Trivia / Metal Wolf Chaos

• Creator Backlash: Masanori Takeuchi, the producer of Metal Wolf Chaos, had expressed regret over not being able to release the game overseas, however he felt that a game featuring the U.S. President shooting down other (corrupt) U.S. military soldiers wouldn't be acceptable around American audiences due to the War on Terror occurring around the time of the original game's release.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Because of the game's Japan-only release and rarity, prices for a copy of the game has drastically inflated commanding upwards of hundreds of dollars for a second-hand copy, and that's not getting into importing a Japanese Xbox (or modding a North America/European system). Thankfully, this has finally changed as the game saw a digital re-release by Devolver Digital on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC through Steam and GOG.com.
• Marth Debuted in "Smash Bros.": While the game hasn't seen an overseas release up until the XD remaster, Michael Wilson and his mech Metal Wolf made an early cameo appearance as a recruitable Golem under the name of "Executor" in Enchanted Arms, a turn-based RPG game also by FromSoftware released for the Xbox 360 in 2006 and later PlayStation 3. He was also featured with other cameo characters from FromSoftware's previous titles (e.g. Raikoh from Otogi and the Cloud Breaker from Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit).
  • The "President" character model in FromSoftware's 3D Dot Game Heroes is based on Metal Wolf, complete with a matching description:
    Description: "The X7th President of the United States, who has gone missing. (Hero)"
• Meaningful Release Date: The XD port's release date is the 74th anniversary of the nuking of Hiroshima, fitting for a Japanese game about Americans blowing things up.
• The Merch: Devolver Digital partnered with Limited Run Games, were able to produce collectible pins based on the game's version of the Seal of the President of the United States for around $15 and a statue of Metal Wolf itself for around $200. For those that can't afford the statue, they have also made a papercraft of Metal Wolf that can be downloaded from the game's official website.
• Late Export for You: The original game was not released in the U.S., because publishers didn't think it would sell, i.e. this game was too American for America. A later interview claimed that the 9/11 attacks also played a part in the decision on top of the Xbox's waning lifespan at the time of the game's original release. 15 years later after its original Xbox release, Devolver Digital got the rights to the game and went on to release a remastered version under the title Metal Wolf Chaos XD.^note A common fan theory is this was because it is against the law in the US to use the Great Seal of the US or the Seal of the President of the United States for anything other than official government business. However, the Seal in the original game already is markedly different, mainly lacking the "E pluribus unum" text and switching around the stars onto the crest in front of the eagle and the stripes into the background.
• Pre-Order Bonus: Those who pre-ordered Metal Wolf Chaos XD received a special skin for Metal Wolf based on the platform of their choice. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions received a skin themed around their respective consoles, Steam owners got a Lamda skin based on Gordan Freeman's HEV Suit from Half-Life, and GOG.com owners got a galaxy-themed skin.
• Remade for the Export: The original game never left Japan, but the XD port was released overseas and in multiple languages and systems to boot.
• Schedule Slip: The XD port was planned for a 2018 release window but was delayed to August 6, 2019.
• Screwed by the Network: It's said that the other reason this game didn't make it to America is that FromSoftware couldn't get a publisher. Sega, who published the Otogi titles, allegedly laughed before stating that it would never sell in the States. Another issue is that allegedly the game is of poor taste during the post-9/11 climate. This becomes all the more painful when put up against From's other mecha game for Xbox, Murakumo: Renegade Mech Pursuit, which was released stateside, and that game got trashed by critics to boot. Whoops...
  • Devolver Digital took shots at them for this in their E3 2018 press conference when introducing the remaster by having one of the employees state the console they were presenting on was the Dreamcast (that was poorly spray painted) and it wasn't even a legit copy to boot. Just a burned copy on a disc.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The very first trailer for the game featured a male character as Michael's Mission Control. His delivery was more a Deadpan Snarker that served as a foil for Michael's Large Ham dialogue.
  • Initially Daisuke Satake, the Leader of Design section of FromSoftware and the designer of Metal Wolf, at first took inspiration from spiders as the motif for the player's mech and given it a similar codename, though the idea of the mecha's motif design then changed to a hunting dog (with a design based off a Doberman), but then ultimately settled with going with a wolf motif as the developers felt it was a cooler concept to design the player's mecha from.

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