I have two questions. First, for those of you who played Dead Rising, what did you think of it? What did you like and dislike about it. I haven’t tried it yet, but when I heard complaints about the controls, I stayed far away from it. Apparently, Capcom is working on the sequel. Second, what do you think of a console Zombie MMO?  Undead Labs is founded by Jeff Strain of Blizzard WoW fame and is determined to create a console-centric zombie MMO. I came across an interesting interview today, and it got me thinking about the potential. Personally, no matter how great the game is, I doubt I will jump in simply because I fear ever getting out. I don’t want my family back in Canada to read about some white dude in Japan who died on his rice mats after playing ZombieWorld for 56 hours straight.  Quote from the interview after the break.

House Pic from mishinsilo, Deviant Art.

If you look at a modern zombie movie like Zombieland, the whole point of that is not about killing zombies: the whole point of that is, “What would the world look like in this post-zombie apocalypse world – what are your motivations at this point, how do you interact with other people, what are you trying to do?” The motivation that you get with an in-depth MMO you just don’t get with a corridor shooter.

Where to even begin?  Left 4 Dead is a franchise unlike any other in video games.  I can’t count how many times I’ve talked about my obsession for the game and a friend has started to ask “oh, is it like…”  I just have to cut them off right there.  It’s not like Resident Evil, it’s not like Dead Rising, it’s not like any non-zombie game ever made.  How many pieces of entertainment, let alone video games, are absolutely incomparable to any and every other piece of work in their medium?

Left 4 Dead is more cinematic than any game I’ve ever played, yet it values the pick-up-and-play experience more than anything in the next gen console era.  As a compulsive, completist consumer of all media, it was originally difficult for me to wrap my mind around the lack of progression in the game.  You don’t play Left 4 Dead for an hour, save your game, then come back the next day to finish off the part that got you stuck.  It’s a game.  You play it.  It’s not about completing it.  It’s not another thing in your life that you just need to get out of the way so you can move on.  It’s an intense, carefully crafted faux-movie that asks you to sit down for an hour and play a game with some friends or strangers.  The satisfaction of beating the game, like finally putting a book you’ve been reading for a month back on the shelf, is lost, but the experience of each individual session is infinitely more satisfying.

I’ve only played the demo of the new game but I think I’ve seen enough to be confident that it more than lives up to the predecessor.  The best part of the original is its uniqueness.  The new one by definition can’t really match that uniqueness, but based on what was available in the demo and what others have written today, it seems like they took the original idea tweaked it, added to it, and improved upon it in a way that doesn’t sacrifice what was present in the original that caused all the fuss in the first place.

Here are some reviews that popped up this morning:

Kotaku

G4

OXM

IGN

P.S.

I had a nightmare about Left 4 Dead last night.  It was awesome.

Although yes, Halloween is well half a month past, I finally got the pictures. I wish I had more pictures but don’t really. Then again, I didn’t have that many more opportunities for pictures. Anyway, for Halloween I dressed up as a “wota”. For those who don’t know, you can consider a wota to be a fanboy. In particular, a fanboy of Japanese idols and/or music.

So for my wota costume, I made use of some here and there things and the merchandise that I got from Hello! Store:

• Niigaki Risa Nine Smile Tour T-shirt
• Niigaki Risa Nine Smile Wristband
• Niigaki Risa Platinum 9 Disco Muffler Towel
• Takahashi Ai Nine Smile Wristband
• Gaki-san and Takahashi’s Nine Smile T-shirt pictures
• Fannybag
• Bookbag
• Orange Bandanna
• Wonderful Hearts Summer 2009 C-ute Fan
• Wonderful Hearts Winter 2009 Visual Book
• Jeans, glasses, sneakers

I tried to be as stereotypical in otaku image as possible. The first things that come to mind when I think of an otaku is this:

Densha Otoko! That’s right, the classic otaku love story is about as stereotypical as it gets. Plaid shirt with jeans and glasses is the mainstay of otaku fashion. I was thinking of wearing plaid but then I opted to be more obvious about my fandom. I have to say wearing a bandanna was a very good decision in cementing the image. It really makes me stick out from just a normal person.

I originally wanted to have posters protruding from my bookbag. Since I had an exam, I didn’t have time to make those things. Instead, I got a fannybag from home. Which was good, because then I could carry my Gaki-san and Takahashi pictures safely and closely.

I was going for being a Gaki-san wota by donning all Gaki-san wear. But I tried to go just a bit farther by putting in various other Hello! Project goodies because I really wanted to use my C-ute fan. In fact, by using my C-ute fan, my costume becomes a pun: fanboy. Get it? ^_~

Pictures!

The pictures were taken at my school’s Japanese Cultural Association club on the night before Halloween. The six of us were actually dressed up as something. From left-right: H!P Wota, Frank West from Dead Rising, Stock Villian from Stock Movie, Southern Italy, Bartender, and some sensei from Yu-Gi-Oh GX (I cannot remember for the life of me what it was).

Just imagine, if I seriously dressed like that everyday…

~Siggy, who needs to watch the Chanpuru concert in that get-up…~

Dead Rising is an awesome exclusive for Xbox 360 developed by Capcom. It creates a huge cap from entertainment to gory-action. Grab your sledgehammer and prepare to smash millions of undead heads, lined up before you, in a infested shopping mall.

• THE PLOT

Dead Rising centers around Frank West, a photojournalist, experienced in covering wars, who is sent to the fictional shopping mall of Willamette, and uncover the secret behind the incident. He must fight against hundreds of zombies, rescue civilians and defend himself against psychopaths.

Frank West arrives to the mall via helicopter and he’ll need to uncover and take full evidences of what’s going on until the choper arrives 72 hours later (in game time, 72 hours equals to 6 hours in real time). He’ll need to go through all the perimeter of the mall and as the story unfolds, a lot of mysteries and plot twists will come by and make the situation even harder for the player.

The game counts with 5 different endings, and the “ture” ending (as mentioned on Xbox 360 achievement list) will take you to the Overtime Mode and finally, revealing you the true ending as you complete it.

• THE GAMEPLAY

The main objective is to REMAIN ALIVE until the helicopter comes to rescue you in 72 hours. Time in game passes twelve times faster than real life and besides following the main case, you can also participate in side missions and rescue civilians, but be carefull. You need to pay attention or you might not have enough time for everything.

Another thing that leaves a trace of RPG in Dead Rising is the experience system. You’ll receive points for killing zombies, saving people, completing ,missions and as you get enough experience, you’ll level up and earn new skills and stats. With a 50 cap limit, you might need to play through the game twice for you to reach it. Taking photos will also give you experience points. Remember, better photos = more points. Shoot panties and nice zombie-cleavages and you’ll receive a bonus. Trust me. I’m a professional…

Every item on the mall serves as a weapon. Flowers… Knives… Katanas… Motorcycles… Oh, and your fists too.  There are over 250 items that can be used to melee or be thrown but they won’t last forever. Some weapons will break or run out of ammunition . You can store small weapons like swords, guns, a bag of chips, or, you can hold in your hands heavy items like cash registers and benches and throw them or smash the enemies.

Dead Rising will let you play the 72 Hour Mode which is the main plot. As you finish it you can unlock the Overtime Mode and the Infinite Mode. This last one, lets you play freely on the game without comprimising with any mission but, things are not that simple. You’ll lose health points as time passes and you’ll need to survive as much as possible with limited food and drinks. Many bosses from the main story appear in this mode and you can kill them for extra weapons and regenerative items.

• THE SOUNDTRACK

Dead Rising Original Soundtrack is composed by both Hideki Okugawa and Marika Suzuki and it also includes other several artists. You can experience the dark and gloomy feeling and some hot and strong beats during hazarduous moments.

