It was reported yesterday that the Xbox 360 zombie survival horror Dead Rising will be ported to the Wii by Capcom. More details have surfaced today after translating the article in Famitsu that had announced the game.

The Wii port will be titled Dead Rising: Zombie Sacrifice, and will have the same basic premise: protagonist Frank West is in a zombie-infested mall, helps survivors, and battles the zombie hoards. The major changes to the Wii version will be to the story structure and the gameplay. The game will be less time-sensitive and more traditional to its 360 counterpart. Instead of security guard Otis continually calling you, players will receive multiple sub-missions from Otis which must be completed before the story advances. This, according to producer and director Minoru Nakai, will allow them to add more story elements into the game.

Gameplay-wise, aside from a new boss, enemies, and items, Dead Rising: Zombie Sacrifice will adopt Resident Evil 4's over-the-shoulder camera. Motion controls will also be used: pointer to aim the gun and shaking the Wiimote to ward off enemies/swing weapons. The D-pad will be used to change weapons, while the A button will perform the same action as the Wiimote shake. Think of pressing the A button like a light attack, and shaking the Wiimote as a heavy attack.

The reasoning behind porting Dead Rising to the Wii was Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition's sales success, and the option to have Dead Rising reach a larger audience. The game currently has no set release date in Japan.

We heard Wednesday that Dead Rising, one of the more memorable sandbox games on the Xbox 360, is coming to the Wii, but now we've got further details on the game translated directly from the Famitsu article that made the revelation. The new port, called Dead Rising: Zombie Sacrifice in Japan, will feature all manner of new features and expanded gameplay -- and as producer and director Minoru Nakai discussed with Weekly Famitsu magazine this week, it's all part of an effort to make the notoriously difficult game more appealing to the casual user base.

Akira_EX via 1up.com »