The fifth main installment in the Fatal Frame survival horror franchise arrives on Wii U tomorrow… but only in Japan. And there seems to be no Western release in sight. The first three games came Stateside, but the fourth for Wii stayed behind, and fans are afraid this new one will remain rooted as well. However, a piece of information on the Japanese streaming site Niconico might indicate that a localization announcement is forthcoming.
Earlier this morning, Niconico ran a gameplay broadcast — despite being a Japanese-focused site, there was an English synopsis of the event for overseas viewers. Instead of referring to the game by its Japanese title — Zero: Nuregarasu no Miko — the English blurb called it "Fatal Frame: Oracle of the Sodden Raven." What's curious about this is that all previous references to the game have gone with "Fatal Frame: The Black-Haired Shrine Maiden," which was admittedly just a fan translation of he original name. Why would Nintendo and developer Koei Tecmo change the name from what we are familiar with if they weren't planning on a Western release eventually?
This is pure speculation, but Nintendo can't really afford not to bring as much self-published content outside of Japan as it possibly can. Let's hope for that Fatal Frame V announcement any day now.
Via: NeoGAF