Lack of success is something that Fatal Frame fans have been fearing ever since
Fatal Frame IV was announced for the Wii.
But despite the series not continuing on Sony and Microsoft's consoles, most fans hoped that with Nintendo publishing FFIV, the series would at least recieve some much-needed publicity.
But with the game's release set for Summer, fans are starting to worry that it's a little too late for Nintendo to generate any real hype for FFIV, especially for a console that is mostly geared towards casual gamers.
Gaming_Issues claims that "Wii owners don't want to play M-Rated games" and that it will be hard to persuede them to buy an M-Rated game ... especially one from a series they've probably never heard of.
Another problem seems to be the lack of current marketing. While other survival-horror games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill have a constant flow of news that keeps people (newcomers and old fans) talking,
Fatal Frame IV hasn't had any info released since January 31st. Neoseeker's own
FFIV forum has died down to a trickle of 3-4 posts each day. Nobody has anything new to talk about and people are fast losing interest.
Is it too little, too late for Nintendo? Have they
already screwed up what could have potentially been a very successful game, and the
start of a 'mature games' trend for Wii??
Fatal Frame 4 was announced at the beginning of 2008 and since then there has been little news on the newest installment in the popular survival horror. The game is being released this Summer and fans are beginning to get worried with the limited information that has been released.
Visit any Fatal Frame 4 discussion board and you will be met with few posts and even fewer people who know the game exists. This is a noticeable contrast to the thriving discussion boards of other survival horror games such as Resident Evil 5 and Silent Hill: Homecoming.
Fatal Frame 4 will be the third game published by Nintendo to receive an M rating and perhaps this is the problem. Wii owners are not interested in buying mature games and Nintendo, despite being the publishers, aren't keen on marketing an M rated violent horror game to an audience who trusts them to create family friendly games for parents and their children.
It would not the first time one of Nintendo's promising M rated horror games has gone unnoticed. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, another survival horror published by Nintendo, resulted in poor sales due to Nintendo's mediocre marketing. Despite the game recieving positive reviews and averaging a 92% on Metacritic, it failed to sell well.
In 2006 Denis Dyack, designer of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, confirmed that a sequel will be made if his team is allowed to. However, as Nintendo owns all rights to the game, a sequel would be Nintendo's decision.
Two years have passed since Dydack's statement and Nintendo have still yet to announce a sequel.
Could Fatal Frame 4 suffer same fate? Is Nintendo not trying hard enough to produce hype and attract an audience interested in survival horrors? Or are people simple not interested in it?
Considering Fatal Frame's unusual themes, unique gameplay and morbid storytelling it seems impossible that so few people are familiar with such a series. It's up to Nintendo to change this but they are running out of time with the release date drawing near.
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But anyway, I'm getting a Wii soon, and I want this game.
Sounds awesome I think.
LIES!
Give me a good game and I'll play it, regardless of rating. People need to realize that just because the majority of Wii games are family-friendly, there are still many actual gamers out there that will get an M game if it's good.
Eternal Darkness was a great game, and I'm hoping for a sequel on that one, too.
Could it be a surprise?