Real Zero: Another Edition
Name: Real 零 : Another Edition
Official Site: http://0.tecmo.jp/ (Offline)
Price: 525 yen per month
Supported phones: FOMA 900i, 901i, 902i series cell phones
Region: Japan
Real Zero: Another Edition was a cellular phone game based on Fatal Frame, released exclusively in Japan. First announced on July 15, 2004, in conjunction with a early premiere of Zero 4D, the Beta version became available to some fans on August 2nd 2004, with a full release in November. Cellphone users could 'earn' ghosts by finding their location and fighting them, using real life photographs taken on the player's phone. The game was promoted with the Foma 900i, but was also compatible with several other models. Players paid a monthly fee of 525 yen, and new ghosts/images became available each month.
The game's service was discontinued on March 31, 2011. An archive of the site's previous contents is available on the Wayback Machine.
International Release?
WGR (Wireless Gaming Review) at one point reported that Tecmo had confirmed they were working on getting Real Zero to the US Mobile Phone Market, though they gave no release date.
At E3 2005, the game was available at Tecmo's phone bar for gamers to try out. At the convention Tecmo announced that it would be bringing several of its cellular phone games to the US in 2005. According to sources from Tecmo and Horrorchannel.com, the game was to be released in the US as "Fatal Frame Real". The game was to include the original 70 ghosts, with more to be added if sales went well in the US. Two major cellphone carriers were said to be offering the game to subscribers.
In 2008 it was confirmed by the webmaster of Tecmo's English-language forums that there were no longer any plans to release this game outside of Japan.
Gameplay
The game contained over 70 ghosts, with more added on a monthly basis. Every time the player caught a spirit, a text message was automatically sent to their phone mailbox. The text message might have information on where to find the next ghost, or just a taunting message. Screens of the game showed ghosts from both Fatal Frame and Fatal Frame II.