• THE END

Dead Rising was developed and published by Capcom exclusively for the Xbox 360 on August 8, 2006 (NA); September 8, 2006 (EU) and September 28, 2006 (Japan).

Friday:

Nothing happened…just kidding. I BEAT DEAD RISING! And not just the 50% thing, I actually beat the game! Now I didn’t get the true ending, so I’m not completely done yet, but for now I’m going to concentrate on the other games. Because I didn’t get the true ending, I can’t really say I’m happy with how it ended (seeing as my helicopter pilot got eaten – bastard) but the future will be bright because when I do get the true ending I’ll be a happy camper. And I know how to get it know, which is a bonus.

Saturday:

I spent 7 hours setting up a computer to play Borderlands.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. How did it take so long? Well, first I had to get it to my tower. I have a friend who bought a digital copy, so we transferred over the files from his laptop (using my 80G iPod) and then registered the game for me and got an activation code. After everything was transferred, we input the various codes and turned it on. Only, my tower is old enough that the video card wasn’t supported.

So we went to London Drugs, Best Buy, NCIX, and eventually the Source, looking for video cards, and RAM, and a shitload of refunded money later, my buddy had given me his old tower with a supported graphics card, and we bought a DVI to VGA converter cable (whatever that means) and I was able to run Borderlands. I played by myself for a little while to get a feel for the game, and then I played Rock Band 2, getting two Achievements and bringing my score up to 425/1000.

Sunday:

The majority of the day was spent working on the home. I moved a bunch of my sister-in-law’s possessions out of my kitchen/living room closet into a shed around the side of the house, and ended the day by painting a wall. Okay, I only did the edging, but I helped, and that’s what counts. I also played some more Borderlands with that buddy of mine, and we managed to beat Bone Head and Scar, among other things. We had some fun with a car, which was hilarious. We’ll be playing again this coming weekend, and I’ll probably put some time in on singly player in the meantime.

Friday:

As per my earlier post, I’ll be playing Dead Rising, and trying to get to the end of the 72 hour cycle. My only hope is that I don’t fuck it up and have to restart from any point, because I’m so close to beating it and this is a monu-fucking-mental occasion for me. It’s been almost two years since I started this game and I’m only now close to beating it. That is fucking lame, no matter whose opinion you get.

Saturday:

Assuming I don’t beat Dead Rising on Friday night, I’ll be playing it more on Saturday in an attempt to finish it. I don’t even really care about Overtime mode, I just want that 3 Day Survivor Achievement. That, plus the two Snuff Shot Achievements, and getting 10 people out of the mall will get my 480/1000, but I have the chance to get a couple more as well, so I’ll try for those.

Other than that, I might play some Rock Band 2, as there’s plenty still to do in that.

Sunday:

I will almost certainly play some Infinite Undiscovery. I doubt any Achievements will be won, and I’m not counting on getting any; I just want to make some more progress. Maybe I’ll get to the second disc again. That’d be nice.

I got further in Dead Rising. In fact, I fought Carlito for the third time, and once again, even though he got shot in the freakin’ stomach, he survived and ended up locking my only actually helpful black friend in a room with a few dozen zombies.

What. The. Fuck. ?.

(Yes, I just treated a question mark as its own sentence. Deal with it.)

Not only that, but his “last resort” was to blow up the mall.  So basically, Capcom recycled the same old bullshit that every terrorist wants to blow something up.

I’m disappointed in you, Capcom.

I’m going to try for Snuff Shot B tonight, as well as making a little more progress. I only have (roughly) 20 in-game hours left before I’m done the story, so hopefully (fingers crossed) I can do it before Monday.

I got a little further in Dead Rising last night; not too long, seeing as that stupid system update took 20 minutes to install itself (which is ironic, because from what I understand, it’s supposed to increase the range and power of the wireless internet receiver and make downloading things faster) and so I only got to play for half an hour.

Basically, I watched a cut scene, and then I had to stop so that I could sleep.

What I found out, though, was some very important plot points, and now I know about the government cover up and how the American Government (at least in this game) are idiots. And that bugs are more creepy than I originally thought.

I’m not going to spoil anything else for those folks who have yet to play the game and who care about spoilers. All I can say is that I’ll be playing more tonight and hopefully I’ll get close enough to the end of the game that I can beat it this weekend. I’m so close, both to the end and 50%. I’d like to shelve this game for a while, because as exciting as it is, it’ll take a very, very long time to get the rest of the Achievements (14 hours for one of them, and that’s not factoring in load times, etc) but I already knew that this was a game that would take far more effort thatn usual to get completed, and I’m not just talking about Achievements.

Anyways, not much else to talk about at this time, so check back tomorrow. I don’t like these short posts, but sometimes there isn’t that much to say.

I don’t celebrate this occasion of Halloween, unless it involves booze at a party… and there’s better be lots of booze. However in any case to celebrate the soon-to-be-released Dead Rising 2 (sometime next year), I decided to pick up a copy of the highly acclaimed game Dead Rising first released back in 2006. Which I never played because I got my Xbox in 2008. It took me two weeks visiting over 18 stores to locate a copy, without having to resort to Ebay, etc. And I am just whoa, this game rocks. So I’m just running around in the Mall whacking zombies with my 2′x4′ and slicing them with my Hunting Knife. Preferred weapon is any type of long sword like the Katakana or the sword which you pick off from Sean the cultist leader.

I’m in the last 28 hours of the 72 hour mode and I swear every time I encounter Carlito, it’s so bullshit. Now he’s in a truck and I’m walking on foot trying to defuse five bombs. I’m too hot and bothered to play at the moment, so I’m giving it a rest for now.

Escort missions don’t go well with me. They usually… well die on the way to the security room. I’ve managed to save five or six from memory. Currently level 18.

As for MagnaCarta 2, I might just give up on it. The game is just too much fail for me. I might give it another few hours on it, see if it gets me anywhere, but its not fun and its annoying as all hell.

People have also been whining to me about Borderlands so I finally gave in. I’ll be grabbing a copy of the PC version whenever its out; I don’t think it is yet.

So I decided to play Dead Rising last night. It’s been almost two years since I first played the game, and I still haven’t beaten it, so I figured I should really get on that. Plus it was only at 36% completion, so it made sense.

I’m almost done the second day, which is the furthest I’ve ever been. I was passing some time between Case File missions, and ended up accidently goinging into the Entrance Plaza, where the nice Hall family was waiting. For those of you who don’t follow, it’s a father and his two sons. They’re marksmen. And they all have sniper rifles.

I, however, had Hockey Sticks. And a Small Chainsaw.

So basically, I PWNED!

Beating the first two got me the Peace Keeper Achievement, and after I photgraphed them all, I got Psycho Photo. This was especially awesome because I wasn’t keeping track of my progress towards either Achievement, so they were both big surprises. I then went on to save two more survivors, bringing my total up to eight. That’s a good thing, because it means I only need two more and I can get the Humanist Achievement at the end of this playthrough, and grab the 20GS it comes with.

Oh right, I should mention, for those who don’t know, that all 50 Achievements in Dead Rising are worth 20GS. Some people say it’s unfair, as some Achievements are a way harder to get than others. I say it’s good, because it makes the GS increase steady, and reliable. For example, now that DR is at 400/1000GS, I know that I only need five Achievements to get 50%. If I play my cards right, I’ll get four of them at the end of the game (survive 72 hours, get the true ending, don’t get abducted by Special Forces, and save 10 survivors). Which leaves me to get only one other Achievement to get 50%.

Naturally, I’m not going to stop with that one. The chances of me actually getting all four of the Achievements I think I’ll get aren’t that great, so I’ll be padding my GamerScore as much as possible before the end to make sure that I go over that 50%. I only need five to get 50%, which will let me concentrate on other games, but I won’t stop until I’ve beaten the game, so the more Achievements I get the better.

