It’s Time for a Narutimate Hero
Holy crap, our spell checker just melted the computer.
Published: October 10, 2005
Game titles can be a tricky thing to nail. How do you balance out being informative while still offering something that isn’t horribly clichéd? Something calling itself Narutimate Hero goes beyond the realm of a “hmmmmm...” response and tears straight into “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA” territory. Such is the moniker given to the new Naruto title currently under way in the halls of Bandai.
We’re not making fun of it, mind you. If we did, legions of Naruto freaks would bash down our doors and bludgeon us to death while wearing the guise of their favorite characters. No, we’re cool with the title and even applaud the creativity that went into it, it’s just that trying to type it in crashed Word like 16 times in a row (insert “You guys actually use Word?” joke here) as the spell checker crunched algorithms and crap trying to decipher what we really meant.
No matter, it’s in the dictionary now, and we’re ready to pass along the good news. Developed by the cats over at CyberConnect2 in Fukuoka, Japan, the very same team that helped out with the video game side of the whole .hack series that we apparently have no game page entries for. 14 playable characters boasting fighting combo, base, projectile and super attacks all played out in what Bandai is calling “lush environments playable on two different planes,” the game also offers a handful of unlockable goodies like trading cards, movies, music and toys.
“The NARUTO series has proven to be wildly popular in Japan, inspiring over 28 volumes of graphic novels and 113 episodes of the anime,” quipped Naruo Uchida, Vice President of Bandai Games Inc. “Gauging from American fan requests, websites, and cosplayers dedicated to the series, we are confident that an enthusiastic reception awaits Naruto: Narutimate Hero in the United States.”
We can’t wait to see what the game looks like. Depending on who you talk to around here, the involvement of the .hack team is either the greatest thing other or something that boils down to a “...” level of enthusiasm. Needless to say, we’re curious, and we’ll pass along more info as we get it.
We’re not making fun of it, mind you. If we did, legions of Naruto freaks would bash down our doors and bludgeon us to death while wearing the guise of their favorite characters. No, we’re cool with the title and even applaud the creativity that went into it, it’s just that trying to type it in crashed Word like 16 times in a row (insert “You guys actually use Word?” joke here) as the spell checker crunched algorithms and crap trying to decipher what we really meant.
No matter, it’s in the dictionary now, and we’re ready to pass along the good news. Developed by the cats over at CyberConnect2 in Fukuoka, Japan, the very same team that helped out with the video game side of the whole .hack series that we apparently have no game page entries for. 14 playable characters boasting fighting combo, base, projectile and super attacks all played out in what Bandai is calling “lush environments playable on two different planes,” the game also offers a handful of unlockable goodies like trading cards, movies, music and toys.
“The NARUTO series has proven to be wildly popular in Japan, inspiring over 28 volumes of graphic novels and 113 episodes of the anime,” quipped Naruo Uchida, Vice President of Bandai Games Inc. “Gauging from American fan requests, websites, and cosplayers dedicated to the series, we are confident that an enthusiastic reception awaits Naruto: Narutimate Hero in the United States.”
We can’t wait to see what the game looks like. Depending on who you talk to around here, the involvement of the .hack team is either the greatest thing other or something that boils down to a “...” level of enthusiasm. Needless to say, we’re curious, and we’ll pass along more info as we get it.