Gaming_Issues

Fatal Frame 4: Trying too hard to appeal to the West?

2008-07-28T02:47:00.000-07:00

Or 'Is Fatal Frame 4 Too Western'?
We love survival horror as much as the next people but an outstanding game in this genre is few and far between. Fatal Frame is one such outstanding series that has a distinct difference between horrors primarily set in locations that appear Western such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Clock Tower and Parasite Eve 2. This leads it to stand out in the crowd, with its focus on traditional Japanese horror and Japanese characters, settings and folklore. But that may have changed in Fatal Frame 4 with many themes and locations resembling Western regions and fans may not be pleased with the result. Are Tecmo trying too hard to appeal to Western audiences and in doing so alienating their fans from what initially drew them to the series? Here is what we have noticed:

1. Western Hotel
Protagonist Ruka is seen traipsing through a distinctly Western hostel on the fictional Rougetsu Island. The screenshots show an obvious change in scenery from previous games. Instead of exploring the narrow coridoors and dank small rooms of Japanese houses, Ruka is seen in expansive Western dining halls, wide staircases and modern buildings. A change indeed!

2. The Hospital
A new setting for the Fatal Frame series. When you think survival horror hospitals the first thought that springs to mind is Silent Hill and the infamous Bubble Headed Nurses. The Silent Hill hospitals are iconic locations in survival horror and Fatal Frame appears to be taking a page out of that book in introducing not only a hospital but sexy nurse enemies as well.

3. Choushiro (a.k.a The stereotypical 'tough guy')
The majority of Fatal Frame's protagonists are female but let us take a squiz at the males for a second. Mafuyu and Kei are the two main male leads with naught a tough bone in their body. They are essentially the opposite of what most survival horror males are, they are effeminate, fearful and if we were to judge on their running ability, they don't appear to have any sporting past either. They are less than your typical average joe, they are borderline wimps!
Choushiro is the newest male in Fatal Frame 4. He is a smooth talking, masculine, specially trained detective. In the trailers he is seen roughing up people for information and he doesn't look afraid of anything that's thrown at him. He's so badass, he even holds his flashlight like a gun.
Tough male protagonists are popular in survival horror. Leon Kennedy is the hot topic of horror games after his makeover from rookie cop in RE2 to wise-cracking badass in RE4. Is Fatal Frame 4 playing off this popular character stereotype to gain more fans?

4. Gameplay
Fatal Frame 4 has had an overhaul in its gameplay and it is strikingly similar to Resident Evil 4. Watching gameplay videos mark the obvious similarities between RE4 and FF4.
Resident Evil 4 thrust the series into mainstream popularity. Is Tecmo trying to do the same by altering Fatal Frame's gameplay to something more familiar?

5. Nintendo
Here is the big one. The series has moved to the Nintendo Wii. Tecmo claims that the Wiimote will provide the perfect gameplay experience in Fatal Frame 4 but is this really the case? It appears the Wiimote's motion sensing is used primarily for moving the protagonist's flashlight. Did the series make a dramatic shift to another console because of a flashlight only?
The Nintendo Wii is the best selling console this gen. It may be more likely that Tecmo want to appeal to a mass audience this time and as such have released FF4 on the Wii.

Survival horror man babes

2008-07-06T04:11:00.000-07:00

We didn't want to do this, we really didn't. But after an email (or many) begging us to make one for the girls, we thought we would give it a try.

Name: Leon Kennedy
Series: Resident Evil
Appearance: Who can look past Leon Kennedy when it comes to Resident Evil studs? In Resident Evil 2 he was a baby faced cop with a lot of learning to do. And you know what they say about men in uniform!
In Resident Evil 4 he was a tougher and wiser man sent to a remote European location to kick some ass. Although we are a tad unsure about that new metrosexual hair cut.

Memorable Moment: First encounter with Dr Salvador (a.k.a Chainsaw Man) in Resident Evil 4. We weren't expecting Leon's head to fall off so easily!
Honorable Mentions: Chris Redfield, Albert Wesker
Upcoming game: Resident Evil 5 (PS3 and XBox360)

Name: Henry Townshend
Series: Silent Hill
Appearance: The Silent Hill series isn't known for its honorable and upstanding male protagonists. James Sunderland is a fine example of what a woman would never want in a man (if you don't know what we mean, you missed what he did to his wife).
Henry Townshend on the other hand is what we suspect women would call 'sweet'. He is dragged into the dark and disturbing world of Silent Hill yet his main goal is to help his poor injured neighbor Eileen. The two had never met before and, even though Henry had a voyeuristic tendency to watch Eileen through a crack in her bedroom wall, he showed genuine concern for the poor darling when he found her cut up in a dingy decrepid hospital. A man who goes out of his way to save a woman is a keeper, right? Eileen thought so.
With that tan, dark hair and light stubble, we guess he is a very handsome man too. A quick look on Photobucket showing gratuitous fanart confirms this.

