Silent Hill HD Collection Does Not Have Original Voices For Silent Hill 3 March 24, 2012

I know I already did a post that Silent Hill HD Collection gave users a choice to listen to the original voice over for Silent HIll 2 or a newly recorded voice over.  It turns out Konami did not offer players this choice for Silent Hill 3.

When Silent Hill HD Collection was announced, the developers announced that they would be recording new voice overs for the re-release, but they only mentioned that it would be new voice overs for Silent Hill 2.  The response to this announcement was overwhelmingly negative (as I noted earlier).  In fact the response was so negative Konami changed their mind and included both the original and new voice over for Silent Hill 2 in the final version of the game.  As far as I know what has gotten no mention was that new voice recordings were apparently also done for Silent Hill 3, and unlike Silent Hill 2, there isn’t a menu option to choose the original.

My apologies for taking a while to post about this, espessailly after the quick post that Silent Hill 2, but unlike Silent Hill 2, I never actually played the original version of Silent Hill 3, and had no frame of reference for if the voice over changed or not.  I did however, upon starting a playthrough of the game, compare the game’s voices to online recordings of Silent Hill 3, and noted that the voices do not match.

The Playstation 3 version of the game did recieve a 250mb or so 1.1 patch this week.  I have not been able to find any patch notes about it online so I don’t know what it did to the game, but when I did check the voice over it was after the game had been patched, so the patch did not affect this.

Disney Epic Mickey 2 Announcement Trailer March 23, 2012

First premiered last night on Spike TV, here is the announcement trailer for Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2.

If you’d like more details about the game, you can watch the episode of GameTrailersTV it premiered on right here.

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2 is coming Fall 2012 to Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii.

Epic Mickey Sequel Reveal Tonight March 22, 2012

Tonight at 1am EST on Spike TV and Spike HD Warren Spector and Geoff Knightly will be premiering the first trailer and five minutes of gameplay footage for Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2.

The first Epic Mickey released as an exclusive to the Nintendo Wii and saw Mickey Mouse using paint and thinner to navigate through an apocalyptic wasteland made specifically for forgotten Disney characters.  Along the way he runs into the Wasteland’s defender, Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, the first forgotten cartoon character.

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of 2 promises to feature the return of Mickey Mouse and Oswald The Lucky Rabbit and is releasing for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  More details and a trailer is expected to air tonight during GametrailersTV.

Silent Hill HD Collection Includes Original Voice Overs for Silent Hill 2 March 20, 2012

Just a very quick post script here folks because I know there was a huge issue about this for the past few months.  Shortly after Konami announced that they were re-releasing Silent Hill 2 and 3 with the Silent Hill HD Collection they announced that the updated game would feature brand new voice overs.

Based on a lot of the comments I read on several internet retailers, the internet very quickly went into an uproar over this news.  Silent Hill 2 had been out for so long that its original audio was just as classic as the rest of the game, and many fans did not want the audio changed for the HD Collection.  The Silent Hill HD Collection, which originally was intended for release towards the end of 2011 got delayed, and delayed.  I heard some musings online that the reason for the delays was because Konami changed their mind and decided to include the original voice over along with the new voice recordings.

I’m happy to inform everyone that the original voice over for Silent Hill 2 is included in the released retail version of Silent Hill HD Collection.  Since I live in North America, my version is NTSC region 1, so I can’t speak for any other versions of the game that may have released in other territories.  If you live in Europe or Japan and would like to post a comment about this feel free to.

UPDATE:  Silent Hill HD Collection features new voice overs for Silent Hill 3, but unlike Silent Hill 2, does not offer the option to play with the original voice over.

Expect an unboxing very soon!

The Making of Silent Hill 2 and 3 March 20, 2012

It’s March, Konami’s self-appointed Silent Hill month!  Three major Silent Hill games are slated for release in the month of March.  Those games are Silent Hill: Book of Memories, the Silent Hill Vita game, Silent Hill: Downpour, the new Silent Hill game, and today saw the release of Silent Hill HD Collection! For $39.99US it includes Silent Hill 2 and 3, (highly regarded as two of the best games of the series), updated for modern HD game consoles.

