Fans rally to forge Wii patch that would translate Fatal Frame IV on the fly
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.
Tags: fansub, fatal frame, fatal frame: mask of the lunar eclipse, mod, Nintendo, patch, wii
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So, now when everyone gets to play the game and discovers it's just as broken as all the reviewers have had us believe, do we get to say that Nintendo was right in keeping it out of the US?
Well sure, but given how many ganky games actually do see retail worldwide, you have to wonder if there was something more to Nintendo's decision.
Maybe their patch will also fix the gameplay issues.
Looks like someone's opening a new market for Nintendo: after-sales patches!
i hope that they get this done. my finger is on the import button also.
Something like wanting Tecmo's people to work on the more important Metroid: Other M instead?
The “gameplay” issues are seriously overstated. There are annoying bugs, this is true. You run into about one per playthrough, and they are 95% fixed with a reload. Honestly, it's better than most PC games on release.
The control issues are mostly just IGN and people repeating IGN. IGN either played a very early version or didn't realize you can use the nunchuck to move… the controls aren't great but they are as good as most third person games, and much better than the loads of shovelware out there.
The patch will probably not fix any glitches or issues, as glitches are often very hard to fix and we don't exactly have the source code.
Yes, we do intend to fix at least one issue – namely, the ghost list completion bug. Not sure if we'll be able to fix the freezing issues, but fixing the ghost list completion bug SHOULD fix 2/3 of the major issues (it should also allow you to unlock the content which was previously unlockable due to a glitch).
Sounds very ambitious, to which I wish you the best of luck.
Well sure, but given how many ganky games actually do see retail worldwide, you have to wonder if there was something more to Nintendo's decision.
Maybe their patch will also fix the gameplay issues.
Looks like someone's opening a new market for Nintendo: after-sales patches!
i hope that they get this done. my finger is on the import button also.
Something like wanting Tecmo's people to work on the more important Metroid: Other M instead?
Yes, we do intend to fix at least one issue – namely, the ghost list completion bug. Not sure if we'll be able to fix the freezing issues, but fixing the ghost list completion bug SHOULD fix 2/3 of the major issues (it should also allow you to unlock the content which was previously unlockable due to a glitch).
Sounds very ambitious, to which I wish you the best of luck.