Memorable Moment: First encounter with the giant siamese twin babies. It left us with a looming "WTF" over our head. Who thinks up these demented monsters?
Honorable Mention: Harry Mason
Upcoming Game: Silent Hill: Homecoming (PS3 and XBox360)

Name: Kei Amakura
Series: Fatal Frame
Appearance: Kei makes his first appearance in Fatal Frame 3 as the uncle of FF2's protagonists Mio and Mayu. Another sweet man with a heart of gold, Kei enters a haunted mansion in search for his missing nieces. We've got to hand it to him, the man is determined!

If there is something we love more than women, it's Asian women. And Tecmo is known for its beautiful Asian women. We are sure the same applies to its men. While Kei might not appear to be a brawny fellow, don't let his looks fool you. His special ability in FF3 is his strength, which allows him to move heavy objects that other characters are unable to. Which means he would be good with lifting heavy furniture and whatnot. You like that, girls?

Memorable Moment: The final moments of Kei's final chapter when the poor man realised that everything he had fought for had been for nothing. Whether he lives or dies is up to you.
Honorable Mention: Mafuyu Hinasaki, Masumi Makimura
Upcoming game: Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Wii)

Name: Kyoya Suda
Series: Siren
Appearance: Seventeen year old Kyoya might not be at the top of many girl's lists although we guess a lot of that has to do with the unknown game he appears in. He unwittingly ventures to the cursed Hanuda Village to research folklore and gets caught up in its craziness. He is another Japanese character with a heart of gold. While tring to escape the hoardes of insane bloodthirsty zombies, little Kyoya does something that few men would do in such a situation; He forms a relationship with villager Miyako Kajiro and tries to save her from the town's evil too. Its a shame he doesn't succeed and Miyako gets killed later on. But brownie points to Kyoya for trying! We guess he is a looker too ........ for a seventeen year old. But if girls want a strong Asian man, Kei Amakura (above) is your best bet.

Memorable Moment: First encounter with a "shibito" Police Officer. Siren would have been an incredibly frightening game if it weren't for the shoddy British voice acting. It was so hard to take the game seriously when you approach that first enemy (the Japanese police officer) and hear a British voice cry out "IT'S NO UUUUUSE!!" followed by Kyoya's own scream of "Why? What? Oh my God." Silliness at its finest.
Honorable Mention: none
Upcoming Game: Siren: Blood Curse (PS3)

Name: Edward Carnby
Series: Alone in the Dark
Appearance: Edward Carnby has had many a reinvention throughout Alone in the Dark. Starting as an upper class moustached detective in the original Alone in the Dark, he then changed to a dark and sarcastic Private Eye in The New Nightmare, Edward is now a rugged rough moustache-less powerhouse in Alone in the Dark 2008. We can see some resemblance to Tom Cruise from Mission Impossible 2........if Tom Cruise was taller, tanned and muscled. Why doesn't Uwe Boll attempt to cast Cruise in the next Alone in the Dark movie, instead of horrendously miscast Korean-American actor Rick Yune?

Memorable Moments: Hearing frightened screams throughout The New Nightmare and not being able to do anything to help whoever was screaming. We'll never know what (or who) was doing it, or what the purpose of those screams was.
Honorable Mentions: none
Upcoming Game: Alone in the Dark 2008 (PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PC)

Name: Albert Wesker
Series: Resident Evil
Appearance: Ok, ok. We will admit that we have run out of 'man babe' protagonists that we think girls would find attractive. There are many other survival horrors out there but few with good looking male characters (We were surprised to discover this). So we decided it was best to end the list with the master of badassery and all things awesome: Albert Wesker.
Awesome sunglasses? Check. Badass attitude? Check. Evil voice? Well......Who was expecting a British voice to come from that mouth? Honestly?! It had us off guard for a second. Not that the voice is bad, but were we the only people expecting a sarcastic American drawl? If Americans had a stereotypical appearance, Wesker would be it. Whatever that means.
But anywho, we like the voice and Wekser himself is awesome.
If we were chicks, we'd do him. Wait..... would that count as necrophilia?

Memorable Moment: The betrayal in Resident Evil 1. Wesker isn't the helpful teammate you thought he was, he's the fricking bad guy!
Honorable Mentions: Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield
Upcoming Game: Resident Evil 5 (PS3, 360)

10 most memorable survival horror moments

2008-07-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

1. Resident Evil 3
First horrifying encounter with the insanely powerful Nemesis after he brutally kills one of Jill's comrades. We were too scared to fight after this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XElLtjBAlF4

2. Silent Hill
The Silent Hill series has had its share of memorable moments. But none more memorable that 'that' scene when Lisa Garland realizes what she truly is. A tragic end to a tragic character: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCgzPJiIIE0

3. Dino Crisis
Wandering around collecting ammo and items isn't an uncommon occurence in survival horrors. After a particularly uneventful ten minutes of picking up items, we nearly messed our pants when this happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp-59rTKNi4

