Fatal Frame. A popular horror franchise out of Japan. All previous titles in the series have appeared on non-Nintendo systems. Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, however, is a Wii exclusive. And it's headed by Grasshopper Manufacture's Suda 51 (No More Heroes, Killer 7), perhaps the only person living who could possibly inject new levels of weird and gruesome into the already super-spooky Fatal Frame franchise. Now, let's add to all of this that the Fatal Frame series has always delivered pretty graphics and ridiculous amounts of mood and atmosphere. And with the Wii remote, I can only imagine what the developer might be able to do gameplay wise. Sounds pretty awesome, right?

This game comes out in Japan in three freakin' weeks. Three weeks, people! And what does anybody outside of Nintendo know about it? Almost nothing. There's a flimsy Japanese website in support of the game. It features a handful of miniscule pictures and not so much as a single gameplay video. And Famitsu recently published a very brief article that basically said there would be some characters in the game -- major revelation. Beyond that, not much to go on.

Looks like Nintendo of America is not alone in its complete lack of interest in promoting hardcore / traditional games. Metroid Prime 3 sold well despite poor marketing and advertising. Looks like the new Fatal Frame will have to do the same.

Hey, Nintendo Japan: you seem to have a cool game there. Perhaps you can pull away from constant Nintendo Channel updates on Captain Rainbow to show it just a little love?