Last week on July 10th, 2024, all of Nintendo’s social media posted what appears to be cryptic footage of something called Emio. While nothing is more scary than seeing Nintendo having Paranormal Activity footage of a man wearing a smiling Mario bag on his head, the only clue Nintendo fans had at the time was an ESRB M rating. Today, Emio returns with an explanation from its producer, Yoshio Sakamoto to inform the community this is a new title for Famicom Detective Club. Here’s why Emio becoming the franchise’s next mystery holds importance.
History Of Famicom Detective Club
In 1988, Famicom Detective Club was a Japanese-exclusive Famicom (NES worldwide) visual novel series. The first game, The Missing Heir featured the player discovering they are an amnesiac detective while investigating a murder within the Ayashiro family. Thanks to its suspenseful interactive storytelling, Famicom Detective Club gets a more surreal sequel, The Girl From Behind. This time, you are investigating the haunting and murder of high schooler Yoko.
The franchise’s third title, The Past That Disappeared in The Snow was not recognizable due to restrictive access on the Famicom Sattelaview. This title could only be played on Satellaview tapes and the Famicom’s limited-time broadcast network. The series would not meet localization until game developer MAGES remade The Missing Heir and The Girl From Behind on May 14th, 2021 for Famicom Detective Club: Two-Case Collection on the Nintendo Switch.
It’s A Me, Emio
On July 10th, the Nintendo community witnessed one of the creepiest videos the Big N has produced in a long time. The video starts with an empty room with a single flashlight. Soon, video static emerges with a man wearing a smiling bag on their head. At first, this bag head appears to have Nintendo’s mascot, Mario with his signature mustache and curved eyebrows. Then another wave of static transitions to white Japanese kanji text reading the video’s title, Emio.
The Nintendo community and game critics analyzed the video repeatedly to see what they could discover about this mysterious footage. Japanese translators identified Emio as “The Smiling Man” or “Laughing Man”. Looking back at the baghead man again, the face accurately matches the translation. The last clue the community was left with was the M-rating logo at the start of the video. There was no confirmation on who the developer could be or if it was Nintendo themselves creating a horror game.
Yoshiyo Sakamoto Tells All
This morning, Nintendo released a follow-up announcement video on Emio with its now-known developer, MAGES. Producer Yoshiyo Sakamoto reveals that Emio is the name of the next mystery for Famicom Detective Club. He explained when the company finished recreating the first two titles, the team decided they wanted to create a new game for the series. While the trailer video says 30 years have passed since the first game, it’s 36 years since The Missing Heir’s debut in 1988.
MAGES’ development on the fourth title was hinted back in June 2021 in an interview with Nintendo Life. At the time, Director Makoto Asada answered the question of whether Two-Cases helped revive the series: “The goal of the project was to create the pinnacle of 2D text adventures. The team and I got carried away, making mistakes during the development. We would love to use our expertise again for a new Famicom Detective Club one day.”
Emio Lurks Next Month
Emio will feature a tale about young girls meeting their demise at the hands of The Smiling Man. His motif is finding young troubled girls desperate to find happiness in various situations they suffer from. If they agree to his terms, they must forfeit their life to The Smiling Man. All the girls who encountered him wore his smiling bag. Join the Utsugi Detective Club on August 29th to solve the thrilling murder mystery. If you want to experience Famicom Detective Club, the Two-Case Collection is available on the Nintendo Switch.
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