"Part two made more than one, three made more than two and we're hoping four will make more than three," he said. "It keeps the franchise strong. What we want to avoid is what's happening with the Saw franchise which is going the other way. We're hoping Paul being back in the driver's seat with 3-D and these big action set pieces will keep it going."

So Resident Evil has director Paul W.S. Anderson back in the director chair, big action pieces and 3-D. Oh, and Milla Jovovich! So hopefully it will make more money than the last movie — unlike the Saw franchise.

More Hints at Valentine in Resident Evil: Afterlife [ShockTillYouDrop.com]

Nice qualifier, there. After all, not everybody is sold on the scariness of some games.

The article goes on to quote video game industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities as saying that horror video game sales are up this year from last. By September 2009, they'd scared up $147 million in sales compared to the $131 million they brought in throughout 2008.

Best part, though, is where they got Freddy Krueger actor Robert Englund to explain why video games are scary:

"Halloween gives fans the chance to dress up in costumes and celebrate horror, but video games are the best way for fans to actually participate in these worlds," he told Reuters.

The second best part? Reuters says that Dead Space 2 will be out in 2010. According to the piece, "'Dead Space 2' is in development for next year." See you next year!

Horror video games scare up record sales [Reuters]
Image Cred

Scary movies don't creep me out nearly as much as scary games do. It's one thing to yell at the dumb blonde on screen about how bad of an idea it is to go into that dark basement. It's another to be the one controlling the character who's about to go into that dark basement.

In Saw, much to my dismay, you don't control a sexy blonde. Instead, you play as Det. David Tapp, a character from the first Saw film (played by Danny Glover in the movie but not the game), who awakens in an abandoned insane asylum and discovers he's a piece of a deadly puzzle created by the Jigsaw Killer: After suffering a gunshot wound, Tapp was saved by Jigsaw, who removed the bullet and, in its place, embedded in Tapp's body a key. Your goal is to solve Jigsaw's puzzles and free each of six victims related to Tapp's past, and then escape from the asylum yourself. Meanwhile, there are others trapped in the asylum, and, for them, the only way out is to kill Tapp and get the key inside him.

Loved
Jigsaw's Puzzles: Being a puzzle game, Saw would be in trouble if those puzzles were bad. Fortunately, they're not – well, not all of them, at least. The first half of the game keeps things interesting by throwing at the player a good mix of puzzles, the most complex of which occur at the end of each level, when you must save one of Jigsaw's victims.

Some of these are unique – in one, blue and red vials are dropped into a succession of tubes that pivot left or right; you must use gravity-related logic to make sure each colored vial ends up in its respective vat. (It's easier seen than explained.) Other end-level puzzles are more complex versions of those that appear in other forms throughout the game. For example, one puzzle comprises multiple concentric rings, resembling a bullseye. Along the outer edge, pointing toward the center, are two ends of a pipe. Inside each ring are various pipe pieces. The goal is to rotate each ring so that the pipe pieces connect to form one continuous path from one pipe end to the other.

To make things more interesting, these puzzles often have time constraints – Tapp is choking on poisonous gas, for instance, and must solve a pipe puzzle to shut the gas off before his health runs out. The majority of the end-level puzzles have such time constraints. What this means is you should get used to dying. A lot.

Plot: Fans of the Saw series will definitely get more from the game's plot than non-fans. Speaking as a member of the latter category, I thought the story, which fleshes out some of Jigsaw's background, held together fine, and I wasn't too confused by the numerous obvious references to the original film. (I believe the story's timeline falls somewhere between the first and second films.) The game also has two endings, chosen by the player – one of which reveals a twist and another that is far more disappointing.

Hated
Repetition: There are actually two complaints here. The first is that certain puzzles are thrown at the player over and over, seemingly for no other reason than to make the game longer. The pipe puzzle, described earlier, is one of these. Another involves circuits, in which each square of a grid contains either a red node, a piece of wire or a power source. The goal is to rotate the squares – and the corresponding node, wire piece or power source – so that all the nodes turn green, meaning they are connected by an unbroken path to the power source. I wasn't counting, but there are easily a dozen of these puzzles.

