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"Horror is a genre I never really explored in video games, but with the recent announcement of Resident Evil 6, I decided it would be rude not to talk about it. Most of my experience up until recent years was the terror of corrupted data, the fear I might somehow die before I reached the next save point and the concern that maybe, just maybe, I’d spent money on the wrong game and would have to spend the next few weeks exploring a terrible glitch-ridden world that bored me to tears. However, I ..."
Survival Horror games have really taken a turn from where they started. Graphics and detail have improved dramatically, but they don't really give you a legitimate fright. I explore games that have done it well and others that have done it not so well. We can get better experiences, we just need to make sure the developers know what we want.
Founder of Playr2.com conducted a study that asked over 1,500+ participants how long it took for them to beat various games like COD: Black Ops, Resident Evil 5, and others. DLC and multiplayer were not taken into account. Here are the results:
In this week's edition of The Catch-Up, Kyree discusses several games that he can't bring himself to return to, regardless of how much positive press some may have received.
Goozernation takes a look at some of the top female video game characters in the last 20 years or so. Characters like Samus, Princess Zelda, Jill Valentine as well as a few others made the list. The big question is why did these ladies make the "best of" list, and why?
Resident Evil was a groundbreaking video game franchise when it first paunched, but lately, the series has deviated from it's roots. If there is to be a Resident Evil 6...
"The biggest offender is the Call of Duty series. $15 for 3-4 multiplayer maps. That just makes me laugh, then I get sad because there are people out there that actually buy it. And that is the reason why they charge that price. They KNOW they can get it because the same people will mindlessly open their wallets and snag the new content. (Just a quick mini rant on Map Packs in general. A rant inside a rant? Talk about mind blowing. Depending on how a map pack is implemented it can completely r..."
"Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Many people have a specific game reason when purchasing a console. You might have purchased a Super Nintendo because of Super Mario World or a Nintendo 64 because of Goldeneye 007. Many people finally went out and purchased a Playstation 3 because of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. This explosive PS3 exclusive game was one of the most positively received games of this generation and still ranks on many lists as one of the greatest games of all time."
While the Resident Evil series still manages to pull in sales, many fans feel that it has lost much of what made it such a popular franchise in the first place.
So how can Capcom re-invigorate the series, while also sticking to its roots? By hiring George Romero of course!
Go to the source to find out why.
3/4 parts silver rum, 1/4 part Everclear and a blue Twizzler make up this inventive new shot created by The Drunked Moogle. Based on the T-Virus from the Resident Evil series, it won't turn you into a zombie, but will instead leave you with a sweet/sour aftertaste. Mmm...virusy!
Would you be willing to try it?
"The Resident Evil series has swept the world up in its international tale of disease, infections, and unnecessary singing characters. The series has been called one of the most important in gaming history, and the name is still a major franchise for Capcom. So out of anticipation of RE5's DLC release next month, we present…5 Facts on Resident Evil."
With his creepy voice, bizarre plots and freakish ability to always come back from the dead, Resident Evil's main antagonist, Albert Wesker, is either one of gaming's most memorable villains or one of the most ridiculous. Either way, he's iconic. So Psu.com decided to pay tribute to him.
Go to the source for the full article.
Resident Evil is the series that coined the term "survival horror", but in recent years the games have moved towards more action-oriented gameplay and stories, leaving the 'survival' and 'horror' behind.
While the Resident Evil franchise still manages to pull in sales, many fans feel that it has lost much of what made it such a popular series in the first place.
Go to the source for the full article.
"Today the festivities may be over and hopefully you’re all settling down to some well deserved videogaming time. It is also the day Electronic Theatre brings you the third instalment of The Twelve Games of Christmas series. Every day for the twelve days of Christmas Electronic Theatre will be taking a look at each month of 2009 and bringing you the very best releases for that month. On the third day of Christmas we bring you the best of March 2009 and the titles we think you should be looking..."
"The Games for Windows – LIVE client is available to download now, and uses the same user-orientated properties as the Xbox 360. Players will have a unique GamerTag which operates on both Xbox 360 and Games for Windows systems, linked to a Windows LIVE ID account that also grants features such as a free Hotmail based e-mail account and soon personalised search engine results through the recently launched Bing, and can maintain a consolidated GamerScore of the Achievements earned through playin..."
If you weren't a fan of Resident Evil 5, then there's no doubt you have heard most of the complaints in this article. Hell, you probably agree with most of them. So what does Capcom need to change for Resident Evil 6? Bloody-disgusting.com have a few ideas.
