Nintendois best known for itsMario-based titles and anime-styled games, and it’s also home to one of the most beloved videogame franchises in the market,The Legend of Zelda. So, when the Japanese publisher teased the arrival of new mature-rated content featuring the creepy character, Emio, the horror community squealed with excitement.
Rumors began to fly around the developer,Bloober Team, after an interview with the studio confirmed the team was working with game creators for Nintendo platforms. The studio hoped the upcomingSilent Hill 2remake would prime gamers’ excitement forthe developer’s upcoming IP, and the community thought this may be Nintendo’s teased Emio title.
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Emio - The Smiling Man Is Not The Horror IP The Community Hoped For
As it turns out, Nintendo’s eerie teaser, showing a character lurking in a room wearing a brown bag over its head with a smiling face drawn on, was all to promote the new adventure game Emio - The Smiling Man, which will serve as the fourth installment in the Famicom Detective Club.
Fans of the series were excited to hear about the unexpected reveal since this will be the first entry into the franchise after a 27-year hiatus. Releasing next month, the point-and-click adventure game will play like a visual novel as the player controls an assistant private investigator during a murder case.
The Nintendo community wasted no time in applauding the marketing strategy applied to the game’s announcement. Several social media users advocated the publisher’s “crazy marketing move” and also thought it was a great campaign to gain interest from gamers who had not heard of the Famicom Detective Club before and it would encourage them to play.
As expected, horror fans were a little disappointed with the reveal, saying “The Emio thing is disappointing because, with the teaser combined with an 18+ genre, it felt like Nintendo was tackling the horror genre with a big new IP.” In response, other users thought the marketing move was smart because Western audiences would have likely not paid much attention to the game’s announcement without the suspense building.
Another point was added suggesting Nintendo’s marketing was somewhat misleading, saying “When your teaser and game look like this, it’s reasonable to be disappointed. Plus a new IP would’ve been more interesting than an IP they revived 3 years ago.”
Thankfully, the negativity was counteracted with a lot of excitement for the series to return, and one fan painted the scene perfectly, saying “You’ve just ordered Pizza Hut…You’ve loaded up Emio - The Smiling Man…No school tomorrow. Your parents don’t care if you stay up all night. A perfect summer night. You are 41 years old. The year is 2024.”
Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is scheduled to be released on August 07, 2025.
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