A few months ago, Wii U’s launch exclusive horror game from Ubisoft, ZombiU, lost the U and made the jump to PS4, Xbox One, and PC as simply Zombi. The game was released digitally, and though it lost a whole lot of what had made the Wii U version special to begin with, apparently it did well enough that Ubisoft are going to be pushing it even harder now- the PS4, Xbox One, and PC versions of the game will be getting a physical release at retail come early next year.

Essentially, if you own a PS4, Xbox One, or a PC, and are somehow completely averse to owning digital games (maybe because you feel like you want to own your games, rather than being issued some nebulous license to use them), and were interested in this game, then this release is just for you. For other, more normal people, Zombi stopped being a big deal a long time ago.

Zombi launches at retail for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on January 21.

Zombi is now out on PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and if you want to run it on your PC, these are the specs that you will need to have. Of course, since this is a port of a Wii U game, and the Wii U itself isn’t exactly some kind of wonder when it comes to the tech that it is packing, you should be able to run the game even with relatively modest specs.

With that said, you will need a 64 bit Windows OS if you want to run the game- so if you’re still on a 32 bit edition of Windows, you are out of luck.

Here are the specs:

MINIMUM:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1 (64bit version only)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 @ 2.6 GHz or AMD Athlon II X2 240 @ 2.8 GHz
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD5770 (1024MB VRAM)
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 25 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers

RECOMMENDED:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 (64bit versions only)
• Processor: Intel Core i3 2105 @ 3.1 GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.2 GHz
• Memory: 6 GB RAM
• Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD7850 or better (2048MB VRAM)
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 25 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage and information.

Zombi, the port of the popular Wii U survival horror game ZombiU, is out now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC as a digital title. The game, which makes quite a few changes from the Wii U game (such as the lack of the Gamepad mechanics, for obvious reasons, as well as the lack of the multiplayer mode), puts players in the middle of an infected London, where an outbreak has distorted the population into mindless monsters preying on the flesh of the few remaining survivors.

All the ingredients of the acclaimed fear-fueled Wii U first-person shooter are back, delivering all of the most intense chaos and tension to multiple new platforms. In this version, however, a number of updates have been introduced for the new consoles including new melee weapons, faster load times, improved flashlight gameplay and overall visual effects, to make up for what has been lost in the transition from the Wii U game.

You can check out the launch trailer for the game below.

ZombiU on the Wii U was a special game, even if it was not a particularly good one- it is one of the rare games that actually utilized the Wii U’s much maligned Gamepad controller effectively, using it to amp up the tension and atmosphere in the horror game. So when the PS4, Xbox One, and PC port was announced yesterday, one of the questions that very naturally arose was- how would that tension, which relied so intrinsically on the Wii U Gamepad, be replicated?

Very well, claims Ubisoft. 

“We knew from the beginning that maintaining the tension and feel of the original was one of the main challenges, as the way ZombiU was presented on Wii U cannot be reproduced,” says Hélène Henry, Zombi’s producer. While the minimap (which formerly required players to glance down at the Wii U gamepad) has been moved onto the main screen, “We maintain a minimal HUD as much as possible,” Henry says. “It disappears when not required, giving the game a very lonely feeling. If you have surround sound, the awesome sound mix from the original still stands and greatly helps immersion. As much as possible, we’ve tried to keep those key elements.”

“Also, there has been a slight increase in the field of view,” Henry adds, “and players can increase and decrease it a little if they want to, but not so much that it takes away that claustrophobic feeling. Some work was also undertaken on the control mapping and response to improve the look and feel of the first-person movement.”

“We kept the central idea that you’re always vulnerable,” Henry says. “Rummaging in the backpack still doesn’t pause the game. We’ve added a dedicated button to access the backpack, which lets players see their full inventory and assign shortcut keys.” While accessing the inventory, you won’t be able to see anything happening on the main screen. With the game not pausing, that should hopefully adequately replicate the Wii U experience.

Other changes also abound- while the cricket bat was the only melee weapon in the Wii U version, the PS4, Xbox One, and PC ports will have two additional ones. Plus, the local multiplayer mode of ZombiU will not be returning in these versions. This is because they “believe this is where the ZombiU experience really lay.”

Zombi launches on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on August 18. It can be had on Wii U right now.

Ubisoft have finally confirmed something that we all suspected for a long time- former Wii U exclusive ZombiU will be launching on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Since it’s no longer on the Wii U, it will be dropping the U in its title, and be just sold as ‘Zombi.’ Seriously.

ZombiU was a prominent Wii U launch title back in 2012, and represented one of the important games that were touted by Nintendo as proof of their increased third party support for the Wii U. The game ultimately bombed at retail, after having met middling critical reception, in spite of some innovative use of the Wii U’s Gamepad. The Xbox, PS4, and PC port may be a way to recoup some costs, although it will be interesting to see how the game replicates the kind of tension it created with its great usage of the Wii U’s controller.

Did you buy ZombiU? What did you think of it? Will you be getting it on these new systems? Sound off in the comments below!

Rumours surrounding game sales are certainly not a rare thing and when a developer and publisher decides to not make the sales figures known, it’s often assumed that this is because the titles in question under performed. This latest rumour that popped up on NeoGAF, point towards the sales figures of Captain Toad: Trasure Tracker, ZombiU, The Wonder 101 and Bayonetta 2.

