Author Topic: The House of the Dead: Overkill - Extended Cut Will Make Me Buy a Move  (Read 11755 times)

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Offline NWR_Neal

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The HD upgrade for Sega and Headstrong's excellent rail shooter is a killer app for me.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/26424

I can't say I'm surprised that Sega and Headstrong Games are bringing The House of the Dead: Overkill to PlayStation 3, complete with new levels, HD graphics, and Move support. I can say that, for better or worse, I must own a Move controller, possibly two, by the time this game comes out in October.

And I hate Sega and Headstrong for that, but for good reasons. I love The House of the Dead: Overkill. It might be my favorite game on Wii. It's one of the best rail shooters I've ever played. It also has a stupidly awesome and gross Grindhouse-style story and excellent music, complete with even better remixes. To top it all off, they say the "F" word. A lot.

I'll use this announcement as a soapbox to tell all Wii owners (over the right age, of course) to play this game. It's really good. If you have a Move, maybe you should hold out for that version. Regardless, just play it. I know I'll likely be picking it up come October. I also know I'll make a point of playing it at E3 next week.

Now that this is happening, can we have a direct sequel? Please? Cafe launch title? C'mon!

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Offline Chocobo_Rider

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I'm glad more folks will be playing this game again.

But, I gotta say this announcement is disappointing for the following reason...

Good Wii game comes out > WiiOwners: "yay! this is good!" > Others: "that looks stupid. it's just another [rail shooter]. the Wii has no games."

That game does well enough to justify an HD investment > Others: "yay! now THIS game is good!" > WiiOwners: "yea! now we like the same thing!" > Others: "pshh. no. my version is enhanced.  your version sucks, just like your console. the Wii has no games."


Notable Examples: No More Heroes, NBA Jam, deBlob franchise.  The Wii should not be a test market.  Be brave, treat the Wii like a real market, and RE4 sales will follow.

« Last Edit: May 27, 2011, 11:59:45 AM by NinSage »

Offline NWR_Neal

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I see your anger/distaste and raise you another viewpoint on Overkill. Headstrong Games freaking loved making this game. Sony released a controller similar to the Wii's. Headstrong and Sega talked about how to further the series, and a Move version was brought up. The move makes even more sense because Headstrong converted a Wii game to Move already (Aragorn's Quest).

The way I see this is that, if the Move version sells well, we're getting Overkill 2. If that games doesn't come to a Nintendo system, I'm making HouseofthedeadoverkillWorldReport.
Neal Ronaghan
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Offline Ceric

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I'm guessing their isn't a way to turn off the swearing...
I'm really not a fan and I don't want my Son hearing it when he's suppose to be sleeping.

I'm trying to find an on-rail shooter to play with my 3 year old son...
He just got the PS3 Ray Gun shell to play with, I wanted it for the controller for kicks but it makes a good kid toy and it was half off.
Now he wants to Pow Pow in a game.  I've got Time Crisis 4 but for some reason it has now decided to split screen instead of doing the combine screen co-op...
I honestly think he really just wants to for cool gun noices and the Lollipop lighting up...
 
Edit:
Made it clearer that I don't want to play House of the Dead with a 3 year old but, I am looking for suggestions still.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2011, 12:55:03 PM by Ceric »
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Offline broodwars

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I generally liked, but didn't really love the original version of Overkill, largely because of how short and light on content it was.  I picked up a Move pretty much to play rail shooters and 3rd person shooters (which sadly no one outside of Sony seems interested in having Move support for), so as long as this version of the game is dramatically better I wouldn't mind playing through the game again in HD.  :D
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Offline broodwars

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Made it clearer that I don't want to play House of the Dead with a 3 year old but, I am looking for suggestions still.

How about the Move launch title "The Shoot"?  The game generally reviewed decently and I thought the demo was entertaining enough.  Plus, I think Gamestop still has a sale going on where it's Buy 1 Get 1 Free on certain Move software, so maybe you can find something you can salvage from that pile of crap (Heroes on the Move looks like the best title of the bunch, and that's just sad) you can pick up alongside it.
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Offline Ceric

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Made it clearer that I don't want to play House of the Dead with a 3 year old but, I am looking for suggestions still.

How about the Move launch title "The Shoot"?  The game generally reviewed decently and I thought the demo was entertaining enough.  Plus, I think Gamestop still has a sale going on where it's Buy 1 Get 1 Free on certain Move software, so maybe you can find something you can salvage from that pile of crap (Heroes on the Move looks like the best title of the bunch, and that's just sad) you can pick up alongside it.
Where did you see the Gamestop Buy 1 Get 1 Free on Move Software?
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Offline broodwars

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Made it clearer that I don't want to play House of the Dead with a 3 year old but, I am looking for suggestions still.

How about the Move launch title "The Shoot"?  The game generally reviewed decently and I thought the demo was entertaining enough.  Plus, I think Gamestop still has a sale going on where it's Buy 1 Get 1 Free on certain Move software, so maybe you can find something you can salvage from that pile of crap (Heroes on the Move looks like the best title of the bunch, and that's just sad) you can pick up alongside it.
Where did you see the Gamestop Buy 1 Get 1 Free on Move Software?