So what should I focus on? Snuff Shot B/J (hehehe) are two Achievements that have semi-story-related requirements, so it’s very likely I’ll get at least one if not both of them.

Okay, so I just looked at the Achievement list, and if I play the game good enough, I’ll get five Achievements at the end, not four. I don’t actually need to do anything else except beat the game and get the true ending and I’m golden. But as I said, I’m not going to stop trying for other Achievements while I play.

Aside from the Snuff Shot Achievements, there’s not a lot I can do at the same time as trying for the true ending. Most of the Achievements require effort that will put unnecessary strain on me, so I’ll leave most of them off my radar for now. I might be able to save 20 survivors, and I could always try killing ten Special Forces characters or taking out the helicopter, but I’d really rather not die when I’m that far through the game. So, realistically, I’m looking at a maximum 520/1000GS at the end of this playthrough, and successfully getting 50% completion.

It’s going to be a hectic couple of days, trying to get all this done. I’ll update on the morrow.

Förlåt… till er som läser det här. Nu har jag inte skrivit något på typ vecka, eftersom det knappt har hänt något men nu kan jag väll skriva något.

Måndag (19/10)

Som vanligt, typ inget intressant nog att skiva om hände…

Tisdag (20/10)

Hade buffertdag, så jag tog sovmorgon. Efter lunch så drog jag till skolan och skrev klart några uppgifter i Svenska B.

Onsdag (21/10)

Även idag så hade jag buffertdag och men inget att göra så jag drog till JB, någon gång efter lunch och kollade på Death Note. Sen hade jag mentorssamtal kl. 16 och farsan kommer till JB och sen går vi in i det där rummet. Kan inte säga att det gick över förväntan eftersom jag faktiskt försöker i skolan. Björn satte VG på mig i Multimedia fast han bara skulle sätta G/IG.

Sen på kvällen blev jag typ magsjuk.

Torsdag (22/10)

Magsjuk, eller något. Vet inte vad det var. Sjuk var jag i alla fall. Kollade på Charlie och Chokladfabriken. Sen ett gäng andra filmer.

Sen skickade in lite jag har skrivit till skoltidningen /News/. En recension och en, inte vet, ett reportage? Kanske? Aja, det var om Green Day i STHLM.

Fredag (23/10)

Jag mådde lite bättre men jag tänkte inte utmana ödet och dra till skolan så jag satt och letade bilder till morsan som hon ska skriva ut, eller något. Vet inte. Sen började jag med en header till Tonks blogg.

Sen så fick jag skuts till skolan för att hämta morsans cykel. Den hängde vi upp, bak på bilen och åkte hem sen. Senare så packade jag lite eftersom jag skulle ut till vår stuga, i Fågelsundet, och göra något. Morsan och min styvfarsa behövde hjälp så jag följde med.

Ska även lära mig Alle Jahre Wieder (på tyska, någon som jag för övrigt inte kan), för Emma. Jag lär mig en julsång och en julklapp och hon ger mig en julklapp har vi bestämt.

Lördag (24/10)

Bytte ut min magsjuka mot en förkylning. Yes! Aja, morsan orkade inte göra det hon hade tänkt göra så hon behövde inte min hjälp. Så min dag bestod av att följa med henne till ICA:n och handla och sen köra H3 och baka paj. Det blev ingen tårta eftersom den är en lögn.

Söndag (25/10)

Körde mer H3 och fick en ny achievements för att ha klarat spelet på Heroic, som var ganska säker på att jag hade fått innan. Men men, nu har jag det. Alltid något. Sen var det dags att åka tillbaka till Uppsala. Sen drog jag över till Spetsen och körde H3: ODST. Han ”behövde” lite hjälp med att hitta lite Skulls, så jag ”hjälpte” honom. Hittade en på banan Sandbox, mitt ute i sanden när vi letade efter den i Theater Mode. Jag sa att jag hade skills. Han köpte inte det. Sen var vi tvungna att bygga en fett lång tunnel i Forge och ta den sen. Men vi lyckades med det! Sen ”snodde” jag Dead Rising från honom.

Fick dessa vackra achievements idag i Halo 3…

…och dessa i Halo 3: ODST…

Måndag (26/10)

Har kört Dead Rising typ hela dan. Drog till farsan runt 5 och laga mat. Sen drog han och fäktades och jag passade syrran i 10 minuter. Sen kom styvmorsan hem. Och det är så långt jag har hunnit i dag.

…och så fick jag de här i Dead Rising…

Grosses pointures et pied d’enfer

Deux sommités capcomiennes débarqueront au Micromania Game Show les samedi 31 octobre et dimanche 1^er novembre, histoire de présenter les plus grands hits de la maison, façon je sais de quoi j’parle.

Situé à la Grande Halle de la Vilette, l’immense Keiji Inafune, créateur du jeu d’action plates-formes MegaMan et du terrifique et poilant Dead Rising, sera accompagné de Yoshinori Ono, el prodouctor dé Street Fighter IV, pour célébrer le catalogue de Capcom devant un parterre de fans écumants.

Une idée de scénar pour Dead Rising 3 peut-être ? Deux têtes pensantes du jeu vidéo assaillis par des ados furonculeux dans une expo à Paris… Mouais, pas mal ! Faudrait quand même rajouter quelques filles toutes nues, non ?

Comment ça, tu n'aimes pas mon jeu vidéo ?

PC, Xbox360, PS3

El 29 de Noviembre llega a nuestros desolados cines la prometedora comedia post-apocalíptica Zombieland, un desfase de película que auna el género de los no-muertos con el del humor bestia…

…¡Lo cual nos encanta!. El argumento es sencillo y gira en torno a un pequeño grupo de personajes estereotipo que unen sus fuerzas en un mundo plagado de zombies. A lo largo de la película y con un humor absurdo nos irán mostrando las claves para sobrevivir en el entorno e intentarán llegar a algún lugar habitable llevandose por delante a algún que otro zombie…

Del reparto destacar a Woody Harrelson en el papel de Tallahassee, un macarra caza-zombies cuya única determinación en su vida es lograr el último Twinkie de La Tierra (xDDD). Desde luego este tipo de papeles los borda.

Twinkie: la versión americana de los círculo rojo de Bimbo

Aquí os dejo el tráiler con voces en castellano. Si lo queréis en V.O.S. pero en alta calidad lo tenéis aquí.

Promete muchas risas pero… ¿Os recuerda a algo? A mí a botepronto se me ocurren un par de precedentes:

>> En primer lugar a Zombies Party (2004), comedia inglesa que, sin apenas presupuesto, mezcla a la perfección dos géneros que a priori no tendrían mucho que ver y que resultan muy complementarios.

"Colega, ¡hay dos colgaos en nuestro jardín!"

>> Y en segundo lugar al videojuego Dead Rising de XBOX360, en el que controlas a un periodista que debe abrirse paso en un centro comercial infestado de no-muertos. Recomendado para todo aquél que ame el gore y se pueda tirar horas y horas matando zombies a carcajada limpia.

¡Zombies de toda clase ávidos de carne humana!

Las Vegas is one of the most exciting places in the world, featuring something for everyone at all hours day or night and an amazing number of things to do. It draws tourists from all around the world to its hotels, casinos, restaurants and shows and there’s nary a time when the streets aren’t crowded.

Which leads a geek to wonder: How will they fare when the Zombie Apocalypse comes?

It’s not a new question, really, and it’s been explored a few times, with a tarnished “Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada” being among the lead images from the third installment of the Resident Evil film franchise. But here are two other takes on what happens when the undead invade Sin City.

