Konami managed to pump out the first four Silent Hill games in five years, so what the hell is taking Silent Hill 5 so long? Discounting the critically mixed movie by Brotherhood of the Wolf director Christophe Gans (who isn't coming back for the proposed sequel), it's been a whopping four years since gamers have entered the town of Silent Hill, but that's about to change next fall with Silent Hill 5.
In the newest issue of EGM, on shelves September 4 and rolling out to subscribers now, Shane Bettenhausen goes behind-the-scenes to get the scoop on Silent Hill 5, currently in development at American studio The Collective (best known for beat 'em up Buffy the Vampire Slayer, last seen adapting the not-so-hot The Da Vinci Code), with series composer Akira Yamaoka providing the soundtrack and consulting on the game's look and feel.
Yamaoka finds the switch ironic, as Silent Hill was their attempt "at making classic American horror through a Japanese filter," where... More »
The latest Batman film, "The Dark Knight," is the most-searched trailer on the Web. This is the sequel to 2005's 'Batman Begins,' with the Caped Crusader protecting Gotham City from his arch-nemesis, The Joker. Check out the trailer from the above link and share your feedback! ;)
Monolith Productions is a developer in a prime position to shed some light on the situation, having achieved critical and retail success with their launch title Condemned: Criminal Origins, and working on their follow-up with the upcoming sequel, Condemned 2: Bloodshot. "There is a certain satisfaction in taking on major challenges and overcoming them -- and this was definitely a major challenge. Sega also wanted us to hit the launch date... [and] gave us great testing and localization support to help make sure that we did hit our dates," says producer David Hasle, who later adds, "We knew that being present at launch would provide us more time to get more game titles developed internally at Monolith Productions for the 360 over the course of the lifespan of the 360 so this was seen as a good business decision. Plus being one of six or seven games is better than being one of 50 or 60 games on the shelf at your local game store."
The making of Condemned 2 is not just about ... More »
Thankfully not content with a shinier sequel, Criterion is reinventing its fabled racing franchise for this generation of consoles (the Burnout Revenge 360 port was more of a facelift). Gone are the linear tracks and tiered level structure; Burnout Paradise takes place in one enormous city that's open from the start and never stops to load. And lest you fret, the game still blazes by at 60 frames a second, the buttery-smooth visuals complemented by cars that crumple more convincingly than ever. The series is still about viscerally destructive driving, and the audio-visual impact of hitting a wall at 200 m.p.h. is as "next-gen" as anything we've experienced.
Paradise makes the most of its open-world structure, assuring that it's more than just a gimmick or several levels strung together. The game encourages you to learn the map, and familiarize yourself with where the major landmarks are (most races end at one of them). Every street has a name, and street signs pop up on t... More »
It's been nearly three and a half years since the Ninja Gaiden series made its triumphant return. Since then, the critically lauded Xbox remake was rereleased in 2005 with new content as Ninja Gaiden Black, and then graphically upgraded and further expanded for this year's PlayStation 3 port, Ninja Gaiden Sigma.
But while the resurgent adventures of shadow warrior Ryu Hayabusa have spawned an all-new DS game, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, many have been wondering when a true Ninja Gaiden sequel would arrive. Though he would not confirm a sequel outright, Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki has declined to deny assertions in the gaming press that his shop is working on Ninja Gaiden 2.
Today, though the proof was in the pudding--blood pudding, to be more precise. An eagle-eyed poster on gaming-news bazaar/loosely controlled riot NeoGAF posted a series of screenshots he or she claimed to have taken from an official product page on the Japanese version of Xbox.com. T... More »
Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 games console got a big boost on Wednesday when Square Enix Co. Ltd., the last major Japanese games developer not to have embraced the console, said it would release a title on the platform.
The game, called "Infinite Undiscovery," was given a brief preview at a Tokyo news conference but few details of the role-playing game were announced. Square Enix didn't share a release date.
"We are working to ramp up the action and create a dynamic, compelling next-generation RPG," said Hajime Kojima, a producer from Square Enix. The concept of the game is to play in a world that is constantly changing in real time. Even when you pull up the menu screen the action won't stop on screen.
The debut of role-playing games like "Infinite Undiscovery" is key to Microsoft's success in Japan. Gamers here prefer RPG titles over the first-person shooter games that are popular in North America and Europe and the company's original Xbox suffere... More »
As expected, Hideo Kojima came packing a brand-new trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, one that's much more story-oriented -- including the re-introduction of Metal Gear Ray and Rex -- than ever before. Kojima stuck behind the early 2008 release date for his latest sequel, and users interested in remaining pure for his "last" installment in the series will probably want to avoid the new trailer.
Additionally, Kojima confirmed MGS4 will come bundled with a Metal Gear Online "starter pack," but declined to specify what exactly that includes. That wasn't all for the Metal Gear universe, either, as a new trailer rolled for Metal Gear Portable Ops Plus, which apparently so... More »
As widely anticipated, Japanese publisher and developer Square Enix has confirmed a number of new Kingdom Hearts titles at the Tokyo Game Show, including new entries in the series for the Nintendo DS, Sony's PSP and mobile phones.
There has been considerable press speculation regarding a possible announcement and target platform for Kingdom Hearts III, with the franchise now one of Square Enix’s most lucrative in both Japan and North America. Ultimately, the company made no announcements of a direct sequel, or indeed, any franchise additions for consoles, but instead focused on new titles for portable formats.
Like its spin-off Final Fantasy XIII: Versus, the "true" Final Fantasy XIII seemingly exists more as a story and FMV than as a game at this point. In its defense, though, the FMV is pretty much completely jaw-dropping.
Shown only in Square Enix's TGS "closed mega theatre," the newest trailer for FFXIII has no gameplay footage whatsoever -- but it does contain a ton of new scenes and some narration to help give context to the glimpses we've seen over the past year and a half. The general noise level of the show made the narration difficult to hear, but here's what we've gathered:
Like most Final Fantasy games, XIII seems to be set in a futuristic fantasy world with aerial cities connected by mighty airships. But this world is beset by something called the "Cocoon," which appears to be ravaged by monsters -- Bahamut and Ifrit were shown, among others. To maintain the peace, or perhaps for more nefarious reasons, some people are relocated to a place called Puls... More »
Due in 2008, the action returns to Stilwater for the sequel - building crews have been dispatched to transform and expand the city - although events are taking place "years" after those portrayed in the first game. "The explosive conclusion to Saints Row has left the player wounded, betrayed and thirsty for revenge, and now it's time to take back the city that has forgotten him", says THQ.
It's making some huge promises about Saints Row 2 too, enthusing that the game's "set to revolutionize player freedom and open world online gameplay" with an "expanded and fully transformed city and true open-world online multiplayer".
"Saints Row 2 will be playable online in two-player co-op through the entire single-player campaign or in the all new open-world competitive multiplayer mode never before seen in the genre", THQ's said further about multiplayer in the sequel.
On top of that, new vehicles, new locations and new customisation options - for the likes... More »
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