Phoenix-Wright posts(Subscribe to this feed)

The release list for the Japanese Wii and DSi Shops are a bit more restrained than the last couple of weeks, offering a much more manageable (read: smaller) selection of downloadable titles. On Virtual Console, for example, Sega's isometric arcade shmup Zaxxon is the only offering. Similarly, there's just one WiiWare game, but it's Phoenix Wright!

DSiWare gets the cool Photo FIghter X, which lets you build fighting game characters from DSi camera snaps. More Paint By DS joins it, this time all about dogs; and in the requisite "puzzle game" positions are a new G.G. series entry and a Jupiter-developed game about rotating blocks to match colors.

• Zaxxon (Arcade, 1-2 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (WiiWare, 1 player, 900 Wii Points)
• Shashin de Kakutou! Photo Fighter X! (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 200 DSi Points)
• G.G. Series Vertex (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Kanji Practice First Grade (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Artist ni Narou! Minna no Nurikai Inu-hen (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Atelier Deco La Doll (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Castle of Magic (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Panewa! (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

This slightly hokey Japanese trailer for the WiiWare ports of the Phoenix Wright games features an overexcited kid informing his easily shocked father that the series is now available on WiiWare -- at which point they turn on the Wii and, essentially, watch more of the trailer that they are currently in.

The family also demonstrates the new Wiimote gestures for Phoenix's exclamations: Igiari! (Objection!), Matta! (Hold it!) and Kurae! (Take that!) Seeing people perform the motions on video, it actually looks like much more fun than we anticipated. So much fun that we'll be driven to play through the games again on Wii just to make fools of ourselves in a new way.

The Wii isn't the only new venue into which Phoenix Wright is expanding his legal business. Today, at the Apple Store in Ginza, Capcom revealed a version of the first Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney for iPhone and iPod Touch. It uses the same unaltered Game Boy Advance graphics that have graced the DS and WiiWare versions, along with new "flick"-based controls. Finally, a device that can both play the game and the Steel Samurai ringtone!

Capcom didn't offer date or price details for the release. For reference, the WiiWare version of the first episode is priced at 900 Wii Points in Japan (with a 300-point charge for the extra fifth case) and 1,000 in North America (with the last case as a 100-point download).

[Via Andriasang]

As revealed in the latest issue of Famitsu, Capcom is bringing its three Phoenix Wright "courtroom battle" games to Nintendo's WiiWare service. Today the publisher confirmed that the releases will be making their way to the US beginning in January. Capcom intends to release the games every other month (January, March and May) for 1,000 Wii Points ($10) apiece, with "Rise from the Ashes," the extra case added to the DS Ace Attorney, arriving as DLC in May for 100 Wii Points ($1).

The first game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, is a port of the original Game Boy Advance title -- and, like the two subsequent WiiWare editions, Justice for All and Trials and Tribulations, remains unchanged from its original release (read: same graphics, sound, dialog) save for the ability to swing the Wii Remote out (as in the image above, which is one-off, non-sprite art) to object and present evidence to the court. They'll all be presented in widescreen, but the actual gameplay only takes up a 4:3 area on top of an animated background. Nevertheless, the games are still superb, and at $10 with the ability to play them on the big screen you won't hear any objections from us.

Check out a whole lot of screens and two pieces of art from Ace Attorney in the gallery below.

A rating on Germany's USK database suggests that Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is being planned for Wii. "Objection!!", you may say, thrilled to have the opportunity to work that in. "Didn't Ace Attorney Investigations producer Motohide Eshiro already say that the series would remain on handhelds?"

While it's true that future Ace Attorney games will probably be on handhelds, the series has already been ported to PC, proving that someone within Capcom -- and not necessarily anyone involved with actually making the Ace Attorney games -- has no issue with porting the existing titles, which is extremely likely to be what is happening here. And this is the same Capcom that said that Resident Evil 4 would be a GameCube exclusive.

Our guess would be an episodic WiiWare presentation of the first Phoenix Wright. Or a mistake in the rating description.

It's not often we're at a loss for words, but the potent combo of Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now," Elite Beat Agents and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is too much for our feeble little brain to handle. The gameplay looks incredibly punishing and, quite frankly, we wouldn't mind a few of Wright's cases going down like this.

Instead of failing to describe this fan-made mash-up any better, we're just going to direct you past the break, then into the comments section where you can heap on some praise of your own.

[Thanks LuigiHann!]

Source - osu! - Queen - Don't Stop Me Now [Cruisin'] (Storyboard showoff)
Source - osu! (Queen - Don't Stop Me Now [Hard ROCK!])

Though it's been available in Japan since late May, Capcom's Phoenix Wright spin-off, Gyakuten Kenji, was playable in English form at the publisher's Tokyo Game Show hotel suite. Inefficiently dubbed Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, the game sees you ditching the spiky-haired idealist and donning a delightful cravat in service of the prosecution.

In what could have been just another Phoenix Wright game, but presented from an opposing perspective, Ace Attorney Investigations diverges from tradition more than any other title in the series -- which is to say that it actually diverges from tradition just a bit. The focus is still heavily on plot, characters and clever yappin', but the sterile, first-person point-and-click investigation process has now been replaced with a third-person view.

