While we were trapped in the cold, lonely heart of E3, our compatriots at Capcom Japan snuck word out via Famitsu (aka bane of my PR existence) about our next big Wii title, Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop. Obviously, we’ve had to make a number of changes to the game in order to make it Wii-friendly, but the essence and pure zombie-smashing fun that is the core of DR remains — and is even enhanced in some cases. Capcom officially announced the game yesterday (cleverly waiting one week after E3 in order to… I dunno why we waited, actually) and gave the title a nebulous “Winter” release timeframe. More thoughts and some Wii screens after the jump!

Putting 720p screens of DR 360 side-by-side with the Wii screens is a bit unfair, as the two systems are obviously light years apart in terms of graphics processing. It really boils down to gameplay, which I think will delight Wii owners.To be fair, the game does look nice for a Wii title — at least as good as Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition, possibly better — it’s just not the same level of hi-def graphical insanity that the 360 can output.

A number of changes are being made to the game in order to make it a bit more audience friendly, but all the chainsaw-wielding, naughty photo-snapping (no actual pictures shall be taken, my bad), hostage-escorting shenanigans that make the game so charming are intact. Less zombies? Si! But now with Wii-ggle waggle on yer weapons! You’ll be interacting with weapons in a way that is more fun and more involved than basic button presses — it’s much, much easier to use guns now, fer instance. Wii players will find it less of a hassle to save the game when they want/need to, as well.

Actually, my favorite change to the game is the way the clock has been altered. In the 360 version, it turns out that the clock is secretly the toughest enemy in the game. While it ticks away relentlessly, you’re forced to constantly be on the move in order to save hostages, sometimes almost requiring you to be in two places at once. There were a ton of bosses and scenes that I missed in my first playthrough because I was off farting around on a bike or trying to shoot down that damn helicopter rather than paying close attention to goddamned Otis squawking at me every two minutes. Wii players are actually going to be able to play through the entire storyline without missing some of the cooler moments, which is enough to get me as excited about playing this game as I was for RE4 Wii Edition.

Thanks to Destructoid for the awesome image up top, btw. I partially forgive them for robot head guy wearing the same awesome jacket I was wearing at E3 and making me look like a total toolbag in front of the president of Sony Online. But only partially.