First up is the sequel to the hugely successful XBox/PS3/PC game, Dead Rising. Following in the footsteps of Frank West (soon to be seen in an all-star fighting game from Capcom), motocross champ Chuck Greene must brave the zombie plague to save his daughter. As seen above, he seems to have found himself trapped in Caesar’s Palace, but the game doesn’t Vegas per se, simply the analogous Fortune City. Wherever it is, you can explore it in 2010 when the game hits shelves.

Meanwhile, for some real Las Vegas zombie action, check out this incredibly awesome short film (and its sequel), & Teller. When the zombie plague hits Vegas, it takes nearly everyone with it, save for the normally silent half of the Rio’s Penn & Teller. He tells his story to a video camera in the indie flick that was featured on the DVD of Day of the Dead. Definitely worth a watch.

You can get the original Dead Rising, the Wii port or pre-order the sequel over at Amazon.com!
Dead Rising

Dead Rising 2(Pre-order)

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop (Wii)

Whoo-boy, it’s a big one today, folks.

Like always, the first thing I talk about is the previous night’s gaming. I started with Rock Band 2, and finally grabbed myself that Flawless Groove Achievement, after playing Charlene (I’m Right Behind You) by Stephen and the Colberts. It’s only a minute long, if that, so it was an easy 25GS to grab. After that I plugged in Mass Effect, and without even trying got the Rich Achievement at the end of my session. I’ve been trying to get the Ally Achievements (Ashley and Liara, specifically) but this was still a nice surprise.

And now for something a little more expansive.

Quite some time ago I fulfilled my goal to get 50% completion for my total GamerScore. I’ve since fluctuated a little bit, including getting a lot of new games in a row, but I’ve settled down to a nice 60% or thereabouts total completion. Now I’m concentrating on getting each game to 50%, and let me tell you, this is going to be one hell of a long ride.

Here are my current percentages:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – 46%

Gears of War 2 – 45%

Grand Theft Auto IV – 44%

Call of Duty 4 – 43%

Rock Band – 40%

Gear of War – 40%

Dead Rising – 36%

Halo 3: ODST – 34%

Infinite Undiscovery – 31%

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 – 30%

DragonBall Z: Burst Limit – 28%

Guitar Hero III – 26%

Rock Band 2 – 20%

Forza Motorsport 2 – 19%

So as you can see, I’ve got quite a bit of work ahead of me. The easy ones to do are obviously ODST and…well…okay only ODST. I can hit 50% just by beating the game on Normal (and actually getting credit for Data Hive this time…grrrr) and two of the little 5GS Achievements that litter the game – probably Dome Inspector & Pink and Deadly, although there are several others to choose from. That will put me on 50% exactly (an increase of 160GS to the 340Gs that’s already sitting there) which will put one more game off the list, which is always a good thing.

The next ’set’ of easy games would probably have to be CoD4, Rock Band 1/2, and Gears of War. I don’t actually have a copy of CoD4 anymore, so that’s unfortunately going to be out of bounds for a while. I only put in RB 1/2 because the Achievements that will give my 50% are all gainable by playing solo, so it’s just a matter of finding the time to complete the Vocal Tour in 1, and getting all the little things in 2 that will add up to 300GS. It’ll end up being stuff like ‘get 1,000,000 fans’ and ‘get a jet’, so while it’ll take a couple days at least, it’ll be fun, and it’ll be progress. Gears of War is another one of those time-consuming games, as I’ll most likely be going for the DLC Achievements that I haven’t yet found the time to get. Either those or finishing the Capaign on Insane, although I am playing solo, so who knows how that will go? I still have acts 3, 4, & 5 to finish, which means that Lambent are just starting to appear. Ugh.

The third difficulty ’set’ in this case will probably revolve around Dead Rising, Gears of War 2, and The Force Unleashed. With DR it’s all about the zombies; if I can survive long enough, then I can beat the game, and that is at least 2% done, just for surviving for 72 hours. Hopefully I’ll also not make the mistake of going into the grocery store while fighting Isabel on the motorcycle, which ends any chance of getting the true ending. I’ll be trying as well for getting survivors out of the mall, with a minimum goal of 10 for the respective Achievement, and trying for things like photgraphing psychos. Realistically I could go for In/Outdoorsman for a nice 40GS, but that’s a lot of time not really doing anything conducive, as I can’t get both as well as move along the plot, so there are at least two playthroughs still to go. With GoW2, it becomes even harder. While it is true that I can get 75GS for beating the story on Hard, and another 150GS on top of that for playing on Insane, we run into the same problem as with the first game – Im’ not that good. It’ll take far too long to get the Achievement that way, which means I’m stuck with online Achievements in Horde, Submission, etc. While the effects are more immediate, and I’ll get more Achievements out of it, my GamerScore will increase slowly while I could be getting one larger chunk. Either way I’m looking at difficult Achievements that’ll take a long time to get. As for Star Wars, as long as I get all the Holocrons, I’m good, but that still requires that I play through the entire game to get them all, and I’m not exaclty looking forward to it.

Talking about a long time, we come to the fourth ’set’, which has Forza Motorsport 2, DragonBall Z: Burst Limit, and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes. FM2, being a racing simulator, means that there will be a lot of time spent not gaining any Achievements, with the intervals between each one being longer and longer than before. Getting Gold on all race types in all nine remaining race sets will take an abnormally long amount of time, but thankfully I’ll have level gaining Achievements (30, 40, & 50) to keep me company, as well as buying all the cars from certain countries. It all comes down to getting enough money from each race, and knowing when to buy what cars with the discount I have at that time. There are too many races that I don’t have the required car for, so there’ll be a lot of wasted money in the long run, although there are plenty of ‘get this amount of this type of car’ Achievements that I’ll be making progress towards. And I have that handy Car Tracker document to keep track. It’ll make everything a little less arduous. DBZ is something else entirely. Being a fighting game, and one with really stupid Achievements, means that I hate it. I love the older DBZ games, but this one is a disgrace. I’ll be trying to get Z rank on all Normal difficulty battles, as well as unlocking all the Drama Pieces. It’s good that there’s a reliable guide on the internet, otherwise i’d be swamped. Getting all the Achievements should bring me to the half-way mark, but if it doesn’t there are a select few other Achievements that I could conceivably get, although I doubt they’ll be any easier. The same thing goes for MvC2. I have to beat the game with certain teams, without continuing, or any characters dying, or some such stupid requirement. Either that or play a shitload of online games against people far better than me and hope to God I get enough snapbacks to grab that extra 20GS to help me out. I only need 40GS to get my 50%, and I can do it with two Achievements if I get really insanely lucky.

Guitar Hero III and GTA IV have the fifth set all to themselves, and that’s probably not a very good comparison. I can get a lot of the GHIII Achievements if I find myself a good guitarist to play co-op with me; I have a couple people in mind, so it really just lands on whether they’re willing to play through the co-op campaign four times with me to get what I need from them, not to mention all the Quicklpay we’d have to do. I’m not looking forward to the amount of time I’ll need to spend no this game, so I’ll probably end up dragging it out as long as possible to numb the pain. GTA IV is considerably easier, but most of it is scouring the three islands for all the pigeons, Steve’s cars, and random friends, not to mention making everybody like me and the sundry other things I still have to do. Which reminds me, I don’t have all the stunt jumps on this file. Curses! (I don’t know why I said that, honestly I don’t.) If I can get 100% then I’ll have more than jumped past the 50% mark, as I’m guaranteed 70GS simply by going for the Key to the City Achievement, which gives 100GS as well. The other (and much easier) option is to wait for the Episodes from Liberty City disc to come out, as there’s plent of easy Achievements in there that will do just as good. Unfortunately, I have a vendetta against those damn pigeons, so that’ll be haunting me until I find them all, whether I like it or not.

