Japanese radioman "Oka"
Episodic air combat series is making the transition to WiiWare
Legendo has confirmed that it is set to release its Pearl Harbor series on WiiWare, with the first episide - entitled Red Sun Rising - expected to touch down on the service this Winter.
The games will be developed by Slovakian studio Arcade Moon and are based on the PC versions, which were released recently to mostly positive reviews.
A dedicated website has been established that will keep fans updated on the progress of the series. A Facebook fan page has also appeared, so be sure to sign up if you want the latest news and the ability to contact the development team directly with your views.
Here's the official press release:
Legendo Entertainment, an independent publisher of computer and video games head-quartered in Sweden, today announced that Pearl Harbor Trilogy, an episodic air combat action game series, is in development for Wii™. Pearl Harbor Trilogy is a re-interpretation of Legendo’s popular PC title “Attack on Pearl Harbor” – with the first episode, “Red Sun Rising,” planned for a winter 2009 release on WiiWare™. The game is being developed by Legendo in cooperation with Arcade Moon, the Wii specialist label of 3D People, an independent game developer located in Slovakia.
Stanislav Petri, Aerial Star Programmer at Arcade Moon had this to offer, “We have tamed the innards of the Wii to make its GPU glow red-hot as we’re shooting for 60 FPS aerial dogfight action using all the tricks in the book.”
Bjorn Larsson, Executive Producer and head of lots of other things at Legendo Entertainment said, “The Wii Remote™ controller is a perfect match for aerial combat – we are currently trying a variety of control-schemes to see what works best, we want to bring players as close as possible to flying in their living rooms.”
In the premiere episode, “Red Sun Rising,” players will be dropped into the cockpit of famous USAAF World War II fighter aircraft — including the legendary P-40 Warhawk and the carrier-capable F4U Corsair as they battle with Japanese A6M2 Zero fighters and Aichi D3A Val dive-bombers in daring dogfights during bitterly contested air battles of the Pacific Theater, including Pearl Harbor, Wake Island and the Battle of Midway.
1. Hyper Luigi
17 Sep 2009, 15:00 BST
If this turns out to be good, I will deftinely buy it.
2. Hardy83
17 Sep 2009, 15:06 BST
If you can do motion plus (Think the flying mode in Wii Sports Resort) that would be awesome.
Either way, I hope it turns out good. WiiWare needs a good aerial fighting game.
3. VGP
17 Sep 2009, 15:09 BST
SuperSonic1990 Wrote:If it turns out to be good,I will definitely buy it.
Same Here
4. Objection_Blaster
17 Sep 2009, 15:14 BST
I'm getting a little annoyed with all these multi-part games. Why not just make one big, better game for slightly higher admission. (Answer, of course, is the file size limitation.) I cant get into the idea of buying any of them because I dont want to feel required to buy several other games (or in other cases, DLC) to get the full experience.
5. bro2dragons
17 Sep 2009, 15:17 BST
i may get this first one... but i HATE episodic games. feels like a cheap way to squeeze more money out of you. make a single stand-alone title. and then, IF YOU MUST, make a sequel that is likewise self-sufficient in every aspect except maybe having a story build off of the previous. but i want my games to have an ending. i'm a huge homestar runner fan, and was pumped for the sbcg4ap game. until i found out it was actually sbcg4ap gameS. i've downloaded the first and no others. pity this seems to be the way so many are heading on downloadable services.
6. bro2dragons
17 Sep 2009, 15:18 BST
@Objection_Blaster: dang. you beat me to it.
7. eripmav
17 Sep 2009, 15:29 BST
It's episodic for a few reasons. Firstly, it'd be impossible to squeeze the whole game into the 40MB limit. Secondly, it enables us to actually get some money coming in whilst the other episodes are being created.
Fan page, with of course ability to question not only me but the headhoncho and coders..