The control system is functional, but quite unnatural in one respect. You can maneuver Edgeworth through the 2D environments, displayed on the DS' top screen, by either dragging the stylus across the touch screen or simply using the d-pad (thanks for the option, Edgey!). When you've gotten him close enough to an item of interest, you tap a context-specific icon on the bottom screen to interact with it. So, it's less point-and-click and more walk-over-there-and-tap-the-button.

Japanese gaming pub Dengenki recently polled its readers on what series they'd like to see translated into anime form. The Top 10 list looks nearly exactly the same as our own wishlist:

• 1. Persona 4
• 2. Phoenix Wright
• 3. Okami
• 4. Kingdom Hearts
• 5. Idol Master
• 6. Metal Gear Solid
• 7. Yakuza
• 8. BlazBlue
• 9. Persona 3
• 10. Atelier Rorona

Atlus' PS2 RPG Persona 4 tops the list, managing to beat out some big names like Kingdom Hearts and Metal Gear Solid. Perhaps the success of Persona: Trinity Soul reminded readers that the franchise works in serialized TV format? While we'd certainly like to see another Persona anime, an adaptation of Phoenix Wright seems like a no-brainer. Capcom, are you reading this?

[Via Andriasang]

We've been quite happy to watch clips of Takarazuka Revue's Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Shinjitsu (Gyakuten Saiban: Resurrected Truth), the first Phoenix Wright musical performed by the renowned all-female theatre company.

YouTube user GKKLJapan has added an element to the clips that increases our enjoyment significantly: subtitles. Now you can not only watch the show, but see what's happening! The translator's LiveJournal is being used as a project log for the translation, and suggests that the entirety of the play is in progress. In the meantime, enjoy the two clips after the break (do not miss the Edgeworth song) ... and think about this: if Phoenix Wright games had full animation and voice acting, they'd look a lot like this.

[Via Kotaku]

Honestly, we're only about 50 percent sure we believe Ryota Niitsuma when he explains why video game lawyer Phoenix Wright didn't get the chance to battle in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but we thought you should decide for yourself.

The producer told NGamer that Phoenix's one attack -- shouting at his opponent -- would have been a fine size in Japanese ("igiari" can be written in four characters), but when translating that shout to the 10 characters in "Objection" ... well, we should let Niitsuma explain it: "When we localize, the balance of the game gets destroyed because the move becomes bigger. There'd be no way of avoiding it! We had to remove [Phoenix] for these reasons. In the future, it is one of our aims to get him in."

OK, upon re-reading, we're now 99 percent sure that he's joking. Still, it's funny, right? Read the interview for yourself here, or, better yet, just go buy the magazine.

[Via The Escapist]

Udon Entertainment has announced its next Capcom artbook, following collections of Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, and Mega Man art: The Art of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, featuring 240 pages of improbably dramatic images of lawyers and their teenage friends. The book features covers, promotional art, and character designs and profiles from the three Phoenix Wright graphical text adventures, as well as "the complete artwork" from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.

Udon plans to release this in October -- the same month in which it will release the Mega Man Official Complete Works, potentially causing a problem for people with only enough money in their artbook budget for one book about a blue-clad Capcom character per month.

[Via Kotaku]

Capcom's in a fairly generous mood this morning! Its spirits are seemingly bolstered by the opening of the San Diego Comic-Con -- in tandem with the convention's kickoff, they sent a press release full of announcements. The most exciting of which is, of course, the revelation of the February 16 release date for Ace Attorney Investigation: Miles Edgeworth.

You may object to the amount of time now standing between you and the highly animated Law & Order sim -- but if you happen to be attending the Con this year, you can get an early look at the game at Capcom's booth, you lucky, lucky so-and-so.

Nick Tonks has followed up his Noby Noby Boy kicks -- it's a PS3 game, don't worry about it -- by making a pair of Phoenix Wright-inspired Vans. Tonks tells us the project took 12 hours and cost £30, those interested in how the design was created can check out the step-by-step on his blog.

Tonks tells us he got kicked out of art class in school, so if you're looking to support his footwear art career, you can bid for the sneaks on a little site called eBay. He also says he's open to feedback and suggestions, so if you've got an idea of what he should do next, drop a comment below.

The Phoenix Wright musical that ran in Japan last month was a success for the all-female Takarazuka Revue theatre troupe, with tickets selling out on opening day. If you thought an operatic, all-female performance of stories based on video game characters couldn't be a hit, TAKE THAT! In its press release about the show, Capcom described this presentation as part of its "One Property with Multiple Uses" strategy, in which Capcom properties are marketed for multiple media.

Because of the success of the courtroom crooning, Capcom and the Revue have announced plans for a sequel! The revue will perform Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 2 (which, like the first one, will probably be an original story) at the Takarazuka Bow Hall from August 20 through August 31, and at the Akasaka ACT Theatre from September 5 through September 15.

We eagerly await the first pictures from the new show -- will we see a female Godot this time? A Female Dr. Hotti? A female Franziska von Karma -- oh, wait.

We're sure that a gigantic portion of our readership has a boundless love for two seemingly unrelated items: Nintendo DS adventure games, and the opera (staged musicals, that is, not the web browser). This large, imaginary group of people will likely flip their imaginary lids when they hear that Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney will be making it's theatrical debut in Japan in the form of an Ace Attorney Opera.

The production is being performed by the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female troupe, raising some ponder-worthy questions about the girlification of the game's heavily-bearded Judge. According to the Revue's producer, the troupe is currently finishing up rehearsals and should be ready to harmonize their "Objections!" in front of a crowd by the end of February.