In the play's official blog, there are images of the play's unpainted cardboard props and painted props.

Know what is scarier than any Silent Hill stage play? Series musician and producer Akira Yamaoka leaving Konami.

Välkommen Till Silent Hill [Official Site via GoNintendo via Joystiq]

Check out Julie and Hally's collaboration.

And remember, when you go into an arcade, be sure to wear a helmet and gloves. Very important.

DreamHack - News: [Official Site via Kotaku Japan]

According to Sweden's Metro, the unnamed 18-year-old assailant "became angry when his internet connection wouldn't work." He then consulted a troubleshooting manual which apparently told him "grab a knife and go outside, that'll solve everything." There he attacked a 15-year-old girl "who was on her way home from a party and laughing with a friend." Take that, you inconsiderate laugher!

Her injuries were not life threatening. Knife guy just got sentenced to psychiatric care. The prosecutor wanted hem tried for attempted murder but the court stepped in and said, no, it's quite likely this guy is nuts.

Oh, this happened Aug. 9. And people say I'm slow with the news.

Starcraft player charged after knife attack [SK Gaming]

UPDATE - While some of this art is from the Final Fantasy game, upon closer examination it looks like most of these are instead for something new! Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, most likely, given the layout and 2D side-scrolling stuff.

Here is a map of The Fortress, dated Jan. 22. "Fortress" may have been the code name for a Final Fantasy game. The map lists event locations of the different chapters in the game, possibly revealing key details of its story. "Friendship duel," "dragon event" "assassination + duel" and "boarding the floating core," are among the events listed.

These appear to be exterior concepts, possibly for Fortress. A schedule to the lower left breaks out the teams with their assignments: three different "roaming" teams were assigned to environments: "Terrain," "Desert" and "Forest." A one-man team last on the list was handling "material / sky dome." GRIN, the makers of Bionic Commando and Wanted: Weapons of Fate, went out of business a month ago. Reports had it that some former GRIN employees founded a new studio, Outbreak Studios, but it plans to focus on downloadable titles for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, iPhone, Games for Windows Live and PSPgo. Something of the scope of "Fortress," a code name believed to be for a Final Fantasy game, probably wasn't taken along with them.

Pretty straightforward, this is a mockup of the namesake fortress where the game takes place.

This is labeled "Desert Layoyut Guide" and is dated June 29. The environment is rough and rent by canyons and gorges.

This wipeboard appears to be a mockup of a side-scrolling action game, or at least something unrelated to "Fortress." There are 23 stages, starting with a seaside landing, progressing through a jungle, into urban settings and factories, and finally some sort of climax aboard a crashing aircraft.

With the game now canned, and GRIN no more, the artists working on the game are now free to go posting their work for the world to see. We've seen some before, obviously, but over on the amazing ConceptArt.org forums, more has surfaced.

This time with chocobos.

Professional resume snoop superannuation has uncovered some concept art and CV listings for a game code-named "Fortress", which we're all but certain is the Final Fantasy (looks FFXII_related) action game spinoff we'd been told by former employees GRIN Stockholm had been working on from the time principal development on Bionic Commando wound up to the time they were shut down.

Say what you will about GRIN's track record of late, this would have been a blast to get a better look at.

[superannuation]

In the wake of a round of layoffs earlier this year, it's now being reported that the company have closed their studios in Barcelona and Gothenburg, while employees at GRIN HQ in Stockholm, Sweden, are also being "told not to show up for work".

We've contacted GRIN for confirmation, and will update if we hear back from them.

If true, it's a sad fate for the company behind Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Then again, you may not be as sad if you paid for Wanted. Or Terminator Salvation. Or Bionic Commando...

Report: Developer GRIN Sees More Layoffs, Potential Studio Closures [Gamasutra]

As of posting, the band's website reads:

We may not like playing video games all that much but we do like it when our music is featured on them! Makes us a bit proud even when it's a game as big as Saints Row for the PSP and even prouder when the nice developer people show excellent taste by picking "The Lotus Eater" for it. So if you love playing video games: the game is expected to hit the streets around March 2010.

If you are not getting your Saints Row game news from Scandinavian metal bands, you are probably getting it from somewhere else.

We are contacting THQ and will update if we hear anything.

The Lotus Eater on Sony PSP game Saints Row [Opeth via VG247]

According to the translation from a Swedish radio Web site, Eriksson is looking at 1.5 years in the pen. Some of the charges against him were dismissed, but enough stuck to make a judge seize his passport to keep him from fleeing while the sentence is affirmed. Gizmondo's history as a short-lived $400 handheld, which crashed in its parent company's bankruptcy, has the added ignominy of being overshadowed by the man who killed it - Eriksson - whose wrecking of an illegally imported Ferrari Enzo back in 2006 is far more interesting than any of the 10 titles released for the platform.

Of course, Eriksson is such a charming rogue there's been discussion of his story, and Gizmondo's, heading to the big screen after a Wired piece on the fiasco was optioned. Prosecutors aren't calling the verdict a complete success, but Eriksson thinks the 18 months are "very strict," and his lawyer-mans is mum on word of an appeal.