What complicates matters is the second part of my complaint: time constraints. Apparently, it's not enough that these puzzles occur multiple times over the course of the game. You also have to suffer death after death each time you come across one and fail to complete it in time. With the circuit puzzles, it's even worse – the pattern of circuitry changes each time, so memorization won't help. (At one point, I was so frustrated that I actually thought the game itself was some meta-puzzle where Jigsaw was real and was trying to make me kill myself.)

Combat: Forget the survival-horror plot – here was the true nightmare. What a mess this was. There are various weapons lying around for you to pick up – pipes, baseball bats, table legs. Press one of the face buttons for a normal attack, a different face button for heavy attack. Each weapon will degrade the more you use it, except for things like hypodermic needles, which have one-time uses. That's about it. Oh, wait, I forgot something: Turns out you don't really need a weapon, because your fists seem to do as much damage, and they don't break! The pistol is useful, but the problem is that, unlike practically any other game that uses a gun, you don't use the right trigger to shoot. No, the right trigger is used to place traps, which you can build using items you find and corresponding schematics. So when an enemy would come charging at me, my instinct was to shoot him with the right trigger, but, instead, I would inexplicably place an exploding trap at my feet, causing us both to die in a fiery blaze. One more thing: There are locked weapons cases in some rooms, and the only way to get to the weapon is to solve a puzzle involving gears, which you find in desks or file cabinets. In some instances, I would solve the gear puzzle, open the case and find …a baseball bat. Which I could've picked up in, oh, a million other places in the game. Thanks.

Other Annoyances: Despite the multiple ways you can die in Saw, I doubt any of them will be from simply running out of hypodermic health needles. Combat is too easy to worry about it, that's for sure. No, a much bigger concern are the tripwires, which are attached to shotguns that blow the heads off anyone who triggers one. Often, they're not really noticeable unless you walk around looking at your feet, so I grew accustomed to seeing Tapp's head disappear in a cloud of red mist. (You can disarm the trap, lure an enemy toward you and then quickly re-arm it, so they do come in handy.) Also, Tapp is shoeless throughout the game; walking on broken glass will cause him to lose health. This is explained in one of the game's first scenes, in which a shoe-wearing enemy taunts Tapp. In fact, just about every enemy Tapp kills in the game has shoes. You know what would've made a cool puzzle? ONE THAT INVOLVES TAPP TAKING SOME DEAD GUY'S DAMN SHOES.

As you can probably guess, Saw is not the game that turns me into a fan of survival horror. Yes, it has compelling puzzles, but, in the context of the game, it wasn't nearly enough. Perhaps it had to do with how relentlessly dark and violent the game is, but playing it just filled me with a sense of unexplainable dread. Then again, maybe that was the point. (It didn't help that the theme of Tapp's questionable morality is pounded into the player, so much so that I wondered whether the game should be called Hammer.)

Finally, one more reason against recommending Saw: Unless you're an achievement whore, there's virtually no replayability. I finished the game in about 13 hours, although I've seen some claim to have completed it in as few as eight. That's the definition of a rental if I've ever seen one.

Saw was developed by Zombie Studios and published by Konami for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on October 6. Retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Finished the game on the Xbox 360 on normal difficulty. There is no online mode.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Big Download originally reported that it would be a Steam download exclusive, noting that Konami did something similar last year when it put out Silent Hill: Homecoming.

Correction: However, Konami contacted Kotaku to say that Saw will be available via Steam and Direct2Drive later this month.

PC Version of Saw to be Exclusive to Steam [Big Download via VG247]

What Is It?
Saw bridges the gap between the first two Saw movies, placing the player in the role of Danny Glover's character, detective David Tapp. In the game, Tapp wasn't killed when Zep shot him in the stomach, instead continuing his pursuit of Jigsaw until he winds up in the state he is at the beginning of the demo: with an explosive bear trap attached to his face.

What We Saw
The game can end as soon as it begins if you don't follow the on-screen prompts, rotating the left stick to undo bolts and then hitting the two release switches using button presses. It gets your blood pumping and serves as an excellent introduction to this twisted game.

