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Dyack: Ownership of Eternal Darkness IP is 'complicated'
Our greener, slightly more hi-def colleagues at X3F recently had a chance to sit down with Denis Dyack, famously outspoken founder and president of Silicon Knights. Although Dyack and Silicon Knights have been working with the others in recent years, the company does have a history of working alongside Nintendo, perhaps most notably when Ninty published cult favorite Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem on the GameCube. Since it was released in 2002, the fan clamor for an Eternal Darkness follow-up has been considerable.Regrettably, the signs given by Dyack here (at around the 4.30 mark) aren't encouraging. The sticking point seems to be the issue of who owns the Eternal Darkness IP, something which Dyack describes as "a complicated question with a complicated answer."That said, he also reveals that Nintendo is a "silent partner" with the developer, and that the two companies have a "great" relationship. "It's not time to talk about Eternal Darkness 2," he concludes. The chances of an Eternal Darkness sequel on Wii seem a little slimmer after watching this, and that makes us sad pandas.
Video comparison shows Dead Rising taken down by Hitman
So yeah, we're not even touching this. Not with a twenty-foot damn pole. Some user at GameTrailers compiled this video, featuring a comparison between Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop and the PlayStation 2's Hitman: Blood Money. The point? To show up the supposed lack of NPC zombies in the former, by comparing it to the achievements of a two-year-old game on a technologically inferior system.The Dead Rising footage used is a touch selective (we've seen screens with a far greater number of zombies), but like we say: we're staying out of this. It isn't going to end well.%Gallery-28028%[Via Go Nintendo]
Alone in the Dark gets better controls, new action scene
It looks like the PS3 version of Alone in the Dark really is getting quite a significant revamp. A number of changes have been chronicled at Gamespot, with the game's major changes coming from the controls. Edward, the game's lead protagonist is now more agile, being able to move around in a quicker less "tank-like" manner. A new camera will make things easier to see -- expect players to die less frequently on the PS3 thanks to the easier controls and improved camera.But that's not all. The innovative inventory system still returns, but players can now quickly select items with the D-Pad. Driving has also been far improved, with much more realistic suspension. Your female companion will scream directions during the much-too-confusing driving segments, assisting players greatly. Finally, the PS3 version will also get an added scene in the game's sixth act that takes place in the subway. "It involves a subway train, a large enemy, and lots of explosives--we'll say no more about it for now, for fear of spoiling it for you."Will all these changes help improve the overall experience on the PS3? We're hopeful. Expect more before the game's release in November.%Gallery-3898%
EA publishing action horror 'franchise' from Suda51 and RE creator Shinji Mikami
And here we thought the only talk of "Dream Team" was going to involve the Olympics! But no, an incredible wealth of talent in the gaming industry is coming together to produce something we hope is very special. With a mixture of talent like this, we wonder how it couldn't be!So, facts: EA and No More Heroes (otherwise known as the best game on Wii) developer, Grasshopper Manufacture, have signed a publishing agreement regarding an "all-new action horror game." On top of that, the title in question is being produced by Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami. Oh, and Q Entertainment is also involved. It's okay, we just wet our pants a little too.Sadly, that's as much as we know. The source link is full of the kind of carefree lauding that most press releases have, so we're just going to have to wait for more info on this project before we get so excited that we start typing in italics.[Via Joystiq]
Fanswag: Alone in the Dark goes to ...
