The writer/company president agreed to take the time from his daily routine to give GEN the scoop on Peter and his boyhood pals ... and foes.
Awakening author Nick Tapalansky talks comics, zombies and zombie comics with The Nerdy Bird! Plus, Mexican brothels?!
Last time we interviewed the creative minds behind The Black Cherry Bombshells. But what about the comic's illustrator? We asked Sacha Borisich about her female role at Zuda, what she thinks of the digital medium, and her reaction to the zombie-infested, girl gang story.
Resident Evil 5 is easily the most fast-paced and action packed entry in the series, so it makes perfect sense it should be the first to include a competitive multiplayer mode. A month after the game’s release, that’s exactly what Capcom has done by unleashing the Versus DLC.
Video games have come a long way. While still constantly defending themselves from claims that they are the cause of the problems of today’s youth, they have established themselves as not only a form of basic entertainment but as art. From archaic, 8-bit games with soundtracks of bleeps and bloops, they have evolved into cinematic masterpieces with soundtracks comparable to most film. It only made sense that video games would start to integrate themselves into their main competition for audiences: the film industry.
For anyone who loves gaming, nothing should sound sweeter than hearing that your favorite game is going to be made into a full length cinematic feature. On the contrary, this concept is now something that fills the average gamer with groans of “Oh please don’t ruin it”. To date, there has never been a film based on a video game that has truly done it justice. They may have come close but the films almost always seem to lose something in translation. Prime example : The Resident Evil movies. I am fairly certain that I am not the only gamer who wanted the mansion the way it was in the game, wanting to see a member of STARS walk around the corner to see the first zombie bite someone’s neck off, wanting to hear “I hope this isn’t Chris’ blood”, but no… What we got was techno music, an underground office building with a hive and any excuse to see Milla Jovovich wearing a strategically placed shower curtain. 
We wanted to be scared – we wanted Resident Evil. Other offenders such as the films versions of BloodRayne, Mario Bros, Mortal Kombat and Dead or Alive just added insult to injury. I would however like to say that the Silent Hill movie is probably the best video game-to-film translation to date despite the fact that it should’ve been the father looking for his daughter, not the mother.
On the other side of the coin, we have the film to video game translation. Ironically, they seem to suffer the same plague as the video game to movie translations. While a few may be decent, the majority are mediocre and plagued with bad camera angles and other major glitches. It has reached the point where most movie based video games are released even before the film, perhaps to allowing the player a better chance of enjoying it since they are unaware of how bad of a translation it is. The ultimate example being E.T the Extra-Terrestrial the Game. While attempting to cash in on the fame of one of the most popular movies at that time (and all time), they created a game so bad that it was not only viewed as one of the biggest commercial failures in video game history, it also spelled the beginning of the end for Atari.
So why does this happen? Why do two forms of entertainment that can only benefit from each other’s full out co-operation create such below standard homages to each other? Despite the fact that both film and games contain interesting stories, relatable characters and gripping music, sadly it seems that neither industry has total respect for the other. So much the same and yet still contented to churn out mediocrity for any easily marketable product that has half the promotional work done already.
So what can the average gamer do about all of this? As long as we show either industry that we are willing to see or play anything just because of a film or game license, these games and movies will continue to be made. So do your research on your video game movies; watch for bad directors who are poison to anything they touch ( you know who you are!), bad actors, and involvement of the game studio. Tough it out the extra day and wait for the review before going to the theatre. The same can be said for movie video games. If it doesn’t look up to snuff and the reviews are bad, rent it if you have to before you buy it. Whether you’re more into movies or video games, we all deserve better quality than what we’ve been getting and until we demand it, it’ll just be the same sad story.
As part of their massive Resident Evil 5 launch festivities, Capcom held a Blood Drive in a hollowed-out adult entertainment store in Hollywood, California last Friday. After all, who needs flashy venues and sexy booth babes when some old lady named Ping with questionable vision and shaky hands is sticking a needle in your arm?
Imagine this: You’re running through some ancient ruins pulling levers and collecting treasure; must be Tomb Raider, right? You’re ducking in and out of cover while engaging in a firefight with armed militia in a factory complex while your co-op buddy flanks the enemy’s rear; must be Army of Two, right? You’re stuck on the back of a moving Humvee racing through a wide-open savanna mowing down wave after wave of incoming motorcyclists with a mounted machine gun; sounds like Time Crisis, or perhaps Virtua Cop, right? None of these situations are likely to conjure images of a survival horror game, but as the title of this review probably tipped you off, they will now.
Welcome, strangah! What’re ya buyin’?
You know what is the best part about having your favorite videogame series become popular? All the great merchandise. That’s right: when it comes to Resident Evil, a plethora of goodies and hoodies await you. Dig in!
Resident Evil 4 is almost universally adored. If not, its respective band of naysayers are divided as to why they didn’t enjoy it. One school can’t get past the fact that it’s a foray into more action-oriented gameplay, forgoing the survival horror label. The others simply complain that it was a bad game, and that they’d never slap the Resident Evil name on it. While we all know gamers will come up with any reason to talk down about a title they may enjoy otherwise, good game or not, the jury is still out on whether you could classify Resident Evil 4 as a “classic” RE title. However, whether you’re a fan of the game or not, it might be of note that it didn’t always start out the same as the end product.