And finally we come to Infinite Undiscovery. In a moment of anger and weakness, I deleted my save, so I’ll have to do it all over again. And I was so close to the end…this time I’ll be level grinding my ass off, making sure that I won’t die in every single gawdamned boss battle that shows up which will allow me to actually have fun. I won’t try for any Achievements in this playthrough, as I have most of the hard one already, and it will all just be review. Beating the game gives me roughly 100GS (a little less, I think), but it will also unlock Hard difficulty, and there are other Achievements that I’ll be getting in that run through, including beating the Seraphic Gate, so I should hit 50% sometime through the second (okay, third) playthrough. I should keep playing after that and get as far as I can (by which I mean beat the game and unlock the last difficulty) and then take a break, but I just know I’ll be absolutely sick of the game by then.

Now, I bet you’re thinking, what order am I going to play these in? Well, it goes like this. On www.mygamercard.net (which you should totally join if you have an XBOX Live Gamercard) I have put in less overall effort into getting Achievements in Rock Band 2 and ODST. I need 30GS in RB2 and 120GS in ODST, so I’ll play those first. My beating ODST I’ll get 150GS, and any two others will get me the last 10GS I’ll need to 50%, so that’ll be nice and easy. The 25GS from RB2 will be a sinch, as I’ll get 20GS for winning the Jet, which will enable me to go to Europe to rock out, and open up the chance to get at least three more Achievements simply for playing in a venue on the other side of the world. All in all, two very easy games to get over the effort bar, as it were.

From there, I don’t know what I’ll play. I’d like to do some easy stuff first, but there’s always the whole, ‘I want to complete to 100% five Arcade games’ of which I’ve only done three. The choices are obvious if you’ve looked at my profile, but I’m not going to say any of them right now. Just know that MvC2 will definitely not be on that list.

Oh what the hell, the options are MvC2, Banjo-Tooie, Shadow Complex, Hexic HD, Wallace & Gromit, and Castle Crashers. I don’t know who will be the two I complete, although I’m reasonably sure that Shadow Complex will stand high in the list, as there are two somewhat easy tasks left to do. That’s something for another day, though, as I’m exhausted just from thinking of all this. Thankfully I’ll have all weekend to figure out what I’m going to do, as well as continue working on all of these games. I am officially not touching any of my over-50% games, except for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, which I play with some buddies online, usually every Friday, although not tonight for reasons that I won’t go into here, and LEGO Batman, which I play with the wife. Point is, the battle for 50% has begun, and I am not looking forward to the amount of time I’ll be wasting.

One last thing, and I really mean it: my goal to get 30,000GS by October 2nd, 2010. I made it official on September 20th, when I had 19,993GS. Right now I’m 16.4% towards my goal, with a total GS of 21,638. I’m 6.63% through the time frame, so there’s plenty of time left, and I’m officially ahead of the game. I need to gain 23.8GS each day for the next 351 days to get my goal (according to www.trueachievements.com) so as long as I’m getting more than that each day, I’ll have plenty of time to waste on games like Infinite Undiscovery and DBZ, which are sure to be time sucks.

That’s it, see you on Monday!

Durante los tiempos de guerra, la “propaganda” o los panfletos son armas muy peligrosas (acordaros del Tio Sam) para reclutar nuevos soldados.

Los chicos de GamesRadar se han imaginado como serían los panfletos si la guerra estallara en el mundo de los videojuegos. La verdad no tienen desperdicio y tras el salto encontraréis una pequeña selección de los mejores carteles.

“Los nuevos vehículos no se construirán por si solos”

Los vehículos son imprescindibles para que una guerra pueda llegar a buen puerto (sino jugar a Battlefield 1943 sin subiros a un vehículo y comprenderéis lo que quiero decir) y ¿que juego es famoso por construir muchas unidades? Efectivamente Advance Wars

“Las palabras no importan, no discutas las movilizaciones de las tropas, el equipamiento de guerra o los improperios infantiles”

Si un juego es famoso por su falta de organización es Gears of War. Los soldados parece que han interpretado al pie de la letra este panfleto y no se cuestionan las ordenes que les llegan des del alto mando, aunque vayan de cabeza a la muerte obedecen sin dudar.

“Zombis! Recordad vuestros modales, las damas primero. Sed educados, compartid vuestros cerebros”

Siempre es bueno que la población este concienciada sobre las posibles amenazas que pueden poner en peligro la vida de la gente. Así que si vivís en Willamette y os encontráis rodeados de zombis como en Dead Rising recordad ser amables y dejar a las damas primeras.

Para finalizar os dejo con este curios panfleto del Revolucionario Che Goombara.

Imágenes: GamesRadar

The 2008 Columbus Zombie Walk. Photo Ben French

I have the zombie fever.

This year I decided to test my makeup skills and zombify myself for the Halloween bash at Mattbo and Jona’s house. There’s something about these undead creatures that really thrills me. Growing up I can remember my parents having to call up to B & B Video in downtown Perrysburg to give the ok for me to rent movies such as Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead II and Night of the Living Dead.

Francis "Chainsaw" Gremp and Dave Frazier from Summer School.

I had a real interest in the make up and special effects of these simple movies.  I would also ride my bike up to Rite Aid to read Fangoria Magazine, never actually buying one to take home.  I much admired the work of Rick Baker, just like the characters Dave and Chainsaw in the Mark Harmon hit comedy Summer School.

I also remember when I was about 6, rushing in the house everyday at noon to watch Michael Jackson’s Thriller video on MTV. Every weekend, the buddies and I, would film zombie flicks on my parents’ vhs camcorder. The movies would typically end in wrestling matches. But, I am proud to say, that some of the cast members in our films went on to become successful actors. Second City student, Joe Pelc, and major motion picture and television actor, Sam Jaeger.

And now, as an adult, I still can’t quit. Still watching the zombie flicks like 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead (remake) and Zombieland.  Not to mention all of the new zombie videogames like Dead Rising, Call of Duty’s Nazi Zombies and Left 4 Dead.

I am not alone here.  Zombie fanfare is sweeping the nation.  Zombieland grossed over 24.7 million on its opening week.  Zombie related videogames are being pumped out by the truckload.  Many larger cities across the world host “Zombie Walks” to raise money for charity. Max Brooks, author of The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z, is producing New York Times bestsellers. This makes me feel a little more normal about having a special place in my heart for these flesh eating monsters.

After doing some research online. I found some good techniques on how to zombify yourself and what to buy. Earlier today I went to Costume Holiday House to get my supplies. The three main things I found out you need is latex, a make up wheel  and fake blood.  And a few things from home like Q Tips and toilet paper.  Upon arriving at the costume store I found out they had way more things to sell then I imagined. I was kind of confused on what to buy exactly.  Luckily, two women were there that are avid zombie make up artists and active with the Columbus Zombie Walk, who collects canned foods for the Mid Ohio Food Bank.  They were very helpful and gave me advice for my specific needs.  The first thing they asked me was, what kind of zombie do you want to be?  I didn’t know what to say. Do I want to be a biological zombie? A toxic zombie? A voodoo zombie? Did I come out of the ground or was I taken over above ground? Am I fast or slow? I think I’m going to go with the classic George Romero zombie that was once buried and came to life. And I will most likely be slow.

Basic Supplies to zombify yourself:

I told the woman I wanted to wear an old suit, like I was buried in a coffin.  She remarked “Make sure you dirty up your suit. I hate unauthentic zombies.”  While the other helped me pick out my make up colors and supplies. She recommended the Ben Nye Death Wheel, it has more yellows, greens and purples.  ”I like my decay to look natural.” She said.  I never caught the two ladies’ names.  But they were very helpful and very passionate about their art.

