Nintendo Spiked Fatal Frame Wii, Tecmo Says

Bad news for those of you holding out any hope that Fatal Frame for Wii might come to America.

Tecmo, who holds the IP rights to the series and developed the game in partnership with No More Heroesmaker Grasshopper, says that Nintendo holds the worldwide publishing rights to the Wii version of Fatal Frame, released in Japan last summer. Nintendo of America has declined to publish the game, so it won't appear in the U.S., Tecmo told IGN in a statement Wednesday:

Nintendo holds the publishing rights to Fatal Frame Wii, which was developed by Tecmo Ltd. and Grasshopper Manufacture and released in Japan on July 31, 2008. Nintendo of America has since then decided not to publish the title in North America -- consequently, the title will not be released in this territory. As the owner of the IP, Tecmo feels very unfortunate that the fans of the series in North America will not have a chance to play the game, but respects the final decision made by Nintendo of America.

If this is truly the final word on this, that's really disappointing. Declining to publish a game, I can understand. Sitting on it and ensuring that it never sees the light of day, not so much. I'll most likely be writing more about this, but I'm going to wait and see if Nintendo of America responds to requests for official comment.