Captain Toad: Trasure Tracker, a charming and hugely enjoyable puzzle platforming game, is said to have sold 326,000 copies since its release in December, 46,000 since February. ZombiU, the functional if stinted zombie survival Wii U exclusive, has sold 204,000 copies since its launch.

The Wonderful 101, an under rated and fun action adventure title, has sold somewhere around 104,000 units since launch if the figures are to be believed. And finally, there’s the stunningly well crafted third person action title, Bayonetta 2. It’s thought to have sold in excess of 157,000 copies.

Nintendo may be staying quiet on the topic, but we can only hope that these titles, especially Captain Toad and Bayonetta, performed well enough to justify sequels.

[Source]

One of the highlights of the Wii U’s launch lineup was the survival horror game ZombiU by Ubisoft, a game that stands as a unique entry into its genre, as well as one of the rare examples of a game using the Wii U’s Gamepad controller in a way that enhances the game experience rather than detracting from it (that the game came from a third party like Ubisoft is even more astonishing in that regard).

ZombiU was a bet made by one of many publishers on the Wii U, Nintendo’s newest box that promised an engaged, hardcore audience that would be more interested in traditional game offerings over the casual fare that had so characterized the game output on the Wii. It was a gamble, and it failed- ZombiU remains a cult hit, but it was a bomb sales wise, to the extent that, much to the extent of many, Ubisoft later announced that there would be no sequel to it, that indeed, there would be no more ‘mature’ and ‘hardcore’ games on the Wii U from the publisher at all.

Which is what makes this new listing for ZombiU 2 from Amazon France most curious– it could, of course, just be a mistake, and it wouldn’t be the first time that something like that happened. But what makes it interesting is the fact that the listing even goes as far as to specify an exact release date for the game, rather than the usual generic ‘December 201X’ release dates that pervade speculative listings.

Either someone has a lot of time on their hands, enough to play an elaborate prank like this on everyone, or Amazon France knows something the rest of us don’t. Either way, seeing a ZombiU 2 on the Wii U, one that polishes the rough edges present in the original, and that also has a chance of reaching out to the bigger and more engaged audience that the Wii U has now, would be great.

Nintendo’s Wii U has been having a rough time since its launch, although the tides are turning, what with the release of the excellent Mario Kart 8, the accompanying sales boost, and Nintendo’s great E3 performance that has had even the mainstream talking. Third parties had largely abandoned the Wii U during its off days, but Ubisoft, which was one of the first and most vocal third party supporters of Nintendo’s newest console, still professes to have faith in the system and believes it can excel at the right price.

“With Mario Kart, Wii U made one step and we expect with Smash Bros. it will also do more. If Nintendo put the right price on the machine then they will probably have a chance to do further,” Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot said, speaking to CVG.

“We are coming with Watch Dogs and Just Dance this year. We also have another game on the shelves that we expect to come at some point when there will be more machines,” revealed Guillemot.

“That game is waiting for more machines to be available,” he added, in reference to the ‘availability’ of Wii U owners and, thus, potential customers.

“We are also waiting for them to achieve more sales so that we can invest more. Because the problem we have with next-gen now here, is that we are seeing less games that are on next-gen and last-gen consoles.

“Nintendo has to perform this year, otherwise they will have less games. Justifying investing in the machine needs a larger install base,” said Guillemot.

Nintendo’s performance this year has already seen a boost, and the momentum seems set to continue, thanks to an excellent E3 and the impending launch of Super Smash Bros. Whether Nintendo is smart enough to capitalize on all this positivity, or whether it chooses to squander on all of this again, remains to be seen.

Ubisoft’s Xavier Poix has said that the Wii U is an interesting console with a lot of potential but its features are difficult to get across. It’s one of the reasons ZombiU got middling reception among critics, he indirectly says.

He is the managing director at variety of Ubisoft studios and has revealed that ZombiU was a game for core players.

“ZombiU was designed to be a game for core players launching with a new Nintendo console,” he said to Gamespot.

“We should have communicated better in this respect to let people know what kind of experience to expect. It wasn’t obvious enough that there would be a new controller and new gameplay and a new skill set to develop.”

The console is different from the Wii, he said. People need to use it to understand how it functions. Well, I disagree with this because it’s Nintendo’s job to communicate with their audience well, and leaving everything to consumers will not go well.

“The depth of what you can do with that console is really hard to get across unless you play with it,” he said. “It’s different from the Wii, where seeing was believing. With the Wii U, people really need to experience it. The whole idea of the asymmetrical gameplay and using two screens to do two very different things is not simple to explain to people.”

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

ZombiU writer Gabrielle Shrager says that there is only one thing she would improve in ZombiU, and that’s the melee fighting, saying that the over-reliance on the cricket bat wasn’t intended, and that the players deserved a deeper melee experience.

“More melee weapons would be one of the first things on our list,” she told Game Informer. “Give me a halberd to keep those zombies back. The pickings in the Tower of London’s armory would feel like Christmas.

“The cricket bat was designed to be used almost as a last resort, significant because it’s such a violent assault on your senses”

“Players quickly learn that it won’t save their bacon against more than one zombie at a time (either the hard way, or by listening to the Prepper),” she said. “Some players depend on it entirely instead of scavenging for ammo and new gear, and these players deserve a richer melee experience.”

Some chainsaws would have been nice.

Thanks, VG247.