After that first harrowing sequence I guided Tapp through darkened corridors, solving puzzles and interacting with some of Jigsaw's other victims, culminating in a fight and the revelation that after Tapp was shot, a key was sewn inside him that many of the other prisoners need to escape Jigsaw's asylum. Shortly after that I entered a room filled with writhing bodies strapped to hospital beds, and the demo ended.

How Far Along Is It?
Much further along than it was when AJ saw it back in April, the graphics and textures have been vastly improved since Konami showed the title last. It's still scheduled for October 2009, to coincide with the release of the next film.

What Needs Improvement?
A Few Tiny Glitches: I played through the PlayStation 3 demo, with missing textures and some missing sound clips. The Konami rep explained that the Xbox 360 version on the other side of the wall didn't have the same problems, and they had run into a few snags with the PS3 version that were being worked on.

Unwieldy Combat: One would assume a police officer have a little more hand to hand combat training. The fight I was involved in was a clumsy affair with relatively unresponsive controls. Needs to be tightened up a bit.

Shock Therapy: While the first Saw movie subtly built towards a brilliant crescendo, the second seemed more occupied with providing shock after shock after shock. Unfortunately the game is more Saw II than Saw I. There needs to be a little more suspense built between gruesome events to keep the player from becoming used to it too quickly.

What Should Stay The Same?
Surprise!: While the shocks could benefit from better pacing, there are some generally creepy moments in the demo - moments that really make your stomach twist. Reaching into a toilet filled with syringes in order to find a fuse or walking on broken glass in bare feet...you can almost feel it, and it's a hideous feeling.

Alone In The Dark: While it may seem too dark at times, wandering through such a well-rendered, disturbing environment using only a Zippo lighter to find your way adds an exquisite level of tension to the game play experience.

Reedulls And Poozles: While some of the mini-game puzzles take you out of the action, they were nicely balanced, relying on tension to enhance difficulty rather than having the player have to pull themselves too far out of the story to concentrate on picking a lock or finding a combination.

Final Thoughts
Saw is a genuinely creepy game, capturing the disturbing vibe of the film series, but is it too much? After finishing the demo I walked away feeling dirty, like I had done something wrong. It's one thing to watch these events unfold passively on your television screen, but actively participating? It might just be more than my usually strong stomach can handle.

Between scads of game demos to play, a mandatory social hour and the opening speeches, it almost feels like a mini Game Developers Conference. Only, it's all Konami all the time.

This year's offerings included a lot of lesser-known and possibly mundane DS games, a few Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network titles that might be worth attention, and tantalizing glimpses of games yet to come.

Here's what we came away with:
Insurgents Contributed To Development Of Six Days In Fallujah
Saw Preview: Condemned or Dragon's Lair?
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories – A Makeover Not A Remake
Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgment Preview: Fails To Spark Interest
Ant Nation DS Preview: Baby's First Strategy Game
Konami Warns Of Zombie Apocalypse On XBLA, PSN

And I'm not just saying that because the Saw video game is based on the Saw movie franchise. Many of the major elements in the game – the setting, hunting down and killing other people – are also the major elements of other survival horror games like Condemned or Manhunt.

But the insta-death? I haven't seen something that harsh since the first level of arcade classic Dragon's Lair – where if you didn't duck in the first five seconds, you could kiss all the quarters in your pocket goodbye.

What Is It?
Saw is the game that Brash Entertainment was going to publish before they went belly up. It's coming out on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360; and will supposedly fill in a lot of the plot gaps between the two films.

What We Saw
Konami's Gamers Night included a massive screening of three minutes' worth of a demo made from pre-alpha code that may not actually be a real level in the final game. Following the presentation, I got to play the full demo on the PS3 which clocked in at six minutes, counting both times I died during the get-the-bear-trap-off-your-head sequence.

How Far Along Is It?
The demo build was pre-alpha. The game is slated for an October 2009 release.

What Needs Improvement?
Visual Cues: Like the movie, all the "clues" you need to solve a death puzzle are in the room with you. But thanks to pre-alpha code, not all the necessary visual cues were in place. For example, during the opening bear-trap challenge, there is an icon onscreen that tells the user to rotate the left stick to wind part of the trap. But other other part of the puzzle is subtler – there's a red light on the device that supposedly looks like the B button the 360. But because I was playing on PS3, not only did I not immediately notice the visual cue, but when I did the second time, I pressed X and not Circle, because really – how the hell was I supposed to know which button they meant?

