Nintendo
Mystery solved, Emio - the Smiling Man is a new addition to the Famicom Detective Club
It has been 35 years since we have had a new Famicom Detective Club title.
Last week, Nintendo confused its fans and horror game connoisseurs with a cryptic teaser that asked, “Who is Emio?” The disturbing figure of a man with a bag on his head and a sinister smile on his face left many wondering if this was a new Nintendo entry into the world of horror games. But now the mystery has been solved.
Who is Emio? Emio - the smiling man: Famicom Detective Club
Through a video on its YouTube channel, Nintendo has revealed Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, a title that will launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch on August 29, 2024. The title will be the first installment in the series in 35 years. In the video, Yoshio Sakamoto, producer and writer of the series, explains how he is involved in all the details of this sequel, mentioning “I was sure it would be good, so we decided to do it,” as well as explaining the disturbing origin of The Smiling Man.
What is Famicom Detective Club?
Famicom Detective Club is a series of games that debuted for the FAMICOM in Japan in 1988 with The Missing Heir, and later in 1989 with The Girl Who Stands Behind. A remake of the latter game was released for the Super Famicom, and in 2004, both titles were released in a collection for the Game Boy Advance. However, they remained Japanese exclusives.
It wasn’t until 2021 that a remaster of both titles in the series was released on Nintendo Switch, taking the story outside of Japan for the first time.
In Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club, we are told the urban legend of the disturbing Emio, a shadowy figure who appears to girls who are crying alone. In exchange for their lives, he offers them a paper bag with a smile painted on it so that they can “smile forever. Sakamoto says that the fact that the story is about an urban legend rather than ghosts changes the way players experience it, because its foundations are more grounded.
Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club will be released for Nintendo Switch on August 29, 2024 in both physical and digital formats.