Ghost Squad Wii

[Hellfire]

From Kotaku:

So it turns out that as of now, at least, Ghost Squad for the Wii doesn't have a light gun, instead you use the Wii remote to shoot your way through the arcade rail shooter.

 

When I asked the team (twice) presenting the game to us about the potential for a light gun they begrudgingly admitted that people probably would like to play the game with a zapper of some sort and then said it was something they were looking into and that we should "watch this space." So I suspect it's coming.

 

The game itself seems to be staying very true to its arcade roots. It's got the same retro look and sound with all of that cheesy dialog and plot you've grown to love if you've ever played this Time Crisis-ish game in the arcade.

 

Their are four gameplay modes, including the full arcade version and a multiplayer mode that supports up to four players on one television and Wii.

 

The game is spread out over three missions, includes 25 weapons and some special modes that have you using a sniper scope, night and thermal vision and a flashlight to run through sections of the map. They also showed us an area where you had to defuse a bomb but snipping through colored wires in the correct order.

 

While the graphics were a bit shabby, the game does look like it could be fun. I just hope they come up with a pack that includes a zapper of some sort, a very cool looking one.

[Zechs Merquise]

I should imagine the graphics will be on a par with the arcade graphics, so no harm there.

[pedrocasilva]

I should imagine the graphics will be on a par with the arcade graphics, so no harm there.

From what I've seen they're mostly equal, there's some color palette diferences (because of the hardware) and the shadow transparency seems to be lower on the Wii compared to the arcade counterpart.

 

Not much diference apart from that, though.

[Zechs Merquise]

From what I've seen they're mostly equal, there's some color palette diferences (because of the hardware) and the shadow transparency seems to be lower on the Wii compared to the arcade counterpart.

 

Not much diference apart from that, though.

 

Arcade perfect ports are no problem, it's when they dumb down that annoys me. Plus an arcade perfect port is cheaper for the developer, cheap games = more profit and more profit will encourage them to develop more games or better still port a HotD or virtua cop collection

[khilafah]

Ghost squad is fun so hopefully more games like this will be released. It should of been released on the Dreamcast years ago. graphics look like a DC game.

[Teppo Holmqvist]

It should of been released on the Dreamcast years ago. graphics look like a DC game.

 

Actually, they are from souped up Xbox (Chiciro arcadeboard was basically Xbox with additonal memory).

[Zechs Merquise]

Actually, they are from souped up Xbox (Chiciro arcadeboard was basically Xbox with additonal memory).

 

According to IGN grapphics aren't as good as Arcade

[pedrocasilva]

According to IGN grapphics aren't as good as Arcade

Some of the shaders don't seem to be there.

 

Comes from the Wii GPU not being a regular PC GPU, so it's not compliant with shader model, they have to be re-written.

 

I'd say they have plenty time to make it even outdo the arcade version though, Q4 2007 release for a port who seems to be running already gives them a lot of space for improvement. (I don't know if they will though)

[Cube]

Some of the shaders don't seem to be there.

 

Comes from the Wii GPU not being a regular PC GPU, so it's not compliant with shader model, they have to be re-written.

 

I'd say they have plenty time to make it even outdo the arcade version though, Q4 2007 release for a port who seems to be running already gives them a lot of space for improvement. (I don't know if they will though)

 

Yea, all they have to do is design two extra routes for each level. (for Player 3 and 4)

[Zechs Merquise]

Some of the shaders don't seem to be there.

 

Comes from the Wii GPU not being a regular PC GPU, so it's not compliant with shader model, they have to be re-written.

 

I'd say they have plenty time to make it even outdo the arcade version though, Q4 2007 release for a port who seems to be running already gives them a lot of space for improvement. (I don't know if they will though)

 

True, I would have thought AM2 would've beefed it up and really made soemthing fo this, they have a good reputation.

[flameboy]

Actually, they are from souped up Xbox (Chiciro arcadeboard was basically Xbox with additonal memory).

 

That was going to my first question, which board it was built on, whether or not it was the Dreamcast orientated one or another...

 

One thing about games such as this coming to the Wii, is that it may bring even more gamers to the Wii, you may get real arcade, light gun nuts who are up for reliving the glory days from the comfort of their home.