Flashbacks: Currently, there is no explanation whatsoever for the parts of the game where you see something like a torture chair and suddenly experience a flashback to someone else getting tortured. Is the main character psychic? Did he actually witness the act and have legitimate memories to flashback to? Right now, it just looks like they desperately want to freak you out and they don't care about continuity to pull it off.

Visual Fatigue: I know the game is supposed to be scary, I know the movies are incredibly gory – but if I'm going to slog through 8-10 hours or more of a linear game, I'm going to need a visual break from the visceral horror once in a while or else it will all get stale and headache-inducing.

What Should Stay The Same?
Think Fast!: If they nail the visual cues thing, I don't actually have a problem with the insta-death. For example, part of the demo involves going through a booby-trapped door. You've already been warned about it (because they want you to finish the demo, not fling cans of soda at it), but not explicitly told how to deal with it. Because I'm a natural pansy, I got it on the first go by opening the door and not immediately mashing forward on the analog stick. By just standing there, I had plenty of time to watch the pulley part of the trap go upwards – spotting the big Triangle button in time to actually press the button and avert the shotgun blast to the head.

The Element of Surprise: I don't know that a game couldn't really stay scary if you had to go through the same insta-death puzzles over and over again; but a developer John Williams told me in an interview that many of the puzzles in the game are randomly generated at each encounter and that some of death traps actually won't be instant. For example, the shotgun-rigged door won't always kill you – just royally mess you up once in a while. Little uncertainties like these make the game that much more interesting than your average movie licensed game.

Final Thoughts
I'm on the fence about the other people in the asylum with your character. Over and over again during the demo, the developer (and villain Jigsaw) stress that you shouldn't trust anyone and that there will be characters throughout the game that are either trying to kill you, manipulate you or beg you for help to kill someone else. This dynamic could be interesting – if there were someone you really want to help. If not and you should trust no one, it'll get a little boring when the next horribly maimed person runs away from you in a darkened, blood-stained corridor.

But, if we see more movie games striving to be more like other games such as Condemned or Manhunt instead of trying to be entirely faithful to the movie, I call that a win and salute Saw.

Variety's The Cut Scene has first details and a handful of screen shots of Konami's newest acquisition, confirming earlier reports that Saw would join Silent Hill as horrific accompaniment to its stable of franchises.

The Saw game, developed by Zombie Studios, developers of the recently announced Blacklight and various U.S. Army funded game projects, is expected to ship alongside the theatrical release of Saw VI for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC this Fall.

With Silent Hill: Shattered Memories also recently confirmed for the Wii, will Konami have a double-dose of horror planned for 2009?

Head over to The Cut Scene for more in-game and concept art shots, as well as additional details.

Will Saw be Konami's second great horror franchise? (Plus, first screenshots) [The Cut Scene]

Variety writes that the Saw video game, developed by Zombie Studios, is expected to ship alongside the sixth (sixth!) Saw movie, which is planned for a fall release. That's per its original schedule, when it was announced in January 2008 for a Halloween 2009 arrival on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

According to Variety's sources on the matter, the game will be a "bloody, violent M that's just as hard as the movies' R" and is also planned for release on the PC. Gameplay is theorized to be built around the traps built by main antagonist Jigsaw, possibly a Western take on Tecmo's bloody Deception series. (We hope.)

Previous reports on the Saw game pegged it for nearly completed, but floating through publisher space when the doomed from the start Brash went belly up.

Saw video game picked up by Konami [The Cut Scene]

The blog Bloody Disgusting, quoting unidentified sources, says SAW is seeking a new home. The project was near completion and voiceover work had already begun.

Of course, this is similar to how Ghostbusters bounced about when Sierra bit the dust — movie IP, nearly finished game — and maybe that bodes well for SAW's survival. But they're also completely different films, with different fan bases, so who knows.