Prison for Eriksson [Sveriges Radio P4 Uppland, via Engadget]

Why?

The surgery is called "Wii Smile". And while one of the two partners running the joint, Christer Wihlborg, says the name came about because his surname starts with "Wi" and there are two owners, the fact is Nintendo registered their trademark over the name "Wii" in 2006, a full year before "Wii Smile" opened its doors.

Interestingly, Nintendo claim that they're taking the action not only because of the trademark and the similarities between the names, but because they claim the original 2006 trademark applied to not only home video game consoles, but dentistry as well.

Dentistry? We knew Nintendo's lawyers were bloodthirsty. We didn't know they were that thorough.

Nintendo ger sig på tandklinik i Malmö [Sydsvenskan]

The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority granted the license last week. What does that mean? It means the publisher "gains the protection of the Swedish government's deposit insurance", which covers each account to the tune of $60,000.

It also means MindArk can offer banking services to customers. That means interest-bearing accounts, the direct deposit of paychecks, bill payment and even money lending. It even means that the game's currency, Project Entropia Dollars, has a real-world value on the currency exchange, with a fixed rate ensuring that 10 PED will get you 1 US Dollar.

Online game gets real-world banking license [AP]

Originally planned for release this month, the second Gizmondo handheld now won't be out til next year. If it ever comes out at all. Thanks to the bum financial situation the world finds itself in, most of the company's investors have backed out, leading founder Carl Freer to totally reinvent the device.

It'll still be built around either Windows CE or Google's Android, as first planned, though instead of being a pure gaming device, it'll now launch as a smartphone/gaming device combo. A next-gen N-Gage, if you will.

Best of luck, Carl.

Yes Dear, There Will Be a Gizmondo, Just Not This Year... And It Will Be Different [The Nordic Link, via Gizmodo]

MROC simulates a journey on the Stockholm Metro, trying to keep interested by observing your fellow passengers (ooh! a scarf!) WITHOUT MAKING EYE CONTACT.

Eye contact is bad, looking at interesting things is good. Perform well and you will be awarded an underwhelming certificate. And no, I have no idea why you groan "Grow!" whenever you accidentally catch your neighbours gaze. Maybe its a Swedish thing.

[Metro Rules Of Conduct]

The boy is expected to make a full recovery but his father said he plans on limiting the amount of time his son is allowed to play computer games. His father also warned other patents about the dangers of their sons’ extended game playing. “They also think the boys need to reduce the amount of time they play and will themselves be more vigilant,” he said.

Daughters, on the other hand, can game all they want.

Not a bad start, Sweden, but only 24 hours? I could do 24 hours in my sleep. Still a ways to go before you catch up with Korea and China.

Boy collapses after playing World of Warcraft for 24 hours straight [TimesOnline - Thanks Voxynn!]

Tusentals Nintendo DS stulna i Göteborg [IDG, thanks Chrisso!]

Meningslösa skadegörelser i blomsterlådorna [NSD Thanks, John!]

US, June 30, 2008 - "We are issuing this statement to counter false rumours currently circulating on the internet regarding a new X360 game. We do have plans for an upcoming X360 game and an official announcement from Simbin will follow shortly with correct information on title and publisher. The information currently circulating is incorrect," said Magnus Ling, Vice President, Simbin Studios.

About the SimBin Group

The SimBin group is a privately owned group of Swedish companies that occupies a total staff of 80 people, consisting of 50 employees and 30 distributed consultant's world wide.

In the SimBin portfolio you will find award winning titles like "GTR – The FIAGT Racing Game", "GT Legends", "GTR 2 – The FIA GT Racing Game", "RACE – The WTCC Game" and "RACE 07 - The WTCC Game". GTR and RACE are registered trademarks owned by the SimBin group.

SimBin Studios AB is the mother company, responsible for the publishing and IP rights for all productions developed within the SimBin group. SimBin Studios AB is also responsible for Business Development, Finances, Marketing, PR and administration.

SimBin Development Team AB is a Swedish game developer founded in 2003 and is a subsidiary of SimBin Studios AB. SimBin Development Team AB handles all the game productions in the group and develops games for all leading platforms.

SimBin Distribution AB is a daughter company of SimBin Studios AB and has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. With RaceRoom, a franchise concept including marketing, branding, game software and hardware in a turn-key solution, SimBin Distribution offers a new business opportunity in the event and experience industry

Meanwhile, in Germany and Sweden, Conan is laying waste to the sales charts, soundly trashing GTA IV on both consoles. Seems like a clear win, but you also have to take into account that many people buying GTA have already bought it, and this is Germany and Sweden we are talking about, where Conan isn't just a book...it's a way of life. If you close your eyes you can almost hear the melodic death metal ringing across those icy hilltops as players in both countries talk about frame rates in OOC chat for hours and hours.

GTA IV Surrenders to Conan in European Charts [Next Generation]

A Swedish just received an imported PLAYSTATION 3 straight from Japan. The box it came in was COVERED in stamps. Think that someone actually licked each one? Hope not! Brian Ashcraft

Original Thread [playing, Thanks Rikard!]