4. Resident Evil 1:
The infamous scene of Wesker's betrayal followed by the introduction of Tyrant. While we love the original RE's cheesy voice acting, we can't look past the Gamecube remake's improved script: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_83ulEYoPHw

5. ClockTower 3:
The first encounter with vicious Sledgehammer. After bludgeoning a twelve-year-old pianist to death, he turned his sights on Alyssa. The first chapter of the game was spent hiding from this murderous stalker who wanted nothing more to do than beat poor Alyssa to death. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3TjJjILhF4

6. Silent Hill 2:
There were hints throughout Silent Hill 2 that protagnist James wasn't a good guy. One of the biggest and most memorable moments that hinted this was Maria's outburst at James' apparent carelessness. We began to realize that James may not be the poor innocent soul we believed him to be and Maria may also not be what she seems. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIB3gxxa7CE

7. Fatal Frame 2:
One of the most popular scenes in the series. The introduction of the series' iconic villain: The Kusabi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0SwjyGPJJM

8. Fatal Frame 3:
In FF3 Rei's house was a safe zone. Free from ghosts and hauntings, the player was free to roam Rei's house without fear of being attacked.During the hours that Rei was safe at home she spent a lot of time contemplating her unfortunate situation whilst in the shower. So it was a shock when this happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqVnZMyMxhM

9. Parasite Eve 2
The infamous shower scene. After blasting through hoardes of mutated zombie-like creatures and other nasties, Aya rests at a nearby hotel and takes a quick shower. It was memorable watching Aya in all her naked glory but it was even more memorable when Aya looked out of her little bathroom mirror only be be greeted by a monster three times as big as the building she was in. Guess who has to fight it? Frightening! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6PP7pIYTgA

10. Haunting Ground
Capcom's little known horror may not have had the impact of Resident Evil. But it had its fair share of scares particularly when crazy Daniella was around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkhy16_zsAQ

What Wii third party game has the best graphics?

2008-06-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

The Nintendo Wii has not been known for its third party titles or its realistic graphics. But 2008 looks to change that. After scouring Wii forums and discussion boards we found a handful of the best Wii graphics that have fans dropping their jaw over.

The Conduit

More screenshots

Deadly Creatures

More screenshots

Fatal Frame 4

More screenshots

Tenchu 4

Star Wars Force Unleashed

More screenshots

We breathe a sigh of relief that the Nintendo will not forever remain a console known for it's childish games and simple graphics. Each of the above games have amazed us with graphics that we didn't think possible on the Wii. Which do you think look the best?

Why is Fatal Frame underrated?

2008-06-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

The topic of Fatal Frame's underrated status has cropped up on many Fatal Frame forums lately. Fans were hoping for much more hype with the series' shift to Nintendo but business appears to be 'same as usual'. But why is Fatal Frame so underrated? We have scoured Fatal Frame forums to find the most common reasons. Here are a few speculations that fans have suggested:

1. Limited Marketing and exposure
To be frank Fatal Frame's publishers were useless. The series was barely advertised outside Japan and as a result did not sell as well as Tecmo would have liked. Little information was revealed before each game's release. Small amounts of screens were revealed but did little to show newcomers what the games were about. Japanese trailers were released in the west which confused people rather than interested them.Gamespot and IGN recieved confusing seconds-long gameplay videos that showed lousy testers losing against ghosts and struggling with the controls. All in all it did nothing to persuede people to go out and buy the games. If anything it put them off!Let us hope that Nintendo does a better job as the new publishers of FF4.

2. Japanese horror influences
When westerners think of Japanese horror, images of dodgy Hollywood remakes crop up in their minds: The Grudge, One Missed Call and Ring were all movies that were recieved poorly from both critics and moviegoers. So when westerners see screenshots of Fatal Frame's filmy Japanese women inside haunted Japanese mansions fighting off traditional Japanese ghosts they think "not more of that Japanese horror crap". Essentially Hollywood's mediocre interpretations of Asian horror has made it difficult for games based on traditional Japanese horror to make it big in the west.

The problem is that Hollywood has not interpreted such horror accurately. Their focus was on special effects and explaining a Japanese story to an American audience whom they did not think would understand it otherwise. As a result these remakes ended in a convoluted mess of cheesy special effects and simplified plots. They do not represent the true horror and culture that the original Japanese movies stood for!
But Fatal Frame is made by a Japanese company who are familiar with the Japanese horror culture, themes and nature. These are all used to create what is a frightening experience for the player to be a part of.
Tecmo understand that the horror in Resident Evil might not be scary to some people so they went in a COMPLETELY different direction.
They understand that the horror in Resident Evil might not be scary to some people and as a result have gone in a COMPLETELY different direction.
Imagine the atmosphere of Silent Hill and the 'jump scares' of Resident Evil. That = Fatal Frame.