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pearl-Harbor-Trilogy/142812465776
8. eripmav
17 Sep 2009, 15:30 BST
Also! Each episode's "self contained", so literally each one will have its own ending, so that negates your quibble;)
9. Ian Daemon
17 Sep 2009, 15:35 BST
I'm fine with the "paper airplane"-style flying of Wii Sports Resort (although speed control with the nunchuk would've been appreciated), but my co-worker really wants the more filght-sim "flight stick"-style control...
10. LinktotheFuture
17 Sep 2009, 15:41 BST
This definitely needs WiiMotion Plus. By the way, are there anymore WiiMotion Plus games coming out, it seems that nothing has come out since Wii Sports Resort.
11. Turkey Brutus
17 Sep 2009, 15:53 BST
I've avoided every episodic game so far (Bit Trip don't count), but at the very least I'll be picking up the first installment of this one. If the control is tight and the game fun, I'll be a very happy chicken and other other episodes might be gotten as well.
Also, I do appreciate the fact that Nintendo's size limit seems to have spurred this decision. It's not (or doesn't seem to be) a money-grubbing maneuver.
It's been years since I've enjoyed a decent flight sim. Fingers most definitely crossed.
12. Gabbo
17 Sep 2009, 16:00 BST
@eripmav
Heh, heh. Contrary to what the movie would have you believe, American resistance at Pearl Harbor was not terribly effective. Does this mean we will inevitably 'lose' episode 1 no matter how well we play?
Also, I'll go out on a limb here and guess you guys aren't planning on a Japanese release.
13. Omega
17 Sep 2009, 16:28 BST
I never buy episodic games. Make one single WiiWare game that fits into the 40MB limit or make a retail game on DVD.
14. maka
17 Sep 2009, 16:39 BST
While the Flying game in Wii Sports Resort is pretty fun, I too would like a different control scheme that mimics a flying joystick. It'd be great if you could use the balance board for rudder control although I'm not sure if this is game is aiming for realism or more arcade...
The M+ should at least be optional for those that have it, for a better experience (in fact every game with motion controls should at least have the option of using M+ now)
15. JayArr
17 Sep 2009, 16:40 BST
Using the WiiMote as a flight stick ( not sure what it's really called) to control the plane sounds really cool. The screen shot's look great as well. Also, while the art style of 3M was nice I like this new look from Legendo.
16. John3714
17 Sep 2009, 16:41 BST
I was a fan of the Three Musketeers, and so therefore am intrigued by this, but I will have to wait and see what Nintendo prices it at. If it's too much, I don't think I'll be getting any of them. I'd rather buy a single retail disc.
17. sirgrim
17 Sep 2009, 17:22 BST
Please have a normal control scheme available in addition to the waggles and tilts a flying game will probably have. Classic controller, ideally
18. bro2dragons
17 Sep 2009, 17:29 BST
OK. very well. i get the size limit thing. that helps my concerns alot (although i admit some games i'm pretty sure could make it fit but choose not to). and if each game is in fact self-contained, then you may consider my interests piqued. i do love a good aerial dogfighting game. so with that decisoin made, you may very well have won yourself a customer just now, depending on a few other factors (length, price, etc.). well done!
19. Bulbasaurus Rex
17 Sep 2009, 17:43 BST
@Gabbo Yeah, it would be pretty insulting to release this in Japan.
20. KnucklesSonic8
17 Sep 2009, 17:55 BST
Looking into Wii Motion Plus would be stellar. But this definitely catches my eye. Hope it turns out for the better (and not like Wing Island).
21. leon x
17 Sep 2009, 18:24 BST
The limit is a problem. But, pc users are use to buy expansion packs. So, i´ll buy this game, for sure. I want four player action!!
22. Sean Aaron
17 Sep 2009, 18:30 BST
Sounds good; nice to see new genres getting represented on WiiWare!
23. Machu
17 Sep 2009, 18:30 BST
The fog is a bit thick, but that's to expected on WiiWare. If it feels and plays good, I won't care one bit.