Supply list:

• Ben Nye “Death Wheel” make up
• Ben Nye clear latex 1 oz bottle
• Ben Nye Stage Blood 2 oz bottle
• Ben Nye Thick Blood .5 oz bottle
• Ben Nye Vampire Character Base
• Mehron Tooth FX
• Mehron Barrier Spray
• Mehron Stipple Sponge
• toilet paper

Bueno hace tiempo se posteo una recopilacion de alcohol, en esta ocasion siendo el mes de octubre… (mes de los muertos) pondremos una recopilacion de cosas interesantes sobre zombies o muertos vivientes.

Peliculas

Aqui habra una lista o una seria de peliculas de zombies, desde las que esta bien producidas y estan chidas, hasta las mas burdas y sin grandes “efectos”.

Dawn of the dead: Remake (El amanecer de los muertos)

Esta movie ha de ser de las mejores de zombies creadas en estos tiempos y pues que se haya comercializado.

Shawn of the dead (Quien sabe que es shawn?)

Las parodias no pueden faltar en cuanto alguna movie, en esta ocasion es la parodia del “amanecer de los muertos” pero esta fue hecha por ingleses y no por gringos, sin embargo no deben de ver primero la que no es parodia.

Zombieland (Tierra de zombies)

Zombieland, una de las ultimas peliculas que han sacado sobre zombies, esta al parecer es como una especie de comedia/accion/aventura/romance donde sin razon aparente el mundo es “volvidose” a ser atacados por zombies sin razon aparente.

Zombie Stripers (Teiboleras Crudas)

…

Planet Terror (Planeta Terrorifico?)

Una de Robert Rodriguez, que al parecer en esta no son tantos muertos sino vivos… o algo asi, es como la siguiente.

28 days later (Menstruacion!)

Esta podria ser no tanto de zombies, pero es una de las mas chingonas con respecto a un apocalipsis-zombie.

Resident Evil: Degeneration (Residente Calle 13: Degenerado)

Una pelicula que no salio en los cines pero que sin embargo se apega mas a la historia de resident evil, en comparacion a las que salieron en el cine que realmente no tienen nada que ver y ponen a una superheroina con poderes a salvar al mundo.

Videojuegos

Resident Evil saga

Puede que sea posible que sea el mejor de la saga sea el primero remasterizado… ya que en las nuevas versiones estos juegos en vez de ser “survival-horror” se han ido convirtiendo en juegos de accion, y eso es por como la historia va cambiando su trama. Sin embargo con las nuevas grafica de esta version el juego lleno las expectativas de todos los amantes de este tipo de video juegos, donde parece que estan en la casa de big brother y aun asi tienes que hacer todo lo posible por sobrevivir… como Big brother. [Intro]

Left 4 Dead

Este es un juego de los que muchos amantes de los zombies esperaban, ya que en este se trata de ir a sobrevivir en la ciudad matando hordas de zombies por todos lados, solo disparando y tratando de salvarte entre tu y tus compañeros… la verdad no tiene historia, pero es un poco entretenido para los que les gusta estar disparando a lo wey. [Intro]

Dead Rising

Este juego esta basado en un reportero que va a investigar una ciudad con problemas y con problemas nos referimos a un APOCALIPSIS-ZOMBIE!, este juego ha de estar basado en el amanecer de los muertos o algo por el estilo, su clasificacion podria ser como de accion y aventura, y es de esos juegos donde vas nomas golpeando a todo lo que se mueva, ya que siempre que algo se mueva, debe de ser malo. [Intro]

Plants Vs. Zombies

Este juego es para las computadoras, se trata de que debes de proteger tu jardin contra hordas de zombies, pero con plantas… la verdad es algo entretenido y es de estrategia, donde tendras que saber como administrar tus recursos y como ubicar tus plantas para que vayan venciendo a los zombies. [Song]

Comics

Un par de ilustraciones que nos demuestran como serian nuestros superheroes favoritos en version zombies o muertos….

Musica

Ahora unas canciones o artistas que tienen que ver con los zombies.

The Cranberries – Zombie

Una excelente rola por de parte de los cranberries, muy escuchada en sus tiempo y en estos tiempos.

Rob Zombie – Dragula

Director, musico, productor, este wey hace de todo y la mayoria de sus cosas son para cosas de horror o algo por el estilo.

The Aquabats – Fashion Zombies

Ska, punk, rock noventero es su genero se podria decir y lo mejor de todo es que se la caga a la gente que esta traumada con seguir alguna moda…zombies de la moda.

Kenkraft 400 – Zombie Nation

. . . Tantos recuerdos del “vertigo” y las retas de bailes, la verdad nunca fuimos, nosotros eramos mas nice y nos ibamos al fiesta roller a perrear. . .

Para cerrar con broche de oro esta recopilacion sobre los zombies, les pondremos una guia o ilustracion para demostrarles las cosas que debes de hacer para sobevivir en caso de un … APOCALIPSIS-ZOMBIE!

Dato curioso: encontre un libro que realmente se vende y que es una guia de como sobrevivir a un… APOCALIPSIS-ZOMBIE!, habra gente tan traumada que escriba cosas asi? y peor aun, que las compre!? esperemos que sea algun libro de comedia.

Buenas noches,

Hoy he empezado el día como uno más del año, me levanto, tomo mi café, miro por internet si el mundo sigue ahí afuera y me decido a pegarme una ducha, hago la lista de la compra de aquellas cosas que mi nevera me pide desde hace días y és que cuesta menos vaciarla que llenarla. Bien, reviso mi planning del día, hoy es festivo, empezamos bien, por lo que podré ir antes al gimnasio. Éste está dentro del centro comercial, así que puedo matar dos pájaros de un tiro, por lo que un poco de máquinas, sesión de ejercicio anaeróbico, unos largos en la piscina cubierta, ducha y hacia el súper.

Me preparo la bolsa y voy al garaje, de camino cojo las llaves del recibidor y bajo las escaleras, una vez montado en mi coche, arranco y extrañado noto como hay menos tráfico de lo que normalmente hay, miro el reloj, muy útil, quizás es muy pronto me digo a mi mismo. Las 10 de la mañana y ni un alma, que raro, cruzo dos manzanas y me meto en el parking del centro comercial. Nadie, solo coches, ¿qué ha pasado con la gente? Esa pregunta me asalta mientras voy llegando al gimnasio, la puerta está abierta, en el recibidor no hay nadie y el teléfono está desconectado, lo cojo y lo cuelgo (no sé manías), me voy hacía el vestuario y empiezo a pensar que aquello no tiene sentido, además desde hace un rato tengo la sensación de estar siendo observado, perseguido, de repente oigo un ruido de algún objeto caer en algún lugar del gimnasio, me sobresalto, incluso caigo para atrás y mi pulso se acelera…empiezo a llamar a gente, sin respuesta, ahora tengo una sensación mezclada entre curiosidad y miedo, puff hace años que no tengo miedo. Me digo para mí mismo que todo tendrá una explicación, que todo es producto de mi imaginación, desde ese momento quedan prohibidas las películas de miedo, pienso.

Asomo mi cabeza a la piscina y….arg Dios mío la piscina está llena de cuerpos, inertes, desmembrados, con las vísceras por fuera, ohhh porqué, las ganas de vomitar invaden mi mente, mi estómago da un giro, miro otra vez y veo  un tío cargando un cuerpo, me acerco y le grito, le pregunto que está pasando, el con la cara ensangrentada me pregunta el nombre, yo le arremeto y le vuelto a preguntar. En respuesta saca un recortada, yo me asusto, le pido que se tranquilice, me mira y en seco grita que me tire al suelo, sin pensarlo me lanzo con la mirada agachada, no quiero morir pienso y luego un bang…

¿Estoy muerto? No, me siento bien, entonces porqué ha disparado, noto un peso encima mi cara se llena de sangre y un amasijo de sesos yace delante de mí, de repente una mano se tiende hacía mí, miro hacía arriba y es el tipo de antes, ahora con una cara amable, con una cámara de fotos colgada al cuello, me ayuda a levantarme, me mira y dice: Estás bien? Mi nombre és Frank West y soy periodista….