3. Confusion over the titles.
Fatal Frame has a different title in each region. This might not seem unusual to gamers but it has caused great confusion amongst sites. In Japan it is called "Rei" (or Zero), In America it is called "Fatal Frame", In Europe it is called "Project Zero". But it starts to get confusing when American sites refer to it as "Zero" or European sites refer to it as "Fatal Frame". In Fatal Frame 3 the main girl's name is Rei so when sites talk about "Rei" they could be reffering to her or the series as a whole. The characters also have surnames that are used multiple times in the series. Two or three families can have the same last name and not be related or relevant to each other at all. Yet more confusion!

4. Gameplay
This is where Fatal Frame's biggest problem for being underrated lies. The series' primary weapon is a camera. Survival horror fans might initially be interested in Fatal Frame but immediately put off when they realize that there are no "real" weapons in the game.

I recently came across two people discussing the games in a survival horror forum. One member suggested that the other should get the game, the other member responded with "but it has no guns. How boring!" This is a big problem in the survival horror genre. Gamers don't want to touch survival horrors unless there is a gun or zombies involved. Games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill have "taught" people that action based gameplay is scary and fun. While games that rely more on the survival aspect (such as Fatal Frame) are boring because the gamer cannot shoot things or bludgeon them. Any survival horror game that relies on a different method of gameplay or story is doomed to fail or forever walk in Resident Evil's shadow.
This can partly be blamed on gamers' inability to research games (the camera might sound ridiculous but its a concept that surprisingly worked) but it can also be blamed on FF's publishers. The camera has never been properly explained to the public. Gamers don't know why a camera is a weapon, or how it works, or what its purpose is, etc. so they percieve it as being "boring" or "weird".If more gameplay videos explained it thoroughly, then more people would be open to the unique idea.

The beauty of the camera system is it's uniqueness. IGN explains:

Since you're constantly running from ghosts, and since ghosts aren't exactly
scared of melee or projectile weapons, Fatal Frame – as the name suggests –
equips you with a unique soul-capturing camera. Known as the Camera Obscura,
Fatal Frame's only weapon forces you to risk life and limb to get the perfect
shot of advancing ghosts. While the main game is done primarily in third person
view, you'll need to bring the aging camera up into first-person mode, and then
focus in your shots face-to-face with the ghouls themselves. Based on how well
the shot is executed (size of ghost, position of ghost in the frame, and action
the ghost is doing at the time), a certain amount of damage is done. Put
yourself out on the line even further, and capture a "Fatal Frame" shot seconds
before the enemy attacks

Survival horror babes that we shouldn't like.

2008-05-31T03:20:00.000-07:00

We payed homage to the hottest survival horror babes last week but there are a small group of monsters from this genre that have caught our fancy too. We shouldn't like them. They're evil, often grossly deformed and may not even be female. But it's not our fault the concept artist's gave them appealing features. It toys with our poor minds!

Here are the stand-out monsters that caught our fancy while playing........

Name: Bubble Head Nurses
Game/s: Silent Hill 2
Why they're hot: Each Silent Hill game has it's own interpretation of nurses but today we are talking about our favorite nurses in the series: SH2's nurses. Long legs, skinny waists and large breasts. It's all about the bodies and- as much as it pains us to admit it -these nurses know how to flaunt it. It was hard to focus on bashing their heads with blunt objects while they jiggled around in their miniscule outfits. The only reason these nurses exist is to represent our protagonist James's sexual deprivation and lust. Niiiice.

Why they're not: We can look past the grossly discolored skin and bloodied uniforms, but the mutated facse are pushing it too far for our tastes. Depending on which SH game they appear in, the nurse's heads can resemble the rotted corpse face of a mummy whose skin has fused to it's wrapping or a mouldy mess of mashed potato and bulbous warts.
We prefer our babes to have two eyes, a nose and a mouth.......and not spit blood and bile at us.

Name: Reika Kuze
Game/s: Fatal Frame 3
Why she's hot: Fatal Frame 3 is one of the few games that managed to get away with 100% topless female nudity. And it isn't only a quick glimpse of nipple, this is the game's main antagonist! We actually get to watch slow motion cutscenes revolving around closeups of this woman's body. Yes yes yessss! We also love a strong woman who is able to lift us over her head with one arm!

Reika Kuze is a sweetie too with a backstory so heartwrenching you almost feel sorry for having to destroy her. While she was alive Reika chose to have her body covered with snake and holly tattoos, which are applied to remove the bad memories and emotions from people who come to see her. She wanted to do good for her village and that sentiment warmed our hearts. We didn't want to hurt her, we really didn't.......

Why she's not: Despite her sweetness in life, Reika was a mean bitch in death. After witnessing the murder of her boyfriend, she turned nasty and her spirit vowed that everyone needed to suffer as much as she had during the tattoo process. We're not too keen on suffering. Death by painful cursed tattooes is not our choice way of dying.

