Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

[Warning: This page contains spoilers.]

About

The Ace Attorney series, known in Japan as Gyakuten Saiban (逆転裁判), is a series of visual novel games published by Capcom^[1], starting in 2001. Players in the game direct the main character in realistic court cases to help prove the defendant innocent through evidence and faulty testimonies.

Gameplay

The first four games in the series are entirely menu-based, and any progression is based on menu options. The two most recent, however, allow you to control the main character’s movement in non-confrontational situations. The first three games in the series were created for the Game Boy Advance, but have been ported to the Nintendo DS, including English translations. The series has been developed for the DS starting with the fourth game.

The first three games are played with Phoenix Wright, who has become widely associated with the series. The fourth game introduces a new protagonist, Apollo Justice, who takes over from Wright, and Miles Edgeworth, a key character from the first trilogy.

Characters

• Phoenix Wright
  
  

Phoenix Wright is the original protagonist in the series. He’s represented as a lawyer who depends highly on lucky breaks, but has a strong sense for inconsistencies. Phoenix is the most widely recognizable character in the series.

• Miles Edgeworth
  
  

Miles Edgeworth is a prosecutor in the series who appears on several occasions. He is a direct rival to Phoenix, and is constantly seen in legal battles with Phoenix. His cold demeanor and his ability to be thrown off easily by surprising behavior have made him a popular character.

• Apollo Justice

Apollo Justice is the second protagonist in the series and apprentice of Phoenix Wright. He appears 7 years later, after Phoenix loses his attorney license. He displays the same character qualities as Phoenix, but, because of his younger age, rings differently with the fanbase. Apollo is often a common cosplay choice in the series.

Games

(Please Note: The Second Investigations game has not been released internationally, which is why the cover is in Japanese. There are currently no plans to release it internationally.)

Gyakuten Saiban 5

On January 9, 2012, it was announced that the fifth game in the main series, Gyakuten Saiban 5, was in development. No other information has been released about release date, format/console, or international release. Coupled with the announcement was the information that the three original games would be released as apps on Apple Products in HD.

Spread

Though it was only released in Japan at first, its popularity led the first three games to be created as a port for the nintendo DS between 2005 and 2009. It has since gained a considerable fanbase in America, and can be seen referenced in many places, including fanart, videos, and writings.

The series has performed reasonably well in Japan from the beginning. In the United States, the expectations for the game were initially low. Later the games became surprisingly successful, forcing Capcom to prepare multiple additional runs of the game to meet the demand. As of March 2011, the series has sold over 4.1 million units. A live-action film based on the game series has also been confirmed to be in production.

Gyakuten Saiban (film)

It was recently confirmed by Capcom that a live action film was in production called Gyakuten Saiban (Turnabout Courtroom in english). Several trailers have since been released, and it will appear in Japanese theaters on February 11, 2012.

Related Sites

Court Records

Court Records^[1] is a fan-made website dedicated to the game’s franchise and any events surrounding it. Founded in 2006, it started with basic game information, but has since grown to include forums that have 16,000+ members, many sprites and screenshots of the game, and an extensive list of fan works. The site also posts news on upcoming games and events.

Objection! (objection.mrdictionary.net)

Objection!^[2] is a website that allows users to make customizable flash animations of the characters by entering their own text. Users can choose any of the lawyers in the series, as well as the judge. Once an animation is made, the user is taken to the page of their animation, which is saved on site. The site was founded on July 7, 2006, and currently has 1,800,000+ animations saved. It has gone through several hosting sites due to bandwidth issues, but now has a stable plan.

(An example of a custom page)

Fan Art

Cosplay

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

In October 2011, it was officially announced that Phoenix Wright would be a playable character in “Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3”.

Related Memes

Objection!

Presenting evidence in the games is accompanied by the defense attorney pointing with his finger and shouting “Objection!”, accompanied by a word bubble of the same word. This act and the word bubble have become an iconic representation of the series. The Objection! meme follows the same pattern, using the iconic word bubble as a image macro to be placed with characters in the act of pointing their index finger. Sometimes the word is changed to match the theme.

Phoenix Wrong (Phoenix Wright Parodies)

Phoenix Wrong features a series of of Flash and videos made by fans, featuring the characters of the game. The characters reenact popular internet jokes, quote famous movies and TV shows, sing songs, and do other random nonsense. The original Phoenix Wrong was created by Newgrounds user Ashford Pride and submitted on July 29, 2006. The popularity of the flash video spawned many parodies.

Google Insight

External References