Look forward to this lots, and thanks for giving us a flying game, we need more.
24. odd69
17 Sep 2009, 18:57 BST
Sorry not interested.
25. Laxeybobby
17 Sep 2009, 19:15 BST
The episodic Wiiware games should be a part of history since the new Wii system update that came with GH5 that allows direct to SD card DLC and HCSD compatibility, plus faster launching and accessing from SD.
26. RogueTwo
17 Sep 2009, 19:48 BST
I don't think WMPlus is necessary, after all the demo of Wii airplane at the E3 2006 doesn't control different of the one in Wii Sports Resort.
Also, I suppose this game will use the classic configuration of using the nunchuk tilt to control the airplane : P
I don't like episodic games either, but I do like air combat games so if it's good I will at least buy one.
27. Hardy83
17 Sep 2009, 20:03 BST
"The episodic Wiiware games should be a part of history since the new Wii system update that came with GH5 that allows direct to SD card DLC and HCSD compatibility, plus faster launching and accessing from SD."
No. That's different. retail games can have DLC saved and loaded from the SD card, however WiiWare still have to stay within the 40MB limit, which is why you see most DLC WiiWare content being only some clothing or a couple new items. Things that take less then a megabyte to include.
Any issues you have with WiiWare more then likely are a result of Nintendo's restrictions. Developers are just trying to get the most out of WiiWare with them.
Imagine how good Monkey Island would run if the limit wasn't 40MB
Imagine how big LostWinds would be if it wasn't 40MB?
28. Sean Aaron
17 Sep 2009, 20:44 BST
Actually according to the producer of Spaceball Revolution DLC can be up to 16MB in size the 40MB cap is on the game itself not including DLC.
29. Hardy83
17 Sep 2009, 21:00 BST
Ohhh.. I stand corrected. It's hard to get accurate info on Nintendo's restrictions when they seem to adamant about no one knowing about them.
That's still not a lot of space considering the PC version of this game is over 400MB. lol
30. eripmav
17 Sep 2009, 21:11 BST
@Gabbo, I couldn't possibly comment:) But you could be right;)
@Omega, fine. Will you pay for the pressing of the discs, distribution in each territory and so on please? Then we'll release it on disc! ;p
Remember, the screens are WIP!
31. Bass X0
17 Sep 2009, 21:29 BST
I don't mind episodic games or DLC. The best WiiWare game I played all year? The After Years. I'm getting six hours play out of each 300 points. Thats more than I can say for any other WiiWare game I've played or could play.
32. LEGEND MARIOID
17 Sep 2009, 21:52 BST
Looks interesting I doubt it'll be motionplus unfortunaely.
33. Omega
18 Sep 2009, 00:46 BST
@eripmav: Yes, of course. I do it everytime when I buy a retail game.
I mean, come on, Telltale don't pay for the pressing, distribution and so on but they want 5000 points for Strong Bad or Monkey Island. That is way to expensive if you ask me. And it is not even translated into german.
I think WiiWare is not the place to squeeze games in that were originally designed for CD/DVD. I see it more as a platform where talented programmers can show how creative they are and what's possible with <=40MB. And I believe that wonderful games can be made with this limitation.
34. Egg miester
18 Sep 2009, 00:56 BST
i'd buy this game if i was able to play as the japanese
35. The Fox
18 Sep 2009, 03:08 BST
@Egg Miester
"i'd buy this game if i was able to play as the japanese"
After reading your comment and noticing the Amercian flag by your username, I'm a little perplexed.
36. Gizmo
18 Sep 2009, 09:29 BST
@ Hardy83 & LinktotheFuture regarding WiiMotion+:
The flight game in Wii Sports Resort didn't really need the WiiMotion+ accessory, the WiiMote can detect such movements alone and since the beginning
.