In honor of the HD Collection release, I’m going to do something kind of special for you guys.  I did some digging through the internet archives and found this video someone had taken the time to resurrect.  Two official making of documentaries for Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3.  They’re extremely well made, and as far as I know, they were only released in Europe.

Enjoy and expect an unboxing later.

Silent Hill HD Collection is out now for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

David Cage KARA Interview March 13, 2012

Sony has released this interview they did with David Cage from Quantic Dream, where he talks about the KARA demo he showed at this year’s GDC which has gotten a tremendous response.  The interview features a ton of behind the scenes information about the growth of Quantic Dream since the release of Heavy Rain (their previous game) and what they’re hoping to achieve with this technology.

If you want to hear about my experiences with Quantic Dream, feel free to check out my latest Mind of Maniac.

Journey Releases Today March 13, 2012

If you’re not a Playstation Plus subscriber, Journey, the third Playstation 3 game by thatgamecompany, will launch today for purchase and download on the Playstation Store.

Journey expands on thatgamecompany’s philosophy of game design and has its player searching through a desert with the goal to reach a mountain in the distance.  Along the way you solve puzzles and may be assisted by an anonymous second player brought in through the Playstation Network.

As this is the third game from thatgamecompany for the Playstation 3, previous games that they’ve made are still available including FlOw and my personal favorite Playstation Network exclusive game, Flower.

As I said before, you can already buy the game if you’re a Playstation Plus user, if you’re not the game is available for preorder up to the moment it launches.  Journey is $14.99 US and exclusive to the PS3.

Apple Announces the new iPad March 8, 2012

At an enormous press conference, Apple has announced a newer, faster, sleeker iPad is coming.  The new iPad will sport a faster processor than its predecessor, the A5X, improved graphics, a 5MP camera, high-definition retina display, and 4G LTE.

You can learn all the details about it here.

The new iPad is coming March 16th, 2012.  Preorders are being taken right now.

New programs have also been announced, including updates to the iOS versions of GarageBand and iMovie, allowing them to take better advantage of the new hardware.  If you have already purchased these programs for another apple device (like your iPhone) you can update them free through the App Store.

iOS 5.1, which will be used by the iPad, is out now for upgrade for anyone with an iPhone, iPad or 4th Generation iPod Touch.  If you have iOS 5 already installed you can install it using the device’s software update feature (provided you have enough battery life).  If not, you will have to update it through iTunes.

Quantic Dream – KARA Demo March 8, 2012

Back at E3 2006, Quantic Dream created a real-time demo on the Playstation 3 hardware to show off the technology for what would become Heavy Rain.  It got the Playstation 3 so much positive press, Sony made the game a Playstation 3 exclusive.

At GDC12 right now, Quantic Dream has a brand new technical demo to show running off the Playstation 3’s hardware.  You just have to see it for yourselves.

David Cage, you did it again.

Journey Release Details March 7, 2012

Two years ago I was fortunate enough to witness first hand a video game discussion moderated by N’Gai Croal at Yale University.  On hand for the discussion was Kellee Santiago from thatgamecompany, who had just completed their second game for the Playstation 3, Flower.

After the discussion, I downloaded Flower off of the Playstation Network and started to play it.  I was just blown away by how game with such simple mechanics on the surface could have affected me so much.  To say that the art design was beautiful would be a complete understatement.  To say that the SIXAXIS controls worked well would not have been sufficient.  It was an amazing game.

Now, thatgamecompany is planning to release its third game for the Playstation Network, Journey.

Journey is coming exclusive to the Playstation 3 and is currently out now for purchase if you’re a Playstation Plus subscriber.  If you are not, the game will be made available for purchase on March 13th, 2012.  If you are interested in knowing more about the game, there will be a live developer chat here on Friday, March 9th at 10AM PST.