Shinjuku in Tokyo is famous for many things. It has Tokyo's largest red-light district, dozens of bars, arcades, and nightclubs, the world's busiest train station, and a giant Godzilla statue that looms over you as soon as you step into the area. Shinjuku has appeared in many games, including Persona 5 and Ghostwire: Tokyo, and was also the core inspiration for Kamurocho in the Yakuza series.
The latest game to step into the neon-soaked streets of Tokyo is Marvel's Wolverine, with its developers promising a "spectacular" portrayal of the city, paying homage to the famous Godzilla statue while adding a unique Marvel twist.
If you've been to Tokyo, you've likely been to Shinjuku; and if you've been to Shinjuku, you've definitely seen Godzilla's massive head looming over you. Naturally, since a significant portion of Marvel's Wolverine is set here, Insomniac wanted to pay homage to this landmark.
"I really love the Tokyo area in this game. All the scenes we prepared, including Shinjuku, turned out great," said Eric Monacelli, Executive Producer of Marvel's Wolverine, in an interview with Japanese media outlet 4Gamer. "We worked closely with our partners at Sony and our Art Director, who visited Tokyo during development, to make Shinjuku look as authentic as possible. We also explored how to interpret certain locations and landmarks in a more Marvel-esque way, allowing them to fit into Insomniac's Marvel Universe.
"There's a very famous monster statue in Shinjuku, and I think Japanese players will enjoy our interpretation of it through the lens of the Marvel Universe."
It's nearly impossible for Insomniac to obtain the Godzilla license from Toho, the copyright holder, so it will be interesting to see how they cleverly handle this. Will we see the head of Spider-Rex—aka Pterodactyl Peter Parker—looming over the city? Although Insomniac has stated there won't be any crossover content. Or perhaps Eddie Brockasaurus, Vincent Stegosaurus, or some other demonic beast?
The speculation itself is fun, and with so many options available, this could become one of the most interesting Easter eggs in the game.