Go to the source for the full article.
2009 has been a great year for us gamers. While there are still a few anticipated AAA titles to come, we have hand picked 6 games that have already been released that will more than likely be on the shortlist for the 2009 Game Of The Year.
"25 Things About Me: Chris Redfield
1. Most people only know me as Chris, but my full name is actually Christopher Redfield.
2. My mission in life is to stop the distribution of viral weaponry and end bioterrorism that started with the Umbrella Corporation. This is why I’m one of the founding members of BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) along with my partner, Jill Valentine.
3. I can yawn on demand even when I’m not tired. It’s something I picked up as a kid when preten..."
D.C. Douglas, the voice actor for Albert Wesker in Resident Evil 5, discusses how he scored such an important voice acting gig, what voicing one of gaming's biggest villains was like, and how playing the role of Wesker has changed his life and career for the better.
Go to the source for the full article.
We've all heard about the racism controversy that revolved around Resident Evil 5 before it's release. As a result, blogger Willie Jefferson has brought up the question: Is Racism Becoming a Norm in Gaming?
Jefferson ripped into games such as Resident Evil 5, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and, oddly enough, the upcoming Left 4 Dead 2, claiming that these games all have one thing in common: They're racist in some way or another.
Resident Evil 5 recieved mixed reviews and left many gamers feeling disappointed at the direction the series has headed in. And yet it was very successful, becoming the best-selling Resident Evil game within the span of a few weeks. But was marketing the key to Resident Evil 5's success? Go to the source to find out why Electronic Entertainment Design and Research thinks so...
Naturally, developers want their games to appeal to a wide audience. In some cases this means creating a game that incorperates elements from many different genres so that you end up with a product that will (in theory) attract the fans of each genre. But it doesn't always work that way and sometimes developers are left with a game that may bluir the genre lines, while not excelling in any.
Destructoid takes a look at Mass Effect, Resident Evil 5, and Resident Evil 4, three great games that ...
TheGamerAccess.com has published a video comparing the difficulty in Call of Duty:World At War, Resident Evil 5, and Guitar hero. This video shows how the difficulty changes based off of the settings you choose and asks what type of difficulty you guys prefer.
"After many years of "tank" controls, static camera angles and increasingly formulaic gameplay, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami knew it was time to reboot his franchise, so he and his team built Resident Evil 4 from the ground-up. The studio axed the controls, camera angles, nonsensical puzzles and even the iconic zombies that had populated the franchise from the beginning, and fans welcomed the sweeping changes with praise.
So, what changes should be made and in what direction should C..."
"Game PR gurus often promise things that aren't always delivered in their final games. Often caught in the pre-release storm of hyperbole, hateful buzzwords and excitable press releases, the marketing men commit their games to features or mechanics the developers just can't live up to. In a world of 22 hour days, sleep deprivation and divorce-baiting deadlines, shit happens. That seemed to be the case with the following failed preview pledges. They all got talked up (sometimes outrageously), b..."
"I lay no claim to bravery; quite the opposite in fact. I’m more than likely to have a yellow belly and a boneless back. I hide when it’s stormy, and jump when someone says boo while I’m playing Dead Space with the speakers turned up.
I will say this though; I love me a good zombie.
Whether I’m watching the latest Romero flick, reading poorly written stories of the undead online or kicking back with a shotgun and laying waste to a few choice Hunters in Left 4 Dead, I love a good stumblin..."
Angry-Gamers.net takes a look at how Capcom managed to turn a great game into a horrible disappointment and how Capcom has surpassed EA and Activision as one of the worst game developers around.
"While Wii may be selling faster than tickets to an all boy choir being sold at a Catholic parish, the games have received very little fanfare on the review front. Outside of the occasional mini-game compilation and first-party titles, Wii has struggled greatly in North America to establish any sort of strong sales figures for third-party games that measure up to the console's install base. Hardcore and casual third-party exclusive titles for the Wii fall very flat in comparison to the PLAYSTA..."
"In such cases, DLC works a bit like expansions for PC games, extra content added after the fact. It's what most of us suspected DLC would be when it first came around for console games, but Capcom and Electronic Arts have recently rattled gamers by announcing planned DLC before their games are released."
"Resident Evil 5 undoubtedly pursues this more action-orientated audience, whilst trying to appease the long time fans. It does an admirable job of pleasing both parties, though the replay potential for those so inclined may be more limited than previous outings. But then, those previous outings on less capable machines were designed for gamers, and this casual audience may have found themselves stopping short of completion within games that intently work against the player. Pleasing both gr..."
