UPDATE #1: Clarification regarding development roles:
ORIGINAL POST:
This tidbit actually broke last month, but I did a search and didn't find anything on it. I figured it might merit some attention, but my apologies if it doesn't.
In a Famitsu report, different companies were surveyed, each asked the same three questions:
1) Keywords for 2013
2) What you will do in 2013
3) Other
And for Bethesda Softworks (part of ZeniMax), which is publishing Tango Gameworks' "Zwei" (codename) from director Shinji Mikami, the answer for #1 and #2 was just that -- "Zwei." (They didn't answer #3)
Maybe Bethesda thinks their own properties are irrelevant in Japan, but that's all they said when asked these questions.
Of course, the big question remains: Will Zwei be on current-gen HD consoles (PS3, 360, WiiU) or next-gen HD consoles (Orbis and Durango)? Or maybe even both?
By way of background: We know very little of Zwei so far. It's a "pure survival horror" title. It is the first game by Tango Gameworks, established in 2010. Zwei itself was announced in April 2012. Shinji Mikami is directing, and he claims it will be his last game. The lead CGI artist from REmake is handling the environments. And GAF member Dusk Golem did some digging for Tango's old staff directory, taken down before Zwei's announcement, and found Bayonetta concept designer Ikumi Nakamura is involved, as well. (Dusk, you previously made mention of the rest of the staff comprising "all-star talent" -- care to elaborate?)
The staff apparently includes many horror fans and gunplay enthusiasts, who have been visiting "cursed" sites all over Japan. As Dusk and others have noted, the concept art seems to suggest themes like slavery and reclamation by nature, with slave ships, possible plantations (note the guard tower) and more, overgrown and waterlogged.
In addition, early concept art seems to indicate it will be a third-person shooter, with what looks like a soldier as the protagonist.
And then there are the creatures, many of which resemble bizarre human/animal hybrids, or homunculus-like creations trying to act human:
But will it be for PS3, 360 and WiiU? Will it be for Orbis and Durango, maybe even PC? Will one of the Big Three try to strike some sort of exclusive deal with ZeniMax? And how will this game play? Is a return to survival horror a return to slow-paced RE1-style gameplay, or is the presence of a trained military professional, and recent output like RE4 and Vanquish, more indicative of RE4-style play? Or perhaps something else altogether, a radical departure from the TPS?
ORIGINAL POST:
This tidbit actually broke last month, but I did a search and didn't find anything on it. I figured it might merit some attention, but my apologies if it doesn't.
In a Famitsu report, different companies were surveyed, each asked the same three questions:
1) Keywords for 2013
2) What you will do in 2013
3) Other
And for Bethesda Softworks (part of ZeniMax), which is publishing Tango Gameworks' "Zwei" (codename) from director Shinji Mikami, the answer for #1 and #2 was just that -- "Zwei." (They didn't answer #3)
Maybe Bethesda thinks their own properties are irrelevant in Japan, but that's all they said when asked these questions.
Of course, the big question remains: Will Zwei be on current-gen HD consoles (PS3, 360, WiiU) or next-gen HD consoles (Orbis and Durango)? Or maybe even both?
By way of background: We know very little of Zwei so far. It's a "pure survival horror" title. It is the first game by Tango Gameworks, established in 2010. Zwei itself was announced in April 2012. Shinji Mikami is directing, and he claims it will be his last game. The lead CGI artist from REmake is handling the environments. And GAF member Dusk Golem did some digging for Tango's old staff directory, taken down before Zwei's announcement, and found Bayonetta concept designer Ikumi Nakamura is involved, as well. (Dusk, you previously made mention of the rest of the staff comprising "all-star talent" -- care to elaborate?)
The staff apparently includes many horror fans and gunplay enthusiasts, who have been visiting "cursed" sites all over Japan. As Dusk and others have noted, the concept art seems to suggest themes like slavery and reclamation by nature, with slave ships, possible plantations (note the guard tower) and more, overgrown and waterlogged.
(High resolution -- drag and drop in your address bar)
In addition, early concept art seems to indicate it will be a third-person shooter, with what looks like a soldier as the protagonist.
And then there are the creatures, many of which resemble bizarre human/animal hybrids, or homunculus-like creations trying to act human:
Bethesda's response to the Famitsu survey seems to indicate their output, at least from Japan's POV, will be largely defined by Zwei.
But will it be for PS3, 360 and WiiU? Will it be for Orbis and Durango, maybe even PC? Will one of the Big Three try to strike some sort of exclusive deal with ZeniMax? And how will this game play? Is a return to survival horror a return to slow-paced RE1-style gameplay, or is the presence of a trained military professional, and recent output like RE4 and Vanquish, more indicative of RE4-style play? Or perhaps something else altogether, a radical departure from the TPS?
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