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Lots of cool looking horror/thriller stuff coming out of this year's E3.

Heavy Rain, a PlayStation 3 exclusive from developers Quantic Dream, looks like something of a spiritual successor to their earlier hit, Indigo Prophecy. Details about the game have been fairly scarce, but we do know that the title will be a dark noir thriller without any supernatural overtones. The game is said to revolve around four main characters (and someone known as "The Origami Killer") and apparently focuses on the blurred line between what is good and what is evil.

Expect to learn more about Heavy Rain as E3 rages on. In the meantime, take a look at the trailer.

E3 2009 madness continues, now with a new look at Electronic Arts' highly anticipated horror game, Dante’s Inferno.

The new trailer for the game (which is being developed by EA's Visceral Studios—which is the new name for EA's Redwood Shores Studios) will do little to dispel the whole "God of War in Hell" vibe that's come to surround the title, but gamers who feel that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery should still find much to like in this roughly two-and-a-half minute preview.

Seems like we've been hearing about Alan Wake for years now…oh, it's because we have. Doesn't matter to me, though—when games look this good, you almost don't mind the wait if it means they're getting it right.

The title (developed by Remedy Entertainment—the guys who gave us the Max Payne games) made an appearance at E3 yesterday, and it looks incredible. Alan Wake is being billed as more of a "psychological thriller" than a survival horror title, but it looks to feature enough creepy visuals to keep even the most discerning genre fans looking over their shoulder as they clutch their 360 controllers with sweaty fists.

Good news for gamers who love the zombie apocalypse. Valve has announced that Left 4 Dead 2 will be available on the Xbox 360 and PC on November 17th.

The sequel ups the ante from the original game, moving to a new locale with a new cast of survivors and features melee combat (the chainsaws look fun…), boss zombies, and like all sequels, is said to be bigger than the game that started it all.

Swine Flu guaranteed that Dead Rising 2 won't be shown at this year's E3, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything new to see when it comes to the highly-anticipated, zombie-killing simulator.

Check out the new trailer below for a look at the game. There's no gameplay footage here, but that's a whole lot of zombies.

I have my problems with the first Dead Rising, but I'm still looking forward to this sequel. Hopefully, Capcom has learned from their mistakes in the first game—and would it be too much to ask that it actually be playable on a standard definition television this time around? I'd love to have a nicer TV, but I choose to spend my paltry income on games—not television sets.

I'm incredibly bummed that I'm not going to E3 this year. I've gone numerous times in the past and I highly recommend that anyone who really loves games go at least once—even in it's newer, more streamlined, form, it's still a spectacle unlike anything else. I could have gone this year, but I don't have the money to get to LA, so I'll be watching from home like the majority of my fellow gamers. I'm not happy about this.

The show hasn't started yet, but we're already seeing little bits and pieces of things that will be at the show. Take, for instance, this trailer for Dead Space: Extraction. Extraction is the Wii-only on-rails shooter prequel to Electronic Arts' big hit of last year. I'm still not sold on the whole on-rails shooter thing, but the graphics in the trailer aren't bad and the game's universe is interesting enough that I'd make a return trip to it even if the visit was a guided one with little room for exploration.

Dead Space: Extraction hits retailers on September 29th.

I was going to start off this story by saying that it was bad news for the fans of the whip-wielding, vampire-slaying Belmont clan, but I'm not entirely convinced that news stating the planned live action adaptation of Konami's wildly popular Castlevania series is dead is a particularly bad thing.

Way of the Samurai 3 came about back in November, but sadly it remains the best game I haven't played yet. Why? Because it was only released in Japan, and although PS3s are admirably region-free, the Japanese language's stubborn refusal to transform magically into English has transformed the prospect of importing a copy of it from a delightful dream into an utter waste of money.

So, until some publisher spends the absolutely minimal amount of money required to turn the menus and text into English, I'll have to be satisfied with a brief preview of a game that may never see a North American release.

(sigh)

Awhile back, I reviewed a game called Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Zombie Squad here at The Horror Geek website. The game wasn't great (it was repetitive, translated in pure "Engrish", and had environments that looked like something straight out of a low budget first generation PlayStation 2 game), but I liked it for the cheese factor (half-naked chicks running around killing zombies with swords is a win in my book) and geysers of blood.

I knew a film version was in the works (and I've been looking forward to it, honestly) and now NipponCinema brings us an official poster, synopsis, and release date for the movie.

I wanted to be more excited about Capcom's Dead Rising 2, but I have to be honest—the first game just left me more aggravated than pleased. Sure, the core idea of the game is brilliant (zombies, mall, everything's a weapon…) but the stupid A.I. and faulty save system killed it for me.

I'm hoping Dead Rising 2 fixes those issues, but even if it doesn't, this trailer has upped my interest almost exponentially. If you jump to the 1:51 mark, you'll see hero Chuck sporting dual chainsaws on a wooden stick—and it may be the coolest thing ever. Not to be outdone, he then straps two chainsaws to his motorcycle, and the zombie slaughter kicks into high gear. I have to be honest, I'll put up with a lot of suck for the opportunity to run around as a dual-saber chainsaw slinging Darth Maul wannabe killing hordes of the undead. This, my friends, is why I love being a gamer.