37. Sean Aaron
18 Sep 2009, 10:04 BST
@Gizmo: agreed, the tilt sensor is the best aspect of motion control in the Wii and when implemented properly always works a treat (see Bit.Trip BEAT, Penguin Diving, Excite Truck, Kororinpa, etc.).
38. eripmav
18 Sep 2009, 10:33 BST
@Omega - I totally agree regarding pricing, it's something that we've been monitoring closely. I adore alot of Telltale's games, but I wouldn't snaffle them on Wii when I can play them on PC for cheaper:)
39. habereet
18 Sep 2009, 13:55 BST
@eripmav - I understand what you're saying and agree with much of it. However, you're being a bit argumentative in some of your comments. Hardly the way to win someone's business I would think.
#8 - I wouldn't tell someone that a concern over what sort of product they're getting is a quibble.
#30 - In your response to Omega, you could have easily said it wasn't in the plans at the moment.
40. eripmav
18 Sep 2009, 15:48 BST
Indeed I could have but I'm speaking not only as a PR guy, but also a gamer. I wasn't being argumentative, just saying that it's pricey to not only develop a game, but then also pay for the pressing of the discs, the distribution, sending out review code and so on. WiiWare's a great service, as distribution's taken care of Nintendo's side, so it lowers the over all cost to the consumer in theory.
41. Ren
18 Sep 2009, 16:18 BST
Eripmav can say whatever he wants as far as I'm concerned, he's not a politician, he's a person. We should be glad he's here representing the game I think thats great. You guys are so picky just wait for it to come out then make your judgements.
Anyway, this looks cool, and the WW limitations are obvious. I loved the strongbad games (despite the episodic nature they felt like pretty full games with independent stories) and almost any good game at a 10$ pricepoint is a pretty good deal. Can't believe how whiny you guys are sometimes.
42. leon x
18 Sep 2009, 16:27 BST
Do you remember GEOMETRY WARS??? No? Its better for some games wiiware service.
43. eripmav
18 Sep 2009, 16:43 BST
Kind words Ren:)
Like I said on the forum, you got think that the game is running@60fp/s. Increase detail and the framerate will be affected. I for one would rather a consistant framerate and smooth play over some high resolution mapping on the ground!
44. Sean Aaron
18 Sep 2009, 17:45 BST
I would like to have seen Space Invaders Get Even as a disc release; didn't stop me from buying it and I don't blame a developer from trying to maximise their profits if they think a download will do that better than a disc release -- getting visibility on a store shelf isn't easy; especially if you're not attached to a large publisher like Sega or Nintendo.
45. Gabbo
18 Sep 2009, 18:14 BST
@eripmav
I'm terribly confused. I sent an email to the address you linked in your previous post (running@60fps) but the response back read:
"Thank you for subscribing to our episodic ebook, '60 Females Per Stud.' Your credit card will be billed automatically as each new episode is released. Enjoy!"
46. eripmav
18 Sep 2009, 20:38 BST
@Gabbo - haha, I hope you enjoy those episodes. Think yourself lucky that I won't be starring in them, the images would be scarred onto your retina for life!
47. eripmav
18 Sep 2009, 20:41 BST
@Sean Aaron - bang on there, that's exactly why WiiWare's the choice we made. Not only do you have to vye for the shelf space like you said, but then you also have the problems of actually getting a retailer to stock your product. In today's market, there's so many games out there that they become stale so damned quickly. I remember the days of a big release per system 3-4 times a year. Now days..
48. dgold
19 Sep 2009, 10:18 BST
Just wanted to say I appreciate that a member of the development staff is responding on here, and their team is accessible via social networking. That is good advance work. About the game, I hope it's better than that recent "Pearl Harbor" movie (thankfully not a movie franchise game).
49. eripmav
19 Sep 2009, 11:10 BST
Cheers dgold. Alot of companies overlook social interaction, I feel it's of the upmost importance. I won't give me usual speech!
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