It was in their weekly add for the first 2 weeks of May, which I get in my email.  Looking at this week's ad, though, I don't see the deal anymore so it may be over now.
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Offline Ceric

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Made it clearer that I don't want to play House of the Dead with a 3 year old but, I am looking for suggestions still.

How about the Move launch title "The Shoot"?  The game generally reviewed decently and I thought the demo was entertaining enough.  Plus, I think Gamestop still has a sale going on where it's Buy 1 Get 1 Free on certain Move software, so maybe you can find something you can salvage from that pile of crap (Heroes on the Move looks like the best title of the bunch, and that's just sad) you can pick up alongside it.
Where did you see the Gamestop Buy 1 Get 1 Free on Move Software?

It was in their weekly add for the first 2 weeks of May, which I get in my email.  Looking at this week's ad, though, I don't see the deal anymore so it may be over now.
Darn.
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Offline broodwars

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Made it clearer that I don't want to play House of the Dead with a 3 year old but, I am looking for suggestions still.

How about the Move launch title "The Shoot"?  The game generally reviewed decently and I thought the demo was entertaining enough.  Plus, I think Gamestop still has a sale going on where it's Buy 1 Get 1 Free on certain Move software, so maybe you can find something you can salvage from that pile of crap (Heroes on the Move looks like the best title of the bunch, and that's just sad) you can pick up alongside it.
Where did you see the Gamestop Buy 1 Get 1 Free on Move Software?

It was in their weekly add for the first 2 weeks of May, which I get in my email.  Looking at this week's ad, though, I don't see the deal anymore so it may be over now.
Darn.

Indeed.  Still, by all means check out the demo when the store is...finally...back up and see if it's something you might feel comfortable playing with him.  You're just shooting cardboard cutouts on movie sets so it's pretty tame, and I thought the Move controls worked pretty decently.

Also, now that I think of it, there's also a game on Wii based on the Toy Story shooting gallery at Disneyland/world.  It didn't review very well, but it might be what you're looking for.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2011, 01:44:31 PM by broodwars »
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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I'm guessing their isn't a way to turn off the swearing...
I'm really not a fan and I don't want my Son hearing it when he's suppose to be sleeping.

Actually all the swearing is part of the story. I don't want to say anymore than that.

Also the HD version of this game should up the swear count with 2 more chapters, since I hear (MafiaII?) stole the record for most swears in a game.

Offline NWR_Neal

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I'm guessing their isn't a way to turn off the swearing...
I'm really not a fan and I don't want my Son hearing it when he's suppose to be sleeping.

Actually all the swearing is part of the story. I don't want to say anymore than that.

Also the HD version of this game should up the swear count with 2 more chapters, since I hear (MafiaII?) stole the record for most swears in a game.

I smell a contrived PR stunt...
Neal Ronaghan
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"Fungah! Foiled again!"

Offline Ceric

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I'm guessing their isn't a way to turn off the swearing...
I'm really not a fan and I don't want my Son hearing it when he's suppose to be sleeping.

Actually all the swearing is part of the story. I don't want to say anymore than that.

Also the HD version of this game should up the swear count with 2 more chapters, since I hear (MafiaII?) stole the record for most swears in a game.
So the Zombies are ran by the power of Swearing?
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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I'm guessing their isn't a way to turn off the swearing...
I'm really not a fan and I don't want my Son hearing it when he's suppose to be sleeping.

Actually all the swearing is part of the story. I don't want to say anymore than that.

Also the HD version of this game should up the swear count with 2 more chapters, since I hear (MafiaII?) stole the record for most swears in a game.
So the Zombies are ran by the power of Swearing?
No the Zombies are part of the action, the swearing is a part of the character part of the story. You'll know what I'm talking about as soon as you finish the game and not a moment sooner.

Offline ShyGuy

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Well it was certainly better than Dead Space Extraction

Offline Chocobo_Rider

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You'll notice at no point did I mention sales because, if anything, the "jump ship to Wii" experiments have all proven one point: the games that originally get green-lit for Wii were never mainstream enough to "sell well."  In fact, the HD development costs will do more financial harm than good for the developers.

NMH - Wii - 400k (Japan)
NMH - PS3 - 400k (Japan)
NMH - 360 - 200k (Japan)

... not exactly the boom media outlets constantly predicted.

deBlob2 - Wii - 400k
 deBlob2 - PS3 - 200k
 deBlob2 - 360 - 200k

... yea! good move! now the HD investment losses can jeopardize the franchise!
 
 NBA Jam - Wii - 250k
NBA Jam - PS3 - 110k
NBA Jam - 360 - 130k

... and this is the game where the Wii version was not only severely castrated but, if I'm not mistaken, more expensive!