Sadly, we only had one copy of Alone in the Dark to giveaway. The lucky person who was able to nab it? Why, that's none other than: Fin Diesel Better luck next time to all of you that entered. And, to everyone, thanks for reading!%Gallery-10200%
Reminder: Get a copy of Alone in the Dark
We're giving away one copy of Alone in the Dark to a lucky reader. What do you have to make sure that lucky reader is you? It's super easy! Head on over to the original contest post for our latest giveaway by clicking that highlighted text there. Time is running out, as the giveaway ends this Sunday night. So head on over and get all of the details already!%Gallery-10200%
Dead Rising makes sport of zombie-smashing
Dead Rising: Chop 'til You Drop offers the one feature that Wii owners didn't even know they needed: waggle-based zombie-batting. According to the latest screens, shaking the controller in response to an onscreen prompt while holding a baseball bat will trigger the "Home Run Swing." We're happy to see that the Wii Dead Rising game keeps an emphasis on a wide variety of useful and/or hilarious weapons, including saw blades, samurai swords, benches, and various firearms. All of the weapons have been given some kind of motion-based interaction: guns, for example, are reloaded by shaking. That sounds like some other Wii game that used the Resident Evil 4 engine! But which one?%Gallery-28028%
Chew your nails through Fatal Frame IV videos
Okay, let's try our best to forget about all the bad stuff that's recently been revealed about Fatal Frame IV, and concentrate on what the game does best: scaring people like us who can't resist watching/playing it absolutely witless. With this in mind, we'd like you to do something for us. Switch off all your lights and close all curtains/blinds, pull up a seat, grab the most expensive set of headphones available to you, and watch the video above. Now go past the break and watch the other two. Done all that? Good. Now that's two of us who won't be able to sleep tonight. Yeah, you're welcome. %Gallery-14901%
Wii Warm Up: Zombified DLC
We've had Dead Rising on the mind for the past 24 hours, thanks in part to a bit of reassurance on the part of Nintendo Power. But, in looking at the Xbox 360 version of the game and how Xbox Live made available some DLC, we were wondering what kind of content you wouldn't mind paying for in Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop. Of course, don't take this as "OMG DLC CONFIRMED!!!one!" or anything. This is purely hypothetical.So what would you like? Added weapons? Different playable characters? New areas added to the mall? Let's hear it!%Gallery-28028%
Fatal Frame IV plagued with bugs
We've been riding the Fatal Frame IV hype train as enthusiastically as any other site in recent months. The Tecmo/Grasshopper Manufacture crossover has long looked beautiful, engrossing, and hiding-behind-the-sofa scary. Furthermore, it's being published by Nintendo, which more or less guarantees a good time, right? Wrong. The game released in Japan last Thursday, meaning early importers are just now getting their copies in, and already several new owners are complaining about a host of collision detection issues, unselectable menu options, a ghost database that doesn't record all ghosts, and -- far more depressingly -- a game-freezing bug. Nintendo is acknowledging the glitches, and has released a statement featuring advice on how to best cope with them. We'll just have to hope some of this mess is cleared up when (and if) the game comes to the west. %Gallery-14901%
Fanswag: Alone in the Dark
Were you curious about Atari's latest Alone in the Dark game? Well, here's your chance to check it out. And, for free! We're giving one lucky reader a copy of the game (valued at $50). How can you take a stab at getting this for yourself? Well, simply leave a comment between now and Sunday, August 10th at 11:59pm ET and you're entered. What should be in your comment? Well, why don't you tell us what you're most afraid of. Cool? Okay then!Of course, there are some stipulations. For one, you have to be at least 18 years of age or older. Second, you have to be a current and legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). Third, you've got to read the official rules.Best of luck to you all and thanks for reading!%Gallery-10200%
Fatal Frame IV honors the history of Nintendo scares
Tecmo took advantage of their new association with Nintendo in one of the funniest ways possible: Nintendo character outfits in Fatal Frame IV. Should you want to punch a hole straight through the creepy atmosphere in Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, these two costumes will do the trick nicely. At the same time, while they may seem flagrantly inappropriate, Tecmo has cleverly paid tribute to Nintendo's horror-ish games from the past. The Luigi costume is obviously a shoutout to Luigi's Mansion, and the Zero Suit Samus, uh, suit (after the break) is a reference to the costume's introduction, in a sneaking-based level found in Metroid: Zero Mission. %Gallery-14901%
We're looking forward to being scared by Fatal Frame
We've been keeping a secret. You see, we're absolutely scared to death of Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. That's not going to stop us from picking the game up and playing the crap out of it though. We just felt we needed to share that with you all. The above video for the game does a good job of depicting exactly what scares us. It's got spooky ghosts, a dark and creepy environment and a girl we hope survives long enough to get her film developed. %Gallery-14901%
Cursed Mountain looms over Wii
Deep Silver, co-publisher of the logo-filled Duke Nukem Trilogy, is developing an original survival horror game for Wii called Cursed Mountain. Set in the 1980s, the game follows a climber as he ascends a mountain in a search for his lost brother. Along the way, he finds -- zoinks! Like, ghosts! With its emphasis on ghosts (dead people in limbo) rather than corporeal monsters, Cursed Mountain promises a different kind of violence than the bloody, visceral experience of other survival horror games, according to Deep Silver's Hannes Seifert. "It's violent in the sense of ever present danger and very aggressive environments and enemies. But you can't be violent against ghosts and mountains. So Cursed Mountain is violent, yes, but in a very unorthodox way."How unorthodox? You enter a shadow world, sense enemies with the pointer, and then fight with motions, including a praying gesture.