You may be surprised to learn that there were entire versions of what would ultimately be Resident Evil 4 scrapped in favor of the more action-oriented gameplay. Having officially annnounced the game way back in 2001, Resident Evil 4 spent 4 years in production. During these three years, the game took at least three different forms before the retail game we know and love (or despise) was released to the public.
Tokyo Game Show 2002 saw the very first build of what was to become Resident Evil 4. This venture was affectionately dubbed the “Fog” version, for the obtrusive black fog in Leon’s field of vision. This prompted comparisons to Silent Hill. In fact, a good portion of the gameplay and look of the entire project seemed to draw heavily from the popular survival horror series. Leon was presented in his traditional garb, heading through the infamous Umbrella’s main location while under the influence of the Progenitor Virus. Rather than fighting the zombies expected from the masses, Leon was seen fighting off creatures that wouldn’t look out of place in Ico. Though the footage was short, it seemed as if Resident Evil was already headed in a new direction. The short, but interesting trailer even featured an airship, which was quite out of left field for the series.
However, this version never came to fruition, as we already know. It was swept under the rug and left to rot. That was the last anyone heard of Resident Evil 4, until two years later at E3. It was then that yet another version of the impending RE4 was revealed to the public, affectionately titled the “Hooked Man” attempt. If the previous version seemed as it were inspired more than just a bit by Silent Hill, then the “Hooked Man” version is a loving homage.
In this version, Leon encounters the Hooked Man in a series of scenes, who was intended to take the role of a Nemesis-like antagonist. The footage of the early build painted the Hooked Man in the light of Silent Hill 4-esque ghosts, and added an incredible amount of tension to just the small bit of gameplay that had been released. Sudden, jumpy scares and a keenly-orchestrated score were in place to put the emphasis on “horror” out of “survival horror”.
Traversing the hallways of a seemingly haunted mansion, all the typical Resident Evil conventions were present, such as apparent controls that carried over from the earlier games in the series, as well as the “pausing” of the action when there is on-screen text to read. Though it took a more familiar path than the Fog version, it still contained many elements that would later carry over to the retail version of RE4. These included a laser sight for Leon, the implementation of a flashlight into Leon’s outfit rather than to be used as an item, and an over-the-shoulder view when Leon aims. Though in the video we see a few instances where Leon aims just as in the past RE titles, this was obviously meant to be a bigger part than it ended up.
The Hooked Man build presented what looked to be an interesting turn for the series, introducing more terrifying themes than any of the previous games had to offer, as well as the conventional scares games like Silent Hill or Alone in the Dark tend to bring. Even Shinji Mikami, father of the franchise, warned patrons of E3 to not “pee their pants” during the game’s reveal. Though the game obviously isn’t that terrifying from the available footage, it could have had some real potential, even if it were introduced as a title parallel to the Resident Evil canon.
Ultimately, this version was scrapped as well as the developers felt it was a bit too paranormal for a typical RE game. I surmise that this was the complaint of the layman as well, since it ceased staying true to its roots. Imagine their surprise, then, when the final version of what would be the Resident Evil 4 we know today was unveiled. It was new, different, and strange. Oh no! Nothing like what RE should have been. And yet, its success has been an earmark that perhaps it is time for Resident Evil to branch out into new territory. However, deviating from the norm is Always Bad, as we have learned from overzealous gamers over the years - at least, that seems to be the “in” thing to believe these days.
Taking a look back on these scrapped versions has made me realize one thing: change is good, and the RE series should not be immune to progression. The videos hold great potential, but how happy with RE4 would you have really been had it kept the same archaic control scheme and worked from there? The argument would then arise that it wasn’t “next-gen” enough, or that it was “the same.” You can’t please everyone, but with Resident Evil 5 just around the corner, we should brace ourselves for imminent complaints and accusations that the change is not welcome. Having witnessed the early Resident Evil 4 concepts, what’s your take? Can you appreciate change or would you rather Resident Evil stick to its guns?
Whatever your opinion may be, one thing we can all likely agree on is the fact that RE will likely see another metamorphosis as the years wear on. I’m ready to see whatever is conceived. Are you?
Astounding graphics, a brand spankin new camera system, interactive environments, and Ada Wong. Now where are the zombies? Read the full story
Cue in: a wild, maniacal laugh paralleling that of a Joker gone wild gives way to a “Welcome….Claaaaaire!” a la Hannibal Lector fashion. Welcome to Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Read the full story
It’s been a while since we checked in on Garudoh and his awesome ongoing YouTube series, The Music of Video Games. Now is as good a time as any, so here’s a look at the first three games and their original soundtracks. Since Garudoh is still working his way through the 32-bit era, you’ll have to wait for Resident Evil 6 for the second batch.
The original Resident Evil was a hard act to follow, but Resident Evil 2 somehow managed to not only meet the lofty expectations of the eager gaming industry, but far exceed them beyond even what a superfan like me could imagine. So all eyes were definitely on Resident Evil 3 Nemesis as Capcom attempted to catch lightning in a bottle for the third time in a row. Unfortunately, while Nemesis is a decent addition to the franchise, it wasn’t quite the masterpiece that its predecessors were, and in many ways marked the beginning of the end for the survival horror series.