When last heard from, SAW was a third-person survival horror game, produced by David S. Cohen and powered by Unreal Engine 3. Decent credentials, so if you were at all curious about this game, there's a reasonable shot you could see it.

Exclusive Saw the Video Game Update [Bloody Disgusting, via Destructoid]

While most of us will have to wait until the fall, Comic-Con attendees will be able to catch a sneak peak at the “Horror Meets Comedy Xbox Original Short Film Pilots” panel on Friday, just a small slice of Microsoft's Comic-Con presence detailed below. McWhertor is on his way there today to check everything out, as well as purchase limited edition action figures for me which I will totally reimburse him for - promise.

So Funny, It's Scary: Hollywood's Top Horror Directors to Bring Original Comedy Pilots to Xbox 360 This Fall

Microsoft's "Bringing Comic-Con Home" offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Comic-Con show floor through exclusive content on Xbox LIVE, Xbox.com, MSN and Zune Marketplace.

SAN DIEGO — July 23, 2008 — Horror and comedy often come together on the show floor at Comic-Con International, just never like this. Microsoft Corp. today announced that a set of original short film pilots will be coming to Xbox LIVE this fall, free to all members around the world. The unique concept of masters of horror taking on comedy, conceived by filmmaker James Gunn (“Slither,” “Dawn of the Dead”) and producer Peter Safran (“Scary Movie,” “Meet the Spartans,” “Disaster Movie”), will see some of the world’s greatest horror directors bring their comedic visions to life. Microsoft is teaming up with Safran Digital Group to produce these exclusive shorts.

Beginning this fall, the short film pilots will be available worldwide on Xbox LIVE from influential horror directors James Wan (“Saw,” “Death Sentence”), David Slade (“30 Days of Night,” “Hard Candy”), James Gunn, Lucky McKee (“May,” “The Woods”), Andrew Douglas (“The Amityville Horror”) and Marcus Nispel (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Friday the 13th”). All of the pilots will be free either for download or streaming on Xbox LIVE. The new short film pilots available on Xbox LIVE this fall include the following:

• “Doggie Heaven (Woof!)” — The creative team behind the smash hit “Saw” films, James Wan (“Saw,” “Death Sentence”) and Leigh Whannell, tell the story of a young man who is having a dog of a day. He’s just been shot dead, but his real problems are only just beginning because of a clerical error that has sent him to the wrong heaven.

• “Humanzee!” — James Gunn (“Slither,” “Dawn of the Dead”) directs and stars in a sitcom about his human-chimp hybrid son, the Humanzee (played by Gunn’s brother, Sean Gunn, from “Gilmore Girls”). It’s a delightful mix of “South Park,” “Wonder Showzen” and “Small Wonder.”

• “MEATDOG: What’s Fer’ Dinner” — Director David Slade (“30 Days of Night,” “Hard Candy”) presents MEATDOG, an animated mutt made up of cold cuts. MEATDOG is pitted against a church of evil occult pigs while being pursued by a carnivorous rabbit and a slobbering hound. It’s dogicide when everyone wants MEATDOG on their menu.

• “Blue Like You” —From director Lucky McKee (“May,” “The Woods”), “Blue Like You” follows the antics of old friends Patrick and Cyndy as they get to know their mysterious and extraordinary new friend Blue, a beautiful young woman who doesn’t seem to understand how the simplest of things work.

• “The Miracle of Phil” — From director Andrew Douglas (“The Amityville Horror”), “The Miracle of Phil” shows that the best relationships are full of screaming, shouting and cursing, but when Phil gets knocked up, Chris is the one who feels screwed.

• “Adrenaline Slam” — Director Marcus Nispel (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Friday the 13th”) brings “ADRENALINE SLAM,” a high-octane hybrid of hidden camera reality and Hollywood fantasy that exposes ordinary people to extraordinary events.

In addition, Microsoft has sought pilots from emerging online talent John Clisham:

• “Assorted Nightmares: The Janitor” — From online director John Clisham and starring Jenna Dewan (“Step Up”), somewhere in the darkness just beyond “Tales From the Crypt” and a little south of “The Twilight Zone,” is “Assorted Nightmares,” a modern-day horror anthology show. The first episode pays homage to the 1980s horror-slasher genre, as things at school for Jennifer don’t turn out as expected.