New Fatal Frame IV shots are grainier, scarier
Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (or Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen) is out this week in Japan, which means it's an excellent time for a batch of new screens. And while these seem a little downgraded from some of what we've seen before, they've still got one major thing going for them: the creepiness factor. We're starting to look like the people in the commercials, and we're not even playing the game. %Gallery-14901%
Dead Rising: Compare 'til you drop
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Dead_Rising_Compare_til_you_drop'; There may be a dearth of actual Dead Rising: Chop 'Til You Drop screens, but we've been pretty rich in print media on the re-imagined game so far. The latest, from a French Nintendo magazine, show off some different angles from some of the scenes we've already seen, such as the psycho battle in the gun store. There's been some concern that there just won't be as many zombies in the Wii version -- and the number of zombies is pretty much the crux of the game -- but considering we're seeing screens from early in the game, it isn't that surprising that there aren't that many zombies. Until we see screenshots from a cramped area like the nightmarish Al Fresca plaza, we won't really be able to judge how much, if any, the game has been downgraded in that sense. We've put together a couple of comparison shots after the break that demonstrate that there's more to be hopeful about than many had thought.%Gallery-28028%
Slow, steady steps mark Fatal Frame videos, interview
Missing Fatal Frame IV at E3? Some news about the Nintendo-published, Tecmo/Grasshopper Manufacture-developed horror sequel would have been welcome in an E3 characterized by screaming about a lack of "core" games. Fatal Frame, with its long history of making you want to keep the lights on while playing, would certainly have stood out. Late is better than never, however, especially when there's a lengthy Creator's Voice segment up on the Japanese Wii site featuring Fatal Frame IV's producer and director, Keisuke Kikuchi and Makoto Shibata. They've got a lot of interesting things to say about the series, and particularly this installment. It sounds like the Wii control scheme allowed them to realize a lot of things they've always wanted to do with the games, without completely revolutionizing the title. Instead, they've taken a few very solid steps forward, while keeping the staples that have been scaring the pants off gamers for years. If you click through on the video above to watch it at YouTube, you can read subtitles from the interview (provided by NeoGAF poster Stormbringer). The subtitles unfortunately don't show up here, but the video is still fantastic. Or, to read a recap of the whole thing, check out the version at IGN. While you're in the video-watching mood, you might also want to check out these Fatal Frame IV commercials, which are hilarious(ly accurate) and worth a few minutes of you're time. They're the videos with the nightvision lighting, which you may have seen in the middle of a longer video here, but if you didn't ... go watch them. %Gallery-14901%
Rumor: Resident Evil 5 rears its ugly head once more
Simon Jeffrey, known around some parts as the President of Sega, is either very smart or ... not. It's a fairly simple story here -- he casually mentioned Resident Evil 5 in an interview about MadWorld, saying "when that [Resident Evil 5] happens on the Wii, it'll help," referring to attracting more hardcore gamers to the platform.Later, he referred to the comment as a "slip of the tongue," but that doesn't mean it's not true. If it wasn't true, he would say "mistake". We're not going to hoist the confirmed flag or anything (as some have been awfully quick to do so), but a guy so high up in the industry couldn't possibly pull this rumor out of thin air on the spot, right? We'll keep you updated, so any RE5 hopefuls should stay tuned![Via Infendo]
Capcom reveals zombie-tastic info for Dead Rising, confirms NA release
Capcom cleared the air on Dead Rising Wii today, not only confirming the title for America, but also providing some interesting details about the game.Now subtitled Chop Till You Drop, Dead Rising will use the same engine as Resident Evil 4 Wii. Obviously the game will also utilize the Wiimote's "point-and-shoot" capabilities, but it will include other motion controls, too, such as shaking off zombies and throwing explosives.The other big news is that the port will incorporate an "improved" save system. Many might be jumping for joy at that fact, while others might think that such a change will wussify the series. Either way, that's how the cookie crumbles, folks. We don't have details yet on whether or not the player will be able to save at any time, though.Those of you who are still excited for the game (save system be damned) can expect it to hit North America sometime this winter. Also, check out the new screens in our gallery below.%Gallery-28028%[Via press release]
Dead Rising website awakens
The atomic bomb of a few days past has had enough time to send shivers of excitement over the entire Wii community, and now a groin-grabbingly atmospheric website has been delivered by Capcom, adding fuel to the fire of Dead Rising. Details are scant at present, but a number of Wii screens have popped up that look mighty fine.We were hesitant to report the rumor of an over-the-shoulder, RE4-esque viewpoint being added to the Wii version, as the more "worldy" members of the Fanboy team didn't consider such a camera angle would be effective with Dead Rising's gameplay. However, a couple of screens in the new gallery show exactly that, with an on-screen aiming cursor and everything. Hey, it's a zombie-killing game, what could possibly go wrong?%Gallery-28028%[Via Vooks]