OXCGN writer David Hilyton looks at the new economic downturn and how it is affecting gamers, and the gaming industry.
A complete 180 on last year when governments were urging to NOT buy and temper the spending, now they are urging you to spend up big now!
Slip over and check his article out, they always make great reading and are thought provoking as usual.
"I played Resident Evil 5halfway through with a friend, then all the way through on my own. The experiences made for two radically different games.
Last week, I started playing a review build of Resident Evil 5 with ex-Newsweek reporter NGai Croal. Over three sessions, we played through the first half of the game.
And then, in the middle of this week, the retail copy arrived and I started over. I played through the game by myself, finishing yesterday just 90 minutes before I posted my..."
"Neck Twist /Silent Knife Defense Trick
Finish with a BLOW!
Aim and shoot driver on the armored truck
Kill Licker with one attack
100% Target Rate
Use the Machine Gun VZ61 to avoid filling up your item slots with ammo
Use eggs (rotten?)! But dont eat them
Collect BSAA emblems
Provoke your enemy
Finish Gatling Majini by yourself with a blow
More fun on co-op with exclamations!
Courageous Josh
How to handle fearful enemy Leaper
Walk softly and avoid battle..."
GamingShogun attends the pre-launch event for Resident Evil 5 at a Gamestop in Irvine, CA. It looks like while it started with some very small numbers, judging by the pics it swelled over the course of the two hours to respectable digits. Resident Evil 5, a popular survival-horror action-shooter, was released this morning at 12:01am to the waiting masses at a number of Gamestop pre-launch events around the country.
OXCGN writer Alex Baldwin takes a look at the current trend of some developers steering away from calling their 'undead' zombies. Are Zombies fading out and dying off (sorry, couldn't help that one)?
As it seems not favourable to mention the Zombie word in some games now. Like Resident Evil 5's undead aren't zombies, according to Capcom, and they were removed from Resi 4 as well. Plus there are several other games mentioned.
So please slip on over and check it out, we'd love to have yo...
OXCGN unpacks Resident Evil 5's Collectors Edition and wonders, is it worth the extra $AU50 store owners are asking.
Games here are never cheap anyhow, but shelling out $AU169.95 for a game and a box . . well you be the judge, slip over, check the pics out and make your own mind up.
And yes, we have it already, the release date here was Thursday 12th March . .
"... OK, so this is a joke, right?
Avon isn't serious with the design of its Derma-full face cream, an exact replica of Resident Evil Apocalypse's T-virus. We were astounded recently when we caught the commercial for Avon's product on television, a "skin care breakthrough," delivering "fullness perfected, not injected" for aging skin.
AVON Commercial:
UMBRELLA CORPORATION Commercial:
"
"Most classic video game heroes were grizzled and muscle bound dudes, at least until Samus Aran came along. Nintendo's hardcore bounty hunter crushed the notion that female characters couldn't compete with the steroid-using men in most adventure games, and when Tomb Raider's Lara Croft arrived, the following ladies achieved gender equality, thanks to their brains and combat skills."
"Be A Master of Unlocking:
If you find yourself trapped in a safehouse, eerie mansion or underground facility, chances are you are going to run into some locked doors. Fear not, for while there may be no keyholes and you possess no keys, that's probably just because a sinister corporation has devised an elaborate scheme to keep you from uncovering the truth. If you find any emblems, medallions, or strangely colored objects, it's a safe bet that they will be used to unlock the exact room that ..."
Who doesn't love Penny Arcade? Other than being incredibly hilarious, their latest comic is actually quite relevant to GameGrep, with all the posts and discussions we've been getting about the "racism issue" in Resident Evil 5.
Let's see what Tycho and Gabe think...
Dan Stone of northernstar isn't a fan of Resident Evil 5's controls. However he doesn't think it's a design flaw ... He believes the problem is with the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
"We know for sure that Nintendos Wii got something right the PS3 and X-Box 360 didnt: innovative play control," he says. While playing the demo, Stone admitted he couldn't "help but have a burning desire to reach for a Wii Remote"
"If the frequency and causticity of online discussion is anything to go by, Resident Evil 5's Controls Guy (technical term) has surely become the target of office vandalism, or at least a wall full of passive aggressive post-it notes. In case you hadn't heard: Implausibly beefy protagonist Chris Redfield can't move and shoot at the same time. Nice going, incompetent Controls Guy!
