotten pearl necklaces with our preorders, but...hrm. I won't.
[Ruliweb, via Wii Fanboy]

Zero Punctuation On Zack & Wiki

Mark Wilson — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:20:00 MDT

I bought Zack & Wiki on day one, triumphantly presenting my wife with the game that would both explain some of my history as a gamer (PC adventure junkie) and placate her need for an interactive experience without headshots or corpse humping—all while providing us a worthwhile, couple-building challenge. She got about ten minutes into it before deciding to hate the game forever. Yahtzee likes Zack & Wiki a bit more than she did.

Zero Punctuation: Zack & Wiki [The Escapist]

Zack & Wiki "Demo" Released

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:30:00 MST

We told you to go buy Zack & Wiki. Some of you listened. You have our thanks. Everyone else, though, you're a great disappointment. Not just to your fellow Wii owners, but to Capcom as well, who have had to go to the trouble of throwing together a free, Wii-friendly flash demo of the game, just so you can see what all the fuss is about.
[Zack & Wiki Flash Demo]

Umbrella Chronicles Outsells Zack & Wiki 3:1, Tears Stream Down Our Faces

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:40:00 MST

As part of their quarterly financial results, Capcom have announced sales figures for some of their more prominent titles from Q3 2007. Zack & Wiki included. Surprisingly, it managed to sell 300,000 copies; not much in the grand scheme of things, but for a puzzle game featuring new IP and no Western advertising? It did OK. Until, that is, you look at 10-hour snoozefest Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and see it sold over 950,000 copies. That gasping, gurgling sound you hear behind you is the death of justice. Also revealed is the company's hopes and dreams for Devil May Cry: they're planning on shifting 1.9 million copies in the final quarter of the fiscal year, which multiplatform or not, is a big ask for a game pitched at a (relatively) niche, hardcore demographic.

USA Today Picks 2007's Best Games (For Kids)

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:20:32 MST

Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who may be on the lookout for something appropriate for the kids this holiday—strike Manhunt 2 from your lists, first of all—may want to refer themselves to USA Today's picks for the best kid fare of 2007. Sure, it may be easy to tick off things like Super Mario Galaxy and Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, but what about the littlest tykes? And what about those who will go Wii-less this year?

USA Today points to a couple of titles that fell under our radar, including DVD games and PC titles such as Guess How Much I Love You and JumpStart World Kindergarten. Of course, the editor must be commended for her choice of Rock Band, which is just about perfect for the kids. Sure, there will be some snarls of anarchy from the pre-teen crowd this Xmas, but it's, like, educational and stuff.

Best 2007 video games for kids [USA Today]

"Easy To Move To The 360"

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:00:42 MST

Once upon a time, Devil May Cry 4 was a PS3 exclusive. Now, it's not. Capcom is putting it on the PS3, the Xbox 360, PCs and cereal boxes if it could. But was it hard to move what was once a PS3 exclusive over to the 360? Nope! It was simple. DMC4 Hiroyuki Kobayashi explains:

It [the engine] is not a 360 engine. It's not an engine for the 360. It's the internal engine that we use at Capcom for next generation machines called the MT Framework [note: MT stands for multi-target]. That actually runs on PC. As you know, we did originally plan to have this title just on PS3, but actually the development was done on a PC, not on a particular console. So because it's all done on the PC... it makes it very easy to move it put it on the 360 and use the power of that machine, or to put it on the PS3 and use the power of that machine, each in different ways. It's really pretty easy to do it, developing it from this PC base.

It so easy that we really doubt we'll see Capcom exclusives outside of Wii and DS games. Porting those ain't so easy!
Sympathy for the Devil [Level Up]

Capcom Playtesting Pays In Spades

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:20:00 MST

When we posted a brief note about an upcoming Capcom playtesting session in the Bay Area of California, reader Justme8800 heeded the call. In addition to getting hands-on time with an unnamed Capcom game—no, we couldn't squeeze it out of him—he walked away with all this stuff.

