Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

[Nerdysimmer]

I'm sure some of you heard about this game. Fatal Frame 4 was released July of last year in Japan. Fans of the horror genre and the Fatal Frame series eagerly awaited the international release of the game, but then came the unexpected announcement on April 8th; Fatal Frame 4 is never going to see an international release. Since the announcement, torches were lit, pitchforks were sharpened, and Wiis were either sold, smashed, or hacked. All hope and hype for the outing of a record selling horror franchise seemed lost since the announcement.

However a week later, there came a project that has never been attempted on a retail console game until now.

Enter the Translation Patch.
http://zero4.higashinoeden.com/index.php5

Since April 17th of 2009, there has been a group of hard working coders working on a translation patch that can also allow imports of the Japanese game to be played on the regionlocked consoles. The patch is currently 99.3% done, and it only requires an SD card, and the game for it to work. Hacking it is not required.

Thoughts?

[kevinsano]

Wait, so I won't have to mod my Wii for this to work?

[Nerdysimmer]

Wait, so I won't have to mod my Wii for this to work?

That is their goal, allowing the game to be played on the Wii with english subtitles without actually modifying the Wii's firmware. It's something never done before, but hopefully it will work.

and if it does work, then I hope Nintendo does not interfere with their OMGZUPDATEUPDATE phenomenon to remove the patch, it is their fault for not releasing it internationally that this happened.

[kevinsano]

*bookmarks Ebay and that website

[Keaton]

Well if they do release an update now, I'm not going to get it. I want to play this game.

[Jeff Pawlak]

This is bringing back awful memories of the conflicting explanations by Nintendo as to why the game didn't get released outside of Japan. God, that was [and still is] a bunch of bullshit. It's appalling that a group of 'hackers' are the first people in the gaming industry to try and bring one of Wii's more notable third party titles to the rest of the world.

[Nerdysimmer]

The translation site has been revamped, which means the patch is near completion. Expect it really soon!

[Nerdysimmer]

It starts, now.

http://zero4.higashinoeden.com/index.html

..well not "now", but no one bothered to post the topic at all.