survival horror
Latest
UK Dead Rising fans chop til they drop
Capcom is luring UK gamers to the chopping mall with a Dead Rising web-game called "Chop Til You Drop." Mince 100 zombies for the chance to win one of 5 t-shirts or, better yet, 200 for a shot at a Sony HDTV. Unfortunately, the rest of the world isn't eligible to win, although you can still waste an hour of office time mindlessly hurling tiny meat cleavers at the living dead. Capcom should throw a quick promo title on XBLA and take this mini-madness global.
Disc Read Error Rising
Dead Rising is DOA on my 360. I loaded the menu ok, but when I tried to start the game, it smacked me with a disc read error, despite being a pristine new copy. The usual "clear the cache' tricks didn't help. But, as suspected, when I removed the hard drive, things worked fine. It turns out plenty of other deadly pissed off customers have a reason to stumble back to the mall with receipt in hand: http://forums.xbox.com/6234648/ShowPost.aspx http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/...000689731/p/14 http://boards.ign.com/dead_rising/b8413/125103317/p1/ http://www.capcom.com/BBS/showthread.php?threadid=11141 http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=28765 Some of these poor folks have already paid $130 to repair their 360 over what is almost certainly an issue with the game itself. When I called Microsoft Support, they told me that there are "multiple known issues" with Dead Rising and that MS is working with Capcom on a fix. Various rumors blame the fact that DR is supposedly the first game to utilize all three cores, but who knows? A couple days ago we were celebrating Capcom's success, and now I'm forced to conclude that Dead Rising is broken for a significant number of gamers. Needless to say, my enthusiasm for this title is temporarly zombified. Hey Capcom, where's our patch?
Dead Rising ships 500k units in 2 weeks
Dead Rising is flying off the shelves faster than the game's mall walking corpses can crawl out of the grave, with half a million units shipped making it the fastest selling next-gen title from a Japanese publisher. Capcom attributes the game's success to "improved marketing and business operations in North America." Right, plus eviscerating mass quantities of shuffling zombies is just really fun. The rotting flesh stench of success already has analysts speculating that would-be PS3 exclusives like Devil May Cry 4 and Monster Hunter will show up on the 360. And the dead still have yet to rise in Europe and Japan. Nothing like a genuine hit to inspire confidence in our console. I think we can count on a Dead Rising 2.
Frank West: Drab or Fab?
Ken managed to ruffle more than a few feathers when he noticed that not one 360 character made the Top 20 Gayest Video Game Characters (not Cybil!) over at GayGamer.net. Well, it looks like the 360 could finally get it's due, as everyone's favorite zombie killing photojournalist, Frank West, has been nominated for the Top Ten Hottest Video Game Guys. We're sure he's flattered, fellas.
Mega-Man slaughters the living dead
Here's video of the full Mega-Man suit put to use in Dead Rising. You have to beat the game and kill 60,000 zombies to get it. Pretty satisfying unlockable. I don't recall ever getting the opportunity to rip Dr. Wily's small intestines out. [Thanks Andrew]
Capcom to end PS3 exclusives?