From left to right, top to bottom: Zack & Wiki stickers, yellow Capcom bag, massive RE4 Wii edition guide with poster, Capcom Classics Collection for Xbox, Umbrella Corporation REVIVE drink, plushie pig dressed in a watermelon from Monster Hunter, stress squeeze treasure chest from Zack & Wiki, Xbox Live 1600 points card, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for PSP, Phoenix Wright plushie keychain, Zack & Wiki 3D holographic jigsaw puzzle, Lost Planet limited edition matte laser print, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for PC, and a Mega Man buster pen in the lower right. All of this is sitting on a Street Fighter "EVOLVE" T-shirt.

Not bad for a day's "work", is it?

Zack & Wiki Ain't For Dummies

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:00:08 MST

Zack & Wiki is a great game. And no one is buying it. Well, not no one, but not many people are! The game is posting shockingly low sales numbers. Could that be because the game makes people think? Or is it just that people are interested in the title? The game is challenging, but in a satisfying way. Capcom producer Hironobu Takeshita explains:

There are puzzles where, if you don't look properly at the hints in the start, you're going to be in trouble. All the answers that you need to solve the puzzles are there on the screen. There are some people who say they don't understand the puzzles, but really, they're not paying enough attention.

Hope poor Zack & Wiki sales doesn't mean Capcom is giving up on games where you hafta use your noodle!
Interview [Game|Life, Thanks Rox!]

Is Capcom Now Picking on the PS3?

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 06:00:13 MDT

Capcom and Sony aren't exactly B.F.F. Former precieved exclusives like Devil May Cry 4 have gone multi-platform, while the next Monster Hunter game is sidestepping the PS3 for the Wii. Things are kinda prickly, it seems. Last week, Wii title Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure went on sale in Japan. (Did you get it?) A survey was included with the Japanese version that asked consumers what genre they like (RPG, Sports, Adventure, etc.) and what consoles they own. Let's take a closer look at that. Below is an English translation of the second to last bracket:

Please put a check next to the console you own
1. PlayStation (PS one)
2. PlayStation 2
3. GameCube
4. Dreamcast
5. Xbox
6. Xbox 360
7. Gameboy Advance (SP, Micro)
8. Nintendo DS (Lite)
9. PSP
10. Other

Notice anything missing? Capcom totally forgets the PS3 and the Wii. But if you bought a Wii game, chances are that you own, well, a Wii. So, Capcom forgets the Wii, but remembers the Dreamcast, the Xbox and The Gameboy Micro? We just hope it's a simple oversight that the PS3 is considered "Other" and that there's no secret Capcom conspiracy out to destroy the PLAYSTATION 3. You know, a brotherhood, men in cloaks, secret handshakes, the works.
Capcom Postcard Ignores PS3 [My Game News Flash]

Zack & Wiki Ad Doesn't Lie

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 04:00:47 MDT

You know when you see game ads, and all the people look really excited? Like even the people who are not playing are giddy? Usually it's totally b.s., but this ad is not lying. At TGS, we checked out upcoming Capcom puzzle title Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure and, yes, even those who were not playing totally got into the puzzle solving — it's that fun. Truth in advertising? You better believe it.

Treasure Trove Of Zack & Wiki Screens Unearthed

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:20:15 MDT

We don't post Zack & Wiki screenshots out of obligation or monetary compensation. No, it's done out of pure love. Maybe it's actually guidance from a higher power, as I saw someone describe the Wii adventure game as an "average puzzler" and I expected nothing short of a proper smiting from the Lord. Regardless of our religious fervor for all things Zack, Wiki and Barbaros, some of these new and newish shots illustrate the new "whiteboard" feature that allows three backseat gamers to draw things on the screen. Arrows, circles, the occasional "FU"—it all adds to the multiplayer experience. Enjoy. That's an order.

Zack and Wiki Play

Brian Crecente — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:10:23 MDT

Now, we can finally see just what had McWhertor so hot and bothered at E3. I'm talking abut Zack and Wiki, not one of them, but both, in these two videos showing both the opening gameplay for the game and some "cut down" game play. OK, I get it, it was the lipstick... and that disturbing sawing motion play.