Name: Eve
Game/s: Parasite Eve 1+2
Why she's hot: We are torn when it comes to Eve. We loved her as the poor busty opera singer named Melissa who only wanted to perform her dreams on stage. Her aspirations warmed our heart. But since this is about hot survival horror monsters we'll talk about the evil mitochondrial version of Eve. After mitochondria took over her human body, Eve became a walking talking babe monster hell bent on destruction and birthing an 'Ultimate Being'. With each transformation she underwent, the more shapely and naked her body became! Win/win for us!

Why she's not: Eve has the power to cause any living creature to spontaneously combust. We wouldn't want to piss her off. End of story.

Name: Umah
Game/s: Blood Omen 2
Why she's hot: Blood Omen 2 was a poor game with awkward controls and a dull plot. It barely constitues a place in the survival horror genre although some sites forever claim it belongs there. One thing made BO2 worth playing- That one thing was Umah. She was a sexy scantily clad lietenant who wanted nothing more than to help her people and- if the blood around her mouth didn't tip you off -she is also a vampire. We are not against a little blood play in bed!

Why she's not: Umah's problem is her inability to remain loyal. We have nothing against people who aren't big on commitment, but Umah has no hesitations in killing anybody that she doesn't trust- and she doesn't trust many -not even the vampires inside her own clan! We can't count the times our controllers were thrown to the floor in anger upon completing a mission for Umah, only to have her reap the benefits and attack our protagonist Kain. And this was the guy she was in love with!

Name: Alexia Ashford
Game/s: Resident Evil Code: Veronica
Why she's hot: Alexia is a humanoid/dragonfly creature attached to a giant fallopian tube. In layman terms, she is a naked woman attached to the inside of a vagina. Awesome!

Why she's not: Unfortunately this is where the positives end. Alexia is sick, twisted and should have been sent to a mental institution as a child. Her odd crossdressing brother wasn't much better.

Alexia has extreme intelligence as a result of being genetically modified at birth and she uses that intelligence to incite wrongdoings throughout Code: Veronica. We're not too keen on the various ways she could- and would -kill us. Those nasty tentacles are enough to give us nightmares!
She is one beast we will admire from afar.

Survival horror babes

2008-05-27T02:32:00.000-07:00

Mention Survival horror and it immediately garners images of Chris Redfield blasting zombies or James Sunderland bludgeoning pyramid heads with a plank of wood. But in the survival horror genre there are as many iconic female protagonists as there are male. Gaming_Issues pay homage to them today.

Name: Jill Valentine

Series: Resident Evil

Appearance: Jill Jill Jill. Where would Resident Evil be without you? Originally appearing in RE1 as a member of the Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S) Miss Valentine became a gaming icon. She was no damsel in distress and fans embraced that.

Jill once again took the helm in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis where she decked herself out in a blue boob tube and leather short skirt much to the pleasure of us male fans. In 1998 she was voted one of the hottest PSX beauties since Lara Croft by PSX Magazine and we can see why!
We certainly won't question a girl who wears a sweater around her waist without seeing the logic that it could concievably offer some protection from the cold and the slavering teeth of zombies. She's trying to please us, or so we keep telling ourselves.

Memorable Moment: Second encounter with the insanely powerful Nemesis after he jumps through the window and chases Jill through a building. "STAAAAARS". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aBxTcwR1QA

Honorable Mentions: Claire Redfield, Ada Wong.

Upcoming game: Resident Evil 5 (PS3 and XBox360)

Name: Heather

Series: Silent Hill

Appearance: The Silent Hill girls have always been a fascination to us. They aren't perfect game babes with flawless skin, ample chests and cheery personalities. Often they are your typical girl next door with a few flaws here and there. And we love them for that!

Heather was the first female protagonist in the Silent Hill series and remains our favorite. We like her freckles, her feisty attitude and even her unflattering vest (it leaves more to the imagination). She had more emotion than all previous protagonists' combined. Sorry Harry and James.

Her nonchalent reaction to various corpses, creatures and horrors late in the game had us in awe. We would have messed our pants at such sights but Heather took it all in her stride.

Memorable moments: Heather's Sailor Moon esque 'Princess Heart costume' and her 'sexy beam' lazer attack. One of the best bonus features in a Silent Hill game. Listening to her sexily announce 'sexy beam' gave us shivers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDBX4tKDoCw

Honorable mentions: Eileen Galvin, Lisa Garland.

Upcoming game: Silent Hill: Homecoming (PS3 and XBox360)

Name: Rei Kurosawa

Series: Fatal Frame

Appearance: Rei makes her first appearance in Fatal Frame 3 as a 23 year old widowed photographer whose fiance died in a car accident. We would rejoice her newfound single status, but her fiance's death lead her to chase his ghost into an abandoned haunted house which lead to the game's plot. We've got to hand it to her, the girl is determined!

If there is something we love more than women, it's Asian women. And Tecmo is known for its beautiful Asian women - just take a look at the Dead or Alive series. But while Rei might be lacking the chest area, she makes up for it with her realistic and beautiful features as well as her unlockable costumes which include; a french maid outfit, a cat suit and a kimono.

