This is what I do when I'm not studying or playing video games.

In previous blog posts I've illustrated a general love for the Silent Hill series. It is a series that has long provided scare and terror for the masses who are willing to walk through the mist filled streets of a city forgotten by the outside world. I'm also an extremely large stickler for cannon. It was no surpise that when it was announced that a seperate team would be working on the title that I prayed with all my might that they would atleast respect the cannon. Before I start this rant I should indoctrinate those of you who have played or haven't played Silent Hill with some information that won't spoil anything, because it isn't really part of the main story. Silent Hill is a town that started it's descent into madness thanks to a number of different cults worshipping various esoteric gods. One of these cults worshiped a being called "Valtiel". Valtiel was the icon of a red organization, which loved the color of blood.

Through the course of the franchise, there are numerous members of this cult appearing with different,twisted visages based on the characters' own nightmares.

(HAI LADIES!)

It is this varied, grotesque form and the different roles that this servant of the red order takes during the different games that has become one of the lesser known facts about the franchise. One of the most iconic versions of Valtiel is Pyramid Head.

Pyramid Head first made his appearance in Silent Hill 2 as a mannequin molesting, giant knife wielding demon spawn which tried to haunt the main..... guess I can't really say hero. Over the course of the game, the character is given a number of choices in regards to his interactions with the demon spawn, some resulting in his death. Pyramid Head in Silent Hill 2 represented the main character's inner demons.

In Silent Hill 3, Valtiel takes a different role. He transforms into this gimp-mask wearing freak that likes to crawl around on ceilings and mess around with nurses. Over the course of the game he likes to sit around and leisurely twist bloody handles and creep out the female lead. Valtiel also arguablly makes a number of appearances in other games, but those appearances are hotly debated by the Silent Hill community. In the recent film itteration of Silent Hill, Pyramid Head showed up with little to no back story, and was an attempt by the producer to bring in elements of the games. Albeit his attempts were a little misguided.



In the most recent game of the series, Silent Hill: Homecoming, Valtiel...I mean Pyramid Head makes his triumphant return to the scare screen. But is it really such a great idea?



It remains to be seen if the new heads behind the game will be able to think up an ingenious explanation for his presence, but I fear that this is merely another attempt for the creative minds behind the game to squeeze out some semblance of the original titles for their own profits. I'm optimistic, and I hope that isn't the case, but it is a sad day if it is true.

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Be fresh, be hip, be new, be exciting, be accessible. All these "be" demands have dogged developers for quite some time. With gaming becoming a mainstream medium, many publishers have begun pushing for ideas that appeal to much wider audiences. Games like Fallout, Diablo, and KOTOR are role playing games that have almost a cult like following. Whenever you mention these titles people are always overcome with nostalgic feelings of drunken all nighters pushing for that next level. However, what have the recent shifts in the industry done to our favorite games?

Diablo is a franchise that many people who play role playing games are familiar with. It's a game that has been around for nearly a decade. It is a game characterized by dark corridors intermingled with rooms filled with bloody corpses hanging from the rafters, half naked women chained to the floor, grotesque insects, and many other dark themes. This dark atmosphere is what many fans of the series have come to love about the game. Over the years the game has evolved from an overly dark cathedral crawler to its current state; Diablo 3. For those of you who haven't heard, Diablo 3 was announced on July 29th at the World Wide Invitational in France. Fans of the series have been begging Blizzard for a sequel for quite some time, and to many those pleas were answered.

However, some fans felt that the new art direction for the game didn't match the dark overtones of the originals. Petitions were created, fan made art was presented, and Blizzard even chimed in at some point. Their words? "Trust us, this new direction is good for the series". The new art direction for the game looks like a devil spawn of Andy Warhol and Magritte. The abstract themes and the colorful landscape are, some claim, in direct contrast with the older games. The, now former, art director for the game claimed that this new palette allowed the game from becoming a washed out mess of chunks of meat and steel. However, fans claim that slick textures and bright colors are going against the original titles. What is the truth here?

While Diablo is a mainstream RPG, there are also other titles that have met with criticism for their new directions. Fallout is a name that few know and many cherish. It's a title that has grown in popularity since recent announcements that a third title would be developed by Bethesda. Bethesda is a developer known for their Elder Scrolls series. But can they really be relied on to make a faithful sequel? When the game was first announced, Bethesda made it very clear that they were going to, "attempt to remain faithful to the series". However, over the course of a few months the fans have begun despising what Bethesda has done to the franchise, but what are they complaining about really?

Fallout is a franchise defined by its quirky dark humor, its satirical and light story used to bolster the atmosphere, its turn based game play, dark characters, and consequences that are set in stone for any actions that you take over the course of the game. What has been Bethesda's answer to these game play mechanics? Throw it away. Many elements of the original titles have been left behind for an entirely new direction which a Bethesda employee has described as "Oblivion with guns, in all the best ways". The fans of the series have become angry after not being delivered the faithful sequel that they were promised by Bethesda. In a recent statement by Bethesda, they went as far as to claim that the consequence system in Fallout was extremely outdated, and players shouldn't have any kind of game restricting choices. This lax approach to consequences to actions has taken many fans of the series by surprise.

Fallout and Diablo have two things in common, they are largely titles that PC fans have loved over the generations. In order to put PC gamers' fears into perspective we need to examine a console case of this phenomenon. Knights of the Old Republic is a role playing game for the XBOX. It is a game that has gained many followers over the years, and is herald as one of the greatest Star Wars games ever made. The quasi-turn based game play and focus on story in the game is what has attracted many fans to the series. With the recent announcement of a PC exclusive, MMO KOTOR title many fans have become angry. They have demanded a console-centric title akin to the older titles.

Now don't get my post confused. I'm not preaching that these games are going to be bad in any way. Blizzard, Bethesda, and Bioware all have something in common, besides all starting with the letter B. These companies have a long history of putting out quality titles. Even if these games are seen as nothing like their originals, many people will still buy and enjoy these games. Even if you agree or disagree with the actions taken by developers, one thing is inexplicably true; Developers are taking conventional titles and changing them to match an evolving market.

We all remember the good times we had crawling through dark castle corridors shooting tons of nazis only to be confronted by a giant mechanized hitler in the end. Well, maybe some of you new gamers don't remember it, but the madness that is Castle Wolfenstein has been a long time staple in PC gaming. Set in 1943, the new Wolfenstein plans on delivering that same kind of over the top, nazi packed, alien invading, depravity insuing madness that the series has long been known for.

The name game in the series, whether a working title, is currently called "Wolfenstein". The game itself is currently planned for simultaenous release across the PC, 360, and PS3. Nazis are making a glorious return, and have found alien artifacts. Them nazis are going back to their evil ways and plan on performing all kinds of world shacking madness. Its up to you, a trusty tommy gun, and your own ingenuity to battle back hordes of nazi alien scum! You'll be greeted by the common spree of old WW2 guns that everyone has grown to hate over the last few years, as well as a plethora of alien beam weapons.