So, sorry if I'm not seeing an Overkill 2 silver lining.  Just more fuel for the naysayers.  At least in this case, I don't see the HD investment to be costly at all.

~~~~~~~~~~

Regardless, I loved Overkill because I love HotD and enjoyed seeing SEGA flesh out the franchise.  But, I would muuuuuch rather see a console release of HotD4 or *gasp* HotD5 than ever see another entry in the Overkill series.  It was disappointing that my friends didn't want to play Overkill unless I turned the voices off!



Offline BlackNMild2k1

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Sounds like you need new friends to me. ;)

None of mine complained :cool;

Offline Mop it up

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Yeah, the swearing and gratuitous violence probably limit the game's appeal, but with a name like Overkill it's what I was expecting. Still, there are a few people interested in light gun-style shooters who I would never want to show a game like this.

We never beat the game because both times we tried, the game froze on the end boss. I should hope the PS3 version gets bug-tested.

Offline Chocobo_Rider

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Plus, let's not forget that my examples above were of games that did not require a separate peripheral.  That's going to cut the market for a PS3-release of this game even more.

Headstrong is pointing a light-gun straight at it's foot.



.... and then replacing that with a real gun and pulling the trigger. =P


But really, the bigger issue has nothing to do with business decisions, rather, as I said, is just further fuel for the fire of those who can't see why a good game would ever be on the Wii.

Offline NWR_Neal

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I'm sure Sega's not expecting this to sell gangbusters. I would hope they have a reasonable expectation for it.

Then again, this is Sega...
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Offline broodwars

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But really, the bigger issue has nothing to do with business decisions, rather, as I said, is just further fuel for the fire of those who can't see why a good game would ever be on the Wii.

I don't see that.  This is just companies trying to recoup some of their losses putting these games on Wii by releasing them on other platforms at a much less cost.  Most of the work is done already, so they mostly just have to swap out the textures for HD versions and optimize the game for the new platforms and accessories.  It's a sound business decision compared to dumping all that cash into making a new game in that franchise for the HD consoles, especially since Sony is likely subsidizing them to make Move-specific software these days.

Now, if Sega's smart...sorry, I really can't say that with a straight face these days  ;) ...they'll release this game download-only like EA did with Dead Space Extraction.  I don't see this game selling well at retail unless it's very much a budget game ($20-$30).
« Last Edit: May 28, 2011, 01:27:21 AM by broodwars »
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Offline Chocobo_Rider

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@Neal

No one's talkin' gangbusters, mi amigo - just talking good or bad business decision.  Everyone assumes jumping ship from Wii is a good idea.  Don't the numbers I've provided tell a different story?

Also, I'm thinking 760k sold on the Wii was pretty darn "reasonable" for a game like Overkill. =)

Doesn't seem like a sequel is resting on anything but SEGA's whim.

@broodwars

From what I've read and heard, I'd be surprised if you did see that. =P

@Neal & broodwars

Let's not forget that if it was financially sound for every (3rd party) game to be on all platforms, then they would be.  In fact, by that logic, every third party game without an exclusivity deal would be on the Wii.  Just compress some textures, scale down the resolution, strip out the fancy lighting effects, decrease the draw-distance.  Bang.  Zero effort Wii port!

... I hope the absurdity of this example is not lost on anyone.


« Last Edit: May 28, 2011, 01:53:00 AM by NinSage »

Offline broodwars

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@Neal & broodwars

Let's not forget that if it was financially sound for every (3rd party) game to be on all platforms, then they would be.  In fact, by that logic, every third party game without an exclusivity deal would be on the Wii.  Just compress some textures, scale down the resolution, strip out the fancy lighting effects, decrease the draw-distance.  Bang.  Zero effort Wii port!

... I hope the absurdity of this example is not lost on anyone.

You seem to assume that if companies put these games on Wii, they'd actually sell.  I think Wii 3rd party sales have shown that is not the case.  But be that as it may (and there are valid Pro-Wii arguments as to why that is), it's a lot more work to create a Wii version of an HD game than it is to take a Wii game and up-res it for PS3/360.  If you create a Wii version, you have to do the things you already stated as well as practically remaking all the building and character models with much lower poly versions to deal with the Wii's stone-age technology.  I'm sure that's acceptable if you have a Big Name game like Call of Duty or if you're going to make a PS2/PSP version anyway, but I don't know why you'd go through all that work and cost otherwise, especially when the Wii's practically dead right now anyway.  Oh yeah, and throw in Nintendo's Certification process for good measure...

On the flipside, as we saw with Dead Space Extraction and many of the HD re-releases of PS2 games, when you bring these standard definition Wii games into HD, you just swap out the textures and optimize performance and you have something you can sell for cheap on the download platforms in probably 6-8 months.  Now, if a company wants to get fancy (as those screenshots from Overkill seem to suggest, as well as what I've seen of No More Heroes HD), you can add more effects and whatnot to sweeten the deal, but the bare minimum it takes to have the game function on the platform is already dealt with and you're pretty much mostly re-using assets you already have rather than having to create new ones.

On reflection, actually, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw these HD re-releases on the Cafe as well once Nintendo releases the appropriate hardware with perhaps a quality download service.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2011, 03:13:35 AM by broodwars »
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Offline BlackNMild2k1

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I'm sure Sega's not expecting this to sell gangbusters. I would hope they have a reasonable expectation for it.

Then again, this is Sega...


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Offline ShyGuy

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The day I see Conduit HD for the PS3 or 360 is the day I dedicate my life to destroying Sega for good.