To my mind, this infamous inability to move and shoot simultaneously is a miring of deliberate design, not "bad ..."
By now I'm sure we're all aware of Resident Evil 5's racism issue, but racial stereotyping is an issue that seems to go beyond beyond just one game.
Darion White, from Edge Online, takes a look at the way black characters are portrayed in video games, both the positive portrayals and the negative ones.
The article mostly focuses on newer titles, such as Resident Evil 5, Final Fantasy XIII and Metal Gear Solid 4, while also taking a look at the games of a decade ago, including Final Fantasy...
"Capcom probably didn't even think that the scene would be a problem, because most people realize that a Country that is going through what Kijuju is, (i.e. The infection of their citizens and subsequent transforming of them into violent murders) would expierence some civil unrest."
Since the Resident Evil 5 demo's release, fans have been split down the middle regarding the game's controls. Some think they're outdated and clunky, while others think there is nothing wrong with them. MTV Multiplayer's Patrick Klepek is in the former group. He believes Capcom have made an error in choosing not to update the controls of their newest game. He uses Dead Space as an example of what next-gen horror games should play like. Do you agree? Disagree?
Go to the source for the full ar...
"With the recent two-tiered release of the Resident Evil 5 demo, almost a full three months before the game's launch date, Capcom has proven once again how they truly understand the video game industry and community. But their extensive use of pre-release demos is not the only way that Capcom "gets it." The company also has a deep back catalog of games going back to the days of the NES that they mine and refine for game ideas. While some companies could use this history as a crutch, Capcom als..."
"The gaming community has a morbid fascination with death, and something is always dying. Apparently E3 is dead, PC gaming is dead, and some say the survival horror genre is dying. Most gamers readily admit that Resident Evil 4 is a great game, but no one is trying to defend it as a survival horror title. Indeed, the Resident Evil franchise has changed over the years, and we're a long way from where Capcom started."
"I am sure that everybody, at some point in their lives, has been playing a videogame and suddenly found themselves questioning the sexual preferences of the characters involved. Ultimately, one finds one's self asking the final and most pressing question of all -- is that character a dom or a sub?"
""Resident Evil"'s new movie, the CGI spin-off "Degeneration," is a true prequel to "Resident Evil 5." Set between the events of "Resident Evil 4" and "Resident Evil 5," this CGI film offers fans of the series just enough information to hold them over until the "RE5"'s March release. The movie even concludes with a cameo by Tricell, the already confirmed enemy corporation of "RE5." Gamers who are looking for back story on "RE5" can expect to see many features of "Degeneration" in the game."
Carbonox_Ratchet of the playstation.com boards has come up with an interesting theory as to whether Resident Evil 5 will be Albert Wesker's last game. It has been hinted at that RE5 will be "the beginning of the end"... Could this be the final RE game in the Umbrella/Wesker/Chris plotline? Will Chris finally defeat his nemesis once and for all?
Discuss in the RE5 forum
"How many times have you been playing a video game and thought, "Geez, that character looks like so-and-so..." Well if you're like me, that happens a lot. I thought it would be a fun diversion to create a blog that highlights some of my favorite video game characters and their real-life doppelgangers. Some are obscure...some not so much. feel free to add to the list in the comments if I didn't include a pair you know. One rule though: if a video game character was modeled after a real person (..."
"As we all know, the one thing that sets videogames apart from other forms of media is interactivity. Being the catalyst for your own adventure is something that makes gaming more interesting to me than any movie or book. With videogames, one can stop being a mere passive observer and actually be a part of the action.
That said, if there's one thing I may have done more than playing videogames, it's watching videogames. Whether patiently waiting for my turn or being astounded by the skills..."
Jim Sterling of destructoid.com types about how the evolution of survival horror games has run them into the ground. This isn't the only speculation of recent times about the genre, with What happened to survival horror? and Survival Horror - Does it even exist anymore?. This blog is just one more look into how the genre is dying off.
Read on to see how the generations have been adding to the dragging down of the survival horror genre.
"I am as excited for Resident Evil 5 as any of you, it will probably be my Game Of The Year for 2009, and as March is quickly approaching, the excitement has been building. Then I saw the latest TGS Resident Evil 5 trailer from TGS '08 . . .
When I saw the opening of this new trailer I honestly thought I was seeing a flash back to an older PS1 game, perhaps a earlier Resident Evil title done in HD (like the MGS1 flashback in MGS4). But no, this was Resident Evil 5.