- ¿Qué está pasando, aquí? Es un sueño.

- No! Es solo un mal día para venir al centro comercial.

Saludos, Laocoont

Night of the Living Dead

 

 

Night of the Living Dead, directed by George Romero, is a 1968 independent black-and-white zombie film. Ben (Duane Jones) and Barbra (Judith O’Dea) are the protagonists of a story about the mysterious reanimation of the recently dead, and their efforts, along with five other people, to survive the night while trapped in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse.

George Romero completed the film on a $114,000 budget, and after a decade of cinematic re-releases, it grossed some $12 million domestically and $30 million internationally. On its release in 1968, Night of the Living Dead was strongly criticized for its explicit content, but in 1999, the Library of Congress placed it on the National Film Registry as a film deemed “historically, culturally or aesthetically important”.

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Night of the Living Dead

was cited by many as being a groundbreaking film, given its release during the Vietnam-era, due to perceived critiques of late-1960s U.S. society; a historian described it as “subversive on many levels”. Although it is not the first zombie film, Night of the Living Dead is the progenitor of the contemporary ‘zombie apocalypse’ sub-genre of horror film, and it influenced the modern pop-culture zombie archetype. Night of the Living Dead (1968), is the first of six Dead films directed by George Romero, and twice has been remade, as a film of the same name in 1990, directed by Tom Savini, and as Night of the Living Dead 3D in 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

Trivia:

• Bosco chocolate syrup was used to simulate the blood in the film.
• The zombie hand that Tom (Keith Wayne) hacks up with a kitchen knife was made of clay and filled with chocolate syrup.
• When the zombies are eating the bodies in the burnt-out truck they were actually eating roast ham covered in chocolate sauce. The filmmakers joked that it was so nausea inducing that it was almost a waste of time putting the makeup on the zombies, as they ended up looking pale and sick anyway.
• The gas pump was not bolted to the ground when the actress who played Barbra, Judith O’Dea, runs into it at the start of the film. She did it with so much force she almost tipped it over on the cameraman.
• One of the working titles for this film was “Night of Anubis”. Anubis is the god of embalming/mummifying in the ancient Egyptian (Kemetan) religion.
• One of the working titles for this film was “Night of the Flesh Eaters”. Originally, the beings attacking the characters were extraterrestrial in origin, either aliens or humans possessed by an alien pathogen, presumably covering a NASA satellite returning from Venus. Eventually, it was decided that the dead would rise and devour the living, presumably due to radiation that was carried by a NASA satellite returning from Venus.