Thanks to Dead Rising's healthy sales, Capcom may very well be considering moving some of its PS3 exclusives to Microsoft's curvy white box. According to Japanese firm NikkoCitiGroup, Capcom's use of a PC-based development program would make it a snap to port titles to both platforms. We've read a few rumors about companies dropping exclusivity lately, but Capcom would certainly be a feather in Microsoft's cap -- one that would undoubtedly encourage others to follow suit. One of the reasons for Dead Rising's success is apparently the demo that was available shortly before the games launch. NikkoCitiGroup believes that demos like this will prove invaluable in driving sales of future titles. If you don't believe them, consider this: 300,000 users worldwide have downloaded the Dead Rising demo, and 320,000 copies of the game were shipped in its first week of release -- with 450,000 expected to have shipped by last Friday. That's a pretty nice conversion rate. Given those numbers, and likely similar conversions of Lost Planet, Capcom could stand to make a fair chunk of change by bringing us some Devil May Cry 4. This is only speculation at this point, but a fanboy can dream, can't he? [Via Joystiq. Thanks, Lorul2]
Your mom plays Xbox 360 games
The elusive "casual market" has recently become quite the sought-after prey for game publishers, each one attempting in its own way to hunt down those who would normally shy away from complex and scary video games. Nintendo isn't the only company to have Grandma firmly set in a Zapper scope -- the other major players are also taking aim, Microsoft with Xbox Live Arcade and Sony with Singstar microphones. With this in mind, Alex Petraglia decided to test whether or not Microsoft in particular was actually hitting their target. After all, he had the equipment necessary to conduct such an inquest: one Xbox 360 console, several Xbox 360 games and one willing female parental unit. Alex introduced his mom to a wide variety of XBLA and full retail titles, documenting her performance and struggles. The article places his thoughts alongside those written by his mother and it makes for some very interesting reading. It seems the most difficult acclimations involved controls and finding the correct path through a level. The 53 year-old Mrs. P notes that "the biggest problem is a simple lack of experience. It seemed like, in a game such as Prey, you [Alex] knew exactly where to go after looking at a puzzle or roadblock, whereas it'd take me an exorbitant amount of time to move onto the next task or area. And it took me a very long time to develop the ability to move freely in the game and feel comfortable with the controls, to some extent." Other points of interest include her first interpretation of Geometry Wars ("she flew directly into the first target, thinking maybe that was the point of the game") and her eventual favorite, Condemned (!). "I think strong dramatic elements, like story and visuals and music, would be a bigger draw to older generations than unique gameplay mechanics or what have you." [Thanks Alex P!]
Dead Rising makes 360s dead? [update 1]
Reports are flying, just flying across the internet about Dead Rising wrecking 360s. The symptoms are what we've come to expect: freezing, audio dropping out, graphical glitches, etc. Is it just us, or does this sound all too familiar? We're not saying it's all coincidence, but it seems like every time a popular game comes out, 360s just start breaking all over the place -- Perfect Dark, Oblivion, Chromehounds, Dead Rising, all of them seem like Xbox poison. We're willing to bet that this is more indicative of an overall flaw in our favorite console (or at least a certain portion of them.). Then again, Microsoft and various game makers haven't really made much comment either way so, who knows. Anybody experiencing Dead Rising problems (other than tiny text)? Update 1: Wow. Judging from the incredible amount of comments, this topic deserves some more discussion. Check back this weekend for more.
Free Dead Rising content (already?)
New Dead Rising content is already available on Marketplace. Called keys, the content unlocks new outfits including: Miami Nights Key Casual Key Weekender Key Round Shades Key Burgundy Wine Key Grandpa Key Pink Paparazzi Key Man in Black Key Nice. This content -- as most of you probably saw in the headline -- is free. So, go get it. [Via Joystiq]
Get your (Dead Rising) priorities straight
In honor of the (US) release of Capcom's zombie sandbox game, Dead Rising, Hooked on Polygon (these guys) have created this comic. It illustrates a dilemma that has surely already plagued many in the demo: do you focus on the objective at hand, or waste time trying on clothes and taking pictures? The answer: waste time, of course! Just a few more prestige points and you can get that roundhouse kick!
Saints Slow
It took me three friggin' days to download the Saints Row demo with two unexplained drops that failed to pick up where they left off. Now after 13 miserable hours, Dead Rising is at a mere 34% complete (How did we live with this before the dashboard update?). Are other people out there experiencing similar looooooong waits for their recent downloads?
Dead demo Rises on XBLM [update 1]
Hordes of zombies prevented me from posting this earlier today, but here it is: a Dead Rising demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Weighing in at 1014 megs, it's the heaviest demo in recent memory, if not ever. Go get it and enjoy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go help Ken board up the doors and windows inside Fanboy headquarters. [Thanks to the hordes of not-zombies that sent this in.] Update 1: Fixed my grievous gigabyte error. Geez.