I was shocked at the ..."
"After my hands-on with the latest RE, I felt a strong urge to hurl my controller against a wall. Why is there a rigid inventory system? Why are their potted herbs everywhere? Why cant I walk and fire a gun at the same time? These mechanics feel like spoiled left-overs. You can try to defend these choices in two ways. Either way they were used to create a sense of suspense and horror to force the player to make quick decisions and to struggle with the environment around them or that these mec..."
Do you remember playing Doom and laughing at all your friends who didn't have it? Or played a recent Star Fox game and wished they'd stuck to the high standards set by Star Fox 64? Have you been a devoted Metroid fan right from the start?
This article is all about games and their transformations over the years. It gives you the run down on each game and the big changes, along with bringing back a lot of fond memories.
Are there any other games you felt have really evolved over a long pe...
Kotaku's Leigh Alexander goes in depth with the rise and fall of the survival horror genre. A look at how today's gamers are almost too impatiant to appreciate the ambiance and nuances of the genre and require constant stimulation - which is why they are drawn to games like Halo or Call of Duty.
Old favorites such as the Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Fatal Frame series are unfortunatly a dying breed - it is up to us dedicated fans (I'm looking at your GothicGirl) to keep the genre alive.
Professional game designer, Scott Slomiany is a fan of survival-horror games and he believes that, while Resident Evil and Silent Hill are both fantastic series, they don't deliver much in terms of "horror". He finds it hard to feel scared for Resident Evil's characters when they are at such an obvious advantage against most of their enemies, and Silent Hill delivers a mostly "weird" or "bizarre" atmosphere rather than a scary one.
So what does Slomiany believe the best example of survival-h...
Much to the dismay of Resident Evil fans, the Resident Evil 5 racism debate is still continuing. This time, Tolu Olarunda at the Your Black Writers blog, recently watched the Resident Evil 5 trailer and wrote a rather scathing report on it, calling the video "nerve-wrecking, painful, mind-numbing and heart-racing".
In the span of just a few hours, the blogger has recieved almost 200 comments on the issue both agreeing and disagreeing with the article. Read them here - some are quite inter...
When we play a Survival Horror game we want to feel scared. Not only for ourselves, but for the character we are playing as.
But what actually makes us scared for Survival Horror characters? Why do we want them to live through the horrors that they are faced with? And what happens if we aren't scared for them?
Chris, from Chris's Survival Horror Quest, takes a look at why gamers feel genuinely scared for their survival horror protagonists.
Go to source for full article
In the new 'partner' trailer for Resident Evil 5 there are now plenty of white people wandering around Africa, instead of only black people. Also, Capcom has now given Chris a partner and guess what? She's black. Seems Capcom has visibly fixed their racism problem.
But wait! Let's fast forward to the last comment... 'No worries, my last partner was a woman too.' Uh-oh, are women going to jump at this acclaimed 'sexist' comment? Apparently, feministgamers.com doesn't believe it's sexist but...
Japanese horror movies have been gaining notoriety in the West over the last few years, while Japanese horror games have been popular for well over a decade. Games like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Fatal Frame, and Siren have all gained a following of fans who have stuck by the series since they were first released.
But what makes them so appealing? Why do Western audiences seem to have more of an interest in Japanese horror games and movies, instead of American ones? And why do so many Jap...
Lack of success is something that Fatal Frame fans have been fearing ever since Fatal Frame IV was announced for the Wii.
But despite the series not continuing on Sony and Microsoft's consoles, most fans hoped that with Nintendo publishing FFIV, the series would at least recieve some much-needed publicity.
But with the game's release set for Summer, fans are starting to worry that it's a little too late for Nintendo to generate any real hype for FFIV, especially for a console that is most...
There has been plenty of controversy in gaming lately, from Mass Effect's sex issue to Resident Evil 5's racism. But they all have something in common: Gamers lashed out with a "they don't know what they're talking about" attitude as soon as these 'controversies' arised and rarely bother looking at it from the critic's point of view.
A recent example of this is NGai Croal's blog on the racist imagery in RE5 ... Croal explained that anyone who wasn't familiar with the Resident Evil series ...
![Box shot of Resident Evil 5 [Europe]](http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvWGJveF8zNjAvQWN0aW9uL0FkdmVudHVyZQ==/resident_evil_5_frontcover_small_EPGXFwFJnUxEeEK.jpg)