“We’re excited to launch the Xbox original content with these world-class directors, who are all tremendously talented and at the cutting edge of their craft,” Safran said. “Their youthful and innovative approach is the perfect combination for this unique digital venture with Xbox 360, and we expect to see some very creative, horrifying and hilarious shorts as these masters of horror present their comedic vision. We can’t wait to give fans at Comic-Con a taste of what’s to come.”

Microsoft will also be “Bringing Comic-Con Home” on Xbox LIVE from Wednesday, July 23, to Sunday, July 27, so anyone can get a behind-the-scenes look at all of the action. The Xbox 360 team will be covering every inch of the show floor with daily coverage on Inside Xbox and Xbox.com, as well as MSN and Zune Marketplace. The Xbox 360 team is joining forces with Warner Bros. to provide sneak peeks of all the panels and videos shown at the event, along with interviews with talent for movies and TV shows, including the upcoming feature films from Warner Bros. Pictures “Watchmen” and “Terminator Salvation,” as well as “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Fringe,” “Chuck,” “Supernatural,” “Lost Boys: The Tribe” and much more. Xbox LIVE members will also be among the first to see the following:

Warner Premiere’s Motion Comics’ “Batman: Mad Love” draws on a massive amount of source material to bring a visually engaging experience to life, through the use of subtle movements, voice-overs, sweeping music scores and stunning comic book artwork.

The exclusive branded consoles for “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Watchmen” and DC Comics, and the upcoming “Gears of War” comic book-inspired console, with all the limited-edition consoles being given away at Comic-Con.

New gamer pictures and themes from DC Comics, available only on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

“Bringing Comic-Con Home” will also give people an exclusive look at two Xbox 360 panels at the show:

In the “Xbox 360 ‘Gears of War’ Showcase” panel, Cliff Bleszinski, design director at Epic Games Inc., will be joined by comic writer Joshua Ortega and novelist Karen Traviss to discuss upcoming installments to the “Gears of War” universe, including a look at the holiday blockbuster game “Gears of War 2” for Xbox 360. The panel will be held on Saturday, July 26.

In the “Horror Meets Comedy Xbox Original Short Film Pilots” panel Friday, July 25, the audience will see a sneak preview of what is coming this fall, and will hear from all the directors on their creative vision for the shorts.

Xbox LIVE members will also get an online backstage pass to the famous Comic-Con masquerade ball, where the person with the best Xbox-themed costume will win an amazing “Halo” prize package, including a Master Chief costume and a “Halo” console. Further information is available at http://www.xbox.com/comiccon08.

Leigh and I are very excited about this new venture. We are big gaming fans and we think it would a great opportunity to continue the SAW legacy into a different platform/medium. Keeps things fresh for us anyway. A lot of people have asked us if we would be interested in writing another SAW movie...well, we are writing another SAW story...but it's for the game. We're treating this story like the SAW movies with lots of twists and turns. We have no idea how that is going to apply to a computer game format, considering that most games are generally pretty simple in it's plotting. Maybe its a good thing that Leigh and I are naive to the video game world and that we're writing it like its a movie!

Ah yes, ignorance is bliss, and could make for a relatively blissful video game version of Saw, at least until the game developers get a hold of the script and pull a more horrifying hack job on it than anything Jigsaw could have come up with.

Still, it's good to see such an important person to the franchise working on the game. It's not every day you get the creator of a movie working on a video game adaptation, much less the creator who is also the executive producer of the most popular horror franchise of the last few years.

The New Year - 2008 [James Wan's MySpace Blog - Via WhatUpThug]

And then they started licensing the awesome concept for video games!! Due out on Halloween October 2009 for Xbox 360 and PS3, we CAN'T WAIT! Developed by Brash Entertainment with the Unreal Engine 3, supposedly the game will be the result of close movie to game studio collaboration.

Oh, and to all the Saw fans. I'm sorry. (Not about this post, but that you've been sucked into liking crappy movies.) Oh, I kid. I love you all and have already judged you as perfect for reading my ramblings.

WhoIsJigsaw [Official Site via GameLife]