Considering the success of the first three Phoenix Wright games over in the US so far on the Nintendo DS, it was no surprise to hear that Capcom was set to quickly bring over its DS-specific new ‘Ace Attorney’ title, ‘Apollo Justice’ to North America. But now it appears that a fifth game is already in the planning stages, plus there is news of Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles on Wii nearing the million mark worldwide.

The fourth entry into the Ace Attorney lawyer series of games on the Nintendo DS, and the first to not be a remake of an old Game Boy Advance title, is set to usher in a new lead star, with Phoenix Wright playing just a bit part this time round as Apollo Justice takes the centre-stage. Siliconera caught up with Colin Ferris, Product Marketing Manager for the Ace Attorney series to find out more about the game.

Starting with the unusual name choice for this new protagonist, Ferris merely stated it was a “collaboration between our Japanese and American divisions. Where Phoenix always fought for your rights, Apollo fights for Justice!” Apollo’s personality differs quite considerably from that of Phoenix Wright’s, especially since he is now the rookie on the block, making mistakes and remaining clueless at many times. But rather than nerves overcoming him, á la Phoenix, he ends up simply getting too excited, which certainly works against him in court.

Miles Edgeworth is no longer the main villain, nor is the caffeine-addicted Godot, with Klavier Gavin filling the position of person everyone loves to hate. But he is by no means tamer than the others, proving to be “just as formidable an opponent as those faced by Phoenix Wright.” Klavier is meant to be a very cool customer who cannot be easily surprised. There will be some familiar faces for long-term fans, though, such as Ema Skye, who had an integral role in the DS-exclusive fifth case of the first Gyakuten Saiban GBA remake for the dual-screen portable. This was done to keep the connection between this continuation and the previous Phoenix Wright trilogy. The difference this time is that Ema is rather more grown up than before and plays an even larger role in the new game.

Below is a snippet from the main interview:

Siliconera: How does Ema help Apollo search for clues? What kind of “scientific investigations” can players perform using the DS’ unique input system?

Colin Ferris, Product Marketing Manager: Again, without giving too much away, Ema Skye helps you with all your forensic analysis of various pieces of evidence. Imagine her as the CSI of the Ace Attorney world.

Siliconera: Apollo has a new set of skills since he doesn’t have psychic help. Can you explain to our readers how Apollo analyzes his witnesses?

Colin Ferris, Product Marketing Manager: Apollo has the unique ability to recognize nervous habits in his opponents. By reading their body language, he can determine whether they are lying or not. This skill serves him very well when cross examining in court.

Siliconera: I recall Japan’s limited edition Gyakuten Saiban 4 bundle had an interactive Nintendo DS encyclopedia of the Phoenix Wright series. Are there any plans to localize this? I imagine it would be a killer pre-order bonus.

Colin Ferris, Product Marketing Manager: I agree, that encyclopedia is really cool and we’re looking at ways to bring it to fans in the US. Currently, it is exclusive to Japan, unfortunately. On another note, our preorder gift is an exclusive Apollo Justice metal keychain. You will be able to get it with your preorder from Gamestop or if you order the game through Capcom.com.

Finally, from this interview, the future of the Ace Attorney series was brought up. Now, it has already been confirmed in Capcom’s financial report last year that since Gyakuten Saiban 4 had sold well over 500,000 units in Japan alone, Gyakuten Saiban 5 was already being worked on for a 2008/2009 release, but no talk of a Western release had even been breathed about. Now, though, Ferris, despite being cagey and saying “You’re just going to have to wait and see what happens,” did add that Capcom currently has some fresh ideas for the next game that fans will love. As for a Wii version, there are still no plans outside of the DS, plus Capcom’s other adventure game from Japan, Kabu Trader Shun, the stock trading game that has been likened to Ace Attorney, also has not been planned yet for a Western release.

In other news, Capcom delivered its Third Quarter financial results today, revealing some impressive sales figures. For those wondering just how well Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (video above), Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure and We Love Golf! have done, check out the official blurb below:

“Regarding Home Video Games segment, “Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles” (for Wii), which is the latest title of the series, achieved robust sales particularly in the US and Europe. The popularity of this title helped to make a favourable start in year-end sales.

Additionally, “Monster Hunter Freedom 2”, which was released in February 2007, joined the lineup of Capcom’s long-selling products achieving sales of over 1.5 million copies in Japan. “Monster Hunter Freedom 2” is the first title to achieve these record sales among those developed for PlayStation Portable.

In this business segment, “Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles” (for Wii), one of our flagship titles, made a strong showing. “Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure” (for Wii) and “Sengoku Basara 2 Heroes” (for Wii, PlayStation 2) also grew steadily.

“WE LOVE GOLF!” (for Wii) and “Mega Man Star Force 2” (for Nintendo DS) saw sluggish growth.”

In terms of pure sales figures, Umbrella Chronicles has surpassed its target of 620,000 copies sold worldwide, since it has now shipped 950,000 units and is still going strong (rumour blog writer SurferGirl also believes Umbrella Chronicles 2 is already in development, if you choose to believe such hearsay). Elsewhere, despite starting slow in the US with around 35,000 units in its first month, Zack & Wiki on Wii has amassed 300,000 sales globally, no doubt helped by a strong showing in Europe, and good word of mouth in North America. With regards to that Resident Evil figure, considering Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition far exceeded its sales target of 430,000 worldwide units as well, no doubt we will indeed be seeing more zombie shenanigans on the Wii in the near future after all!

Nintendic will bring you more news updates as the day goes on, so stay tuned…