This blog is a tribute to the original Dead Rising, the game that helped usher back into mainstream consciousness the lovable appeal and popularity of the Zombie Apocalypse, a genre now near-oversaturated and encompassing almost all forms of media. Whether it be the hilarious Undead Nightmare expansion to Red Dead Redemption or real-life “Zombie Walk” social-event-meets-cosplay events, would any of these tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating moments truly have been possible were it not for the fun people had photographing female zombie knickers for high ‘Erotica’ scores through the camera lens of the game’s everyman main character, Frank West, himself clothed in a tight-fitting red rose dress direct from Willamette Mall’s high-end fashion section? Wait, what? That wasn’t how you played the game? No way.

Esteemed origins

Japanese developers Capcom had previously frightened a generation of players in the mid-90′s with its original entry to the Biohazard/Resident Evil series, simultaneously coining a new term for the experience as we came to grips with the jump up in quality of the 32-bit generation. “Survival Horror” made its debut on the original Playstation and took gamers on a horrific expedition through a sprawling mansion and secret underground laboratories populated by nightmarish creatures, forcing them to salvage scarce healing and ammunition resources – knowing full well that the more the player explored the game setting, the more risk they’d encounter. The need to conserve bullets wherever possible, accompanied by both a harsh difficulty level and limited amount of in-game ink ribbons to simply even save one’s progress, ensured that the ‘survival’ aspect of the title was alive and well, even if that meant that the selectable player characters, Chris Redfield or Jill Valentine, often weren’t. Add to that a ‘horror’ attribute stemming from classic moments such as the infamous dog-jumping-through-the-window trick, the unsettlingly gorgeous but deliberately claustrophobic pre-rendered backgrounds and just as limiting “tank-like” control scheme which always kept players within the grasp of the game’s multiple and grotesque enemies, Resident Evil was an instant, terrifying success.
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Also seen on Gamasutra and Galaxy Next Door

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RPGs tend to always intimidate me before I start one: upon estimating the hours I’m going to need to commit towards understanding the equipment system, not to mention navigating all those menus and grasping the fictional history as well as figuring out the combat tactics, it worries me ever so greatly and yet, strangely, I am never sufficiently put off enough to avoid the genre altogether. The worry stems from a selfishness: a concern borne out of a fear of what will happen to me if I actually like the game. Or rather more specifically, what will happen to me if I actually, sincerely, love the game.

(Spoilers of course.)

It was all over far too soon. With barely a moment to rest or let your guard down to admire the amazing environments and graphical details of the year’s biggest release, the campaign mode of Modern Warfare 2 – whilst inarguably exhilarating from start to finish – wasn’t quite what I was hoping it would be, nor was I as profoundly affected by the controversial airport level as I was building myself up for. The emotional resonance of the original story in the first Modern Warfare, set in current times and grounded (somewhat) in reality, has given way to fantasy in the sequel. By way of comparison, MW2 has pretty much turned into Metal… Read More

Selfish housemates getting on your nerves? Time to move out?

Well ahoy there!! I, Landlord Lucantile of Alexandria Arms, am extremely pleased to offer you – YES YOU! – the investment property opportunity of a lifetime!

An absolutely stunning three storey complex. Of course, only one of those floors is operable and there isn’t much of a ceiling, but hell, THREE STOREYS!!

Situated in a pleasantly quiet spot next to the motorway, this home offers shrubbery and plenty of parking space but, MY WORD! It’s… Read More