But it's her infamous shower scenes that us male fans remembered the most.

She was also voted IGN's Babe of the Day in 2005. It's not hard to see why!

Memorable moment: During the hours that Rei was safe at home she spent a lot of time contemplating her unfortunate situation whilst in the shower. So it was a shock when the Needle Woman ghost attacked Rei while she was in her apparent safe zone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqVnZMyMxhM

Honorable mentions: Miku Hinasaki, Mio Amakura.

Upcoming game: Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Wii)

Name: Regina

Series: Dino Crisis

Appearance: New age gamers might not be familiar with Regina. She appeared in Capcom's Dino Crisis series and, as you may have guessed by the title, the game's horror is set around dinosaurs. Regina and team are sent to Ibis Island to arrest scientist Dr. Edward Kirk, but things go awry when Regina's team discovers rogue dinosaurs on the island too. It's all very Jurassic Park but fending off gigantic carnivorous dinosaurs is a horror worth mentioning. These beasts make Jill, Rei and Heather's enemies look like a walk in the park.

We like a girl who knowns her weapons and Regina is an intelligence agent and weapons expert, specializing in weapons maintenance. That does it for us! The skintight leotard and leather ensemble doesn't hurt either.

Memorable moment: Wandering around collecting ammo and items isn't an uncommon occurence in survival horrors. After a particularly uneventful ten minutes of picking up items, we nearly messed our pants when a T-Rex unexpectedly burst through a window and attacked Regina. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp-59rTKNi4

Honorable mentions: Sonya Hart

Upcoming game: (none)

Name: Aya Brea

Series: Parasite Eve

Appearance: Here is another series that newer gamers might be funamiliar with. Did you know that RPG-making veterans Squaresoft also made a survival horror series?

The protagonist was the lovely half-Japanese-half-American Aya Brea, an FBI agent sent to destroy creatures known as 'Neo Mitochondria Creatures' or NMCs for short. In laymans terms, she was sent to destroy mutants and zombies.

While Square's fans were not happy with Yuna's sexualised appearance in Final Fantasy X-2, she couldn't compare to Square's imagery of Aya. Almost every PE concept art featured Aya in little or no clothing and posing in a deliberately sexual manner (The picture on the right is our favorite). We can't complain about that, despite it having little to do with the game or Aya herself. The only time we can think of Aya naked was in a brief shower scene during PE2.

Memorable moment: Aforementioned shower scene. After blasting through hoardes of mutated zombie-like creatures and other nasties, Aya rests at a nearby hotel and takes a quick shower. It was memorable watching Aya in all her nakes glory but it was even more memorable when Aya looked out of her little bathroom mirror only be be greeted by a monster three times as big as the building she was in. Guess who has to fight it? Frightening! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6PP7pIYTgA

Honorable mention: Melissa Pearce/Eve

Upcoming game: Parasite Eve 3 (cell phones)

Name: Alyssa Hamilton

Series: Clock Tower

Appearance: Alyssa is a typical teenage girl who makes her first appearance in Clocktower 3. When she recieves a call from her mother warning her to stay away from home, the next day she does what any teenager would do........disobeys her mother and goes home. What awaits her is hoardes of demented serial killers all vying to murder Alyssa in gruesome ways.

Alyssa is only 15 but if we were back in highschool she would be the girl we'd keep our eyes on. Big blue eyes, cute school girl outfit and a sexy British accent had us pinned to the screen. We'll give her a few years.

Memorable moment: The first encounter with vicious Sledgehammer. After bludgeoning a twelve-year-old pianist to death, he turned his sights on Alyssa. The first chapter of the game was spent hiding from this murderous stalker who wanted nothing more to do than beat poor Alyssa to death. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3TjJjILhF4

Honorable mention: Alyssa Hale

Upcoming game: (none)

next week: Survival horror babes that we shouldn't like.

Fatal Frame memorable moments

2008-05-17T04:21:00.000-07:00

With the upcoming Fatal Frame 4 release we take a look at some of the memorable moments in Fatal Frame. Jumps, bumps and atmosphere. Fatal Frame has it all.

6. Enter Kusabi (FF2)
One of the most popular scenes in the series. The introduction of the series' iconic villain: The Kusabi. Mio stumbles into a dark room, only to discover the floor she had been walking on was covered in dead bodies covered in slash marks. Scared beyong belief, Mio runs to the door only to hear a terrifying manical laughter coming from behind her. She turns around and directly behind her is Sae, the game's antagonist. She continues laughing as the murderer of the bodies is revealed. The Kusabi, once an innocent man, appears for the first time, covered in ropes and the torn off arms of hi svictims, he attacks Mio. He's one spirit that can't be defeated.

