Happy Holidays!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

As the New Year approaches, I’d like to add some features to the site. My weblogs suggest that we get a lot of hits, despite the relatively quiet forum. What additions would you like to see on the site? More mini-reviews? Weekly Polls? What would make the site better? Leave a comment and let me know.

Buncha updates

Haven’t posted any updates lately, thanks to Thanksgiving and a terrible cold. Here is some stuff from the past week:

Forums member Endaso hooked me up with some information on Dark Tales – From The Lost Soul, which I’ve added to the database. The game appears to be a movie with several decision points. Forum member CronoLuminaire posted some interesting info, which I’ve put up on the Dark Tails info page.

The MagicBox is reporting that Japanese game magazine Famitsu has scored Biohazard Outbreak (the new online Resident Evil) very highly: 36/40 (90%). It was promising at E3, and I hope that it really is as good as they say.

The MagicBox also reports that Siren has sold 130,000 units since its release late last month. With luck, strong sales will get this title published in the West.

Finally, I’ve made a few fixes to the site. Thanks to Bock for pointing out a bug with the Alone in the Dark 2 page.

The Video Game Stores are Responsible for Our Children!

This isn’t explicitly horror-related, but I feel that it is worthy of a post.

The Daily Herald, an Everett, Wash. newspaper, is carrying a feature titled “Violent video games are training children to kill.” The article asserts (without the back up of any sort of source information) that games use “simulation techniques” to train children to dehumanize people and become ruthless killers. The author even draws a link between games and the recently-convicted serial killer Gary Ridgway. The article makes no attempt to convey the controversy surrounding game violence, and it presents the author’s opinions as fact. Please write the author or one of the editors about the article’s disgusting lack of journalistic integrity. Please keep your comments civil and polite–your argument will be much more convincing that way too.

If you need some sources to refute the authors claim that it is a “fact” that “research shows that playing violent video games increases children’s violent thoughts and aggressive behaviors,” try The American Academy of Family Physicians.

I’ll post my own message to the features editor shortly.

Fixing Broken Games

I recently asked a poster named “spike” how he might correct the faults of Chaos Break, which he apparently hated. I’d like to extend this question to all of you for all the games in the database.

Let’s say you get to decide how to fix one of the games listed here. You may choose any game that you think has serious problems. However, there are guidelines you must follow when fixing:

  • You can’t change any art, you must use the characters and models that come with the game.
  • You can’t improve the 3D engine or otherwise make major changes to the technology.
  • You may make major changes to the way the game is played: change the combat system, add an inventory system or skills or whatever.

So what games do you think are the most flawed and how would you fix them? You may post as comments on this message, contact me directly, or sound off in the forums.

Please note that if your messages are devoid of content (“this game sucks ass, I’d just play something better”), I’ll just delete them.

Siren Details

1Up.com has posted a detail-rich preview of Siren. Interestingly enough, the article mentions that you must play without the ability to attack. In a previous news post, I lamented the fact that most survival horror games boil down to causing zombie heads to explode, and I suggested that games like the Clock Tower Series might have the right idea by removing combat completely. It will be interesting to see if Siren’s implementation effectively induces feelings of fear and uncertainty.