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The Horror Geek presents: Dead Rising 2 videos galore

Capcom's Dead Rising 2 snubbed E3 earlier this year (citing swine flu concerns or something to that effect), but it's making up for that missed opportunity by showing off a veritable truckload of footage at the Tokyo Game Show. I've lost count of how many videos have been released over the past day or so, but trust me when I say it's a lot. If we were in sort of in the dark about what to expect from this zombie-slaying sequel, I think things are now illuminated.

I'm not going to post all of the videos here (because I'm lazy), but I will say you can find pretty much all of them by heading over to G4's website. They've got the original trailer, multiplayer footage (which had me wondering if I was really watching a trailer for Dead Rising 2 at first…) and all sorts of other goodies.

I am going to share one video, though—because it highlights one of the numerous new weapons players can use to kill the undead in the game. It's a combination pitchfork/shotgun, and if the idea of taking out zombies by impaling them on the tines, lifting them in the air, and delivering a buckshot coup de grace to their rotting faces doesn't make you giddy, then I'm not sure we can be friends anymore. I'm sorry, there are just certain things I expect from the people I spend time with—and appreciating the joys of shooting zombies in the face is very high on that list.

The Horror Geek presents: New Dead Space: Extraction trailer features lots of necromorph limbs

Electronic Arts is really pulling out all the stops to promote Dead Space: Extraction, the on-rails Wii-exclusive follow up to last year's hit survival horror game Dead Space. This latest video showcases more interviews with the development team, a look at some of the controls, and a bit about the game's design philosophy when it comes to creating fear.

Dead Space: Extraction hits retailers next week.

The Horror Geek presents: More Resident Evil: Afterlife info

Resident Evil

Boris Kodjoe (who told us all he was in Resident Evil: Afterlife via his Twitter feed a few days ago) is apparently not only an actor, but also a PR guy. Whenever news breaks about the latest movie in the series, it seems like Kodjoe's the guy telling us about it. He's a veritable renaissance man…

Kodjoe had a chat with Wilson Morales over at Black Film recently and he not only informed us of more casting news (Ali Larter is back, Prison Break's Wentworth Miller has been cast), but he also gave us our first real plot synopsis for the fourth film in the franchise (after the break).

The Horror Geek presents: Zombie Apocalypse comes to PS3 and Xbox 360 next week

zombie Apocalypse

Konami’s announced the official release date for their downloadable zombie slaughterfest, Zombie Apocalypse. Anyone with a hankering for killing hordes of the walking dead will want to mark September 23rd and 24th down on their calendars. Xbox 360 owners will be able to download the title one day earlier than their PS3-owning brethren for some reason. When I last saw the game, it looked a lot like Smash TV with zombies. Since I happen to love Smash TV, this got me very excited.

The Horror Geek presents: Resident Evil: Afterlife casting news

resident-evil-apocalypse-1

More breaking news thanks to Twitter. How did we ever manage to get news in the in the old days of 2008?

Actor Boris Kodjoe broke the news (in 140 characters or less…) that he's now signed on to appear in the fourth entry in the Resident Evil franchise, Afterlife. Here's the tweet where he spills the beans:

“In Toronto meeting with the director of my new movie Resident Evil: Afterlife. Very exciting!!! Lots of stunts, shooting guns, monsters.”

If you're not familiar with who Boris is, you'll get to experience his work firsthand very soon. The actor is starring alongside Bruce Willis in the new film Surrogates.

Kodjoe joins Milla Jovovich (who's returning as Alice) in the new zombie flick. Paul WS Anderson will once again be directing.

The Horror Geek presents: Silent Hill Movie sequel finally announced

Silent Hill

It's been a few years since the first Silent Hill movie came out—and while it wasn't as good as many of us hoped, there's so much potential in the franchise that most of us hoped Hollywood would take a second crack at it.

There have been rumors of a sequel for quite awhile, but invariably they've turned out to be false—until last night. THR brings us news that a new Silent Hill film is indeed in the works and will begin filming next year.

According to the site, screenwriters Roger Avary and producer Samuel Hadida will be returning to the project. No word yet on a director (Christophe Gans helmed the original), or any plot details, but you'll read about it here when those details start to emerge.

Who needs video?: "Non-visual" mobile phone games for blind and sighted players

Who needs video? Non-visual mobile phone games for blind and sighted players

Computer scientists at the Pontíficia Universidade Católica in Rio de Janeiro are working on non-visual games for mobile phones that they hope will be fun for players who are blind, have low vision or are sighted. In a paper in the Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society, Luis Valente, Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza and Bruno Feijó describe their protype adventure game Audio Flashlight. They also discuss some things they learned during field testing about making games accessible to players with visual impairments.

Study: Certain video games may help improve decision-making skills of people with intellectual disabilities

Study: Certain video games may help improve decision-making skills of people with intellectual disabilities

Researchers from Trent University and the Division of Rehabilitation and Ageing at Nottingham University have found that some kinds of video games may help people with intellectual disabilities improve their ability to make decisions.

The Horror Geek presents: Two new Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles videos from Penny Arcade Expo

The Penny Arcade Expo is in full swing (I'd love to go one year…) and Capcom is on hand showing off not one, but two new gameplay videos from their upcoming on-rails zombie shooter Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles.

I've been hard on on-rails shooters over the past few years, and I'm absolutely awful at containing my contempt for the Wii, but I'm still looking forward to checking this title out when it hits shelves this December. Check out the first clip below, then jump past the break for the second.

Motion control: Boon or bane for gamers with disabilities?

With all the studies on therapeutic uses for Nintendo's Wiimote, a deaf school's innovative use of PlayStation Portables and the potential for Microsoft's Project Natal to make games accessible to players with disabilities thanks to its ability to recognize objects, voices, gestures and facial expressions, it's easy to think that motion-sensing technology is an unequivocal boon to players with disabilities everywhere. But is it? It's certainly easier for some people with disabilities to move an arm than to push a small button (or six). But what about those players with disabilities who are attracted to video games partly because pushing buttons allows them to do things they cannot otherwise do? Will the move toward motion control realism bar some players from their hobby?

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