Yes, the fourth Fatal Frame game, created by Suda 51 and Tecmo, and published by Nintendo in Japan, appears to have no hope of an NA or EU release. No other company can snap it up (so we’re told), and we only have vague rumors to suggest what went wrong behind the scenes.

But when you’ve got a strong fan community, you’ve got options.

Fansite Beyond the Camera’s Lens has brought word of an intimidating fan project set to bring the game to Wiis around the world. The Fatal Frame 4 Translation Patch Project seeks to create a file that would run off an SD card and translate Fatal Frame IV while you’re playing. Yes, you would need to import a copy of the game from Japan, but you would not need a Japanese Wii to play it. From the team’s FAQ page:

We are attempting a very ambitious patch which will patch the original game on-the-fly, something that to my knowledge has never been attempted before. Should we succeed, the patch will be read off an SD card and run through the Wii Memory Management menu, and will function as long as you have the original game in your disc drive.

Should the patching method be successfully implemented, the game will run on any Wii, any version, any region.

The team is shooting to get the patch finished by the end of the summer. According to this forum post, they already have quite a bit completed. I’ll be watching for updates and if they get this working, my finger will be on the Play-Asia import button.