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• Though the radiation of a detonated satellite returning from Venus is theorized to be the cause of the dead rising and attacking the living, according to the filmmakers, the actual cause is never determined.
• Columbia Pictures was the only major Hollywood studio interested in distributing this film, but eventually passed because it was in black-and-white at a time when movies had to compete with new color televisions. Ironically, Columbia did distribute the 1990 color remake. American International Pictures (AIP) considered releasing the film, but wanted George A. Romero to shoot an upbeat ending and add more of a love story subplot.
• During the filming of the cemetery sequence, shot on two separate days, an unexpected accident caused a fast change of script. The car driven by Barbara and Johnny into the cemetery was actually owned by the mother of Russell Streiner. Unfortunately, sometime between the two filming sequences, someone ran into the car and put a dent in it that would easily be visible on camera. George A. Romero rewrote the scene so the car would come to a stop by crashing into a tree.
• In the scene where Ben is nailing wooden boards to the door, small numbers can be seen on them. These were written on the backs of the boards so they could be removed and replaced in between shots, preserving continuity. Some numbers are visible because some of the boards were nailed on backwards.
• Tom Savini was originally hired by George A. Romero to do the makeup effects for this film. The two were first introduced to each other when Savini auditioned for an acting role in an earlier film that never got off the ground. Romero, remembering that Savini was also a makeup artist (he had brought his makeup portfolio to show to Romero at the audition), called Savini to the set of his horror movie. However, Savini was unable to do the effects because he was called to duty by the US Army to serve as a combat photographer in Vietnam.
• The film’s first scene, the initial cemetery attack on Barbara and Johnny, was the last filmed, in November 1967. The actors had to hold their breath to avoid visible condensation in the frosty autumn air.
• According to George A. Romero, the film was originally ten minutes longer but the distributor pressured him to cut it down.
• The word “zombie” is never used. The most common euphemism used to describe the living dead is “those things,” mostly by Cooper.
• Bill ‘Chilly Billy’ Cardille, who played the television reporter, was indeed a local Pittsburgh TV celebrity. Known as “Chilly Billy” Cardille, he hosted a horror movie program on Channel 11 and occasionally reported the news.
• S. William Hinzman and Karl Hardman, two of the original $300 investors had small roles due to a shortage of available talent. Another investor was a butcher, who provided some blood and guts.
• Actor/co-producer Karl Hardman (Harry Cooper, the father in the basement), also served as makeup artist, electronic sound effects engineer, and took the still photos used for the closing credits.
• When the writers decided to base the film on zombies, they brainstormed about what would be the most shocking thing for the zombies to do to people and decided on cannibalism.
• During production, the film’s title was still being chosen. The working title was simply “Monster Flick”.
• The character of Ben was originally supposed to be a crude but resourceful truck driver. After ‘Duane Jones (I)’ auditioned for the part, director and co-writer George A. Romero re-wrote the part to fit his performance.
• George A. Romero has readily admitted that Herk Harvey’s Carnival of Souls (1962) was a big influence in his making of this film.
• The main house did not have a true basement but a dirt potter’s cellar, and thus had no long staircase leading down to it. Because of this, the basement scenes were filmed in the editing studio’s cellar.
• In the 30th Anniversary Edition, the car that drops off Debbie Rochon at the medical center is driven by Marilyn Eastman (Helen Cooper) and owned by Karl Hardman (Harry Cooper).
• The music used in the film was from a Capitol/EMI Records Hi-Q stock music library, on which the copyright was in the public domain, and cost the filmmakers $1500. It was originally used in Teenagers from Outer Space (1959).
• When the movie was in its scripting stage, John A. Russo had developed an idea that was basically described as “teenagers from outer space”. This version was not filmed, but the version that was filmed uses stock music from the movie Teenagers from Outer Space (1959).
• One of the Walter Reade Organization’s publicity stunts was a $50,000 insurance policy against anyone dying from a heart attack while watching the film.
• The film’s world premiere was at the Fulton Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 1 October 1968 (At 8PM, admission by invitation only). The film was met with a standing ovation.
• The only real mishap to happen during filming involved producer and actor Russell Streiner’s (Johnny’s) brother, Gary Streiner. After the scene where ‘Duane Jones (I)’ sets the chair on fire, it was Gary’s responsibility to extinguish the flames and set the chair ablaze again to preserve continuity, ensuring that smoke would be seen emanating from it near the end of the film. At one point Gary’s sleeve caught on fire and, as he ran in terror, S. William Hinzman (in full zombie makeup) tackled him to the ground and helped extinguish the flames, saving him from major injury.
• George A. Romero was the one operating the camera when S. William Hinzman (the cemetery zombie) attacks Barbara in her car by smashing the window with a rock. When Hinzman shattered the window, the rock barely missed Romero.
• Some of the groans made by S. William Hinzman when he’s wrestling with Russell Streiner in the cemetery are authentic. During the struggle, Streiner accidentally kneed Hinzman in the groin.
• The Evans City Cemetery was the cemetery used in the original version of the film, but it could not be used for the 30th anniversary edition. Before filming the new footage, a tornado had torn through the Evans City Cemetery, and ironically, it unearthed several graves.
• The Chevy truck seen in the new footage is not the same one seen in the original footage. The filmmakers for the new footage were fortunate enough to find a truck owned by a local resident that bore a near-perfect resemblance to the original truck. The owner was kind enough to let them borrow his truck for the film.
• During the filming of the new footage for the 30th anniversary edition, actor/composer Scott Vladimir Licina (Reverend John Hicks) suffered a heat stroke in the cemetery and was hospitalized for a few days.
• The house used for this film was loaned to the filmmakers by the owner, who planned to demolish it anyway, thereby ensuring that they could do whatever they wanted to the house.
• There were two trucks used in the film. The first one used in the beginning of the film would not start for the trek-to-the-gas-pump scenes and had to be replaced. Unfortunately, they forgot to break the headlights.
• While writing the script, George A. Romero and John A. Russo were trying to think of a manner in which to destroy the zombies. Marilyn Eastman joked that they could throw pies in their faces. This is obviously an inspiration for the pie fight scene in this film’s sequel, Dawn of the Dead (1978).
• Judith Ridley worked as a receptionist for Karl Hardman and Marilyn Eastman, which led to her getting the part in the movie.
• Assuming the movie takes place on the spring time change (according to the dialog at the beginning) after the date (December 1966) on the calendar in the house (a reasonable assumption from the condition of the body in the house), the movie begins on the night of 30 April 1967 and ends the next morning, which is May Day. However, for the sequels, Romero has treated the timeline of the Dead saga with a bit of malleability; in the movie novelization of Dawn of the Dead he notes “The stock market had plummeted way below the lowest point of the Carter administration” and refers to an upcoming election. Day of the Dead features a copy of the novel Salem’s Lot, published in 1975, after Night of the Living Dead came out; it seems peculiar that this publish still saw publication in a world where “ghouls” actually exist. Diary of the Dead takes place isochronally with Night of the Living Dead yet features modern computers. Of course, even Night of the Living Dead references technology far advanced than that available at the time of the film’s release (i.e. the Venus probe).
• The body upstairs in the house was made by director George A. Romero, who used ping-pong balls for the eyes.
• S. William Hinzman based his characteristic saunter (and, subsequently, that of each other zombie) on a film with Boris Karloff, the title of which he could not remember. In that film, Karloff played a man risen from the dead, and walks with a characteristic ungainly saunter.
• According to the George A. Romero commentary track on the Elite laserdisc and DVD version of the film, the original working print and working elements and materials for the film no longer exist – they were destroyed as a result of a flood that filled the basement where the materials were stored (which was the same basement used in the movie).
• At between 51 and 52 minutes into the film, going by the Elite laserdisc/DVD release, there is a very visible jump cut. The distributors wanted some of the “talky” bits trimmed down, so, about 6 minutes was cut from a basement scene involving the Coopers. The jump is quite clearly visible because at one point Harry is facing one direction and then immediately in the next frame, he is facing another.
• At the time of the film’s release, any work that did not include a copyright notice was assumed to be public domain. Since the film makers forgot to include this notice, the film slipped into the public domain. In was not until 1 March 1989 that a copyright notice was no longer required.
• Screenwriter John A. Russo appears as the ghoul who gets his forehead smashed by Ben with a tire iron. He also allowed himself to be set on fire for real when nobody else wanted to do the stunt.
• The Cooper family are played by a real family. Karl Hardman (husband Harry Cooper) and Marilyn Eastman (wife Helen Cooper) are real-life husband and wife. Kyra Schon (daughter Karen Cooper) is Karl’s daughter, as well as Marilyn’s step-daughter.
• This was one of the first films added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress because of naïve business practices that allowed the copyright of the film to slip into the public domain.
• The filmmakers were accused of being “Satanically-inspired” by Christian fundamentalist groups for their portrayal of the undead feeding on flesh and of the Coopers’ zombie child (Kyra Schon) attacking her mother (Marilyn Eastman).
• One of the original ideas for the script before its many revisions called for Barbara to be a very strong, charismatic character. Instead, George A. Romero and the producers loved Judith O’Dea’s portrayal as a catatonic and terrified young girl much better, and edited the script to accommodate the part. Eventually, the idea of Barbara being a strong, central character would be revisited in Tom Savini’s 1990 remake.
• The stock music that accompanies Barbara’s initial flight from the cemetery zombie had been used a year earlier, in the final episode of television’s “The Fugitive” (1963).
• As George A. Romero explains it on “The Directors: The Films of George A. Romero”, the day the final editing and voice-over dubbing was complete (4/4/1968), he and John A. Russo literally “threw” the film into the trunk of their car and drove to New York to see if anyone wanted to show it. While driving through New York on the night of April 4th, 1968, Romero and Russo heard news on the radio that Martin Luther King had been assassinated.
• The role of Ben was originally meant for Rudy Ricci. After ‘Duane Jones (I)’ had read the part, however, it was given to him, and Ricci played one of the zombies.
• In the scene where Ben moves the body upstairs to another room, we can see that its face is intact. This was in fact Kyra Schon who doubled as the upstairs body as it was felt that a mannequin would look unrealistic.
• This film is ranked at #9 on Bravo’s _”100 Scariest Movie Moments, The” (2004) (mini)_ special.

Romero revolutionized the horror film genre with Night of the Living Dead; per Almar Haflidason, of the BBC, the film represented “a new dawn in horror film-making”. The film has also effectively redefined the use of the term Zombie. Early zombie films like Victor Halperin’s White Zombie (1932) and Jacques Tourneur’s I Walked with a Zombie (1943) concerned living people enslaved by a Voodoo witch doctor; many were set in the Caribbean.

The film and its successors spawned countless imitators that borrowed elements instituted by Romero: Tombs of the Blind Dead, Zombie, Hell of the Living Dead, The Evil Dead, Night of the Comet, Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Creeps, Braindead, Children of the Living Dead, and the video game series Resident Evil (later adapted as films in 2002, 2004, and 2007), Dead Rising, and House of the Dead. Night of the Living Dead is parodied in films such as Night of the Living Bread and Shaun of the Dead, and in episodes of The Simpsons (“Treehouse of Horror III”, 1992), South Park (“Pink Eye”, 1997; “Night of the Living Homeless”, 2007) and Invader Zim (Halloween Spectacular of Spooky Doom, 2001;)  The word zombie is never used, but Romero’s film introduced the theme of zombies as reanimated, flesh-eating cannibals.

Night of the Living Dead ushered in the splatter film sub-genre. As one film historian points out, horror prior to Romero’s film had mostly involved rubber masks and costumes, cardboard sets, or mysterious figures lurking in the shadows. They were set in locations far removed from rural and suburban America. Romero revealed the power behind exploitation and setting horror in ordinary, unexceptional locations and offered a template for making an “effective and lucrative” film on a “minuscule budget”. Slasher films of the 1970s and 80s such as John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), Sean S. Cunningham’s Friday the 13th (1980), and Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), for example, “owe much to the original Night of the Living Dead“.

24x36 Poster!

One of the games I’m most looking forward to in 2010 is the sequel to Capcom’s Dead Rising–Dead Rising 2.  Not much detail has come out about the game only that it takes place in a fictional city based on Las Vegas and will be capable of rendering a record number of zombies on screen. There were rumors about there being multiplayer which was later confirmed, and now it’s super mega confirmed with video proof. Here is an off screen video of Dead Rising 2’s multiplayer from the Tokyo Game Show brought to you by GameReactor. Enjoy!

GAMEREACTOR: DEAD RISING 2 MULTIPLAYER FOOTAGE!

EDIT: Also, here’s a multiplayer trailer for DR2