5. Koji's death (FF1)
One of the mysteries in FF1 involved the disappearance of writer Junsei, and his two workers, Koji and Tomoe. Throughout the game flashbacks occur when protagonist Miku enter rooms that the group had entered beforehand. But had they escaped the haunted mansion or had they been killed. Miku recieves her answer when she finds a notebook in a closet. As she reached in to take it, the dead mutilated body of Koji falls down in front of her.

4. Entering the Lost Village. Mayu's vision (FF2)
The first cutscene in FF2 is a frightening and memorable one. Upon entering the Lost Village Mio and Mayu are tormented by visions of previous visitors who stumbled across the haunted houses.

3. Meeting Yoshino and the Priestess (FF3)
Meeting the antagonist in a Fatal Frame game is always a memorable moment. The main character Rei is trapped in the spooky Manor of Sleep, a corrupt and haunting world that appears only in her nightmares. So it is a surprise for both the player and Rei when she stumbles across a woman named Yoshino who appears to be trapped in the Manor as well. But there is no time to ask questions as the game's antagonist Reika also appears to spread a 'tattoo' curse onto both Yoshino and Rei.

2. Sae Chase (FF2)
FF2 had the player searching for hours upon hours in a bid to find proagonist Mio's sister, Mayu. Every movement sighted could either be a spirit lunging out to attack Mio or a clue pointing to Mayu's whereabouts. As a result of this players were constantly on their toes.
It was a truly memorable moment watching the first Chapter 7 cutscene begin as Mio walked down a dark and narrow pathway before turning to hear a small voice say "Why are you leaving me again?". The player breathed a sigh of relief assuming that Mayu, who always feared being left behind, had at last been found.
That relief soon turned to shock when it was revealed that the voice belonged to insane antagonist Sae (who enjoyed mimicking Mayu to torture Mio) before she burst into manical laughter as she ran towards Mio with her arms outstretched, her kimono drenched in blood. A frightening scene indeed!

1. Needle Woman Shower Scene (FF3)
Here we are at number 1!
In FF3 Rei's house was a safe zone. Free from ghosts and hauntings, the player was free to roam Rei's house without fear of being attacked.
During the hours that Rei was safe at home she spent a lot of time contemplating her unfortunate situation whilst in the shower. So it was a shock when the Needle Woman ghost attacked Rei while she was in her apparent safe zone.

next week: survival horror babes

Fatal Frame run down

2008-05-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

Fatal Frame might be a series known only to dedicated horror fans but it is steadily growing interest with the announcement of Fatal Frame 4 on Wii.

But there is more to these games than gorgeous girls, ancient cameras and atmospheric horror. Beyond that is a series with a beautiful plot, innovative gameplay, frightening enemies and more extras than you can fill a pool with.

[Don't let her good looks fool you. She offers some of the most frightening Fatal Frame moments]

Name: Fatal Frame
"I wonder how long it's been since my brother and I started to see things other people can't see."

Sweet faced college student Miku enters the haunted Himuro Mansion to look for her missing brother Mafuyu. Armed with only a flashlight, Miku searches throughout Himuro Mansion, which has a long history of bloodshed, curses, and horrific rituals. She later finds an odd camera that Mafuyu had brought with him into the mansion
During her time in the mansion Miku sees various apparitions of her missing brother Mafuyu. What could this mean?

Little does she realize that by entering the house Miku has stirred the long resting spirits - and they aren't happy about their intruder. The main antagonist is the mad Kirie, who stalks Miku throughout the game in an attempt to kill her.

You will never guess the connection between Kirie and Miku's brother, Mafuyu. All is revealed in the final fight.

[Its almost cruel to put such an innocent girl through such torture]

Pros: Being the first game in the series FF1 brought a new terror to the survival horror genre. Rather than being armed with powerful weapons and endless items, Miku has only a camera to defend herself against ghastly spectres and vengeful spirits. Some may be put off by this idea and call it 'silly' but it's a gameplay feature that must be given a chance as it is innvative and, most importantly, frightening. Having to bring the aging camera up into first-person mode, and then focus in your shots face-to-face with the ghouls themselves, can create some terrifyingly too-close-for-comfort situations that will leave you shaking in your boots. This sort of thing rarely appears in survival horror games.

Cons: Although good at the time, the graphics are now a tad outdated. It would be hard for newcomers to take some parts of the game seriously as they can come off as funny instead of scary. Controls are slightly rigid though nothing a Silent Hill fan wouldn't be used to. Voice acting is another issue. English actors tring to sound Japanese. Need I say more?

[Escaping enemies is not always an easy task]

Name: Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly
"Didn't we promise each other… that we would always be together?… for ever"

Gorgeous twin sisters Mio and Mayu are visiting a childhood play spot when Mayu follows a mysterious 'crimson butterfly' deep into the woods. Mio follows Mayu and the two girls are led to a lost village. They soon realize they are trapped within the village and must do anything to escape before they are killed by the vengeful spirits who seek two twins to sacrifice in an ancient ritual.

This game has one of the most shocking and unexpected endings you will ever see.

