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House of the Dead: Overkill devs interested in making new Virtua Cop
Listen, we're for the advancement of realism and ethical dialogue in video games just as much as the next ludo-snob, but we can't help but miss the good old days when justice -- sweet, unwavering justice -- was dealt from the glassy tip of a Light Gun. Imagine our delight when we heard tell that Headstrong Games, developer of the overcompensating peripheral-packing zombie shooter House of the Dead: Overkill, had expressed interest in revitalizing another of Sega's classic franchises: Virtua Cop.When pressed in a recent interview with Cubed3, Overkill producer Neil McEwen explained that Headstrong Games would "love to do Virtua Cop or another light gun game for Sega." According to McEwen, the collaboration began when Sega approached the developer with the hopes of working together on one of Sega's franchises. They ultimately settled on House of the Dead, but should the relationship continue, we might just see the return of everyone's favorite destruction-prone pair of virtual flatfeet.
House of the DIY: Make your own Overkill wallpaper
Even if you're already playing The House of the Dead: Overkill today, we suggest you take a few minutes off from clicking the Wiimote at zombies and click the mouse at them instead. Overkill Poster Creator, Sega's new promotional site for Headstrong Games' spinoff, is an online tool that lets users arrange official backgrounds, art, and slogans into a wallpaper image, which is then made available for download in three different sizes. All the art assets can be resized, and everything can have separate filters applied, all from a simple Flash interface. The image above is our humble effort, made in about five minutes. It wouldn't even have taken that long, except we kept trying to make funny ones and they kept coming out cool. We eventually just gave up on trying to subvert the thing and made one we actually like.%Gallery-29952%[Via GayGamer]
Looking at what makes House of the Dead: Overkill so unique
In the third part (see part one and part two, if you're playing catch up) of this behind-the-scenes series, we're getting to the heart of what makes House of the Dead: Overkill such a unique experience. The folks at Headstrong Games talk about the 70's films and musical inspirations of the era that helped give Overkill its style. Jump past the break to watch the video and see for yourself.%Gallery-29952%
House of the Dead devs on Overkill's story, zombie appropriateness
Headstrong Games could have chosen to make The House of the Dead: Overkill pretty much on autopilot. Gun goes here, zombies go here, here's a village, and ... cue monotone Engrish exposition. And it would have been awesome! But Headstrong has actually put some thought into the setting and story, meshing characters and elements of the classic series (like Agent G of "G's bloodstains!" fame) with a totally new story and feel.Headstrong discusses the development of the game's story and locations in a video after the break. We especially like seeing how much attention was paid to creating different zombie designs appropriate to each game's location, if only because about 90% people's attention in the game will be directed at the zombal component.%Gallery-29952%
An Overkill Primer: Pre-order House of the Dead, get prologue comic
You wouldn't think the House of the Dead series would need a lengthy explanation, but Sega disagrees. Pre-ordering The House of The Dead: Overkill nets gamers a 32-page comic book, illustrated by Steve Copter of punk-band 'Black Mekon' fame. Available in traditional paper form at GameStop or digitally from Amazon, the comic stars Overkill protagonist Agent Washington and stripper-extraordinaire Varla Gunns, and details events that occur just before the start of the upcoming game. Here we thought the only explanation needed with House of the Dead was: "Shoot everything that isn't you ... and don't accidentally shoot any survivors."
How does one make a House of the Dead?
With a lot of bodies.In all seriousness, Gamekyo has uploaded a nice behind-the-scenes video for Sega's upcoming on-rails shooter, House of the Dead: Overkill. Among the usual things one finds in these types of videos (pillow fights, for example) are gameplay snippets and poignant gaming discussion from the dev behind the game. The folks behind the scenes say a lot of the right things: "You don't want to offend the fans of the series," and "Gamers are gamers, it doesn't matter where you come from, shoot a mutant in the face and it's great." Truth. Head past the break for the video.[Via press release]%Gallery-29952%
Overkill tells us a story in latest trailer
Sega of Europe has unleashed a new trailer for House of the Dead: Overkill focusing on the story behind the on-rails shooter. It has appropriate levels of zombie carnage, as well as G himself, doing what he does best. Who can turn down anything to do with G? Not us, that's for sure! Check out the video above, then head into our gallery to see those new screens you may have missed from earlier in the week. %Gallery-29952%
Wii Warm Up: The Gun of the Dead: Overseas
So Sega is releasing an unbelievably awesome gun shell for use with The House of the Dead: Overkill ... in Europe and Australia. No word yet on the US. The Aussie version even (optionally) comes packaged with two of the things!We can't imagine it would make a difference, but if you're on the fence about Overkill, would the availability of an officially licensed, quite cool-looking accessory push you over the edge? Conversely, does the lack of such an item in the US make you feel somewhat cooler on the title? Or do gun shells just not matter all that much?%Gallery-29952%
