Lovecraft Would Dig these Video Games

[Bulbatron]

I've never thought of the Silent Hill series as being Lovecraftian in any way before, but I certainly agree with you about everything else - particularly regarding Silent Hill 2.  It's a very psychologically disturbing game.

But surely Silent Hill 3 is a sequal to the original Silent Hill?  Then again, I suppose it could stand alone easily enough.

After Silent Hill 4, there was also Silent Hill Origins, which was a prequel to the first Silent Hill.  Then there was Silent Hill Homecoming, which came out on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.  Then there was Silent Hill Shattered Memories, which was a 're-imagining' of the original Silent Hill.  Another Silent Hill game is on the way.

I think that for horror in pretty much the purest form, Amnesia has done a damn fine job, and it does possess some elements which are Lovecraftian, albeit not that explicitly.

[fishy]

Pyramidhead have no commets, just saying

[Bulbatron]

Eh?

[Kaelestes]

Seriously, if you haven't played these games (especially Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3) you're missing out on some of the best horror games ever made. And, since survival horror as a genre is dead or dormant, they may hold that honor for years to come. That's such a shame, too, because I think video games are the best medium for horror.

You're certainly not wrong. Survival horror isn't necessarily dead, but it is in a serious lull. The last games in the genre that were worth a damn came out primarily, and rather oddly, on the Wii - with one or two small exceptions - and not within the last six months. We had a few major hits like Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Japan only unless you forked some serious import costs and scrounged a translation patch), and a number of under acknowledged gems like Cursed Mountain and The Calling, but those were released nearly a year ago. And we can't rely on from-out-of-nowhere greats like Deadly Premonitions to carry us through the S/H famine, because accidental greatness of that variety comes only once in a blue moon.

The biggest problem is big publishers and their 'tarded bottom lines. <-- Bitterness Nintendo and EA don't make nearly as much tosh on survival horror sales as they do on sales for their tried and tired franchises (i.e. the "Evil M&Ms": Madden and all things Mario). This is why we are losing so many great opportunities for scares. Have you heard of Sadness or Winter? I would suspect not, as they were both highly ambitious survival horror titles slated for upcoming Wii releases that got the hack because Nintendo wanted to pour their money into endless, mindless Wii Sports sequels instead. <--More Bitterness

So do as the stinking sunfish says and play Silent Hill. Play all of them. And fear not, for there is a glimmer on the horizon. Lovecraft would dig this one deep: Redwood Falls

[Cloven Sunfish]

I heard about Sadness. It's a shame it was (apparently) vaporware because the premise sounded really interesting - escorting your blind child through desolate European landscapes while avoiding terrible creatures of Germanic legend.

[Kaelestes]

I followed the sad, sad progress of Sadness from its original teaser trailer to the quiet defunction of Nibris, the developers. It was pretty pathetic. They had amazing ideas, but they couldn't get funding and wasted about two years twiddling their thumbs while promising more and more without any means to follow up. Then a third year was spent avoiding the press instead of actually working. There exists a collection of tragic/hilarious interviews from ex-Nibris-employees about the whole sordid afair floating around the internet if you can stomach it.

This is the look the developers were shooting for, which is why so many people were excited, and why so many of us are now so disappointed:

[fishy]

Eh?

I thought you had played Silent Hill Just saying that Pyramidhead have nothing to add to this

[Bulbatron]

Eh?

I thought you had played Silent Hill Just saying that Pyramidhead have nothing to add to this

I've played them all and I know who Pyramud Head is, but I'm still confused!  Am I missing something?  Sorry if I'm being thick.  

Sadness looks great!  What a shame nothing became of it.

I've got Deadly Premonition on my shelf, but I haven't played much of it yet.

My other frustration about the state of horror games, apart from the current rarity of decent ones, is the fact that so many are coming out only on the bleedin' Wii.  I'm rubbish at using the Wii.

So, is Redwood Falls a PlayStation 3 exclusive, or is it coming out on Xbox 360 as well?

EDIT:  Just looked at the link properly.  It's a Sony game.  Buggeration!

EDIT 2:  just watched the trailer and realised I've seen it before, a little while ago now.  It certainly looks good enough to me to make it worth considering finally getting a PlayStation 3.  Alan Wake on the Xbox 360 was a disappointing anti-climax.

[fishy]

Eh?

I thought you had played Silent Hill Just saying that Pyramidhead have nothing to add to this

I've played them all and I know who Pyramud Head is, but I'm still confused!  Am I missing something?  Sorry if I'm being thick.  

I tried to be funny and imply that Pyramid Head contacted me to say that he have no comments on this topic So no, you are not thick

[Bulbatron]

Eh?

I thought you had played Silent Hill Just saying that Pyramidhead have nothing to add to this

I've played them all and I know who Pyramud Head is, but I'm still confused!  Am I missing something?  Sorry if I'm being thick.  

I tried to be funny and imply that Pyramid Head contacted me to say that he have no comments on this topic So no, you are not thick

Oh, right, I get it now!  Sorry about that.

[Kaelestes]

I'm a little furious with the Necronomicon card game. I waited all that time, then purchased it on release day, but have yet to manage to get it working on my iPod. I've tried every trick in the book and still nothing. They'd better be working on a patch or someone's going to receive a strongly worded boot to the glottis in the mail.

Woohoo!! Update! It works!

[Bulbatron]

More info on Guillemo del Toro's 'Lovecraftian' game, or games.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-12-13-guillermo-del-toros-insane-a-trilogy

[Kaelestes]

I watched that trailer for the first time on Saturday evening and I was struck with the overwhelming sensation of being completely underwhelmed. That trailer is nothing but tease and zero content. We can't really glean anything from watching it, other than the impression that creatures with great slimy tentacles may be involved and there will be a fairly significant wait before we get to play the game.

[Bulbatron]

I like the feel of the trailer, but yes, it doesn't tell us anything about the game that I can think of.  Also, I don't understand why they've announced this now rather than waiting until closer to release so it's more of a pleasant surprise to people rather than something that people may actually get tired of waiting for.

Alan Wake, I'm looking at you.

But yeah, I do like the look of the trailer, but I think the best think for me to do now is to forget about it until closer to release.

[Bulbatron]

Been playing Dead Space 2 and spotted an obvious Lovecraft reference.