 

It is a clever move from Sega, cheap development costs + easy simple gameplay mechanic + potential new arcade fan customers=instant money making!

[Hero-of-Time]

From Gonintendo

 

- Ghost Squad is looking to be fun, NiGHTS is still looking rough

- House of the Dead is/was being developed for Wii, but may have been cancelled

 

BOOOOOO! I would have loved for HotD to have arrived on the Wii.

[pedrocasilva]

From Gonintendo

 

BOOOOOO! I would have loved for HotD to have arrived on the Wii.

IGN probably knew something along those lines beforehand but had NDA's, thing is, with Ghost Squad coming Sega doesn't want to detract from it's sales, so they aren't confirming or denying, and might even be dependant of the GSquad sales.

 

That or the development focus swifted to benefit other titles in the short term, Sega has a limit of working manpower there.

 

But yeah, I'd rather have a 100% confirmation it'll come, but seeing as Sega already evaluated it and started development... should be looking more likely than ever; a matter of time.

[Zechs Merquise]

If they won;t confirm it until Ghost Squad has sold well, and usually when a compant refuses to confirm or deny it is as good as a confimation. SEGA are fools if they don't release classic games on the Wii, it's a money machine for companies with great portable back catalogues.

[pedrocasilva]

New Images:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/2007/05/14/104,1179107181,71589,0,0.html (more images here)

[Konfucius]

New Images:

 

 

 

 

 

Oh man look at these shadows. I hope they'll improve them.

I mean I'm used to cheap graphics by now but these shadows remind me of N64.

 

I'll surely buy it anyways because it looks fun but seeing cheap ports like that make me feel like I don't get much for my money.

[pedrocasilva]

Oh man look at these shadows. I hope they'll improve them.

I mean I'm used to cheap graphics by now but these shadows remind me of N64.

 

I'll surely buy it anyways because it looks fun but seeing cheap ports like that make me feel like I don't get much for my money.

I think their transparency is already better than the first shots showed, but sure shadows aren't the game strenghts and I'd hope they get improved... But at least they're just the same in the arcade.

 

The port is being done by Polygon Magic Studio apparently, that's the team that was doing Bleach Wii before.

[Zechs Merquise]

Is it just me or do those new screens look better already?

[pedrocasilva]

Is it just me or do those new screens look better already?

I think, although I'm not 100% positive due to the size and compression and the environments not providing me a direct comparison... that the shadows look a little better (closer to the arcade version), the previous ones had too little transparency so looked much more defined, which in this game wasn't a good thing.

 

I don't see other improvements besides that, but I'm not that familiar with the arcade game.

 

EDIT: most direct comparison I can pull off?

 

 

Old > New

[Retro_Link]

E3 Trailer

 

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/21666.html

 

Looks good!

Multiplayer should be cool!

[Goron_3]

As awful as the graphics are, the gameplay does look like fun. Co-op should be a blast aswell. That said, i think it'd fair better as a budget priced game.

[Retro_Link]

As awful as the graphics are, the gameplay does look like fun. Co-op should be a blast aswell. That said, i think it'd fair better as a budget priced game.

Yeah I agree.

Be good if it came bundled with the Zapper for £40!

[Kurtle Squad]

I actually played this in an arcade in Jan 2006, with one of my best mates.

It was pretty good, but hard (like all arcade games), so we didn't play it much, for obvious reasons.

[Zechs Merquise]

As awful as the graphics are, the gameplay does look like fun. Co-op should be a blast aswell. That said, i think it'd fair better as a budget priced game.

 

In motion it doesn't look too bad actually. Yeah, they should've spruced it up a bit, but hey it looks great fun and the zapper is cool.

[Hero-of-Time]

Yeah I agree.

Be good if it came bundled with the Zapper for £40!

 

Ask and ye shall recieve!

 

Sega has announced that when Ghost Squad hits Japan on Oct. 25th, it will come in two flavors. Japanese gamers will be able to pick up a Ghost Squad/Wii Zapper bundle, or just the stand-alone game. As of right now, there are no plans for the bundle to head to the US.

 

Looks promising for all the other regions.