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Shattered Memories: A Eulogy

Okay, this apparently went live Tuesday on the front page of Kombo.com, but I was too distracted by my recently defunct computer to notice. Anyway, I hope you take a moment to hop over to Kombo and check out my first guest article for them!

Over the years, my obsession for the Silent Hill games has nestled into my life like an infection. Akira Yamaoka’s music, which balances so beautifully against Mary Elizabeth McGlynn’s and Joe Romersa’s haunting vocals, effortlessly spreads its tendrils under my flesh. The gritty visuals poison my veins, the nightmarish town rots my bones, the psychological illusions deceive my brain, and the lingering terror grips my soul in my sleeping hours. Despite its deathly visage, I can’t help but experience a sort of inexplicable, Gothic fascination for the series whose stories have always rattled me. But when the recent Shattered Memories caused my dry throat to constrict and my eyes to wet, I knew the usual horrors weren’t culpable.

Tags: Climax Group, Kombo, Konami, Shattered Memories, Silent Hill
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Lords of Shadow Dominates New Territory

Eager about the upcoming Castlevania game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360? I am, and you can pronounce your love by checking out these new screens and a quickie debate about Lords of Shadow’s direction over at OneMetal.

Are you prepared to whip and magically cast Dracula across vast stretches of, well, 3D expanse? The new screenshots and artwork batch uploaded today suggests a bigger, denser world for gamers to explore. But can the developers and the assisting Kojima Productions rework the aging series into a hot-blooded successor?

Tags: Castlevania, Kojima Productions, Konami, Lords of Shadow, OneMetal, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
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PSP Review: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Hooray! It’s been half a year since my demo and Konami interview at San Diego Comic-Con, but I finally sat down to play Shattered Memories. So … did I enjoy it? Well, that’s a tricky number. The game is quite a mixed bag of good and bad, but ultimately one lone feature redeemed the entire game for me. Find out what over at OneMetal.

Silent Hill has dramatically evolved since the original game, presently a decade behind us. Now Shattered Memories lifts the ashes and exchanges the rust-colored decor for a colder touch. Put down the chainsaw and stop running—the latest installment dares you to revisit the classic town and remember everything you, and Harry Mason, tried to forget.

Shattered Memories logs a relatively short length, and the gameplay and story elements are profoundly redesigned. In fact, fans will recognize the changes before they even start pressing buttons. The game invents more personality for characters, polishes familiar locations with fresh attributes, and incorporates the depth absent in the first run-around. Borrowing the first-person technique utilized in The Room, the psychologist sessions allow the game to profile you by translating various exercises, like coloring a picture or answering intimate questions, into Harry’s adventure. The characters and locations might remain, but this isn’t the game you remember. Shattered Memories molds to your unique personality and develops a new and engaging spin on an old story.

Tags: Climax Group, Konami, OneMetal, PlayStation 2, PSP, Shattered Memories, Silent Hill, Wii
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Spawn Kill Favorites: Silent Hill

Oh, Silent Hill, how I adore you. Thanks to the PlayStation Network’s inclusion, I recently revisited the PSOne classic on my PSP. So despite the voice-acting that makes soap operas sound like Shakespearian language, what distinguishes Harry Mason’s experience and keeps the aging title memorable? Find out at Spawn Kill.

One decade ago, Konami left a neoteric imprint on the survival horror genre with Silent Hill, a video game that would inspire a number of future titles, a movie, and several books and comics. But Harry Mason’s investigation into the fog-covered town and its strange occurrences accomplished more than just a household name among the likes ofResident Evil. The heart-pounding adrenaline rush introduced gamers to a nightmare founded on psychological Japanese horror and an equally unnerving musical score by composer Akira Yamaoka.

Tags: Konami, PlayStation, Silent Hill, Spawn Kill, Team Silent
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Silent Hill: A Decade of Nightmares

I’ve been meaning to catalog the full Silent Hill history for awhile, but now couldn’t be a more perfect time. Unless I’m screwing up the math (which is possible, trust me), then January 2010 marks the full ten-year anniversary of the survival horror series. What better way to celebrate than to take a look back on the years with all their missteps and achievements? … Okay, well, I guess we could all dress up as the crazy gang of monsters and characters and put on a performance enacting famous scenes from the video games in a thematic party, but maybe that’s a little much. Eh, there would be punch, though.

Who’s your favorite Silent Hill individual?

For the last ten years since its 1999 debut, the Silent Hill video games have launched gamers into the heart of a macabre town crawling with unearthly creatures, cult secrets, and enough horrid psychological chicanery to justify a happily executed lobotomy. Despite the series’ notable footprint on the surface of the survival horror expanse, each installment bears its respective weight in flaws as terrifying as its disgusting creatures and unsettling music. So what makes Silent Hill unique and massively popular among horror addicts? Here’s a rundown of the Silent Hill landmarks that established the series and an envisioning of what fans can expect in the years to come. Feel free to add your own tribute in the comments below!

Tags: Climax Group, Double Helix Games, Konami, Microsoft Xbox, OneMetal, PC, PlayStation, PSP, Silent Hill, Team Silent
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Konami Just Won’t Break the Ice

Our appointment with the psychiatric Silent Hill remake, Shattered Memories, has been moved … again. The game that was supposed to debut in late October was then pushed back to early November, and now Amazon and other sources have the title listed for even later dates. Currently, the Wii version is expected to hit shelves in early December, but for PlayStation 2 and PSP owners, Konami will be keeping the game on ice even longer. The inexpensive alternatives won’t be ready until late January.

That’s just cold.

On the other hand, a prolonged release usually means a better game.

Would you rather have the game now or later? What console will you buy the game for?

Tags: Climax Studios, Konami, PlayStation 2, PSP, Shattered Memories, Silent Hill, Wii
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SDCC09: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

I was like a kid at Lakeside Amusement Park on the first day of San Diego Comic-Con, because I entered the cool hotel room at the off-site Konami event and relaxed with the Silent Hill: Shattered Memories demo. After I played through it, I talked with developer Jay Boor, who gave me the scoop of the game and took all of my straight-to-the-point answers (half of which he had to be careful how he answered) in stride, the great guy.

Read all about the demo, see the trailer, and check out my interview with Boor over at the Girls Entertainment Network. Now … let’s kick some ICE! Just kidding.

Tags: Climax, Girls Entertainment Network, Jay Boor, Konami, San Diego Comic-Con 2009, Shattered Memories, Silent Hill
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Inside the Heart of Homecoming

“Inside the Heart of Homecoming” is my second guest article over at Spawn Kill and my last post for a week or so. Whether you enjoyed the game or hated it, I promise the essay-styled look into the depths of Silent Hill: Homecoming will make you see the game in a new light (or rather, darkness).

Enjoy, and leave a comment over at Spawn Kill letting me know what you think!

San Diego, here I come!

Tags: Homecoming, Konami, Silent Hill, Spawn Kill
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