[Behold FF2's insane and sadistic antagonist]

Pros: FF2 improved on everything from FF1 and is arguably considered the best game in the series. Better graphics, plot, controls, and scares have made it a favorite amongst fans. It is also the easiest game to get into which makes it the most welcoming Fatal Frame for newcomers too.

FF2 also introduced the series' iconic villain; The Kusabi. Once a man who accidentally stumbled into the lost village, he was captured and tortured by cult members then thrown into a pit to please the cultist's so called 'Devil'. Distraught with the pain he had suffered, the Kusabi returned as a deformed and vengeful spirit hell bent on causing as much pain to others as he had beared. His chosen victim: Mio.

[Whatever you do, don't look down]

Cons: Mayu was injured as a child and as a result she walks with a limp. Why is this a con, you ask? In the instances where Mio and Mayu are together, you must protect Mayu from the ghosts that attack her (think Ashley and Leon in RE4). These protection missions frustrate gamers most of the time but imagine if your 'charge' had a perpetual limp and an aggravating dependancy on you. You can not outrun the enemies due to Mayu's limp so you must either fight every enemy you encounter or try to escape at an agonizingly slow pace so Mayu can keep up with you. Now you see what I am getting at? Fortunately Mio and Mayu aren't together for a large majority of the game so it isn't something to worry about.

[FF3's attention to detail added a new element of horror]

Name: Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented

23 year old Rei has recently lost her fiancé Yuu in a tragic car accident. In order to get her mind off of him, Rei focuses on he rhobby of photography and enjoys taking pictures of abandoned old houses. After developing the pictures one day she discovers that one of them is of Yuu. Determined to find out what is happening, Rei returns to the house where she took the photo, only to discover that something had changed. The house had warped into a nightmarish world known as the "Manor of Sleep". Soon Rei can't tell what is real and what is a dream as her nightmares soon mix with reality. It's up to you to help Rei survive her dreams long enough until sunrise.

[Always watch your back]

Pros: Graphics and visuals are beautiful. Once again gameplay is improved and this time multiple characters are playable including FF1's Miku and newcomer Kei. Other familiar faces return as homage to previous games.

Over 300 ghosts appear as enemies and all of them have a story behind them. Yes. Every single one. It might sound tedious when written down but in actuality it adds to the plot beautifully.
Note: Male gamers will also be glad to know that Rei spends many a scene contemplating her unfortunate situation while in the shower.

Cons: Mildly confusing plot. The three separate playable characters each have separate stories so it can be easy to forget what is going on in Rei's story if you have been playing as Miku or Kei for hours.

[With Tecmo's obvious effort to push the Wii's capabilities it would be a tragedy for the company if FF4 flopped.]

Name: Fatal Frame 4

Little is known about the new Wii title however the series is making some changes to attract a broader audience. Western themes and characters have been included for Western audiences, and Nintendo and Suda 51 are hoping to make the series even more appealling in an attemp to gain the attention of other horror fans and Wii owners.

next week: most memorable fatal frame moments

No hype for Fatal Frame 4, No wonder!

2008-05-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

Fatal Frame 4 was announced at the beginning of 2008 and since then there has been little news on the newest installment in the popular survival horror. The game is being released this Summer and fans are beginning to get worried with the limited information that has been released.
Visit any Fatal Frame 4 discussion board and you will be met with few posts and even fewer people who know the game exists. This is a noticeable contrast to the thriving discussion boards of other survival horror games such as Resident Evil 5 and Silent Hill: Homecoming.

[Mere months before the game's release and important details such as the protagonist's name have not even been revealed!]

Fatal Frame 4 will be the third game published by Nintendo to receive an M rating and perhaps this is the problem. Wii owners are not interested in buying mature games and Nintendo, despite being the publishers, aren't keen on marketing an M rated violent horror game to an audience who trusts them to create family friendly games for parents and their children.

[FF4 boasts some of the most impressive graphics seen on the Wii console yet.]

It would not the first time one of Nintendo's promising M rated horror games has gone unnoticed. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, another survival horror published by Nintendo, resulted in poor sales due to Nintendo's mediocre marketing. Despite the game recieving positive reviews and averaging a 92% on Metacritic, it failed to sell well.
In 2006 Denis Dyack, designer of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, confirmed that a sequel will be made if his team is allowed to. However, as Nintendo owns all rights to the game, a sequel would be Nintendo's decision.
Two years have passed since Dydack's statement and Nintendo have still yet to announce a sequel.

[With Tecmo's obvious effort to push the Wii's capabilities it would be a tragedy for the company if FF4 flopped.]

Could Fatal Frame 4 suffer same fate? Is Nintendo not trying hard enough to produce hype and attract an audience interested in survival horrors? Or are people simple not interested in it?
Considering Fatal Frame's unusual themes, unique gameplay and morbid storytelling it seems impossible that so few people are familiar with such a series. It's up to Nintendo to change this but they are running out of time with the release date drawing near.

next week: Fatal Frame run down