Official House of the Dead: Overkill Hand Cannon: shoot like G does
House of the Dead: Overkill players in the UK and Australia will have the option to play the game in a distinctly more badass, yet vaguely cosplayer-esque style, should they choose. Sega and peripheral company Venom will release a Wii gun shell modeled after the "Hand Cannons" the AMS agents in the game carry. Amazon.co.uk is taking preorders for the item, to be shipped on February 13 (two weeks before the February 28 date they claim for the game) at a price of £12.99 ($19).Australian zombie-haters have it even better: NeoGAFfer untoldhero (an accurate name if ever there was one) found a convincingly official-looking retail listing for a "Bang Bang Box" bundle containing the full Collector's Edition of the game, with the special sleeve and the comic book, as well as two Hand Cannons, for $89 AUD ($59 USD). That price has got to be a mistake. We've got a picture after the break of the heartbreakingly awesome package.Sadly, we've seen nothing about the Hand Cannon in the US. We fear that Sega's deal with Venom doesn't extend out of PAL territories.%Gallery-29952%
House of the Dead: Overkill full of unique goals and extras
1UP recently interviewed some folks behind the scenes of Sega's upcoming shooter, House of the Dead: Overkill. For those of you who can't wait for zombie season like us, they were kind enough to drop another little bit of info about the title that is sure to excite. Within House of the Dead: Overkill, there will be unique challenges that, once completed, will unlock extras in the game. Sega's producer on the game, Omar Woodley, describes one of the challenges as "gangsta style." See, when you kill 50 zombies while pointing the Wiimote sideways, like a "gangsta," then it unlocks a certain feature. Sadly, Omar wasn't willing to give it up on the feature, but the prospect of other unique challenges such as this does sound fun. Plus, there's the whole killing lots of zombies part of it.Who else can't wait until February?%Gallery-29952%
Sega bringing the big guns to New York Comic Con
Click for more screens. Do you live in the New York area? Want to play The Conduit, MadWorld, and The House of the Dead: Overkill before they release? Well, you might want to head to the New York Comic Con, because Sega is bringing them to the show next year.The New York Comic Con takes place February 6-8 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. Aside from the AAA titles, Sega also promises "zombie surprises," whatever that is. Disgusting, zombified limbs as souvenirs? We can only hope so.%Gallery-25003%[Via Joystiq]
House of the Dead: Overkill dev not worried about censors, piles on the gore
Censors, be damned! That's more or less the attitude of House of the Dead: Overkill developer Headstrong Games, which has said it won't be compromising the amount of gore in Overkill."Sometimes we've gone 'ooh, we shouldn't really do that'," producer Neil McEwen tells CVG, "but then we've gone 'no, hell yes we should'." McEwen reasons that, as nobody is getting exploited, then buckets of claret are justifiable: he suggests the gore will be as "extreme as possible." He also plays the tongue-in-cheek card, though that didn't help MadWorld when the Daily Mail came knocking. Even if censors have already ensured the game won't be released in Germany, we salute McEwen and Headstrong for this carefree attitude. If only other developers and publishers were as bold.%Gallery-29952%
House of the Dead: Overkill has terror, slaughter, possibly cute horses
And the Halloween-related media onslaught continues, this time with a delicious, gravelly-voiced, grindhousey trailer for The House of the Dead: Overkill. Unsurprisingly, we love this, but it still can't beat the trailer that revealed the game to a breathless world, on account that "You will cry blood from YOUR OWN eyes" is hands down one of the coolest lines ever penned.Still, if the opening few seconds teach us just one lesson, it is this: this game needs zombie horses, damnit.%Gallery-29952%
The House of the Dead: Overview
Headstrong Games' The House of the Dead: Overkill is meant to contrast sharply with the rest of the series. According to this Official Nintendo Magazine preview, the '70s horror theme used in the game's promotion and boxart also carries into the game in the form of a scratchy film filter over the graphics. The zombies are also less brightly colored than the semi-cartoony monsters in previous games, instead presented as "frighteningly realistic depictions of normal people brought back to life, even more human-like than the zombies in the Resident Evil games.Perhaps most frightening for the player is what they've done to reloading. Reloading your gun is still done the same way, but it's not instantaneous any longer. Now when you point offscreen, your character begins to change his clip, leaving him exposed. These guys need to learn the "instant reload" technique from the House of the Dead 2 cast!%Gallery-29952%
GC 2008: Details for House of the Dead: Overkill escape Leipzig
Apparently, one Bradley Crooks, developer at Headstrong Games, revealed to Gamekyo a few details about the upcoming Sega game on every Wii gamers' mind (if it isn't on your brain, then you should get your head checked) during an event at Leipzig. The list is fairly long, so head past the break, where it's all been organized with helpful bullet points.%Gallery-29952%