Dead Rising demo to rise soon
A new Dead Rising trailer on Marketplace reveals the tantalizing information that a demo is "coming soon." Wait a minute, coming soon? The game is coming out in a week! Capcom best get to it if they want people to sample this in a timely manner. Of course, given Capcom's other demo on Marketplace, their track record for timeliness is a pretty good one. Anybody still waiting on this demo to make up their minds? [Via OpenXBOX360]
Dead Rising webisodes on XBLM (brains...)
Major Nelson informs the internets that there are now two Dead Rising Webisodes available on Marketplace -- US and Canada only, unfortunately. "What's a Webisode?" you ask. X360F has no idea and is unable to download it right now. So, your mission: download these Webisode thingies and inform the masses of their content. ...Don't just sit there, get to it!
Sexy Dead Rising renders (not zombies)
Dead Rising will have zombies. Lots of zombies. Way too many zombies for Germany to handle. We all know that, but something we haven't heard much about is the other characters. Just to give you your Dead Rising fix, Xboxygen has posted three character renders for your viewing pleasure. We have sexy lady one, nerd-sexy lady two, and what zombie game would be complete without (sexy) Ving Rhames? Looks nice, no? [Thanks, gaetge]
Dead Rising intro, good and creepy
Xboxyde has posted the super creepy intro video of Dead Rising. The video has plenty of darkness, lots of zombies, and, of course, a car that just won't start. Very nice.
Dead still not rising in Deutschland
The dead may be crawling out of their graves, but they can't escape the vagaries of the German software ratings bureaucracy. GameIndustry.biz clarified their earlier report on the status of Dead Rising to explain that, while the game isn't technically banned in land of lederhosen, the lack of a rating effectively prevents it from coming to market. Follow the link if you want the gory details. Leave it to a bunch of brain dead Euro-crats to kill a bunch of already rotting corpses. [Thanks Steve]
Dead Rising? Not in Germany
Another news bit from the 'stiq, Gaming Bits reports that the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) -- Germany's software ratings board -- will not approve Capcom's undead sandbox title, Dead Rising. If true, this would be the first 360 title to be banned anywhere. So, let's see. Lederhosen? No problem. Industrial death metal? Fine. Zombies? That's crossing the line! [Via Joystiq. Thanks, steve]
7 minutes in undead heaven
Xboxyde delivers again with another video from the Japan Expo in Paris. This one shows us the first seven minutes of Capcom's Dead Rising. In case your world view is hindered by the rock you live under, Dead Rising is basically Dawn of the Dead the videogame -- and currently a big favorite at Gamefly. You play a photojournalist who winds up inside a shopping mall full of zombies. Lucky for you, the mall is full of all kinds of stuff to kill zombies with: guns, lawn mowers, chainsaws, bowling balls, and even the kitchen sink for all we know. You won't see any of that in this video, though. It's mostly introduction. And like the Sonic videos yesterday, there is no sound and some dude's face keeps popping in and out of the frame. I will say one thing: it's damned pretty (the game, not the face). Enjoy!
360 games top the rental charts
Gamasutra has posted the 10 most requested games from Gamefly this week, and the list leans heavily toward our favorite curvy, white box. A full five of the top spots are occupied by 360 exclusives (six if you count the 360 version of BFMEII). Xboxic has gone to the trouble of making a numbered list, which I will politely steal utilize: Chromehounds (360 exclusive) Prey (360/PC) Over G Fighters (360 exclusive) LotR: Battle for Middle Earth 2 (360 version) Dead Rising (360 exclusive) NCAA Football 2007 (multi) Hitman: Blood Money (multi) Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (PS2) Gears of War (360 exclusive) Call of Duty 3 (PC/next-gen) Look at that list for a second. Notice anything? That's right, four 360 exclusives that haven't even been released -- Chromehounds, Prey, Dead Rising, and Gears of War -- are in the top 10. That means these games are more requested than games people could actually be playing right now. Crazy, no?
